#forget everything! i will finish this today. just for adam

[crescentmp3]

hi mutual hello thank you so dearly for reading about my silly little guy (Adam). I am So Sorry because his diary isn't complete yet so there's parts of my own notes at the end of it </3 But I'm thrilled about your liveblogging of it!! Thank you

hii!! ^^ yes im so glad to be reading it! i've actually been meaning to get to it for weeks, and you posting that google doc on adam and sophie back in the day did help get it into motion - please don't apologize! i dont mind incompletion, as long as theres adam i am more than willing to cheer and clap standing. and confetti

[lucyrose191]

Hey could you do fic for Toto Wolff with wife reader where she's been feeling unwell but insists she's coming to the track and he's worried about her. Long short story, their son (Jack) with her and she felt like she's going to go faint and she tell Jack to find Toto for her and Toto's being her knight in shining armor,rescued her. Just fluff and comfort. Tag me later. Thanks! :))

TAKE IT EASY| T.WOLFF

Pairing; Toto Wolff x Wife!reader

Summary; Your stubbornness to admit you may be feeling unwell might just be your downfall one day but your husband will always be there to catch you, as will your son.

Warnings; none

F1 Master List

You could feel the worried gaze of your husband from where he was standing in the en-suite getting dressed, he had woken up before you this morning which was his first notification that something was wrong but once he saw your flushed cheeks and pressed the back of his hand against your forehead he knew you certainly weren’t well.

He had tried to convince you to go back to bed but you refused, you were here to support him and Jack was so excited to attend a race again and whilst Toto was more than capable of looking after him, it was just easier for you to take care of Jack and entertain him because Toto still had work to do, a toddler didn’t just want to sit in the garage and wait for their father to finish a bunch of things before having fun.

So you insisted that you were fine and were adamant on going to the track, ignoring the churning of your stomach, fogginess in your mind and how weak your body felt.

Toto wasn’t happy with your decision at all, your health was so much more important to him than any race that he had brought up not going himself but you had shot down that idea before he could even finish his sentence.

So he relented.

You were now on your way to the track, the car wasn’t doing anything good for your stomach, leaving you to lean your head against the window with your eyes closed as you took deep breaths through your nose.

What was meant to be the comforting touch of your husband rubbing his hand back and forth across your thigh wasn’t helping with the nausea you felt either because all you could think about was how similar the touch was to him rubbing his hand up and down your back as you threw up.

Jack was in the back babbling nonstop about how excited he was to see Lewis again and hopefully sit in the car and you loved your son so much but your head was so fuzzy that everything he was saying you were hearing three times and you couldn’t think straight.

"Mama?" His small voice called out and you could perfectly hear the undertone of excitement.

"Yeah, darling?" You slowly turned around in your seat so you could look at him, mustering up the biggest smile you could for him.

"Can we see Charles and Carlos, today?" He asked, face filled with hope.

"We can do whatever you want to do but remember they’ll be very busy preparing for the race so they might not have time to speak with you."

"Okay, and can we see Bono?" He asked.

"Yes," you smiled weakly.

"And Mick?"

"If you want to, yes."

"And Lando and Oscar too?"

"We’ll do whatever you want to do Jack."

"Well I want food before we see Lando," he said strong cause you to laugh.

"Yeah, we mustn’t forget about that," you agreed before turning back in your seat. Of all the days for your son to be riddled with energy, today was not really ideal but you suppose that’s what comes with being a parent.

You rested your head back against the window, looking out at the streets you passed, reaching out blindly your clasped your hand with Toto’s that hadn’t removed from its position on your leg, hoping his touch could help you feel even the slightest bit better.

Toto released a deep breath as he turned off the car and turned to look at you. You hadn’t even registered that you had arrived at the track, still staring out the window in a daze. "It’s not too late to turn around and go back to the hotel, we can go back to bed." He spoke up quietly, not wanting to startle her.

You shook your head and turned to him with a smile, "I’ll be fine, come on, jack’s getting antsy," you responded, hearing your son trying and failing to unfasten his seatbelt.

Your husband huffed in defeat and reluctantly got out the car, opening the door behind his to let Jack out, you heard him entertain his childish rambling and as soon as the door shut you took a second to take a deep breath before getting out yourself.

"Mummy’s not feeling today so it’s up to you to take care of her okay?" Toto whispered to his son, who was resting on his hip, so you couldn’t hear.

Jack frowned and looked to his father in concern for you. "She’s poorly?"

Toto nodded "She’s doesn’t feel well, are you going to keep an eye on her for me?" Jack nodded with a determined look on his face before wriggling for Toto to put him down.

"Mummy!" He ran around the car as soon as his feet his the ground so he could get to you.

"Yeah, baby?" You crouched down, surprised when he wrapped his arms around your neck in a hug.

"I don’t want to see Charles, Carlos or Lando today, can we just get food and stay in Papa’s office and watch the race from the garage?" He asked.

You looked at him in confusion at his sudden change, he was beyond excited earlier and whilst you were relieved at the change in what he wanted, you were surprised at how abruptly he didn’t want to go and see the other drivers anymore.

"Are you sure that’s what you want?" You asked, skeptical as he nodded confidently but you reluctantly agreed.

"Okay then," you grabbed his hand and Toto grabbed his other as the three of you made your way into the track, you ignored the worried eyes of your husband that kept flickering to you every few seconds, the pair of you ignored the fans and shouts of media reporters as you weren’t in the mood to feign happiness and Toto was just far too concerned about you.

You had hoped that as day went by you would start to feel better but if anything you felt worse, you had went to hospitality with Jack to get some food to take back to Toto’s office but the mixture of smells had sent you spiralling and you tried to get out of there as quick as possible.

You and Jack had been in Toto’s office for about an hour and you hadn’t seen your husband in about two.

Jack was being on his best behaviour though, you don’t know where his change in what he wanted to do today came from but he seemed content sitting on the floor with his snacks and watching the live recording of the track on your phone.

You had sat yourself down on Toto’s chair to try and relax a bit but your head was spinning so much and your vision was starting to blur.

"Jack?" You called out weakly, you had tried to sound as though everything was okay as to not worry him but it didn’t work that well.

"Mama?" Jack pulled himself up to his feet immediately, live broadcast long forgotten as he saw his mother even paler than you had been this morning and leaning against his father’s desk, a thin layer of perspiration on your skin.

"Can you go get Papa for me? Tell him I need him quickly." You told him, trying to smile at him but your body didn’t even have the energy for that.

Jack didn’t need to be told twice, he turned around and ran to find Toto, opening the door with so much force that it banged against the wall before closing half way again.

"Papa!"

The Mercedes team all looked away from what they were doing and turned towards the sound of Jack’s panicked voice followed by the sight of him running through the garage with a petrified look on his face, searching for his dad.

"Papa!" He pretty much screamed, fear overtaking his body knowing that something was really wrong with his mother right now and you were alone and he couldn’t find his father.

The Mercedes team were worried beyond belief as they took in just how scared Jack was and how desperate he sounded for Toto who wasn’t in the garage at the moment.

"Jack?" Lewis slowly approached the boy who was stood in the middle of the garage, looking all around him, tears welling up in his eyes when he couldn’t see his dad.

He looked at Lewis frantically. "Where’s Papa?" He demanded.

"I think he’s speaking to someone right now, are you okay?" Lewis crouched down in front of him.

Jack shook his head aggressively, "I need Papa, Mama needs him quickly!"

"Where’s your mama?" Lewis asked as worry filled him. "Show me where she is, maybe I can help her?"

But Jack shook his head "no, she needs Papa, she told me to get him quickly."

Lewis sighed but nodded, a bad feeling was settling have in his chest for you. "Okay, you stay right here and don’t move and I’m going to go and get your dad, okay?"

"You need to be quick!" Jack told him desperately.

"I’ll be as quick as I can." Lewis told him, giving a look to the team to keep an eye on him before turning and quite literally running out of the garage.

People stopped and watched in confusion as they saw Lewis Hamilton running through the pits, looking around frantically for someone.

It didn’t take him long to see Toto sticking out from the crowd, in the middle of an interview with Martin Brundle, he didn’t care that it was live and brutally interrupted the pair of them, grabbing Toto’s arm. "You need to come with me, now. It’s important."

Seeing the serious look in his driver’s eyes, a million scenarios swirled around in Toto’s mind. He didn’t even excuse himself from Martin knowing that Lewis wouldn’t just crash his interview for no reason.

What took him back more was the fact that his driver had started running back into the direction of their garage and Toto didn’t hesitate to follow.

He couldn’t imagine how this looked, Lewis running through the paddock frantically, crashing Toto’s live interview and the pair of them running back.

"What is wrong?" He huffed as they weaved in and out of the masses of people crowding in the pits.

Lewis kept his voice down as he explained, not wanting this to hit the internet from someone overhearing. "I have no idea, Jack was screaming in the middle of the garage, looking for you. He said Y/N needed you quickly so I tried to get him to tell me where she was but he wouldn’t, said she told him to get you as quick as he could, he looked terrified."

A deep sickening feeling settled into the pit of Toto’s stomach as he quickened his pace, he knew you weren’t well today and the multiple scenarios of what could possibly have happened scared him.

"Papa!" Jack yelled as soon as he saw his father enter the garage, running straight for Toto and diving into his legs. "Quickly! Mama said she needs you."

Toto picked Jack up and looked him in the eye. "You stay here with Lewis, okay? I’m going to go see Mama."

Jack nodded, suddenly a lot more calm now that his dad was here and didn’t complain when he was passed off to Lewis.

Toto quickly made his way to his office and as soon as he stood in the threshold of the doorway, his heart fell to his stomach as he lay his eyes upon you, unconscious on the floor by his desk.

He was by your side in a second, kneeling next to you as he rolled you onto your side and moved your hair from your face.

"Liebe?" He gently tapped the side of your face, trying to coerce you out of unconsciousness.

At no response, he pressed the back of his hand against your forehead, grimacing at the amount of heat he felt radiating from your body. Looking around his office, he saw a glass of ice water sitting on his desk, he grabbed the glass and dipped his hand inside before pressing it back against your forehead, hoping it would cool you down a bit.

"Schatz?" He tried to wake you again, this time successful as he heard a slight change in your breathing and saw your eyes moving beneath your lids.

"Y/N, you’re okay, take it easy." He continued speaking to try and coerce you more awake, smiling when he saw your eyes open.

You were confused to see your husband hovering above you, your mind was foggy and your body felt so heavy you couldn’t move your limbs.

Looking around, you found that you were lying on the floor causing your face to contort into confusion.

Turning back to Toto, you blinked up at him and upon seeing the questioning look on your face, he explained. "You fainted, and gave Jack quite the fright too."

Hearing Jack’s name, your body filled with worry and you tried to sit up but Toto’s hands on your shoulders encouraged you to lay back down. "He’s fine, he’s with Lewis."

"Need a drink," you told him causing him to look at the glass on the edge of his desk.

"I’ll get you a new one, I put my hand in that one to try and cool you down," he told you.

You shook your head, "it’s fine," you held out your hand for him to just give you the one on the desk, not really wanting him to leave at the minute.

Toto brought the glass to your lips, insisting on hosing it for you since your hands were shaky and he didn’t want you spilling it all over yourself. "Have you had anything to eat?"

You shook your head, the idea of food earlier had knocked you funny but you know you should probably eat something.

"I’ll get someone from hospitality to make you some toast," he told you, not really giving you the opportunity to refuse, not that you would have anyways. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, thank you." you replied, sitting yourself up to lean against his desk. It was as though passing out was what your body needed to recover because the fuzziness in your head had faded away, the hot flush all over your body was gone and your stomach was no longer churning anymore, it just felt empty.

"We should’ve stayed at the hotel," Toto repeated for what felt like the hundredth time today and you couldn’t even argue with him this time. "I know," you responded.

"Do you want to stay in here and rest while the race is happening? I can keep Jack with me."

You shook your head, "No, I want to watch it out there; I’ll be fine."

Toto sighed but nodded.

"Mama!" Jack ran away from Lewis and towards you as soon as he saw you and Toto leave his office, you smiled widely and crouched down for him to run into your arms despite Toto’s protests, knowing you still felt a bit weak.

"Hi, baby," you wrapped your arms around him tightly and rubbed a hand up and down his back.

"I got Papa just like you said," he spoke into your shoulder.

"I know, you did such a good job," you told him proudly.

Toto insisted that you stay near him whilst the race was happening, not willing for you to leave his sight incase anything else happened so you curled up on a chair beside him with Jack on your lap, the boy also not wanting to be far from you, with Toto’s large coat draped over the pair of you.

A plate of toast and a glass of water had been set in front of you next to the monitors and there was no way you could stomach all four slices so you and Jack split it.

The media had their speculations as to why Toto and Lewis had been rushing through the paddock but once they saw you snuggled up on the chair beside Toto, still very pale, they could guess what happened but they thought it was adorable seeing how the man would constantly glance away from the monitor to you and Jack to ensure you were okay, his hand stroking your hair away from your face every few minutes.

[takenbypeter]

A New Form Of Intimacy

Adam Warlock x reader

Words: 1946

Number 19: "you want to kiss me so bad."

Summary: First kiss with our favorite golden boy + bonus ending with Drax and Kraglin

Join my 1k shipping event

Adam knew better than to trust Drax with relationship business, especially after what happened the last time.

But Drax was the only one he knew that had had a long-lasting, loving relationship and if Adam was with you, that’s what he wanted too.

“You two have never kissed?” Drax asked, clearly surprised by the fact. The whole situation came to when Adam asked Drax about his favorite moments with his late wife Ovette. One of the stories Drax told was a tale about their first kiss.

“Wait, so this whole time you two have been together then, what have you been doing?”

Adam’s golden eyes looked around for a moment before his hands interlocked in his lap, “not that it’s really any of your business…but we cuddle.”

Drax’s lips quivered and Adam watched as he barely tried to contain his laughter as he bellowed out, “ahahahaha!” He shouted, causing Adam to glance at Kraglin confused before going back to Drax.

Adam would continue to explain how he would place his head on your chest every time and he’d hear your precious heartbeats, and although Adam believed this would prove how affectionate you two are, it really only proved Drax’s point further.

“The cuddling is actually quite tender,” Adam would finish as Drax’s fit would seem to be nearing its end. At least that’s what it seemed, but of course he immediately continued again.

Adam scrunched his brows as he turned his attention to Kraglin who was staring at Drax with an irritated expression before he shook his head and directed his attention to Adam.

“While cuddling is…sweet, Drax is right. Kissing is much more intimate and enjoyable for couples as the relationship continues on.”

Adam turned to Kraglin, now curious about the man, “so you’ve experienced it too?”

Kraglin looked a little taken back by the question as Drax now looked at him curiously waiting for an answer as well.

“Not recently…but you’d be surprised by my past. I was quite the ladies man”

Adam looked at Drax who just closed his eyes and shook his head. But Adam’s arms waved as he tried to regain focus to the main discussion, “okay so a kiss, what is it exactly?” Although he was made to be perfect he wasn’t really made for relationships, his sole purpose was to be a warlock, but that of course changed after all that had happened.

Drax answered his question this time, “it’s when your lips meet their lips.” Kraglin nodded before adding, “you gotta make sure the mood is right first.”

Drax scrunched his face in disgust, “mood? Forget mood, I say just go for it.”

Great now a new problem was added upon everything, should he create a mood or just go for it. While Adam sat there, pondering on all the information provided Kraglin added on one more rule, “oh but the most important thing is the other person has to want it too.”

Drax nodded at that, and Adam was content for a moment that they at least agreed on that, but still, what was he to do?

On the other side of Knowhere, you were pretty lax at the moment, having finished helping out for the day. It wasn’t everyday that you found nothing to do on the planet and no doubt something would come up soon enough. But for now you were going to curl up and relax at least that’s what you thought before a knock on your door interrupted.

Curious you peeked at the window to see who it could be and recognizing it to be your loving partner you head straight for the door. It was strange though you thought he was busy today, but you weren’t really complaining.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, opening the door allowing him to enter. Your tone was joyful but that meant nothing at the moment as Adam was fixed on his own thoughts.

“I’m sorry, are you busy right now? I can come later,” the sentence made your eyebrows come together as you recalled he would be the busy one, “no, I just thought you had plans all day.”

“Oh, right, of course! We took a little break, but we’re practically done anyway.”

“Awesome,” you replied. It was then that you’d noticed that he’d been standing in the center of your quarters. Typically when he arrived he would go straight for your bed, either sitting to reveal to you the details of his day, if not your bed he’d sit on your countertop. But instead he was just standing there.

While you had been expressing clear confusion, Adam on the other hand had suddenly begun to realize he was feeling that feeling again.

It was the feeling he felt when he was first around you, as well as the same feeling he felt when he first confessed to you.

He was anxious and his body was tense as he suddenly realized going with Drax’s, just do it plan, might not have been the best idea. There was always time to change his mind, but yet here he was already standing in your quarters.

“Why are you just standing there? Take a seat,” you chuckled pointing towards your bed. Adam shook his head with a hard shake.

You stared at the man for a moment before letting out an understandably perplexed “…okay.”

But with that you walked back over to him and stood across from him examining his face, “are you sure you’re okay? You’re acting strange.”

Adam stood there not even knowing how to even bring the topic up, he wondered if maybe he should set the mood like Kraglin suggested but then he shook his head getting rid of the idea again. He hated this feeling of being choked up, of course it only happens around you though.

You were beginning to get nervous now, whatever it was, clearly it was big if it had made him practically stuck in place. Whatever it was it seemed hard for him to express and you wanted to show him that you would be there for him no matter what. Because of that thought you raised a hand to cup his face, “hey whatever it is just tell me. It’ll be fine, you’ve got this.”

Adam leaned into your touch before releasing a breath that he had been holding. He decided he was just going to tell you everything.

“I talked to Drax and Kraglin and they believe kissing is essential in relationships and that we should be kissing.”

“Oh,” is what you let out, not expecting that at all.

Adam continued though, “they explained to me how intimate it is and now I feel like we should be kissing just as others do.”

“Oh,” you repeated, now curious about that idea.

“Is it true that Terran couples kiss?”

“It is.”

Adam’s golden eyes shifted to the floor while a crease formed between his eyebrows while he stood there.

He looked so troubled with the thought, this is why you haven’t brought it up. Frankly there have been moments where you wanted to grab his face and push your lips to his but you knew he came out of development earlier than he was supposed to, what if he wasn’t ready for this? You reached down, taking both his hands while gaining his focus with his expression shifting into a more relaxed one.

“But Adam we don’t have to listen to Drax or Kraglin, we don’t have to do it right now, every couple is different. We can take all the time you need.”

“Right of course.”

You two stayed there in the center of your room hand in hand gazing at each other. But Adam’s relaxed expression shifted once again, returning to an unsettled expression with his lips pressed together. His eyes dropped down to your hands as he squeezed them, his hands warm as he did so, and you noticed as his cheeks darkened.

You seemed to understand that notion.

“You want to kiss me so bad, don’t you?”

“So bad!” He breathed out, content that you knew him so well.

You let out a laugh, nodding your head, “okay then, if you’re ready so am I…you go.” You direct, feeling it only made sense since he was the one to bring it up. But Adam pointed to himself, his eyes widening, “me?”

“Yes you, who else?”

“Right of course,” he said shaking his head, his golden locks coming a little out of place.

You stood still waiting for the moment and Adam’s eyes gazed down to your lips, as if calculating how he was going to do this. After a moment of hesitation he leaned and as gentle as possible he connected to your lips.

You both stood there with no movement, just two lips pushed together. It was too short for you to react, because Adam quickly separated with an unsure expression on his face, “…Kraglin was right that is very intimate.”

“Yeah it is,” you added, plastering a smile that the golden boy quickly caught on to.

“What’s wrong?…Was it not good?”

His expressions ran hurt, as his eyes widened into that puppy dog look that he seemed to emulate so well.

“No. It was fine, it's just…here let me try something.”

Adam eyed you peculiarly as your hands reached up against his cheeks. Softly you brought his face down to yours and once again met his lips. As you did so your eyelids naturally closed and Adam followed. Your mouth interlocked with his perfectly and he followed your lead, moving his lips just as you were.

For a moment your hands briefly left his face as they went to land on his shoulders and began slowly trailing down them. You trailed his arms all the way to his hands that you considered quite delicate despite all the fighting that he’s done.

You guided his hands, placing them on your waist and then leaving them there to return back to his face. His hands held your waist so gently, as if you were fragile.

Together you stayed like that, matching each other's touch, not wanting the moment to end.

But of course it had to.

You gently pushed his chest separating from him and he looked at you curiously, “did I mess up again?”

You shook your head assuring he was fine, “no, you were perfect I just need some air,” you said, collecting your breaths.

It was at that moment that you realized that Adam could definitely hold his breath far longer than you could.

Adam watched until you collected yourself, before he leaned close again, only mere centimeters from your lips as if waiting for permission and all you could say while a smile appeared on your face again was, “what have I done?”

His golden lips captured yours for a moment before you split again, unable to stop that foolish grin that wouldn’t leave your face, “I’ve created a monster,” you added as he once again took your lips with his.

Bonus:

Adam is seen by Drax and Kraglin walking with his mind clearly in a daze as he passes with his steps light, practically bouncing with each step.

Kraglin turned to Drax, “we did that.”

Drax looked at Kraglin then turned around looking the complete opposite direction first before turning back, “did what?”

Kraglin motioned to where Adam was, “that! They’ve clearly kissed.”

Drax peered at Adam whose figure was in the distance now before turning back to Kraglin, “no, I don’t think so.”

“What? Are you kidding?! Did you see how happy he was?”

Drax shrugged, “I don’t think so.” He repeated leaving Kraglin flabbergasted.

-

Dialogue Prompts 2

[heartateasee]

“Five”

Word Count: 6.7k

(Part five of ‘Goodnight and Go’)

⋆★★⋆

*Three weeks until the wedding*

It's been a week since I've heard from Harry.

There's been no texts, no calls, and I haven't been over to Gwen's to help with anything more wedding wise, so I haven't seen him in person either.

I guess it's two-sided though that I haven't heard from him. I wasn't trying to text or call either, but that's because I felt like we both just needed space after what happened. As much as I've tried to wash the events of last week from my mind, they're there every single time I find myself just sitting around, or when I'm trying to go to sleep.

My mind won't let me forget the way that his lips felt against mine. How it felt to have my hips roll against his, and how his hands skated over my body like he couldn't get enough. It was everything I had ever wanted, and it was quickly tainted by one little slip up. One little word.

Him saying my sister's fucking name.

There's part of me that's almost thankful that it happened though. I know for a fact that if things had escalated any further that we both would have felt extremely guilty. If we had truly given ourselves over to each other, that moment would be ruined given the surrounding factors. Harry is a man that's engaged - he's getting married in three weeks. And overall, he's engaged to my sister.

I look back down at the sketch I was working at on the surface of my station at the shop. I've been trying to throw myself into work as a distraction, and for the most part it was working. I offered to work an additional day so that I wasn't at home by myself with my thoughts as much as I had been. Today was that additional day for me, and I was mostly taking care of any walk-ins that were coming through the shop.

My phone starts to ring next to me, and I look down to see Gwen's name on the screen. I swallow harshly as I lift the device up and stare at it. I knew that Harry hadn't possibly told her about what had happened, and the reason that I was so adamant about that was because I would've had an angry sister banging on my door no matter what time of day it would've been.

I click the answer button and bring my phone up to my ear. "Hi, Gwen."

"Hey Carter, how've you been? I haven't talked to you in a little bit."

"I'm, uh...I've been fine," I nibble on my bottom lip before continuing. "How about you? Getting everything finalized okay?"

"Yeah, actually. It's going a lot more smoothly than I anticipated given how close the big day is, but I'm not complaining," Gwen responds. "I was actually wondering if you'd be able to come by this evening - I'll grab us some dinner. I want to go over the seating chart one more time, and I'd like a second set of eyes for the schedule I have for the reception. I also need some help picking out my dress for the rehearsal dinner."

I press my tongue into the inside of my cheek as I think over her request. I couldn't hide from her forever, and I also didn't want her to get suspicious of me. I wasn't sure of the conversation her and Harry had after he left my apartment last week, but I can only assume that he calmed her down to the point where she didn't feel the need to be so worked up anymore.

"Yeah, I actually picked up working at the shop today, but I should be done around six. I can head over right after I'm finished up here?

"That sounds good. I'll see you then," Gwen speaks before hanging up the call, and I let out a deep breath through my lips as I set my phone back down on my table.

I have only an hour and a half of my shift left, so I turn my attention back to my sketch to try and work down my nerves as to what going to Gwen's later could bring. My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I tilt my head to the side, eyebrows narrowing as I try to get the small details of this sketch exactly right.

I don't even realize someone has approached my station until I feel a soft hand against my back - between my shoulderblades. Jumping slightly, I look up to see Alfie, and he's giving me a small smile.

"Hey," he says before he grabs the stool I sit on while tattooing, bringing it over so that he can sit down next to me. "Still working on this one?"

I've been working on this particular piece for the past couple of days, but that's because it was one of the more detailed ones I had been tasked with since starting to work on my own.

"Yeah, just trying to get everything right," I shrug, looking back to the sketch.

"It's looking great so far, Carter. You've come so far," he compliments me, and I feel him reach out to brush his knuckles along the side of my neck.

My eyes look up from my sketch again to stare at the wall in front of me when I feel his skin against mine. I knew that Alfie was trying to work up to something more between the two of us, and as much as I did enjoy flirting with him, I wasn't attracted to him in that way.

"Thanks," I clear my throat, my eyes finding him once more. "Did you need something?

"Uh, yeah, actually," he says, dropping his hand back into his lap. "I was wondering if I could maybe take you out on a date before the wedding. I know that right now everything has been on a friendship level with us, but I was really hoping to...I don't know. I would kind of like to see if this could go further."

I take a minute to gather my thoughts before I put my pencil down - turning to face him. "I've actually been meaning to talk to you about the wedding, Alfie. My mind has just been a bit everywhere this week so I kept forgetting."

"Okay, yeah, what's up?"

Looking down for a moment, I work up the courage to say the next words. "I think I just want to go to the wedding by myself."

It's silent between the two of us, and I give it a few more seconds before I look back up at him. His expression is one that I can't read - causing me to dig my fingertips into the denim covering my thigh.

"I promise that it's nothing against you personally. I've just been going through some stuff, and I feel like it's best if I just go and do that whole day alone," I try to explain as best as I can, but deep down I have to keep the real reason for not wanting him there.

It didn't feel right to bring a date after what happened between Harry and I. It was hard for me to think about being around anyone in such a setting, and I knew it would just be better if I was on my own.

"Y-you're sure I didn't do anything wrong?" Alfie asks, his eyes now growing with concern. "If I made you feel uncomfortable, I apologize, Carter. I never meant to overstep."

I shake my head, reaching out to place my hand over his for a moment - squeezing it before pulling it away. "Not at all, Alfie. This is just something that I've been thinking about, and for the both of us, I think it's just best if I go dateless, honestly."

Alfie frowns at my words, but he nods. "It's okay, I understand. If you end up changing your mind, please let me know. I'd still be more than happy to go with you."

"Yeah, I'll definitely let you know," I nod, sending him a weak smile. "Thank you for being so understanding."

I can tell he feels a bit awkward now that he had asked me on a date, and then I had revoked the actual 'date' that we did have planned. He smooths his hands over his thighs before he stands - pushing my stool back over towards its original position.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow," I tell him, and I stare at his retreating back as he walks back over to his own station.

As guilty as I feel about pulling the rug out from underneath him like that, it was necessary. I'm not in the right state of mind to try and act happy, and also have to entertain someone else on that day that's quickly approaching us. I wring my hands in my lap for a moment before looking back to my work.

⋆★★⋆

I stand in front of Gwen's door, giving myself an internal pep talk before I lift my fist to knock on her door. My eyes wander around her hallway before I hear the door open, and I look over to see my sister.

"Hey," she says, moving out of the way so I can step inside.

I'm immediately with boxes upon boxes, and I shrug off my jacket before looking over my shoulder at her. "You're moving?"

"Oh yeah, Harry and I got a house," she shrugs. "He didn't tell you when you saw him last week?"

"Nope," I say, shocking my head, making sure to pop the 'p' in the word. "But I think they had pregamed before I got to the bar so he was already kind of tipsy."

It was a lie, but I didn't want her to find it weird that he hadn't mentioned it to me. I didn't want to get him in trouble.

"Yeah," Gwen scoffs, shaking her head as she walks into the kitchen. "I can't believe how fucked up he got that night."

I slip my hands into the back pockets of my jeans as I lean my hip against the counter closest to her. "He was really okay for the most part, and I know he was super excited to have all of his closest friends in one place. He had a really good time, Gwen."

"No shit," she huffs, beginning to pull Indian food out of the paper bag on the counter. "Spent the night at yours, didn't he?"

I purse my lips to the side at her words, not knowing if she even really wants me to respond.

"Sorry," she sighs, shaking her head. "I know you were just looking out for him, and honestly, I'm glad he didn't pay that ridiculous Uber fee. I just got really nervous that something more had happened. Not with you or anything, but I know when you go out these days you don't tend to stay the whole time. I was scared that he lied about being at yours, and that he and the guys had gone somewhere else after the bar...I don't know."

Guilt gathers in my stomach at her words, and I hesitantly reach out a hand to place it on her shoulder. "Harry loves you, Gwen. Regardless of me still being there or not, I know that wouldn't have been how his night ended up."

Gwen lets out a heavy sigh as she nods, and I drop my hand away from her.

I wasn't lying, necessarily. He did love her. He made that very clear when her name escaped his mouth when I was on top of him when I was almost completely baring myself to him.

"I got you the chicken tikka masala that you like with the garlic naan, is that okay?"

"That's perfect. Thank you, Gweny," I tell her, taking the take out container and the foil wrapped naan from her as she hands them to me.

The nickname slips out before I can even think about it, but I try not to dwell as I walk over to her dining table. She collects her food as well before joining me, and we start to dig in as she lays out the table charts in front of us.

"Okay, so I was thinking about maybe switching these two tables around because-"

We're interrupted by the sound of her door opening, and I look over to see Harry walking inside. I quickly divert my eyes from him, looking back to the table charts.

"Oh, hi, baby," I hear Gwen coo, and Harry steps over to her. I can hear their kiss even though I'm not looking directly at them. "I didn't expect you so soon."

"I finished up early today," Harry says, and he moves into the kitchen. "The food smells great."

"Yours is that chana masala you had last time," Gwen says before turning back to me. "So, I was saying that I think I'm going to change these two tables because I didn't realize this one would be closer to the dancefloor. Since this table is just full of friends, I'm going to move them back so that family can be closer, what do you think?"

"That makes sense," I nod as I take a bite of my food, practically forcing it down with how bad my nerves are. My eyes scan over the wedding date table, and I see that Alfie is still there. "Uhm, we...we can take him away."

I reach out and point my finger to his name - keeping my eyes on paper after I speak.

"Alfie?" Gwen asks, and her tone shows surprise. "Why?"

"He's not coming anymore," I whisper, and I look past Gwen to see that Harry has stopped his motions in the kitchen, but his back is still to me. "I told him today that I'm just going to go alone."

My eyes look back to meet Gwen's, and her eyebrows are knitted together. "You're okay with just coming to the wedding alone?"

"Yeah, it's probably just better that way."

Gwen stares at me for a bit longer, but she doesn't speak on it anymore. "Okay, fine. It's not a big deal to take a chair away from the plus one table."

We rearrange a few more tables and finish up our dinner, Harry joining us at the table after a while, but I still don't look in his direction.

"Okay, I'm going to go try on my options for the rehearsal dinner. I'll be right back."

Gwen disposes of her trash from dinner before heading into her bedroom, and I stare at the scraps of the food I have leftover. I stand after a moment to gather my own trash and carry it over to the trash can. I can feel Harry's eyes on me, but I don't make any movement to look at him.

"Why did you cancel on Alfie?"

I stop what I'm doing when I hear him speak, but then I continue throwing my trash away and tidying up Gwen's kitchen for her. "It's for the best."

"Carter-"

"What?" I ask, my tone coming out harsh as I finally look over my shoulder to meet Harry's eyes. "All of a sudden you want me to go with him?"

Harry's eyes widen slightly at my outburst, and he looks over his shoulder at Gwen's bedroom door before looking back to me. "Can we...can we talk about this later? I'm sorry, I know I brought it up, but it's probably not smart to have this conversation here."

I roll my eyes as I shake my head, beginning to wipe down Gwen's counters to give myself something to do. "I really don't care whether we have this conversation or not."

I knew that my words were harsh, but I was angry. All of a sudden his tune had changed on me bringing Alfie as my date. Last week, and months prior, Harry was shitting on me for having anything to do with him, and now he was questioning me as to why I didn't want him as my date anymore.

The emotional whiplash was getting to be too much.

I hear Harry laugh bitterly behind me, and for the first time in my life, I feel anger rise in me when it comes to him. "Something funny?"

I turn around to lean against the counter with my arms crossed over my chest, and I see that Harry's eyes have already been on me.

"No," he shakes his head, continuing to eat his food, but for the most part he's just poking at it. "Nothing is fucking funny about this whole thing."

Saying that my heart and my mind are conflicted would be an understatement. I've never once found myself so angry, and honestly, disappointed in Harry. We used to shock people when we would tell them we've never had a fight between the two of us, but that's just how we usually are. There's nothing to fight over. We just work.

I open my mouth to ask what he means, but I hear Gwen's bedroom door opening.

My eyes quickly look over to her, and I push myself off the counter - dropping my arms to my sides. "Oh, wow," I breathe, looking over the white gown she has on.

It has a bit of a metallic sheen to it, and it fits her frame so perfectly.

"What do you think?" Gwen asks, setting her hands on her hips. "The other one isn't as flashy as this one, but I don't know. This one is just speaking to me."

"I think this one is great, Gwen," I'm not lying. The dress looks like it was made for her.

"Harry?" Gwen asks, but I keep my eyes on my sister as she waits for his response.

"Yeah, 's pretty. You look beautiful," Harry says, and I do my best to keep my expression neutral with his words.

"Well, if you guys think this is the one, I'm not even going to bother trying on the other. I'll just return it," Gwen shrugs as she looks down at the dress.

For a moment, I look between Harry and Gwen before I speak up. "I'm going to go ahead and head home. I'm pretty tired."

Gwen gives me a nod. "Okay, thanks for coming over on such short notice. I really do appreciate it."

"Not a problem," I shake my head, sending her a soft smile. "I'll see you guys later."

I collect my jacket and my purse before heading towards the door. My eyes glance over to Harry, and I know I have to say something. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye Carter."

Again - he didn't even look at me.

Once I'm out of her apartment, I wait for that feeling of tension to release, but it never comes. I know it's because at this point, my anxiety stems beyond just being around Gwen when she's so stressed about the wedding. The events of last week have been on replay in my head, and as much as I enjoyed what happened before Harry's slip-up, it was so wrong.

I make it to my car that was parked on the street, and I start back towards my apartment.

All I wanted to do was take a hot shower and collapse on the couch to rot away while watching reruns of shitty reality television.

The drive back to my apartment was one of those where you wonder how you even got home. I had zoned out the entire time due to all the thoughts rushing through my mind. I was getting to the point where I just wanted to feel empty. I wanted to shut off my emotions until after the wedding because that would just be easier for everyone.

Now I'm stepping out of the shower, fixing my hair that I had pulled into a bun since I didn't have to wash it tonight before slipping into my pajamas. I push my glasses onto the bridge of my nose, and I head into my kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge before I settle myself down on the couch.

As I reach into my fridge to grab a can of soda water, I hear a knock on the door. I straighten up, eyebrows narrowing as I set my can down on the coffee table before heading towards it. I look out my peephole, and I see Harry standing there. His hands are in the pockets of his jacket, and he's looking down at his feet.

Almost every single part of me just wants to ignore him. I don't want to let him in because I really don't want to face the reality of what's going to come of our conversation. I know that's why he's here. I know he wants to talk.

I close my eyes for a moment, focusing on taking in a deep breath before I undo my locks and open the door. Harry looks up from his feet, our eyes hold one another's for a moment before I move out of the doorway to let him in. He steps inside, and I close the door behind him.

He stands awkwardly not too far from where I am, and I clear my throat. "You can take your jacket and shoes off if you want. You don't have to just stand there."

I walk away from him to sit down on the couch, and I grab my drink. I crack it open before taking a couple of sips as Harry moves around - doing what I've told him. Instead of sitting down on the couch next to me, he sits in the chair that's next to it. I try not to let that sting, but I also understand why he did it.

Selfishly, there was a part of me that thought the moment he stepped into the apartment, he'd have his hands on my face, and his lips against mine once again. The way I yearned for it was humiliating, but that didn't happen. I knew it wasn't going to happen, and it shouldn't happen.

"I know that you said you didn't care about whether or not we had a conversation about everything, but I feel like we need to," Harry speaks up first, and I look down to realize that I'm just in a cropped tank top and some sleep shorts - having not expected any company.

I grab the blanket that was sitting next to me on the couch, and I drape it over myself so that I'm not so exposed in front of him before I respond. "Okay, yeah. I know it needs to happen...I'm just a little scared of what the outcome is going to be. I think that's why I don't want to really talk."

Harry finally looks up from his hands to look at me, and he shakes his head. "Regardless of what happened, Carter, I still meant what I said about not wanting to lose you. I don't know what I would do if you and I weren't as close anymore."

"I don't know if that's the smartest thing for us these days, Harry," I sigh, my own head mimicking the actions of his. "Last week proved that things have just gotten so complicated between the two of us, and I really don't know how much more I can take."

"Can we just start with what happened, and then we can go from there?"

I nod, fiddling with my fingers underneath the blanket as my nervousness grows. "I-I'm sorry for kissing you," my voice is barely above a whisper as I stare down at my lap. "It was wrong, and I think the alcohol played into it a lot. I didn't mean to put you in this position."

"Carter," Harry's voice is almost demanding, and I look up to see him already looking at me. "I kissed you back. You can't put all of this on yourself, okay? We kissed each other. I didn't just kiss you, and you didn't just kiss me."

It goes silent between the two of us for a bit before Harry starts to speak again. "Can I just...can I talk for a little bit, and you just listen? There's a lot that I feel like I need to say."

"Yeah," I nod, pushing my glasses up since they had fallen a bit. "Yeah, of course, H."

Harry sucks in deep breath, one that's more than audible to me as he leans forward in the chair. His forearms are resting on the tops of his legs, and I watch as his hands tremble as he goes to interlock his fingers. The trembling only gets worse, and I sit up on the couch a bit - worry coming over me.

"Harry, are you-"

"I was selfish the other night because I used to be in love with you, Carter."

I hear his words, but I continue to blankly stare at him as I try to process them. Once they register, I feel tears gathering in my waterline as the weight of them starts to settle in my chest.

He used to be in love with me.

"W-what do you mean? Why didn't you ever-"

"I never said anything because I didn't think you reciprocated my feelings, and I was scared of losing you," Harry says, spinning one of his rings around his fingers over and over again. "And then after that one formal, when you separated yourself from me for a couple of weeks, that just sealed it. You didn't feel the same. I knew that you ran away because of how intimate me holding you felt, and I knew I scared you off.

"But god, I didn't stop loving you. I tried. I tried so fucking hard by dating all those girls that last year of college, but none of them compared to you."

Tears start to stream down my cheeks, and I wring my blanket in my hands. He loved me, and I knew I loved him at the time, and I fucked it up by being scared.

"When I moved in with you guys the summer after college, I thought that maybe things would've changed - that maybe you would've realized that you felt the same way too, but it didn't happen. And I...I knew Gwen was interested in me," Harry's tone lowers a bit as he continues to speak. "She had flirted openly a few times whenever you weren't around, and one night when you were out with Kieran, we made out."

I close my eyes as I bit down on my bottom lip to keep it from wobbling. Their relationship had started in the house, right under my nose, and neither of them thought to tell me.

"It never went further than that when I was still living there. I had more respect for your parents than to do that under their roof - more respect for you," Harry continues. "But once I was moved out, that's when I finally asked her out on a date."

"Yeah, I know," I say quietly, sniffling softly as I wipe some of the tears off my face. "You didn't even tell me. She did."

Harry looks up at me, holding my eyes as he opens his mouth to speak again. "I was hoping it would spark something in you, and that you would maybe realize you did feel the way I felt."

The silence that blankets over us becomes deafening quite quickly. For the first time, I saw Harry in a negative light. A borderline manipulative light.

"You used my sister to try to get me to have feelings for you?" I ask, no fluctuation to my voice.

"It was fucked up, Carter," he runs his hands over his face, covering his eyes, and I hear him sniff loudly before he continues. "I know that it was so wrong of me to do."

He drops his hands, and I can see that he's also crying now.

"But then I did end up falling for Gwen, and I fell hard. She kept me on my toes. She was so outgoing, and charismatic. I grew more and more attracted to her with every date we went on, and I...I just knew then. I knew she was going to be the one."

"And Gwen? Does she know any of this?"

Harry shakes his head as he picks at his cuticles. "I never told her about my feelings for you. I've never told anyone until now."

Swallowing harshly, I look away from him - pressing my tongue against the inside of my cheek as I think of what to possibly say next.

"And now?" I clear my throat as I stare out one of my windows so that I don't have to look at Harry. "Your feelings about me...what are they?"

"I still love you, Carter. I love you so much," Harry speaks, and I close my eyes. I know what's coming next. "But I don't love you like that anymore. The love I have for you now is strictly based on our friendship. Gwen is it for me."

I nod in response to his words, and I lift both my hands to take my glasses off. I set them in my lap as I wipe over my cheeks, but I don't know why I'm bothering to - the tears just keep flowing.

This could be my chance to tell him everything. He had been open and vulnerable with me, and I know that he would allow me to be the same with him.

But I can't.

I can't confess my love for him when I know it won't be reciprocated. I would just be hurting myself, and him, by having to say that I did love him the way he loved me. That I still love him in that way, but it would all just be out there for me to get shot down. Right now, I can't handle that. I don't think I'll ever be able to.

"Well, thank you for telling me," I choke out, trying to sound strong but my voice cracking betrays me. A soft sob escapes my mouth before I'm burying my face into my hands.

I hear shuffling around, and soon I feel one of Harry's hands on my knees over the blanket - the other on my back. "I...I'm sorry for bringing this up now. I didn't think it would upset you so much."

My guilt starts up again as I can't be honest with him as to why I'm so upset. I'll have to just lie like I've been doing all these years.

"I'm just upset for what I've done to Gwen," I fabricate. "She'll never talk to me again when she finds out."

Harry's hand rubs up and down my back, and he gives my knee a squeeze. "I'm not going to tell her. I know that it's wrong, but I won't be the one to say anything. You don't have to either, and we can just put it behind us. We were drunk, like you said, and I let past emotions influence how far it got."

I nod in response, lifting my head up to look over at him. "It's been a while since anyone has kissed me, or put their hands on me like that, so I think it was just...comfort."

More lies.

It wasn't a lie that I hadn't had human contact like that in a while, but I definitely didn't allow it to continue out of comfort. I allowed it to continue because I wanted him.

"I just don't want to lose you," he whispers, and I lick over my bottom lip.

"Harry, I don't know if there's a way to get past this," I tell him - my heart cracking in my chest as I do so. "I think this is a sign that we do have to separate ourselves from each other. Not entirely, but...it needs to happen."

Harry looks down at the space floor between his knees and the couch where he's currently kneeled, and he nods. "I guess you're right."

His hands leave me, and I immediately feel so much colder without his touch.

"I-I think you should go," I whisper, choking down a whimper as I do so.

Harry doesn't look at me again as he pushes himself off the ground and gathers his jacket, slipping back into his shoes. "I'm sorry, Carter."

I hesitate before answering, and I think he doesn't expect me to as he opens the door to leave, but I give him what I can right now. "I know."

He pauses for a moment before he continues his way out. After a few seconds, I push myself off the couch to redo my locks, and then I'm sitting right back down - trying to process everything I had just been told.

Part of me is relieved at the fact that I now know that sharing my feelings won't change anything. That spares me, and a lot of other people, the hurt of that conversation happening. But my mind reels at what could have been between Harry and I if I had just known he did feel the same way then.

This whole thing has made me realize that change is necessary, even further than just separating myself from Harry, and I needed to figure that change out soon.

⋆★★⋆

I'm currently sitting in my car outside of the restaurant where we're having the rehearsal dinner tonight. My hands are still loosely gripping the wheel as I stare at the middle of it. I had been more than beside myself these past few weeks since Harry's confession. We haven't spoken, again, neither of us were trying to reach out. I think he was giving me space, and I was avoiding hurting myself even further than I already have.

Gwen and Harry just moved into their house last week, and I purposefully picked up two extra shifts at the shop so that I wouldn't be able to help them. I couldn't be there to watch all the things that I've seen Harry accrue throughout the years be put into a place that he would be sharing with someone else - potentially somewhere that they would be staying for several years, if not forever. I didn't want to see the things I had become so used to seeing on his walls being on a set of different ones.

Being there, and seeing both him and Gwen actually moving in together would've been awful for me. I know the wedding is going to completely break me, and I didn't need to already start putting the cracks in place by seeing how happy they would've been putting their things together under one roof.

I hadn't told my mother about Alfie no longer joining me at the wedding, and I wasn't sure if Gwen had. But I hadn't told anyone about the biggest change that I've made over these last few days. I intend on telling them all tonight, and then maybe I can start moving on from all of this.

Finding it in myself, I get out of my car and head into the restaurant - curling my peacoat around myself given how much it had cooled down considering it was now early December. I walk up to the hostess stand to let them know that I'm here for the 'Adams-Styles' wedding party, and she nods before beginning to guide me through the large dining room.

She opens two large doors that lead to a room off the main dining room, and I can see that my parents, Gwen and Harry are already inside with a few of the bridesmaids. I approach the area where they're standing, and I see my father immediately turn his attention to me.

"Hi pumpkin," he says, walking forward to wrap his arms around me, and he plants a kiss against the top of my head. "You look beautiful tonight."

"Thanks," I whisper, my chest expanding as I take in a deep breath.

He gives me a big squeeze before releasing me, and I move along to approach Harry, my mother and Gwen. "Carter, you're a little late, aren't you?"

Of course my mother is the first to speak up, but I keep myself composed, and I send her a soft smile. "Sorry, I've been working a lot these past few weeks. Time is just slipping away a little bit."

Gwen's face remains unchanged, but Harry looks up from his glass of tequila to meet my eyes for just a moment before looking away.

"Yeah, didn't you know? That's why she wasn't able to help us move," Gwen says, and I hear a bitterness to her tone.

"We were okay with who we had," Harry speaks up, and I divert my eyes from all of them.

"I'm going to go and get a drink," I whisper, walking away from the three of them.

I ask the bartender for a Moscow Mule, and a shot of Casamigos which I quickly down before remaining against the wall by the bar. My eyes remain on my feet until I feel a small nudge of a shoulder against my own. I look up to see Gavin, and I send him a soft smile.

"You okay?"

Pursing my lips to the side, I shake my head as I look back down to my drink. "Not really, but I'll be okay."

I look back over to Gavin as he nods, taking a sip of his own drink. "I apologize if I'm overstepping, but I never really heard you talk about your sister before. I'm gathering that the two of you don't get along very well?"

"Sometimes we do," I respond, taking a sip of my drink. "Most of the time we don't."

"And you're not the happiest about her and Harry being together?"

"No comment, Gavin."

He gives me a playful smirk, and I can't help but to return it. I'm sure he's been around both Harry and Gwen when I haven't, and I'm almost positive he's seen the way my sister can be.

There's an announcement that dinner is being served, and I head over to the main table to sit down. Once again I'm across from Harry with the bridesmaids on each side of me, the parents on both sides of the bride and groom.

Dinner is being served, and casual conversation is happening before my mother speaks up. "Carter, where's Alfie?"

Our table consisted of the plus ones being sat with the bridal party, and of course Alfie wasn't here.

"Oh, uhm, he's not coming with me anymore," I push my food around my plate, moving my eyes down so I'm no longer making eye contact with anyone.

"How come?"

My mother continues to push, and I drop my hands into my lap to clench my fists under the table. "It just didn't work out, okay?"

I can feel so many eyes on me at this moment, and I decide to work it to my advantage.

"I also wanted you guys to know that I'm moving."

Harry's head shoots up out of the corner of my eye, and I can see that everyone is now staring at me.

"You're what?" Gwen asks, and I look over to see her brows furrowed.

"Yeah, I'm moving. A couple cities over, about two hours away, " I nod. "I already have a job lined up at a tattoo studio there, and I've already put down a deposit on an apartment."

"Well good you for you, Carter," my father lifts his glass, and I smile over at him.

Everyone else follows suit, and we cheers, but I didn't expect it to be this much of a spectacle.

I keep to myself for the rest of the dinner, barely eating my food, but definitely consuming the alcohol in front of me to get through everything.

Once the dinner is over, Gwen announces that we're going to head over to the venue to run through the ceremony. I made the decision to not drink a lot here tonight, so I only had two cocktails and a shot. I feel fine to drive, and I'm glad I made that choice because I don't want to ride with anyone else.

I just want to be alone.

⋆★★⋆

A/N:

Yeah...sorry about his one.

A bit shorter than the rest of the chapters, but this one flows right into the next one.

See you on Wednesday for the last part!

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Hello, how are you?, if your request is open, you could write about Miguelito who is afraid to kiss you and end up hurting you because of his fangs (little does he know what reader (she is also a spider woman, she loves him in every way mostly your animalistic or arachnid side ) a little sexual tension please, of course if you feel comfortable, thank you.

Hehehehe this was a unique ask so I had to play around with it. But I hope you like it 💖💖💖

Regresa a mí

You were swinging your way across Nueva York when you spotted him. He was gliding through the sky, his outfit making him look menacing even in daylight but for you it was the perfect time to strike. You had known him since before his days as the vigilante he was now, with his fangs and claws. When he was a genetic scientist sitting down in his cubicle given his large frame, his head would peak over the separator. You knew him well because long ago you had been his colleague, sharing pleasant smiles as you passed by each other in the corridor but the night everything changed for Miguel, it changed your life too.

You had loved him then, secretly, and when you heard of the plot his father had conspired to have him killed, you knew you had to get him to safety. So you ran, putting aside all your work and folders as the only goal that circled through your mind now was to find him.

He was there, working after hours and you breathed a sigh of relief as he sat there hunched over his computer typing in his data from today’s results.

“Miguel.”, you called for him in hushed tones as you rushed to him.

“Miguel, you need to leave now.”, you placed your hand on his shoulder, turning him to face you against his wish.

“I’ve still got work to finish.”, he said, muttering your name in frustration.

“I don’t care, you’ve got to go, your father…”, you felt a sting rise up your arm.

“Your father…”, you tried to speak but your words began to slur, the world around you began to blur. Turning your wrist, you saw a robotic spider scurry away from your arm in it’s back an empty vial which contained a liquid you knew well about. The one you had worked on, a kind of poison that affects your neuro system.

You collapsed but he had caught you in his arms, frustration now replaced with worry as his tapped your cheek, saying your name like a plea for you to tell him what was wrong. But you couldn’t, you could only watch as he winced when he got stung in the neck by a similar bug.

However, Miguel was the only one with the target on his back, you were just collateral damage. As your paralyzed form laid on the floor, you witnessed him getting dragged away, when the words you wanted to tell him died in your mouth.

You should not have survived, he shouldn’t have either but somehow he did and in turn, he had come back for you as you were gasping for air faintly, holding on for whatever reason you weren't sure of.

The memories from that night were hazy but you remembered the distinct warmth of his touch as he plugged you to a system, the concern in his eyes as he placed an oxygen mask over your face and the words, the words that you could never forget as they repeated over and over in your mind every night since then.

“regresa a mí.”, he said as he caressed your cheek and the will to live only grew stronger.

You breathed into whatever concoction he had made and it burned your lungs, the antidote shot through your system making you blackout. When you woke up, your world was different, you had powers from a mutation that had occurred, making you the first recruit to his elite society.

But now, now you were rivals. Everyday a competition to see who bests the other. You shared similar traits with him, your mutation had cause you to develop claws along with other qualities a spider person would have. He was unfortunate, to not have spider sense or the ability to climb walls, which always made you think you were better and that made him adamant to prove you otherwise.

So now as he was right above you, you pressed down on the button on your wrist to spin your web around his ankles, once secured, you yanked on it and watched as he began to fall under your control.

“Argh”, you heard him grunt with annoyance.

“Should have known I would bump into you.”, he grumbled but you could sense the smirk with which he said it.

But before you could react, he tore free from your clutches using the blades on his arm and in turn got a hold of you.

He swung through the skyscrapers as he held you onto his side, his hand resting securely on your waist. He didn’t let you go, the eyes on his mask widening upon realizing how close you were.

But time had slowed, off late he’d been wanting to thank you, for trying to save him when no one did. The world around him had begun to blur and for the first time he wanted to pause, to remove your mask and hold your face in his hand.

“Sorry Miguel, but I don’t need a romantic tour of the city.”, he heard you speak as you slipped from his hold, to fall straight into the traffic below.

“It’s not romantic.”, he yelled after you as you timed your fall, to pull up at the right time to skim over passing cars. Turning to look over your shoulders, you smiled as you spotted him following you.

“It sure felt like it.”, you laughed wanting to annoy him further.

You swung past your milestone point, a deli around the corner , it was only a few more blocks away from your checkpoint, to have won against him in this agility race once again. You propelled yourself higher as you passed through decorative steel rings just to flex on how well you knew your way around the city.

“How does it feel to lose every single day?”, you asked him only to see him use all his limbs as he chased you down, his claws scrapping against the brick façade. His muscles contracting and expanding that for a second you had forgotten about everything else.

“It's only because you’ve got an advantage, you're more agile.”, he huffed.

“So you do agree, that I’m better than you.”, your focus on the race had wavered upon hearing the defeat in his voice.

All you’ve ever craved for was to hear the sound of your name on his lips, said with an edge of pride to it, keeping up this rivalry made it fun, to get him feel flustered over you.

But while you were distracted, he had managed to gain an edge over you as he used the base of a signage to swing higher, now closer to the finish line than you were.

You let out a curse as you bit down on your lip, your weakness for him was evident. Always distracted when he entered a room, your eyes always searching for him, your heart pegged on every word he said. Your feelings were the same since that night and his were too, he didn’t regard you any differently than before and therefore what he had said was only adding to the confusion.

Why were you important to him that he wanted you back?

You weren’t going to let him win, that meant the only time he spent around you, indulging in these games would grow lesser and lesser until one day he would all together end up forgetting you.

Being held in his gaze when you frustrated him meant you lived in his thoughts, atleast for a second.

So you swung into him as his back faced you, your momentum knocking him and you to the ground as you crashed onto the roof of a hotel. Your checkpoint. He was the first to rise as you coughed, clutching your side.

The fun in the tone of his voice had vanished, now it only held worry as he said your name in hurried breaths.

“Are you hurt?”, he carried you.

“Why do you have to be so reckless?”, he fussed over you.

“Always putting yourself at risk.”, he cribbed as he checked your hands and you let him, because moments like these where the only time he got close to you.

His mask disintegrated and his face came into view, you gasped, it had been so long since you had seen the brown of his eyes, the faint cut on his forehead from when he got hurt in his lab when you were around to place a bandage over it, still remembering the smell of his shampoo as you leaned in.

Harbouring these memories seemed to be more cruel than whatever this mutation was. Because it meant you had to spend all your time around him while never getting to touch him.

“I’m fine, Miguel.”, you brushed away his hand, suddenly not feeling the mischief from before because now it had only begun to hurt.

You got up to walk away but he didn’t let you, his hand caught your wrist and you wanted to break free, to bury him in the past, to move on and yet you were tied to his life. You and him were of the same kind, the only spiders to have these odd mutations. You made sense when you were with him. You weren’t an unique entity anymore, when you stood my him, you were mirror images, sharing the same struggle and pain.

“There, you won today.”, you mumbled not wanting to look at him.

He reeled you to him, till you tumbled into his arms as he caught you, his eyes searching your masked face, annoyed that he couldn’t see you.

So in this privacy of the corner behind the maintenance area, in the cool shadow the wall cast over you both, shielding you from the city’s gaze, you felt the soft touch of his finger at the base of your neck. He fiddled with the ends of your hair that had managed to stick out, his gaze now lost as though he had dreamed of this. Your motivation to run was now forgotten, your body now comfortable in his hold because you had longed for it, for his love, even before you had both become freaks.

He hooked his index finger under the elastic of your mask and slowly peeled it away, his eyes drinking in the details of your face, the colour of your skin, the shape of your lips, the slant of your nose, the rise of your cheeks as though he was seeing you for the first time. He froze when his eyes met yours, the last time you were this close was when you telling him to go home. You looked away but he placed his fingers on your cheek, to tilt you to look at him, to hold his gaze, because in your eyes there existed a version of him, that wore a lab coat and enjoyed ordinary existence.

That’s why he couldn’t be around you, you were all he had, a connection to a past that was lost and yet you were also half of him. He had used half of his antidote on you, to safe you from the fate of the poison, to get you back. And since then he had been a coward, avoiding you or indulging in competitive play just so he could be in the periphery of your life. Because the man you had cared for didn’t exist anymore, the scientist who you worked with wasn’t him anymore.

He leaned in towards you but he caught himself. He had seen you at one of the office parties, he hid in the corner along with you and in the mesmerizing light of the mirroball, he had wanted to kiss but instead he downed his drink and looked away. Now, he turned away from you, now if he tried, he would only end up hurting you.

“I’ve never won. I’ve only lost it all.”, he said and it caught you, unsure if he was even talking of the race or the pain of the past.

You wanted to touch his cheek, pristine in this light, he looked solid and beautiful, but you held back. Your claws didn’t respond to your command yet. A small distraction and they would dig into anything you held. You couldn’t leave him with further scars. So you sighed, as you slumped in his arms, both of you caught in a silence that seemed heavy.

“regresa a mí.”, you said and his eyes flashed to yours.

“What does it mean?”, you asked even though you knew what it meant. You wanted to hear him say it, you wanted to know why he said it.

“Where did you hear it?”, he asked as he sat down with you on him.

You caught his gaze. Why were you both lying?

“You said it.”, you furrowed your brows in confusion. Maybe all this while you had gotten it wrong. He could have just said it for the sake of it and here you were being a fool.

“You still remember it?”, he gave in, giving you a bemused look.

“When it plagues my dreams, how can I not?”, you turned to see the top of the shimmering towers to hide the blush in your cheeks.

“Why did you say it?”, you asked, not wanting to wait any longer.

He tilted his head back, to rest it on the wall behind him. A sad smile spreading across his face as he began to reminisce.

“You bumped into me in the corridor and my coffee splashed all over your coat. Yet you got me a refill with your number written on the side. You could have danced away the night at that office party and yet you chose to stand by me. And that night…”, he closed his eyes as he sighed and you knew the ache he felt. It was why it felt soothing to be by his side. You shared a sadness that only in each other’s company did it have a possibility to turn into happiness.

“You could have gone home. You could have left me to my fate. Instead here you are, suffering the cost of trying to warn me.”, his eyes slowly found yours.

“Why?”, he asked softly that the tone of his voice was a dagger to your heart.

“Why did you ask for me to come back to you?”, you answered it with a question. Only if he told you the truth first.

“Because you and I are the same. We are the same kind and without you… without out you, I don’t make sense.”, he said it in an urgency almost as if it had been pent up all these years.

“Now why didn’t you go home that night?”, he held you by your shoulders.

“Why did you have to risk your life to save mine?”, he shook you and you couldn’t keep it together longer.

“I had to. I couldn’t lose you.”, you responded but he didn’t seem satisfied with it.

“No, why did you do it?”, he edged closer as though this particular question had kept him up at night.

“Because I loved you.”, your eyes were fixed on his, not wanting to shy away anymore.

“And as stupid as it sounds, I still do. You, you’re the other half of me. That catastrophic night has tied us together forever and I can’t seem to leave you behind.”, you admitted crumbling into his arms, tucking your head under his chin as if you would loved to just be frozen here.

“But it’s cruel and unfair. We’re a forbidden match.”, he whispered as he placed his lips onto the top of your head.

“Because I can’t touch you?”, you asked and felt the depth of his sigh.

“Because I can’t kiss you.”, he said.

“You’ve never tried to.”, you told him as you pushed away from him to find his gaze.

“And have you?”, he asked.

“Yes.”, you smiled sheepishly.

“Whenever you weren’t looking at me.”, you said quietly to watch his eyes soften.

He took your hands in his and slowly raised it up to his cheek as you fought his hold.

“No, Miguel, stop.”, you panicked, you could feel your claws beginning to protract. To scratch the surface of his skin but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“The trick to dealing with claws is…”, he paused, your hand secure in his as it hovered over his cheek.

“is to forget you have them.”, he said it as he held your gaze and as you calmed down, you began to forget, about the claws, about the past, about everything else. You drowned into the thick brown clay of his eyes and gasped as you felt the soft skin of his cheek under your fingers for the first time, your claws weren’t there anymore. He reveled in the warmth of your fingers as he leaned into it and you leaned closer to him.

But the closer you got, the more he froze.

“Claws aren’t the same as fangs.”, he tried to hold you away but you held both his wrists in your hands and gently pinned them to the side. He could have used his entire force to stop you but he didn’t. He didn’t, because he wanted to be proved wrong.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”, he said quietly as he closed his eyes.

“The beauty of being the same spider species is that”, you paused, to hover over his lips as he exhaled ragged breaths.

“I’m immune to your venom.”, you whispered as you kissed him and you couldn’t hold him down anymore. The moment his hands broke free, they were everywhere, in your hair, up your thighs, behind your waist.

You felt the sharp tip of his fang as your tongue traced over it and it only seemed to fuel him more. Your claws hadn’t emerged and so you sunk your hand into the ends on his hair. He picked you up, to place you on the floor to get on top of you as he never let go of your lips, he made you breathless that the moment you pulled away you gasped for air, he placed kisses on the length of your neck to run the tip of his nose under your jaw to tilt your face, to expose the underside of it to cover it with the impression of his lips.

The edges of his teeth traced the surface of your skin sending a shock through your system when you heard him hum, as your claws scratched his back, his suit protecting him from getting hurt.

“You’re the only woman for me.”, he laughed against your skin, murmuring words in spanish adoring you as he continued to let his lips roam. His hands gathering all your hair in his hands as he held you firm against his chest.

“Hmm enough talking.”, you mumbled pulling him by the width of his neck to you and that was all he needed, for his eyes to turn into slits as his lips found yours again, his tongue nudging the corner of your mouth to deepen the kiss as you forgot about the world around you.

There was no sign of tragedy here anymore.

[cherrynwinehorror]

Any fluffy smutty with sub Adam x reader? :)

🍒: Sorry if it's long, I have a habit of going into too much detail, I hope it's not boring

Tired day ~ Adam

Story g: fluff/nsfw

⚠️: suggestive, sex, mention of tobacco

Character: Adam Faulkner-Stanheight from Saw

Reader g: female reader

📝: All the content is fictitious and an attempt is made to adapt the personality of the character

🍒: Hello, writing requests are always open, if you want something in particular, ask without fear. I clarify that English is not my main language, I apologize for any error and accept corrections to improve the quality of the content

Master List

You were walking towards the old building where your boyfriend lived, in your hand hung a bag with Chinese food from that restaurant in the center of the city. It was Friday afternoon and Adam had called you in the morning to make a simple date with you, have dinner in his small apartment, watch some rental movies and sleep.

You entered the apartment with the help of your spare keys that Adam had given you, you didn't live together but he trusted you enough to give you complete freedom to enter and leave his only home.

Adam wasn't home yet, he was working on photographing a man who was cheating to his wife, and he just had to leave at specific times because of what he had mentioned to you a few days ago when he called you at night, so he still It wasn't time for him to be back home, you still decided to arrive earlier so you could clean up the mess you were sure he would make.

And you were right, trash on the floor, cigarette butts everywhere, ashtrays full of ash, clothes scattered on the couch and the middle table, his bed was messy. You tried to tidy up as best you could and turned on the TV while you waited for Adam to arrive.

Soon you could hear the keys being inserted into the lock of the front door and you saw him enter, looking tired with small bags under his eyes, his shoulders were slumped eagerly waiting to get rid of the backpack, and his CD player in his hand.

He looked at you and immediately he removed the headphones from his ears and walked towards you.

"Hey baby"

He greeted you while taking your cheeks with both hands and planting a kiss on your lips, as if seeing you would make that mode of sending everything to hell he was in disappear. Instead, his face drew such a tender smile, he separated from you and went to his dark room to leave his camera.

He sat next to you on the couch for dinner, you had just ordered his favorite, he was hungry and seeing that you had greeted him with a kiss and his favorite food made him feel like he was in paradise.

He had had a very exhausting day, from waiting for the blessed doctor to leave his work shift, and following him for a few more hours, what bothered him the most was finding a way to go unnoticed and not be caught invading someone's privacy.

His feet hurt from walking and waiting, his eyes were tired from the lens of his camera. In addition, he had only had breakfast very early in the morning and not having consumed any food all day had given him an unbearable headache.

But right now he didn't feel the need to complain about how he felt, or that he'd had a bad day. Being with you had made him forget about everything that had happened that day, and he felt so grateful that you had that impact on him. He had missed you so much all week, he was excited to see you again and you were the second thing on his mind, after him working so he could obviously get paid.

After finishing eating, he just stood with one arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. You offered him a fortune cookie that is usually given as a courtesy in Chinese restaurants.

"I don't believe in that stuff baby", so you opened that cookie yourself

"You will have an unforgettable night today"

You just returned to your place on his chest, letting the smell of cigarettes from his shirt pass through your nostrils. His head rested on the back of the couch and you could see that he was tense with fatigue.

"Do you want me to massage your neck?"

You offered to make him feel better and Adam would never say no to your touch, he loved how soft and delicate your hands were. You sat on the back of the couch right behind him and began to apply pressure to his shoulders and neck, he immediately began to relax. Thanks to the relief he felt, he closed his eyes to enjoy the touch. With this, small gasps of satisfaction came out of his mouth. Thanks to the sounds your cheeks turned pink and hot

Although you never admitted it out of pity, Adam was too handsome, that even any gesture from him made you nervous, especially when he had one of his hands on you, on your waist, on your thighs, around your shoulders, and even every time that approached your forehead to plant a kiss

You laughed lightly because of the nerves his panting caused you.

"You like it when I make noises huh!?"

And Adam, what was handsome about him was arrogant, he didn't fully know what he provoked in you, but he did like to joke about it.

"Come here"

Adam took you down from the couch to sit on his leg, he took you by the cheek to bring you closer to him and began to kiss you slowly, as time passed he increased the intensity of the kiss, beginning to look for his tongue to enter your mouth and you will let him explore. Taking you by the back of your neck to bring your face closer to his, with his other hand he squeezed your hip making you sit astride him. Adam began to gently massage your ass as he continued to kiss you.

You began to feel how his erection was growing more and more under you, and Adam began to feel the discomfort of the zipper of his jeans, lifting you up a little to be able to unbutton his pants, thus leaving his penis only covered by his black boxers. . Still kissing you, he put his hands under your shirt, gently caressing your waist and abdomen until he reached your chest, squeezing one of your breasts over your bra.

"Pretty, I need you too much," he said as he began to leave wet kisses along your neck, stealing a small moan from you.

Adam lifted your shirt, leaving you only with your bra on. His kisses began to go down the middle of your breasts, leaving a path to your stomach, and he returned to kiss your lips. He took you by the waist, lifting your body and laying you down on the couch.

Adam removed his own shirt and approached your neck again, positioning himself between your legs and began to rub his erection against your center, both of you still dressed. You couldn't stop the small sounds from your mouth

Fed up with things not rushing you grabbed Adam's jeans ~to pull them down~ by the sides making a wrap sound. Adam separated from you

"Oh yeah, I forgot" from his pocket he took out one of your favorite candy/chocolate, and this boy couldn't be that sweet. Every time you met, he would bring you some candy, plushie or anything he thought you would like, and today he was no exception. You couldn't help but smile and pulled him towards you again to kiss him.

This time Adam was in charge of taking off your jeans and panties and also taking off his own along with his boxers, and at the same time looking for a condom in the table drawer that was next to the couch.

He quickly opened and you snatched the condom to put it on him yourself. Once positioned correctly he pushed you to lie down, he began to kiss you again as the tip of his member sought your entrance.

He began to enter you and you reacted to the touch.

"Are you ok?"

You nodded and Adam continued entering you, once he hit bottom he waited for you to get used to the sensation, meanwhile he removed a few strands of hair from your forehead and combed them back. When you told him to move, he kissed your forehead and began to move his hips gently.

You could look at his face, how he kept his eyes closed in pleasure, his lips slightly open and exhaling agitatedly through his mouth. Sometimes he would look at you, making sure you were comfortable and in turn he would direct his gaze to the point where you were joined.

His thrusts were getting faster, his left hand resting on the couch creased the leather, while his right hand squeezed your thigh, keeping you firm as he pushed into you.

It felt so good, Adam was a normal size but a little thicker than usual, yet he knew how to move and knew where you liked to be touched, it wasn't the first time you two had sex, and Adam was always attentive to the places that made you react when he touched you

He could tell when you were close to your limit, he was still about to cum, so he let go of your thigh and placed two fingers on your clitoris, making circles and stimulating the area, that made your stomach get much hotter and the knot in your belly fell apart, Adam released himself inside the condom, your fluids being the only ones that soaked both.

He plopped down next to you and pulled you to lay your head on his chest, kissing your forehead. Staring at the ceiling as he tried to catch his breath.

Adam took a fortune cookie on the table in the center and opened it.

"The person next to you is the right one"

[kfaem]

Happy Birthday

Pairing: Zayne x MC (Luna Do)

warnings: written on mobile, suggestive, fluff, an intoxicated mc, fem!mc, so very unedited

everyone in this fic are over the legal age and are both consenting adults

summary: zayne suprises his loving girlfriend with a dinner and a promise for more on her birthday

guess who’s 19 fuckers!!! i apologize for disappearing again lol. ive been tired. anyway have a self indulgent zayne x mc fic that im writing on my phone tired and maybe a bit inebriated. also am not doing anything bad underage, im canadian lol.

Luna sighed, stretching and letting out a way-too-loud groan when her body crunched. She hung up her bag, kicked off her shoes, and lazily hung up her jacket. So tired from a long day of work and socializing, she hadn’t realized there was a wonderful scent that filled her and her boyfriend’s apartment.

“I’m home!” Luna called out, Zayne made a sound of acknowledgment from what sounded like the kitchen. “What’s up?” she found her way to him, eyes growing wide as she realized he made every one of her favourite dishes. “What is all this for?”

He turned his head to her for a moment, eyebrow quirked up. “It seems a certain someone has forgotten what day it is.”

“Mm, it’s not our anniversary, so I guess I did forget.”

His lip twitched up as he turned off the burner, taking the last pot off of the stove before mixing the noodles and sauce together. “Did you really manage to forget your birthday?”

She blinked, eyes shooting over to the calendar on the fridge. Indeed, circled with a bright red sharpie, was her birthday. Preceding it was a bunch of red X marks. “Shit, how’d I manage that?”

“I suppose I should book you in for an appointment with the psychologist if you’re already forgetting something so important.” Luna rolled her eyes, swatting at his arm. “Though now is not the time to worry about such things, I can only assume that you haven’t eaten today.”

And he was absolutely right about that. Luna’s stomach rumbled at his teasing, his rich man laugh made her blush. “Well, I shouldn’t keep the birthday girl waiting, should I?”

Conversing over wine and dinner, the night carried on. Time passed so quickly that neither of them had realized just how many times they filled their cups.

Luna looked at Zayne with a certain glint in her eye, the shimmer casting a smirk on his face as he understood what she was wanting. “Is everything alright, my love?” Zayne’s voice lowered, the reddish hue on her cheeks deepened.

“Hm, I can’t help but think there’s something missing, what’s a birthday without the gift?” she stood from her chain, sauntering over to him. Zayne pushed his chair out a bit, welcoming her onto his lap.

“Ms. Do, I’m not entirely certain what you’re trying to imply here.” She straddled him, his hands landing on her hips. “I might need some… instruction.” He finished with a pause, Adam’s apple bobbing as her eyes flicked over his face.

Luna leaned in, placing a tantalizing kiss of the edge of his lips. “I have the day off tomorrow, if you understand what I mean.”

“Shit.” He groaned. Zayne closed the gap between them, pulling her into a searing hot kiss. “You’ll be the death of me.” Zayne whispered into her ear. Leaving a gentle peck where his words left.

“Til death do us part, and then beyond.” She responded absently. “This… is the best birthday present.”

He smiled, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “Would you like to take this to the bedroom?”

[ughgoaway]

so so obsessed with dilf matty and teacher reader!!!! totally not the right time of year, but imagining the nativity play (extremely british primary school behaviour), matty literally not paying attention to any of the bits annie isn't in because he's too busy looking at reader standing at the side directing the kids and cheering them on lol <3

I'm actually so excited that other people like this au, I'm so obsessed with it so I'm glad that obsession is spreading!!

(once again, no proofreading here. just vibes)

oh, I'm not normally an early Christmas person but this is such a sweet idea. Matty knew the nativity was coming up and was silently desperate for her to get a good role. Well, he was silent to Annie, he didn't want to pressure her but he was definitely not silent to the other people in his life.

“But George what if she's cast as like ‘piece of hay’?? I can't have my baby be a piece of hay??” he complains to George in the studio as they are sat behind the mixing board. George sighs and takes his headphones fully off, knowing this isn't going to be a short conversation.

“Matty. She isn't going to be cast as a piece of hay. And if for some unknown reason, she is, she'll be the cutest piece of hay ever okay? You know what's not so cute? When Daddy doesn't finish his album on time and suddenly little Annie has no house. So can we please do some work? George says exasperatedly, but still slightly smiling at his best friend's dramatics.

“Right. Yes. smart.” Matty says and spins his chair back to the desk. 10 seconds of silence pass until Matty gasps dramatically.

“What?” George says looking at him confused.

“What if she gets cast as a pig or something? I can't have my baby dress up as a pig.” matty says, leaning back and staring into the distance on the brink of a crisis.

George just sighs and pats his shoulder.

///////

Anyway, the day the kids actually find out their roles Matty completely forgets and isn't picking Annie up today, Adam is. (perhaps little Hann is in the same school but a different class??) But Matty is in the kitchen washing dishes when he hears the door shut and his daughter's voice shouting out. 

“DADDY!! DADDY WHERE ARE YOU?” Annie says running in the door and furiously trying to take off her coat, shoes and backpack.

“I'm just in the kitchen sweetheart, are you okay? Do you need a hand taking off your shoes?” Matty says walking into the hallway with a tea towel over his shoulder and pink rubber gloves on. Annie had just gotten her first shoes with buckles, insisting she was grown up enough for them, so Matty has to help sometimes when she can't quite get them on or off.

“No, but Daddy guess what!! I'm the star!!” Annie says running up to Matty and staring up at him, bouncing on the spot with excitement.

Matty pauses and looks at her questioningly for a second, wondering if this is a reference to a show he hasn't seen. He doesn't think so, he's quite up to date on paw patrol and he doesn't remember any stars in that. But suddenly it clicks and he gets almost as excited as her.

“No way Annie!! You're the north star??” he asks picking her up. He notices her grumpy scrunched-up face and tilts his head questioningly at her.

“Daddy, I know you're excited but your gloves are wet and it feels icky on my back,” she says trying to wriggle out of his arms. Matty quickly puts her down and apologises and they walk into the kitchen together as Annie babbles on.

“So I am the star, which miss y/n said was a very important role, and I get to do my own song and everything!! It'll be like when you do a show, Daddy!!”

Matty at that moment has to fight every instinct in his body to not start aggressively sobbing at the idea his daughter wants to be like him in any way. He takes a shaky breath and gathers himself enough to respond to her. 

“Wow darling that's amazing! I'm so proud of you! I'll help you learn all your lines for the show and we can invite whoever you want to come and see you, hmm?”

Annie nods and then pulls her “thinking face” (her forehead scrunches and she taps her chin with her finger, it is one of Matty's favourite faces she pulls.) 

“I think I just want you Daddy, too many people will make me nervous,” she says looking at Matty as if she's asking for his approval.

Matty's heart once again swells at the fact that she wants him there at all, He is about to say yes when Annie pipes in once more.

“Oh, can nanny come?? I know she lives far away but I want her to see me be a star!!” she says excitedly.

Matty thinks for a second, considering whether his mum will be able to come down. Then he promptly remembers even if she was busy, she would become un-busy very quickly. “Anything for little Annie!” she’d always say. 

So Matty tells Annie he will ask nanny if she can come. By this point in time, they've been speaking about one topic for 5 minutes, so Annie is bored out of her mind and wants to run off and play.

She tells Matty as such and he watches her run off, his little star.

/////

the night of the play Annie is still at the school, having not come home at the usual time so they could do one final run-through before parents arrived.

Matty and Denise are both dressed and ready to leave the house, "right Matthew have you got the keys?" Denise asked as they stood outside the door just about to shut it.

matty sighs, slightly exasperated with his mum's constant doting.

"yes mum I've got-" he starts patting down his trousers, "oh wait. no, I don't. Two secs" Matty says jogging into the house, whilst Denise nods to herself and tries to hide the grin on her face.

the two of them ride together to the nativity, buzzing with energy. mostly to see Annie… maybe a tiny bit to see you.

all the other parents were on a rota to help the kids practice, but Matty was too busy with tour prep to sign up. Not only did that mean he didn't get to see Annie, but he didn't get to see you directing all the kids.

he already told himself not to stare too hard at you tonight, knowing he'd need the mental reminder because otherwise, he'd miss the whole play.

as he walks in Matty immediately scans the room, he looks out to the sea of excited parents. secretly he thinks, "Yeah your kids are fine, but mine is literally the star of the show."

During his scan, Matty spots the one thing he was really looking for, you. Standing in the corner, chatting and laughing with parents, was you. Matty stared for just a few seconds, completely enamoured with your smile.

An announcement came ringing out that the show was starting so parents took their seats and you walked to the front of the stage.

Matty watched as you looked over the crowd as people settled, the two of you locked eyes quickly. You lift your hand and wave, Matty does the same and the smile on his face grows.

Little does he know Denise is next to him, studying this interaction and looking curiously at the pure joy on her son's face.

You somehow manage to pull your eyes away from Matty and start speaking, “Hello family and friends! Welcome to our nativity play! We've all been working so hard on this play, as many of you know, so I hope you enjoy it! Without further adieu, please prepare to watch the annual *school name* nativity!”

The play begins and Matty settles into his chair to watch the kids. And he does. For about 5 min but he can feel his eyes drifting to you off the side of the stage.

How can his attention not be pulled when you're looking like that? You stand there, and the stage lights illuminate your face in what Matty thinks is the most beautiful way. Your simple green dress falls to your mid shin, and Matty stares at the way the neckline shows off your collarbones. But most of all, it's the beaming smile on your face.

A wide grin spreads over your cheeks, and your eyes glow as you look at the kids. every once in a while, your smile falters, but only because you are absentmindedly mouthing along with their lines. Every time a child's eyes fall on you, you beam and give them a thumbs up. Soon, your hand slides up to your chest, and you hold your hand over your heart as you watch the kids you love so much perform on stage.

He can't keep his eyes off of you, the clear love exuding from you emits such a glow mattys eyes can't help but be drawn to you. But soon he hears a little vice he knows all too well come out on stage.

As soon as he sees her, his eyes well up and his hand shoots up over his mouth as he looks out. Annie in her star costume will be burned into his mind forever, her cubby pink cheeks sticking out of the hole as she smiles and sings might just be the cutest thing Matty has ever seen.

Annie does her song and says her lines perfectly, and Matty feels such a deep sense of pride that he's never felt before. As soon as she's off he turns to his mum only to be met with her already looking at him, tears in her eyes also. They smile and exchange a quick hug before realising it's the final song and everyone is back on stage.

Matty focuses on Annie 99% of the time but his eyes can't help but flick over to you every once in a while. The pride Matty is feeling for Annie you are feeling too, just 30x over. He can see the film of tears over your eyes, the way they shimmer in the light is doing very little to hide your emotions.

The play ends and raucous applause and cheers come from the crowd, Matty stands up and other parents follow suit. He watches Annie's eyes flow over the room, desperate to find him, and they light up when they do. She smiles so wide you can see her missing tooth at the back of her mouth. She waves furiously at Matty and Denise and bounces to get off the stage and see them.

Matty and Denise wait out on the playground, Matty with a cigarette in hand despite his mum's scolding. 

“DADDY! NANNY!” Matty immediately turns to the voice and doesn't get too much warning until a small star comes shooting into his arms. 

“Woah!! Hey little superstar! You were amazing up there!!” Matty says before pressing kisses all over her face. She giggles the whole time and both Matty and Denise can't hide their smiles at her laughter.

As soon as Matty finishes Annie starts chattering away to Denise all about her role and how she had to learn lines, Matty was paying attention until he saw you walk out in his periphery.

He watches you chat with parents and soon gets lost, just staring at you. Until he feels Annie being taken out of his arms, then his attention is definitely back as his head shoots around just to see Denise grabbing her. 

“Go on love, go talk to y-” she catches herself before she says your real name in front of Annie, “Miss y/n. I'm sure she wants to talk to you too” She shoots him a wink and begins chatting with Annie.

He nods dumbly and walks over, catching you just as you finish your conversation.

“Matty! Hi!” you say, clearly shocked at his presence.

“Hi! Sorry to come and bother you, but I just wanted to say how great the nativity was. You did an amazing job with them all. Sorry I couldn't help during the week, but I'm sure the play was better off without me!”

You laugh and lightly slap Matty's shoulder, “Don't worry, you're crazy busy being a rockstar. We managed to survive without your acting tips.” you tease. Before your eyes flick behind him briefly, “although we probably could used your mum, the famous Denise Welch? The kids would been on Waterloo Road in no time” you finish with a cheeky smile.

Matty smiles back and is going to retort but before he can Annie shows up, grabbing his hand and dragging him away, saying something about his promise to get fish and chips after the show.

He smiles apologetically at you, and you wave his apology off before actually waving goodbye. A wave he dumbly imitates as he gets dragged by his 5-year-old.

blurb masterlist here!!

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Let's talk about Shoma today...

A first defeat in 1,5 years...but Shoma looks in good spirits and his comments are not speaking of disappointments. So if Shoma is happy, I am happy. 🥰

This program is just beautiful. Can't wait to see it without the mistakes in the beginning. Admittedly Shoma looked a bit out of it after the fall and that probably messed up his timing for the 4F. Afterwards it was a captivating performance.

If there is one thing I am disappointed,it's that Shoma yet again has a skate with only two combinations... Shoma really that's not it...😅 And maybe I am a tad disappointed that I am not super thrilled about his costumes...

But on the positive side Shoma did 4T3T in both of his programs, which didn't happen last season at all, so that's a step forward. 👏 (And let's not forget the 105 SP from yesterday)

I think Shoma did both this competition. Proof he is still the world champion and going against him won't be easy with that glaring almost perfect SP but also that he is not unbeatable. Both is exactly were I think his standing is. Shoma is one of the veterans going up against the youngsters and imo he is still the front runner no matter today's 2nd place. Because no matter Shoma's approach this season or if he personally doesn't care as much for the results, if Shoma delivers this free skate to its full capacity, he will be the one to win. Shoma today left a jarring 25 points in TES alone on the table if we add the base value of the jumps he didn't do. And that doesn't even include StSq 2, the negative GOEs for the q on the 4T, the fall and the positive GOEs he can get with his quads. We could add about 10 points more he left on the table with GOEs alone and we haven't even touched the PCS. Add that up and his score would be at 209+ for the FS. And that's not even the 5 quad layout he had last season. So Shoma is still the Gold contender he was before he lost to Adam today. So I am not worried, the only way is up now. 🔥

All in all we should not forget that this is Shoma's latest ever start to a season and that it's rare for him to bring everything on the table at first start (barring that 2017 Lombardia Trophy) he always paced himself from competition to competition to deliver better and better. But ofc that also lead here to a disadvantage bc he didn't know how he would be perceived by judges and someone like Adam had the 5th competition of the season and though he didn't start perfect either, he is at a different phase of the season than Shoma. That's not to excuse Shoma's mistakes bc it's his own decision to start late, but it's still a fact.

The ice was a huge problem from start to finish for the skaters so we cannot emphasis enough what a difficult circumstance this was and how it affected skaters. Again not an excuse just a fact. That makes Adam's free and Shoma's SP even more admirable.

Last but not least let's emphasize one thing: I am not delusional, Shoma may never get his free skate together to top Adam's scores, he may lose again to Adam, maybe Ilia but this is Shoma's 9th senior season even 10th if you count his first senior comp 4CC 2015, he has won everything besides Olympic Gold, that he is still here to skate and compete is admirable! We can be happy about every competition he shows up! Everything that he will win now is an extra! And Shoma is advocating for his juniors, he praised Adam and noticed him before many others even considered him for the top spots! Shoma likes to have competition, Shoma likes to be the challenger, Shoma is happy if the sport continues to have great skaters bc he knows he won't compete forever. There is a new generation of skaters and Shoma is happy to see them thrive.

Ofc I want Shoma to win, ofc I want him to not get defeated like today. But I don't consider Shoma losing the end, not even the end of Shoma's career, because dare you underestimate that he can keep up with them, but I am happy to see there is a continuation with new great skaters.

[zoros-bandana]

a scenario where y/n finds out she's pregnant and avoids zoro out of fear of his reaction

Positive 

(Part 1)(Part 2)

SFW

Warning: mention of pregnancy, mention of fear of terminated pregnancy, yelling

Summary: Feeling nauseous on the ocean wasn’t something common for you. So when those two lines showed clear everything made sense; but maybe not so much for Zoro. 

Word Count: 2,200

   You sat on the edge of the bath, staring down at the test in your hand. It was the fourth one you had taken; just to be sure. And each one showed the same thing.

“Positive…” you mumbled to yourself, carefully analysing the results compared to the other tests. Two solid blue lines haunting you right in the face.

There was no mistake to it; you were pregnant. 

   You scooped up the results into your jumper, tucking them inside to conceal them as you made your exit out of the bathroom. You were aware how easy words spread through the ship; everyone living in such a confined space. You wanted to keep this hidden even for a little while; wanting to keep the news between just you and your baby.

You wanted to let it sink in.

You were going to become a mother.

Quickly making your way back to the girls room you scrambled to hide the tests somewhere. Your eyes flickered around the room anxious to find somewhere to conceal your secret; at least for now. You opened up one of the pillow cases on your bed, easily shoving them in as you plopped it back; forgetting about your new little secret. 

   Shutting the door of the girls room you listened out as footsteps approached your way; knowing instantly from the heaviness who it was. You swore under your breath, Zoro’s footsteps growing louder. You weren't good at hiding secrets, especially from Zoro, and any chance there was to be around him threatened to blow your cover. You couldn't let that happen. Not yet. Not when you were so adamant about his response. You knew we would be angry.

Attempting to get away quickly you turned, heading away from the sound of his footsteps. 

“There you are”

   You paused at Zoro’s voice, his footsteps heavy as he made his way over to you. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere” he slid his arms around your waist, holding them over your stomach. His thumb caressed over your shirt, paranoia overtaking your body; making you feel lightheaded. “I wanted to see if you’d come nap with me”. 

   You wiggled your way out of his grip, not wishing him to hold over where you child sat; not wishing him to find out. “I’m a little busy… maybe another time” you scuttled away from him, quickening your pace. 

“(Y/n)?” He called out, making you stop, his hand on your arm to keep from moving. “I promised Usopp I’d help him” you lied, hoping he wouldn’t ask any questions. You were a terrible liar and Zoro knew that well. He was also very dismissive of questions when he was tired, and lucky for you today was one of those days. Letting go of your arm he let you slip away from him, running away before you had a chance to open your mouth. 

   The guilt of ignoring Zoro eventually got the better of you as the day went on; fuelling your nerves. Eventually you caved, disheartened avoiding him for most of the day, finding him sprawled out up in the crows nest after another gruelling workout. He sat shirtless, a layer of sweat drenching his entire body, his back up against the wall. You couldn't help but admire him like this, seeing him so exasperated and flushed from the heat. Only reminding yourself upon how you ended up pregnant in the first place. His eye lit up upon seeing you enter the crows nest, pleased to finally see you again. 

“Finally finished helping Usopp?”

“Oh” you blushed, forgetting your horrible excuse earlier in the day “yeah I thought I would come and see you; see how your day is” 

   You plopped down next to him, letting him wrap a sweaty arm around your waist to hold you close. As he began to list off his day you stiffened, the encouraging urge to tell him overcoming you. You fisted your hands, closing your eyes tight, focusing on anything you could to stop from speaking. You zoned out of his conversation, your mind fluttering over what you knew, telling yourself not to say a word. To not tell him anything about the-

“Baby”

“Baby? Who said anything about a baby?” You snapped, your voice quick, tripping over your words. Your eyes shot open, looking over at him in fear, hoping he didn’t say what you thought you heard. 

   He furrowed his brow at you, confused at your rushed response, totally ignorant of what he was saying. “I didn’t say anything about a baby, (y/n)… I called you baby”. 

   You looked away from him, embarrassed of your response, his hand moving to rest on your leg. 

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah” you lied “just a little… tired”

“You do look a little ill…”

“I haven’t been feeling too well today”

“Maybe you should go see Chopper?” he insisted, his hands gripping your shoulders to look at you better, noticing your appearance better. You struggled to make eye contact, darting your eyes anywhere but to him; afraid he would know if you looked at him directly. 

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea, actually…” you agreed, knowing this would give you some space. 

“I’ll come with you”

“No” you scrambled up to your feet, slowly backing away from him “it’s fine really, he will only bore you with information... I probably just need to rest”

"Come rest with me"

"No! It's fine! I'll go get checked out first..."

“(Y/n)?” 

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure everything is okay? You know you can tell me anything?”

“Yeah I know; everything is okay”

“Okay, I’ll see you at meal time?”

“Yeah” you nodded, quickly spinning around to make your way out of the crows nest. 

   Once meal time came around you cautiously made your way to the kitchen, keeping as quiet and unseen as possible. You wedged through Franky and Usopp, plate of food in hand, giving yourself a barrier to hide from Zoro at the table. Zoro sat across the table from you, situated between Nami and Luffy, cautiously watching you. “Are you feeling better?” he asked, taking a long sip from his beer. 

“Yep” you refused to look in his direction, knowing there was a chance you would crack if you did. 

“Wait? (Y/n) wasn’t feeling well?” Chopper piped up, his voice high and shrill. “Why didn’t you come and see me?”

“I thought she did?” Zoro questioned, confused at more erratic behaviour. 

“I forgot” you mumbled, blushing at another terrible lie. 

“That doesn’t sound like you…” Robin chimed in “what’s going on, (y/n)?”

“Nothing’s going on!” You looked down at your plate, wishing they would switch the topic to something else. Anything else to keep from question you. The burden of having attention on you felt like a weight of bricks; crushing you to release your secret to them all. 

   Thankfully you didn’t have to wait long before Luffy and Usopp started to cause a scene to your left, alleviating the attention to their foolish behaviour. The rest of the crew laughed and carried on about their meal, leaving you to sit in your secret for a little while longer. 

   You sat in silence for some of the meal, cautiously occupying yourself with food to keep from talking to those around you. A flicker of orange let your eyes finally look up, watching the navigator as she reached for a bottle of wine. Nami reached over the table, the bottle tipped towards your glass; ready to fill. You beat her to it, quickly placing your hand flat over the lip. “I’m okay, Nami”. 

   She scoffed, confusion sunk into her brow as she stood back up straight. Your eyes flickered away from her, knowing she would make some snarky comment; your habits being very unlike yourself. It was unusual for you not to drink at meal time and Nami picked up on your unusual queue instantly.

“What, is this because you’re sick? You’re not pregnant or something are you?” She snickered, her lips curling into a wicked smirk. 

   You sheepishly lowered your hand down from your glass, hiding it under the table; your hands clamped tight in your lap. Your face washed over in a bright flush; warming your face. There was an unnerving banging of your heartbeat that rattled in your ears, your body tingling in a numb panic. You could feel the whole room turn quiet, their eyes flickering over to you before landing on Zoro. 

“She’s not pregnant!” Zoro snapped, annoyed at the red-heads comment “she would have told me if she was”. His eye fell onto you to confirm his remark “isn’t that right, (y/n)?”. 

   Your hands began to shake, tears quickly welling in your eyes as you heard his voice; unable to confirm his question. A wave of terror washed over you, suddenly realised he now knew. That everyone knew. And telling him about your secret was now out of your control. You shut your eyes tight to stop the tears from spilling; your lip trembling loose whimpers. 

“Oh my god” you heard the navigator exclaim, the attention now shifting back to you. You opened your eyes, looking over at Zoro, apologies spilling from your lips; embarrassed he found out this way. 

“Zoro, I’m so sorry I wanted to tell you” you tried to ignore the hurt on his face, his body tense and overwhelmed.

Shaking, he stood up, wobbling around with his hands out on the table to keep his balance; his face going white. You tried to apologise again but it was useless, his mind fogging over as he collected what he just heard. He just stood there shaking his head, his face screwed up tight. Hastily he stormed out of the kitchen, his heavy footsteps dragging behind him, ignoring Luffy’s call of his name. 

   You got up, clumsily running after him out onto the deck, quickly snapping your head around to find him. You noticed a large flash of green to your left, leaning against the side of the ship; making you way over to him. 

“Zoro, I’m sorry!” You repeated “please just let me talk to you”

 He was silent. 

“Zoro? Please at least talk to me!”

“Did you even want to tell me?”

“Of course I did!”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I just didn’t know how you were going to react”

“How I was going to react?” He screamed, finally looking over at you “how did you think I was going to fucking react, (y/n)! This is huge! You’re pregnant with my child!”

   You stepped backwards, his words scaring you, knowing this was exactly what you wished to avoid. You didn’t want a fight. Your sight began to blur over in a haze as you shook your head, tears streaming down your cheeks. Panic instantly soaked it’s way to your bones, chilling you in a layer of fear. You were aware of the difference you both shared on what you wanted in your future; your sight fixed on wanting children and a family. Wanting it with him. However, any time you wished to talk about these wants he would change the subject, excusing himself as not ready or not a fan of children. 

“No, no, no, no, no, I don’t want to do this Zoro! I can’t fight with you!” your voice broke down into a cry “I can’t change what happened and I don’t regret falling pregnant with you! I love you and I always wanted a family with you! You know how much I wanted to be a mother! Don’t act like this was unavoidable when you said it yourself that you-”

   Your words cut short as his body crushed you, loosing your train of thought. He scooped you up into his arms, squeezing you tight, his lips muffled into your neck, smiling.

“I’m going to be a dad”. 

   You whimpered out, confused, letting him hold you for a while. His body was relaxed and warm, no longer holding any uncertainty or fear as he did before. 

He seemed content. 

He seemed happy. 

   He continued to smile against your skin, alien to you, his ecstatic happiness beyond what you thought would happen. You expected to fight. You expected him to tell you to rid of the baby. You expected him to wish to break up with you. You never expected this. You never expected him to want this as much as you did. 

“You’re happy?” You mumbled, looking up at him. 

“Of course I am” he broke away, holding your face in his hands “I’ve never been happier”

“But I-” 

“How long have you known?”

“I found out this morning”

“Is that why you have been acting weird?”

“I thought you would freak out or reject this! You have never opened up about the idea of kids. I didn’t think you wanted to have kids… especially with me”

“No!” He stroked at your cheek “I would never reject you or our child” 

   Leaning down he gently pecked your lips, the smile never fading from his face. “It’s true I’m not a fan of children but this is different. This is our child. This is with you”. He smiled, tears welling in his eyes as he let out a small laugh “I’ve always thought about this; having a family with you. I never thought that was something I wanted until I found you. I never wanted to talk about it because I feared I would never get to see this day or see our child. I didn’t wish to share something that might never happen to me or to us”

   Pulling you in once again he held you much more carefully, resting his lips against your head. Your arms snaked around him, holding him close, relieved he wasn’t mad at you. Relieved he wasn’t mad at your baby. 

“But we did it. We’re going to have a baby together, (y/n)!” he sniffled “we’re going to have our own family”

[muslimintp-1999-girl]

I finished the 1st book in the Shatter Me series so here's some of my highlighted lines from it :

I always wonder about raindrops. I wonder about how they’re always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end.

I’ve been screaming for years and no one has ever heard me.

No one is ever close enough.

I only know now that the scientists are wrong. The world is flat. I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I’ve been trying to hold on for 17 years. I’ve been trying to climb back up for 17 years but it’s nearly impossible to beat gravity when no one is willing to give you a hand. When no one wants to risk touching you.

The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.

The natural elements were at war with one another because we abused our ecosystem.

He’s smiling again and I’d like to take a picture. I’d like to stare at the curve of his lips for the rest of my life.

Look at me, is what I wanted to say to you. Talk to me every once in a while. Find me a cure for these tears, I’d really like to exhale for the first time in my life.

They don’t bother to be bothered by the beauty that falls from the sky. They don’t understand the freedom in feeling the universe on their skin. They don’t care.

They say the weather wasn’t always so unpredictable. They say there were birds who used to soar through the skies like planes.

Hope in this world bleeds out of the barrel of a gun.

My eyes are 2 professional pickpockets, stealing everything to store away in my mind. I lose track of the minutes we trample over.

So many people must’ve died to sustain this luxury.

Reality slaps me in the face. Mortification muddles my brain, desperate humiliation clouds my judgment

He says my name like a whisper

I want to hate him and judge him and scream forever but I’m failing because all I see is an 8-year-old boy who doesn’t remember that he used to be the kindest person I ever knew.

I saw the world and its lack of compassion, its harsh, grating judgment, and its cold, resentful eyes. I saw it all around me.

I spent my life folded between the pages of books.

Adam is gone even though he said he would stay. I don’t understand him I don’t understand his actions I don’t understand my disappointment.

The dining room is big enough to feed thousands of orphans

I feel like I’m struggling to swallow a toothpick.

.....the wind is singing outside my window but it’s high-pitched and off-key and I don’t have the heart to tell it to stop.

I’d like to cry into his eyes.

His voice hugs the letters in my name so softly I die 5 times in that second.

I don’t know why or how or what or anything at all except that he is still my friend.

He says it with a small smile the size of Jupiter.

Hope is hugging me, holding me in its arms, wiping away my tears and telling me that today and tomorrow and two days from now I will be just fine and I’m so delirious I actually dare to believe it.

his voice like an icicle piercing the flesh of my memories

“You’ve been on the edge of insanity your entire life, haven’t you? So many people called you crazy you actually started to believe it. You wondered if they were right. You wondered if you could fix it. You thought if you could just try a little harder, be a little better, smarter, nicer—you thought the world would change its mind about you. You blamed yourself for everything.”

I don’t want to be anything for anyone but myself.

“You were the only one who ever looked at me like a human being.”

He just made sure he was close enough to scare away everyone else.

I stand up to stare out the small square of a window only to be met by the bleak backdrop of a broken city.

I want to wash my soul in the bottomless blue of his eyes.

Every butterfly in the world has migrated to my stomach.

“There’s very little I wouldn’t do for you.”

".....There was nothing inherently wrong with you.” Nothing inherently wrong with you.

“Laughter comes from living.” I shrug, try to sound indifferent. “I’ve never really been alive before.”

The possibility of losing him is 100 years of solitude I don’t want to imagine.

There are 400 cotton balls caught in my windpipe.

1,320 seconds walk into the room before he does.

The collapse of our human society should not come as a surprise. We brought it upon ourselves

I have no doubt he’s swayed many people with such fanciful thoughts. Hope for a future that seems lost. Inspiration in a bleak world with nothing to offer. He is a natural leader. A talented orator.

“I—yes—I’d like that,” I stammer, excited, 4 years old and still believing in fairies.

My smile is wider than the Pacific Ocean. My heart is so full of relief, comfort, acceptance.

I take big lungfuls of air and savor the taste. Things are changing, but this time I’m not afraid. This time I know who I am. This time I’ve made the right choice and I’m fighting for the right team. I feel safe. Confident. Excited, even. Because this time? I’m ready.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5

Episode 5: The Great Cactus Con (SMUT)

*MIS AMIGOS. THE TIME HAS COME. FIRST SMUT OF THE BOOK. I will warn you now as in this is your warning, heed it and skip, or proceed. things get filthy (really filthy with lots of bad words) from here until the next warning. you have been warned, now let the sin begin!*

Daybreak. Saturday. The most peaceful time in the Man Cave for its resident couple. Morning meant warmth, safety and time spent together, the total opposite of what they experienced outside the four walls of their bedroom—chaos, responsibility and stress. 

No, in their room, mornings always brought peace, a chance for them to catch a break and just be a normal couple before they had to be superheroes again. It was why they liked them so much and why they were treated and valued more carefully than gold dust. No one dared to enter the lovers' bedroom before noon and for good reason. When they said "be like a normal couple", they meant it and not Henry or Charlotte or Jasper or even Schwoz with his lack of social skills wanted to intrude on that.

(y/n) woke gently, which was another bonus to add to the pile of reasons why she and her fiancé adored the early hours. Their lives were often so hectic and dangerous that being able to do something gently, naturally and without urgency was nice—being able to slowly but surely open her eyes to the darkness of the room was nice. No rush, no shouting, no scrambling to get dressed, just tranquillity and warmth. 

And that's how she stayed for a while, not wanting to move or wake up yet because everything was so cosy and comfy and safe with her sweetheart's arms around her waist and back as she snuggled her face into his chest, which had always been infinitely better than any pillow she'd come across. Ray's soft breaths and gentle snores were a regular rhythm in her hair as her body gradually adjusted to being awake. 

First, things around the room started to become more apparent, like the almost inaudible hum of the various electronic appliances around the room or how the lights were still set to brighten over the next hour or two. 

Next, her eyes cracked open properly to see what was what. Yep, everything was as it had been when they'd fallen asleep last night; the world kept spinning but for them, things stayed the same. And finally, last but not least, her muscles started to stretch, pop and contract as they prepared for another day of mayhem. 

Today would bring excitement, no doubt; there was a convention in town, one of the most popular for the people of Swellview and the Man Cave team were adamant that they should secure tickets to attend. That was part one. 

Part two would come later since (y/n) had kindly volunteered to help Charlotte with her dress. Well, it wasn't her dress, but she and some friend of hers had designed it because Piper was the convention's queen or something. The design was beautiful, flawless, so breathtakingly beautiful that when asked, the woman couldn't help but offer her services since the girls could draw and source materials but not sew, and a dress without stitches was just a mess. 

So, her afternoon would be dedicated to adding the finishing touches to the gown ready for what was known as Cactus Con, just the last few alterations so the waist wasn't too loose, the skirt wasn't too long and they couldn't forget the sash. It made the outfit complete. 

But. And it was a big but. Right now, the thought of getting out of bed seemed...revolting. Everything was so perfect and even though her body said yes, her mind said no to getting up, even if she had duties to attend to in a few hours. Staying in Ray's embrace was much more inviting, so she tangled her legs into his more and wriggled deeper into his hold, which produced an unexpected reaction. 

The friction caused by her thin, delicate pyjamas rubbing against his skin, and possibly her lips brushing against his chest for just a moment, drew a groan from the hero that had his sweet girl frozen, especially when his hips flexed to roll into hers. It wasn't just a grumble from sleep or him trying to get comfortable after sleeping in the same position too long, no, she knew what that sounded like. And she knew what this sounded like. 

A million thoughts flashed through her mind as all of her suspicions were confirmed when Ray's hold on her waist tightened and pushed her core further towards his body, where their hips slotted together with one leg over his body and her head tucked into his neck. Breathy pants and whines left his lips as his nose buried into her hair and his hardening cock pressed against her clit. Right, it was pretty obvious what was happening in that filthy little mind of his. 

Shock turned into a devious smirk on her face as he clung to her and unwittingly used her body for his own pleasure, each gentle, stuttered grind of his cock into her had her desire growing until her bottom lip was tugged between her lips and her hands were unable to stop themselves from wandering his chest. 

It seemed cruel to wake him up from what sounded and felt like such a good dream and she couldn't help but wonder what he was seeing in his mind. Was it as sinful as his clumsy, twitchy thrusts and breathless groans would suggest? Did it have a solo role or did he have someone else starring? If so, who? 

"F-fuck...tha—that's it, sw-sweet g-girl. Rig—right there..." Well, the mystery was solved. Had she not been listening with intense concentration, avidly loving every sound and motion he made, (y/n) would've missed the shaky, broken words Ray panted out with no knowledge that he was doing so. Her ears caught the needy groan of his favourite name for her and instantly, her pussy clenched around nothing, her heart pounding when she realised that even in his dreams, he wanted her. 

Such a good boy, dreaming and getting off on the thought of her body and all the times they'd fucked, the need to reward him was overwhelming but that presented its own challenges. (y/n) had an idea of what she'd like to try, it was bold, risky and filthy even by her standards but the thought of her lover's reaction spurred her on anyway, making her ponder her first move with a bitten lip as his cock slid against her clothed cunt. 

Normally, it was difficult enough getting free from his arms when he wasn't dry-humping her, but the added iron grip of his embrace and how her body leaving his would surely wake him up—a complete disaster if she'd ever thought of one—this was gonna be tricky. How to get free without waking him up and ruining the game before she'd even had a chance to play with him? 

Okay, first things first: legs. Slowly, without any hurry at all since the odd bump might just disrupt that hot dream of his, (y/n) shifted her ass backwards and gently removed the leg that had been slung over his waist. It was such a shame to lose the friction she so desperately craved and Ray seemed to notice too as he started whining from the loss of familiar heat but it wouldn't be for long. By her calculations, he'd enjoy what her impish mind had come up with. 

Despite her doofus briefly recognising that something had changed around his physical body, he didn't stir to the point of consciousness, causing his girl to release a sigh of relief as she moved on to the next step. The arms around her body. 

To say he was asleep and lost in a world of velvet walls and gentle lovemaking, Ray's grip as he held onto his fiancée was surprisingly strong as if losing the scent of her shampoo and the warmth of her form against his would ruin the façade. That was duly noted by (y/n) as she held her breath and carefully enclosed her hand around his wrist. 

No sudden movements, she gave him time to adjust to the feeling for a moment since this stage was crucial and when his breathing returned to grunts and moans again, she started to move. As gently as possible, she pushed the arm back across his tensed abs and onto the bed, where it immediately begin harshly fisting the sheets instead of loosely pawing at her back. Next, came the second arm, which required more attention since she'd have to sit up and inch away from it as it curled underneath her body and around to her rib cage. Easy does it. 

The hero sensed the movement this time; his muscles tensed and after his soulmate's skin left him, he was instantly jerking and twitching as if he was searching for her, making (y/n) smile softly as his right arm fell back to the bed too. This was perfect, thank god he was a heavy sleeper because now, she had him exactly how she wanted him; on his back, hips grinding into the air and his legs spread just wide enough for one devious girl to slide in between after she pulled the blankets back. 

He might have shivered at the loss of warmth and comfort but honestly, (y/n) wasn't sure if that was down to him experiencing the aftershocks of a particularly spicy moment with dream her or his skin prickling at the inrush of air. Probably the first, in her mind the room was cold at all, rather, it was stiflingly hot as she used every ounce of grace and stealth gifted to Miss Danger to settle calmly and quietly halfway down the bed. 

And for a good few minutes, she stayed like that, wanting to let the electric atmosphere settle for a moment because very quickly, she'd gone from being sleepy to shocked to horny to between her future husband's legs in a matter of seconds. 

The last thing she wanted was to carelessly wake him up after coming so far and no doubt if he looked down now, she'd have a lot of bashful explaining to do about why she was eying his half-hard cock as it swelled against his underwear. But of course, she didn't want to wait too long because, with every passing millisecond, it became more and more likely that Ray would open his eyes with the dream finished and her plan in tatters, so she broke her frozen state. 

Another tricky part would be pulling down his briefs to reveal that gorgeous fucking cock she knew was there—just enough to free him but not enough to be too much of a sensation. 

But first, came something else. (y/n) couldn't help herself, not when the thought of having him in her mouth entered her mind and made her drool. It couldn't hurt, not really, so nothing stopped her when her lips met with his throbbing member and began to trail open-mouthed kisses down the underside. 

The more she worshipped him through the thin cotton, the more pleased she grew with herself as his cock hardened further under her ministrations until it was rock solid and bobbing against the fabric. To her filthy delight, his tip leaked a small wet spot onto the front that she didn't hesitate to kitten lick with her darkened eyes trained on his face, which was contorted in pleasure as his chest heaved. Oh, how much fun could a girl have?

"M-mine, all mine. T-tight, so t-tight too. Pre—pretty girl."

Satisfied that he'd suffered enough torture in the form of feeling the light pressure of her lips, she brought her hands to the waistband of his black boxers and pinched the elastic between her fingertips. It wasn't easy but by no means did she want the fabric to catch any patch of skin as she pulled them to his thighs - the only sensation he'd be feeling running across the soft flesh of his cock would be her mouth. Just softness and warmth, nothing rough, not this morning. That's why she wouldn't use her hands until the very last minute. 

The band pulled back to release his glorious cock in the dim light of the room and she left the material just under his heavy balls that looked tight from his impending release and instinctively, her tongue poked out at the thought of finally tasting him. 

Nothing extreme. Not yet. The first few licks were delicate and timid like (y/n) was testing the waters as she kept her eyes fixated on his expressions, watching as his breathing hitched when she dipped into his slit. The tip of her tongue ran everywhere—across his head, across the pulsating vein that ran underneath and across the crevice that was the beginning of the soft stretch of skin that led to his tense sacks, ready to pump his load to whatever was waiting for it and she was determined for that whatever to be her tongue. 

Mornings were good because they felt like they had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted, so (y/n) was in no hurry as her wet muscle toyed with him for what felt like hours, just savouring a taste that could only be described as purely Ray; gentle, clean like soap, slightly salty but strangely addictive as her movements grew bolder and his pants grew to whiny moans. 

For the first time, her tongue ran down the side of his cock fully, bathing it in saliva as she went from tip to base and back up. The gasp that tore from his throat shot straight to her needy pussy which was desperate to be filled by the thickness that was edging its way into her mouth but she ignored it and satiated it by pressing her clit into the comforter for a sliver of friction. What was more important was admiring his eyebrows furrow and his jaw falling open as she invited his flared head into her hot cavern and kept it there. 

"(y-y/n), s-sweet girl, yeah, t-that's it, cum around me," 

The peril was worth it to see how a god of a man was brought to his knees by the touch of a mere mortal wanting to please him; Ray was damp from his forehead to his chest with a sheen of sweat, which caused that floppy brown hair of his to stick to his skin as he was willingly dragged to hell and back, his dream feeling more and more like reality as he imagined a beauty fucking herself on his cock as he called her his wife, his beautiful, perfect, fucking cock-hungry wife. 

Fuck, each swivel of her hips was cruelty and mercy wrapped into one as he swore that his mind never usually created something so accurate but he didn't complain or question it, not when the heat spread through his loins. His gripping of his girl's hips was actually him clutching the sheets between white knuckles as (y/n) ran her tongue along his slit and under that crevice, suckling gently as his abs tensed and clenched. 

She knew the signs of him getting close and for the last few moments of this, she wanted to go from gently guiding him to the edge to throwing him over with no mercy. So, in a move that may have been too much for some, she swallowed his length, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could until he hit her soft palate. No matter how much she resisted or tried to train herself not to, she gagged at the unwanted intrusion and pulled back with a gasp that sent tingles up Ray's spine. He stirred but didn't wake. Thank god for that. 

Knowing she'd have to be more careful at first, (y/n) dipped her head again, going as low as she could until she'd reached her limit, where she'd wrapped her tongue around his shaft so her spit drenched and pooled at the bottom of his cock where the soft skin of his balls was still tempting her. 

Fuck it, she just couldn't resist. Finally, as she picked up the speed of how she bobbed her head, Ray's moans and groans quickened in a crescendo, and her hand snaked from where it had been patiently braced against the mattress and she tenderly gripped him at the base as her lips wandered to suck one into her mouth. That drew a strong reaction from her doofus as he thrust upwards and into her hand as the slurred mumblings started again. 

"F-fuck me s-soo—good, b-baby. S-shit, your pussy is a-a-always so t-tight," he stammered into the pillow, causing the girl running her hand over his chiselled torso to smirk. Oh, if only she could give that to him now, but that would be too risky. He'd have to settle for her final move because there was no way she wasn't going to have his cum down her throat after all of this work, so her lips returned to his head. 

She whined around him when a spurt of precum hit her tastebuds, a glimpse of what she was set to receive soon as she upped her game. Her bobbing grew faster as her hand left his stomach to roll his balls between her fingers and on each rise, her teeth scraped against his sensitive skin, meaning she had to take the rough thrusts his hips gave as he fucked her mouth. Still, given the way she was dripping, leaking, creaming in those brief pyjama shorts as she ground her clit into whatever was underneath her, she didn't mind. She loved it. 

And finally, as his abs crunched and became sculpted in the dim light, her hand left his balls too and returned to the base of his cock where she pumped what wouldn't fit in her mouth. The vibrating hum of the high-pitched moan that left her as her throbbing bud caught the edge of the comforter was enough to shove him over the edge as his body froze and then relaxed. 

Peace settled between them for a split second before Ray came hard in her mouth, panting and gasping for air as his eyes flew open in time to experience the most gut-wrenching pleasure and (y/n) grinned at the wrecked sight of him as she happily swallowed the salty, pearly essence that hit the back of her throat. 

"Wha—I—fuuuuuck, shit, fuck, sweet girl—what are you—fuuuuck." Ray groaned and gasped through his bewildered state, pulling his chin to his chest to see the hottest sight he'd ever come across, filthier than anything he could've thought of. What had been his mind's invention of him fucking his newly-wedded wife in a honeymoon suite in Hawaii had actually been his dirty little fiancée suckling on his cock for the past however long it had been and god, she made a stunning sight. 

His cock wedged in her throat, nipples pebbled against that tight cotton shirt she was wearing as her hips ground for any friction she could find like some needy slut and her dilated pupils stayed trained on him, even when he started to soften in her mouth. 

Ray watched silently as she kept his cock in her mouth for as long as possible, teasing him by running her tongue across the sensitive frenulum and giggling when he jolted at the sharp sensation that ran up his spine. He was indulging her, (y/n) knew that; he could've easily pulled her off and saved himself from the torture but he didn't. He allowed her to stay where she was happy and where she could lick the last remnants of his cum from his head as it clung to her throat. 

Still, he couldn't hold out forever and even when she swore that he hardened in her mouth again when she gave him a gentle suck, Ray couldn't go again. So, his hand wound its way from her hair and down to her jaw where he pulled her off, groaning when he lost the warmth and saw her deviously licking her lips. Dirty girl. 

"Up." Was the only instruction he gave her as the hand that cradled her mouth open gripped her arm and yanked her trembling frame to his sticky, broad chest, where his awaiting arms quickly secured her soft figure against his naked one. 

"Morning..." (y/n) whispered smugly into his ear, which ended in her breath hitching when his leg bent to bring his thigh to her core. The pressure was heavenly and he growled lowly in his throat at the sound of her whine when a heavy arm draped across her hips to stop them from dragging her clit across the taut muscles there. 

"Sweet girl, you're gonna be the death of me, you needy little thing," he grumbled into her ear, although there was no hint of malice, just a dozing satisfaction that came from being woken by a vixen fucking him with her mouth and having his cum poured down her throat. 

"You enjoyed it, though. You couldn't stop saying my name as you fucked me in your sleep," (y/n) replied with a proud grin, feeling her core clench around nothing again when she recalled how needy and submissive he sounded when he rocked his clothed cock into her ass for the slightest bit of relief. 

"That's because I had these—" he gave a harsh pinch to her nipple through the cotton shirt, which pulled a squeal from her throat, "—perfect tits in my face and this—" he stopped again to swiftly slap her ass and grab at the pliable flesh there, "—perfect ass bouncing on my cock." Ray grunted as her hips rolled against his strong thigh just once, but the moan that fell from her lips was enough to leave him hungering for more. 

"You sounded so hot. I couldn't help but suck on your cock for a little bit when you started rutting against me. I needed your cum on my tongue."

"I wanted to fuck you this morning—wanted to see your tight little pussy struggle to take my cock but now I can't," Ray smirked when she jutted against his thigh again at the filth leaving his mouth, and suddenly, he was struck with an idea of his own. 

He couldn't say that she'd misbehaved by waking him up with her mouth, neither could he say that he was angry at having the image of her faux-innocent eyes looking up at him as he split her lips open, but he had fallen asleep last night with a semi after seeing her waltz around in those fucking ridiculous shorts. They were probably the cause of the dream and he'd been wanting to pin her down and pound into her until she could only say his name. Still, he could be flexible and there was no doubt that he wasn't going to enjoy this.

"I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't--" (y/n) squeaked, offering a pathetic apology as she failed to hold back the need to rub her clothed cunt up and down his thigh, the friction of her soaked shorts against her clit causing her to mewl as Ray looked up with a wolfish grin. He didn't even need to try, his sweet girl just knew what he wanted anyway.

"Yes, you did. You couldn't wait to have my cock inside you so you decided to swallow my cum instead, just like how you can't help but grind your sweet pussy against my thigh now," He whispered hotly as her movements picked up, his hands moving to grip her hips and aid her rocking as she whimpered against the skin of his chest. Fuck, she was so desperate, bucking and grinding to try and find the best angle as he set the nice, not too fast but not too gentle, just hard enough so he could feel her slick leak onto his thigh.

"Fuck, Ray, feels--feels so good..." She moaned breathlessly, hanging her head as he guided her lower half in a way that wasn't frantic enough for her as her core quivered and begged to be stuffed with something, but she guessed that it was part of his game, his fun. She could feel her orgasm coming, slowly and gently but ferociously too and by keeping her steady, Ray was dragging out like only he could - the man who'd had the pleasure of making her fall apart by his hand only thousands of times.

"Yeah, you like that, baby? You like riding my thigh?" He got his answer with the weak nod and whimper she gave him as her eyes screwed shut and she doubled her efforts, seeking the high that would surely burn and consume her if she didn't find it. Ray wasn't a man to leave her hanging either and after having the pleasure of shooting his load down her throat, he wanted to make sure he got her off properly.

His muscles purposefully tensed between her legs, turning soft, pliant flesh into a rock-hard surface gained after years of working in the gym and that's when (y/n) lost it. He had the perfect amount of muscle for her use and her clit throbbed as it brushed against the new hardness, as well as his cock as it started to spring to life again after seeing a goddess above him for real this time.

"Shit, I can feel the mess you're making for me on my thigh, sweet girl, it's so fucking hot. Take that shirt off for me, let me see those perfect tits," Ray ordered her and without a second thought, (y/n) grabbed the hem and yanked the offending garment over her head and tossed it to some unknown corner of the room, leaving her in nothing but those drenched shorts that were absolutely staying. 

They made her ass look so round and perfect as her now free chest heaved and shone with perspiration, causing her lover to lift one of his hands to squeeze and toy with her pert nipples.

The heroine threw her head back as he enjoyed the weight of her breasts in his hand, switching between either one as she rocked harder and harder, feeling that familiar lightning creep up her spine and tighten her core.

"I want to cum, Ray, I w-wanna cum so badly, c-can I?" She asked with a whimper, feeling his now solid member dip against her slit every time her hips moved forward, and it was enough to bring her to the edge, but she wouldn't fall without asking first. She was his perfect little girl after all.

"Course, you can, sweet girl. Go on, soak your shorts and my thigh, get that pussy nice and tight and wet for me to slide in," Ray swallowed the lump in his throat as she ground harshly against her leg, biting her lip so hard it could bleed as his hold left her hips entirely to grasp the base of his cock and slot it between her legs. She was free to set the pace as she wanted it--hard and fast--as the feeling of having the bulbous head press against her clit and entrance only to be stopped by her ruined cotton briefs pushed her over the edge.

"F-fuck, fuuuck, Raaaaay---" (y/n) wailed as her hips stilled with his cock lodged against her clit, causing it to pulse and throb as the pleasure washed over her. She collapsed and folded over his chest, falling into his waiting arms as she kept him nestled between her thighs as she recovered from the intense high, shivering and shaking when one of his arms curled around her back and the other let his hand rest on her ass. 

They stayed quiet for a moment and listened to her unsteady pants as her heart slowed down and the sweet feeling in her core started to burn again when she realised that he was hard again beneath her, but he was just waiting for her to go again. There was no way he wasn't gonna press his cock into her pussy after getting it ready with one orgasm, he knew that she had at least another two in her after this and he intended to have her screaming his name so loud the soundproof walls would be put to the test. That sounded like her kind of fun.

"Ray?"

"Yeah, sweet girl?" The man grunted when she flexed her hips and "accidentally" pushed her soaked shorts further against his cock, but he didn't say anything, just pressed his lips to her damp hairline as he swallowed his lust and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. 

Just because he had the overwhelming urge to fuck her into the mattress didn't mean he was gonna just yet, he always made sure she was ready for it before diving in--his needs didn't matter. Well, to him they didn't but for (y/n), the amount of time between her cumming and being ready for the pounding of a lifetime was surprisingly brief as she felt her cunt clench at the thought of being stretched open. Enough tenderness, she needed more.

"Will you fuck me now?" And that was an offer he couldn't refuse. Thank god that the tickets for Cactus Con didn't go on sale for another few hours.

~

*AND WE'RE BACK. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT COS I DID. apologies to the pure ones but y'know, gotta give the people (myself) what they want. ONWARDS WITH THE EPISODE!*

This was shaping up to be a great day and not only that, but it promised to be quite an eventful one too. Ray and (y/n) rolled out of bed eventually, feeling pretty satisfied with their "alone time" for now and after clumsy getting dressed in between a few breaks to make out and just...talk, they waltzed into the main room of the Man Cave. 

That was where they found that Charlotte and Henry, being the diligent workers they were, had already clocked in for that bright, sunny Saturday morning, probably because the early bird always catches tickets for Cactus Con.

A reminder about the countdown to the release of the tickets for such a prestigious event was enough to make the couple gasp and excitedly shuffle to the couch where the teens had already sat down. Their phones were at the ready and constantly refreshing the page to see if it was time to start scrambling for five tickets to the event, one for everyone who wanted to go, which included Ray and (y/n), who had been planning to book the afternoon off so they could enjoy some quality time together as fiancé and fiancée.

Y'know, dates as Captain Man and Md were nice but sometimes, it was better to wear a cute dress to make him drool rather than a uniform and to just take in sights and surroundings without being papped or hounded by crazy fans. A nice, relaxing afternoon looking at cacti sounded great, so with suspiciously large grins on their faces, they too sat at the couch-table and got their phones out.

"Come on, doofus! Come on, come on, come!"

"I'm coming, sweet girl, slow down. You're so bouncy today..."

Henry and Charlotte didn't want to know why they seemed so happy, neither did they want to know why Ray looked so smug or why (y/n) seemed to walk with a little discomfort, so they just left it - too repulsed by the possible explanations to want to know more. 

But anyway, their arrival was good because now, they had two more people working tirelessly to beat the online queues and waiting rooms for the first batch. Of course, Henry's super-fast reflexes were a great asset to them and no one family or team on Earth had someone who could move as fast as him but they needed all the help they could get, really.

Tickets for Cactus Con were few and far between, that's why the organisers had to shove people into virtual waiting rooms so their servers didn't crash. And that led to a lot of tapping from the four at the table, who were refreshing and refreshing and refreshing like their lives depended on it because it kinda did. If Piper's friends didn't turn up to see her be queen for a day and if Ray didn't get one date with his sweet girl where they could just be normal people then there'd be hell to pay. 

And that's how Jasper found them; Ray had (y/n) practically sitting on his lap as they stared at their screens and kept tapping so the devices wouldn't go to sleep or they wouldn't be kicked out of the queue. God, that would be a disaster. Sure, it was a sacrifice to go without kisses for an hour or so in favour of securing their place but it was worth it, boy, was it worth it. 

Their shoulders were rubbing anyway and now and again, the heroine could glance across to see how damn hot he looked in that purple sweater of his and his hair, give her strength. It had that little floppy bit dangling down from the rest of his slicked-back mane and had her hands not been preoccupied she would've brushed it back with her finger, only to watch it fall out again. He looked good, so good that she almost wanted to screw the convention and sit on his lap or even drag him back to bed. She couldn't though, not when she owed so much to Piper and Charlotte for the day.

"Happy Fajita Friday, people!" The dorky boy yelled as he appeared from the elevator holding an on aval, cast iron griddle pan full of sizzling vegetables and tender chicken strips. The smell wafted around the room instantly as he took in the sight of his friends doing something and Schwoz hovering around the room. 

He had no idea what any of them were doing but he did know that the day was Friday and as such, he had some hot, Tex-Mex snacks to hand out that he'd fried especially. The problem was, though, that none of them looked particularly eager to start eating, rather, they seemed preoccupied with whatever was on their phones, which was peculiar.

"Ooh!" Still, at least Schwoz looked ready to eat as he ditched the cloth he'd been using for something that was no doubt sciency and smart, and instead, he reached for the right tortilla wraps he'd need for a fajita.

"It's not Friday, it's Saturday!" Henry shouted back, his eyes never leaving his phone as his finger become a blur that jackhammered into his screen. Everyone else just had to be slow and boring, but not him. Kid Danger didn't slow for anyone, not even Jasper, who couldn't believe that he'd gotten the day wrong.

"Well, that would explain why I was the only one at school today," The boy pondered as his skillet continued to fry the fajita filling just from how hot the iron was. Yeah, you'd think that being the only one sitting in class would've given him a hint, especially when the only adult who turned up was a janitor and not the teacher.

"Silence, boy! We're trying to buy tickets to Cactus Con!" Ray snapped as the vague buzz of Jasper talking to himself distracted him from his efforts to secure those precious tickets. His sharp tone earned him a half-serious glare from his sweet girl, who nudged his knee with her own when she heard how rude he was to poor Curly. 

"Be nice, Raymond!" She told him firmly and Ray gave her an apologetic pout before returning to work. That morning had been bliss so far and over the next couple of days, before Cactus Con started, he wanted to stay in her good books so nothing would get in the way of them enjoying their date amongst the cacti. It would be the highlight of his entire weekend.

"But they don't go on sale until Saturday."

"Think it through..." Charlotte stated dryly as she kept tapping and Jasper failed to connect the dots. Even though he'd been told that it was Saturday and not Friday, he still couldn't get his brain used to the change and so, he lacked the urgency of the others despite having the same rampant desire to attend as the others.

"Oh! Today's Saturday! I gotta buy tickets!" After a few seconds of intense concentration, Jasper's brain finally fell into place and his face paled when he realised how much time he'd wasted. Some people had stayed up all night so they'd be the first to get theirs and so, he wasted no time in dropping the pan of chicken and vegetables on the floor and scooting across the room to lean over the back of the sofa. 

It was a shame, Schwoz hadn't even managed to fill one wrap before the food made a terrible mess on the floor, one that (y/n) would no doubt have to clean up before leaving with Charlotte later. Damn, getting to eat beforehand would've been nice.

"Anyone get tickets yet?" He asked as he nudged into the gap between Henry and Charlotte and whipped out his phone. They refused to look at him, the risk of clicking the wrong thing or being too slow was too big a risk when they were so close to their prize.

"No!"

"Nah..."

"Not yet, Curly."

"Can't you see me tapping?" Came the frustrated replies of his friends as they battled on, jumping from waiting room to waiting room as the number of tickets dwindled. They'd been at it for so long, Ray, who was known for not being a patient man, was starting to get twitchy from having a beauty next to him and being able to even hand one hand on her for what felt like forever.

"I don't even understand why everyone loves this Cactus Convention so much, " Schwoz stated as he cherry-picked the best of the ruined fajita filling from the floor. Just because it was now dirty and a bit cold didn't mean he couldn't rifle through the pan to see what he could salvage and make into a tasty snack.

"What? Tap mine and (y/n)'s phones for us, will ya? Thanks, little buddy!" Ray gave his handyman a disbelieving look as he plucked the cell from his girl's fingers and shoved it and his own over to Henry, who didn't want to work on three phones at once but suddenly, he had no choice. 

It sure was a good thing that his fingers were like lightning because Ray had ruffled his hair and was already up and dragging (y/n) with him, intent on both giving Schwoz the moron a lesson and taking a quick break with his sweet girl so he could kiss her before he keeled over.

"Doofus!" (y/n) gasped as his warm hand engulfed hers and pulled her away from the couch, which was nice because her eyes definitely needed a break from all of the text and loading screens but still, it was unexpected too.

"Cactus Con is Swellview's best convention! It's better than Wallet Con, Squirrel Con and Chaka Con," Ray "educated" Schwoz as he and (y/n) came to stand in front of him and almost immediately, the woman had pulled his arms around her body and she was snuggling against him in a side hug, one that felt so perfect after missing his warmth since they untangled themselves a few hours prior.

"Don't forget Genghis Con," (y/n) added, knowing all about that convention and how it had nothing on the one for cacti. That one was way too murderish for a date, unlike this one, which was gonna perfect, she just knew it. Despite his serious, authoritative tone, Ray couldn't help but feel a smile crack on his face as his girl's tiny form pressed into his and in a moment of unapologetic softness, he broke his façade to gently kiss the top of her head.

"You can tap one more, right?"

"Uh--" Charlotte smiled brightly at Henry as she made the split decision to join Ray on his quest to educate Schwoz on the proper way to view Cactus Con, but that would mean that Henry would have to take on another phone and he was already pushing it with three.

"Thanks, champ," he whimpered as he was left with Jasper, nearly all of the responsibility to secure tickets being placed on him. What had he done to deserve such torture?

"And there's great food there too like cactus milk, cactus tacos, cactus jerky!" Charlotte listed all of the amazing delicacies that would be on offer in a couple of days and the couple next to her could practically feel their tummies rumbling as they dreamed about what food they'd be swapping when they were on their date. They couldn't stop imagining it, not when they were bouncing off the walls for a spot of free time together where they weren't hunting bad guys or confined to their bedroom. 

"Ugh! That all sounds disgusting!" Schwoz grimaced and screwed up his nose. Jeez, they were so weird, they didn't eat anything like that in his homeland and even though he hadn't tried any of the cactus products, he instantly decided he was a hater. Oh, the irony of the situation he was in right now.

"Says the guy who's eating fajitas off the floor," (y/n) replied sarcastically as she watched him fill a few tortillas from the mess that was all over her lovely clean floor. To be fair, Jasper was a great cook and she'd be a liar if she said she didn't want one, but surely, he had to recognise the hypocrisy here. The floors were spotless but they weren't that spotless, no matter how delicious the food smelled.

"You want one?" Ooh, Schwoz knew how to tempt a woman and not even (y/n), who stood on the moral high ground and everything, was able to turn down the offer as he held out a pre-filled fajita.

"Of course. I'm starving," she quickly nodded and accepted the tasty morsel as Ray shrugged and decided that if she was having one, he would too. To hell, if they'd been on the floor, most of it came from the pan anyway and it's not like they could get sick anyway. Even Charlotte was taking the risk as she nonchalantly accepted the next wrap, and you'd think she'd repulse the idea of eating so sloppily.

"I'll take a floorjita."

"And my sister's the Cactus Queen this year," Henry mentioned from across the room as Ray received his fajita too, taking a brief moment before eating to wipe the smudge of sauce from the corner of his sweet girl's mouth. Her ensuing blush was so cute, that it took all of his strength to focus on his food and not her honeyed lips as Henry's tap-tap-tap rhythm never ceased.

"Yeah, and I designed Piper's dress with my friend, Patina. (y/n)'s been helping us sew it together too, so..." Charlotte added as she devoured her fajita, not particularly bothered about what she'd just said because it was common knowledge amongst most people.

"I never thought my granny's endless lessons on needlepoint would become so useful," (y/n) grinned as she swallowed some chicken, thinking back to those tedious lessons where all she thought she knew was how to stab herself in the thumb a million times. But, miraculously, a lot had actually sunk into that big brain of hers, more than she ever realised, so most of her recent afternoons had been devoted to a sewing machine or hand-stitching ribbons, buttons and embellishments to perfectly straight seams.

"Wait, the pretty Patina, the prettier Patina or the prettiest Patina?" Jasper asked as he focused on one key detail in Charlotte's information, ignoring whatever (y/n) had to say about how she became fairly decent at darning socks and creating dresses. This was highly important, he needed to know the specifics here because whilst the first two girls were nice, the prettiest Patina was just straight-out lovely--the girl he swore was the (y/n) to his Ray.

"Uh, Patina Elle?" Charlotte said with her mouth full, and her and (y/n)'s eyebrows pulled together when his face lit up. 

"The prettiest Patina?" Oh dear god, how had they not told him that they knew and were currently working with the most gorgeous girl in school? The one he'd been crushing on for ages now but hadn't worked up the courage to ask out because well, she came with one serious drawback that no one liked to mention.

"Hey, can you tap my phone for me?"

"Uh, I'm kinda maxed out--"

"Thanks, sport!" He wasted no time in dumping his phone onto Henry as the others had done, leaving the poor kid to furiously switch between five phones at once. It was hard to split three phones between his dominant hand and two between his left one, but he quickly fell into a rhythm thanks to his superpower, which was honestly his saving grace as Jasper pranced off to go and drool about that girl he liked.

"I love Patina Elle! I love her! Like I love her like Ray loves (y/n)!" Jasper exclaimed as he ran over from the couch, causing (y/n) to smile happily as she learnt about this little crush of his. Well, it was certain that he didn't feel the unyielding, endless, passionate, pure love she and her doofus felt for each other, but it was still so cute to hear him gush about a girl he knew at school. Her little babies, were all so grown-up now, so adorable. 

"Eh, doubt that, son. I've been loving her for nearly twelve years..." Ray shrugged as he calmly ate the last half of his floorjita but on the inside, he too was feeling all fluffy and affectionate. He was pretty sure that whatever the kid was feeling wasn't anywhere close to what existed between him and his sweet girl; he'd just fallen in love with her all those years ago and even though he waited and waited and waited for it to go away when he thought she'd never feel the same way, it was set to still be burning bright when they were old and grey. 

"Everybody loves Patina Elle. She's great."

"Yeah, from what I've seen of her, she's really sweet," (y/n) said as she rubbed her hands to remove the grease left by her annihilated food. Yeah, she hadn't technically met Patina but from the brief words they'd exchanged when discussing how the dress needed to fit Piper, she seemed quite nice.

"Have you, like, actually seen her? Have you been to her house?" Jasper pressed enthusiastically as he drank every drop of information Charlotte gave to him. God, Ray didn't know if he was that...incessant when it came to his lover, but he understood the feeling. Just like now as he leaned in to gently move his lips against (y/n)'s, he never tired of loving her and he never stopped finding new things to love about her, especially when she returned the kiss passionately despite keeping one ear open for the conversation.

"No, her house is totally sealed shut," the girl replied, causing Jasper to grunt in defeat. That drew the adults' attention and reluctantly, Ray and (y/n) parted with grins on their faces as Schwoz pondered what they meant about her shut-off house - something (y/n) hadn't quite worked out yet either.

"Why? Does she smell bad?" The genius asked in confusion, which earned him a mean glare from Jasper and an understanding look from Charlotte, who wasn't nearly as protective over Patina as he was.

"No, she's got this crazy—"

"Ayyy! Ger-ger-ger-ba-duh! Less yapping, more tapping!" Ray snapped when Henry attempted to contribute one line to the conversation, only for his boss to storm over from his girl's side and yell with his mouth full. Jeez, he could talk and tap at the same time, didn't have more icky kissing to do instead of picking on him?

"What? Dude, I'm literally tapping faster than any other human can tap right now," the teen argued as the five screens in front of him continued to flicker from page to page. Even with the heavy workload, he was still beating a lot of people and getting closer and closer to handing over the money, not that Ray appreciated that.

"You can yap faster than a human can too!"

"Dude, just go back to (y/n)! You've obviously spent too much time on your phone instead of being gross with her..." Henry smirked as he used his boss' infinite need for (y/n) kisses to his advantage. It was no secret that he got crabby from withdrawal symptoms when he had to unnecessarily starve himself of her affection. 

"Will someone please tell me what Henry was about to say?" The man spun around to face his other employees again as his sidekick caught him out, making (y/n) giggle at how his ears turned slightly red.

"Patina has this really rare allergy."

"What's she allergic to?" Schwoz asked as Charlotte elaborated. It was the scientist inside of him that couldn't help but ask and he assumed that it would be something typical like a food allergy or perhaps a hair allergy, maybe even a chemical allergy. However, the modern youth are never that simple these days.

"Air." Right, okay, fair enough...was that even a thing? How could a human, whose species had evolved over thousands of years to survive the Ice Age, vicious predators, droughts, floods, earthquakes and disease, plus develop the greatest intelligence amongst all living things, be allergic to something so basic? 

(y/n) couldn't believe it, she knew the girl had something wrong when she had to talk to her through a screen but this was just puny.

"Haha, good one!" Ray chuckled as he took their short answer to be a joke and after finding it funny for a few minutes, went back to affectionately pressing kisses to his fiancée's temple and cheek. Air, so funny, he had to hand it to the kids, that was perfectly executed.

"You mean like hay fever?" (y/n) questioned, trying not to melt under the advances of her doofus as she looked at the teens. Lots of people in the world suffered from the hellish condition of being allergic to the slightest bit of pollen, so perhaps that was it. Maybe her poor nose couldn't take any offending dust particles so she had to stay in her house, which sounded extreme but it was the only scenario she could think of.

"She's allergic to unfiltered air, so she can't go to school in person." Jasper clarified, stunning the adults because sweet cheese, that was crazy. The poor girl must have had a miserable existence if she was in quarantine all day, every day and no one could picture having her life; no real friends, no proper human interaction, no chance to meet cute boys or have slumber parties.

"Yeah, see, look!"

"She has a nurse who pushes around a video monitor that shows a livestream of Patina from her sealed-up house!" The boy went on as Charlotte brought over her PearPad to show Schwoz and the couple the screen of Patina smiling to her class and the grumpy nurse who gave her the best view of the world possible. (y/n) understood why she'd met with the girl in such an odd way but she'd never questioned it before because she always had work to do. 

"I swear, I do not understand your generation," Ray muttered and took another bite from his fajita. He was so glad he'd grown up in the eighties and not now because teens were so weird these days. He wouldn't have met his sweet girl at a cafe, they'd have met online, they wouldn't have face-to-face conversations, all they'd do is text LOL, they'd have dated online and they'd find a way to have a virtual wedding.

"The monitor thing was a little weird at first--"

"I got tickets to Cactus Con!" Henry announced happily as Charlotte thought about how strange it was to be friends with someone when all she knew was what her face looked like in pixels. But Patina's charm had won everyone over in the end and now, she had lots of friends, just like how Henry had won over all of his when his speedy fingers got them into the best convention that came to town.

"Yeah!"

"Going to Cactus Con!"

"Nice one, Hen!"

"Up top!" Came the congratulations of his friends as they celebrated the news. This was perfect; only a few people would be blessed with permission to enter that great convention and they were some of those lucky few. They cheered, they clapped, they yelled from the excitement and after Henry completed a double high-five with Ray, he just had to get all of that trembling adrenaline out of his system by doing a backflip. Y'know, 'cause that's nice and normal.

"WHAT?!" Ray's eyes bugged out of his head as his sidekick did a full rotation before his eyes like it was nothing - just tuck, takeoff and land. He made it look so easy and whilst it was nothing to the others, he couldn't believe that it had just happened. Since when could he do that? "Holy crud, did you just do a backflip?!"

"Yeah," Henry stated calmly, causing his boss to falter when he saw how nonchalant he and his other friends were being. Come on, that was a feat of gymnastic excellence, it's not every day you see one done so flippantly, but despite his enthusiastic smile, no one else got the hype. They could all do one thanks to a DVD tutorial, a lot of practice and a hellishly boring afternoon, what was the big deal?

"Is no one else impressed by Henry's ability to do a backflip?" Ray asked, looking from Jasper to his sweet girl, but he didn't get much of a response. Sure, it was kinda cool when they thought about it, but being able to do one was just second nature at this point, hardly worth a round of applause. All it was was aerodynamics and physics, nothing overly complicated like he was making it out to be.

"It's just a backflip." "He only did one." "Everybody can do a backflip, doofus. It's easy-peasy, squeeze the lemon," (y/n) teased him, shrugging her shoulders since they were superheroes and acts of impressive flexibility were what they did. Perhaps she wasn't going to be competing in the Olympics any time soon but underneath that soft, sweet exterior, there lay a dark horse, which could do a backflip any time, any day.

"I don't believe you, sweet girl. Come on, if anyone's gonna know if you can do a backflip, it's me--" Ray scoffed, believing that she had to be tugging his leg since that was not possible except for athletes on TV and she'd been in a mischievous mood all day. 

It was a joke, right? He knew everything about her; what she liked, what she didn't like, her favourite movie, food, dress, season, colour; he knew that she hated sleeping on the right side of the bed, it had to be the left; he knew that she could name every chemical element and do up to the sixteenth times' tables like it was nothing but she couldn't cook a steak to save her life, neither could she stand on a stage without stage fright. He knew everything there was to know, right?

Well, he thought he did. Before his very eyes, Ray Manchester felt his jaw drop to the floor when his darling, precious, sweet girl stepped forward with a knowing smirk on her face, threw her arms behind her back, jumped, turned three hundred and sixty degrees in the air and landed back on the Man Cave floor with perfect execution.

Probably not the best idea in a skirt but oh well, she was going fast anyway. But for Ray, it didn't matter because he'd just been given a damn step-by-step guide as she twisted through the air, brushing the hair out of her eyes at the end to see that dumbstruck expression on his face. Her hotness had gone through the roof as he stood there in awe of her majesty and prowess.

"Is this real life?!" he exclaimed as she giggled and cutely stuck her tongue out as his hands gently brushed down her arms like he was touching a goddess and it was only when Jasper and Charlotte decided to show off too that his eyes were peeled away from her steadily rising and falling chest and playful eyes.

"Wait, wait, no, no, no..." the man stammered as they stood two metres apart and prepared to launch themselves. As much as he found Jasper annoying he didn't want the kid to hurt himself, the same went for Charlotte.

"Are you seeing this?!" Saying that, though, neither of them failed. Rather, Ray was once again left gobsmacked when they each landed to the move perfect and straightened out of bored faces and not so much as a sweat. He grinned at (y/n) to see if she was as impressed as him but she was smiling because of his adorable reaction, not because she was wowed.

Neither was anyone wowed when Schwoz, last but not least, stepped up to the plate and just like his friends had done before him, he sprung back like it was easy. Ray couldn't believe it when he ended with a classy flourish that would befit a circus performer, perhaps even put them to shame.

"Can you not do one, dude?"

"Hm?"

"Can you not do one, dude?" Ray feigned ignorance when Henry asked him the question because, in all honesty, he couldn't. Come on, he was a fucking huge, hefty, six-foot lump of muscle and those don't do backflips easily. It was also kinda embarrassing to admit that he couldn't when everyone else could because after all, he was Captain Man, if he could keep up with his sidekicks and three regular citizens, what was he good for?

"Pffft! 'Course, I can!" He lied, causing the woman standing next to him to raise her eyebrows and place her hands on her hips. She knew that scoff, that little puff of air that left his lips when he was bullshitting about something because he was trying to look good. 

"Raymond, I've known you for ages but not once have I seen—-mmm!" (y/n) was cut off as Ray abruptly cut off her sentence, which would've exposed him, by seizing her hips and pulling her into an impromptu kiss, swallowing the truth before it made it past those honey lips. It was a shock judging by how her eyes stayed wide for the first five seconds and how she hummed a gasp, but then she melted and forgot all about her argument in a way that was wholly normal for Schwoz and the teens to witness.

"Okay..." Henry muttered and they left it at that since Ray clearly wasn't in the mood to talk as his arms wrapped around the heroine's body and kept her close, meaning he could keep kissing and kissing and kissing her as Charlotte checked the time. Right, well, as much as she hated to break up their little lovefest and start one of Ray's sulking sessions.

"(y/n), we should probably get to Henry's house for Piper's fitting. Once you've done eating Ray's face, that is," she teased her friend as she retrieved her phone from the table and headed for the elevator, expecting the woman to pull away with a pouting yet understanding expression.

"One more minute, Char..." (y/n) muttered as she pulled back from Ray's lips on the thought that yes, they had stuff to do today, but when her doofus dived back into to chase the sugar rush again, she couldn't help but want to carry on for a little longer. One minute, it didn't sound like a lot but she'd take it over being dragged away prematurely, not that any force on Earth could prise Ray from her hips. 

"Is Patina gonna be there?" Jasper asked excitedly, causing (y/n) to smile even harder into the kiss as she heard that exciting note in his voice. Yeah, he was crushing hard; when she'd first started having questionable feelings for her boss, Schwoz often pointed out that she always talked about Ray like an energetic meerkat—upright, alert and able to go on for hours. The next stage was sighing at the mere thought of the other, followed by having sparkling eyes whenever you talk about them in a soft, enamoured voice.

"Yeah."

"Can I come?" Then came the need to follow wherever they went. It sounded a bit stalky and creepy that he had to be there when Patina was, but it was done with the best intentions. Hopefully, she would see it as he did, but also, hopefully, she wouldn't write it off as an unusually strong friendship as he'd done. Yeah, he'd never live that one down; all girls turn down dates to snuggle with their best friend on the couch, that's how the real world works.

"You won't even know that I'm there, I'll be totally quiet. Watch!" Jasper said excitedly and bit his lip just to prove that if he was gonna be an extra guest in the house, he wasn't gonna be a bother. But he didn't exactly help his case, not when he couldn't contain the hyper butterflies in his tummy and started squealing and bouncing up and down.

"If it's cool with Henry—"

"Yeah!" Oh, Charlotte had made his day by just saying those few words and when Jasper looked to Henry for confirmation and the boy gave him a shrug and a "sure" in return, those feelings tripled. Okay, he couldn't mess this one up, this was his first chance to impress his crush and he internally wanted himself not to be weird from the moment her monitor was wheeled through the door.

"(y/n/n), you coming?" Henry called out to his friend as she pulled away from Ray with a warm smile and a soft pat on his cheek before looking over her shoulder. The minute was up and she hadn't even gotten anything ready for the brief trip to the kid's house, which was a bit annoying but neither she nor Ray was complaining about extending the kiss. 

"Uh, yeah, you go on ahead, I'll be right behind. Just need to grab a jacket and my sewing box," the woman told the kids as they piled into the elevator and hit the button. She'd make up the head start they'd have on her and it's not like they could start sewing if she didn't bring the supplies so, they didn't mind disappearing to Junk-N-Stuff as she dashed to the back of the room so the dusty, old box that her granny had left to her.

"I'm gonna go eat my fajita in the shower!" Schwoz smiled to himself as he waddled to the secret door, eyes on his culinary prize. Yeah, no one even batted an eyelid at that because let's face it, he was a guy who regularly showered with pigs, eating in there wasn't weird in comparison. 

But one thing did strike (y/n) as odd whilst she pottered about the edge of the room, hooking one hand through the box's handle and picking up the random denim jacket she'd slung back there a few days ago. Was it just her or had Ray suddenly become really...shifty?

"See you later..." he murmured to Schwoz as he left the couple alone. The only sound in the room was the constant buzzing of all the machinery and computers and then (y/n) as she went about her business, checking that she'd put her needles, thread and thimble back in the box after stitching a sash in the middle of the week. Right, she couldn't forget that either, but when she turned around to tuck the material away and shrug on her jacket, she came across a peculiar sight.

"Um, doofus...what are you doing?" She asked as she stopped slinging the denim around her shoulders at the sight of him stretching? And upon being caught, he then played it off like he'd not been doing it in the first place, which was extra weird. 

"Nothing, sweet girl..." he told her as his hands grasped the rough, faded collar of her jacket and held it out for her to slip her arms into—a move that was so suave and chivalrous that she almost forgot what they were doing when her heart swooned. Almost. 

He brushed her hair free from the confines of the collar and pressed a kiss to the exposed junction of her neck and shoulder. However, she wanted answers and nothing was gonna stop her from finding them, not his handsome face, not his heartwarming affection, not even his stupidly hot purple sweater.

"You're a terrible liar, Raymond," (y/n) whispered and turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck as his eyes scanned her pretty features but never met her eyes. How could he explain that he wanted to attempt what he thought was impossible now that everyone was gone?

"You look so pretty today, baby. Do you have to go? We could reenact this morning if you want..." Ray dragged them off-topic as his focus stayed mostly on her scarlet-painted lips and how her tongue darted out to wet them at the mention of the morning part two. That was tempting but she could never do that to her friends. Charlotte, Piper and Patina needed her and she'd be damned if she missed seeing Henry act as Jasper's wingman in his attempts to woo his crush.

"Sounds wonderful, sweetheart but you know I have to go and finish this dress...and from the looks of things, you have to try and prove you can do a backflip," her tongue-in-cheek teasing caused the man to flush bright red as she made the quick connection in her head after pondering about it for a moment. Of course, exercise, stretching, being alone, he still couldn't let it go because they both knew that he couldn't do one, not that there was anything wrong with that.

"Is it really that obvious?" Ray muttered and hung his head in shame, only for his lover to bring his eyes back to hers with a finger under his chin.

"Yeah, kinda. I know you too well, doofus. So well that I know you won't stop until you do one properly, so I promise I won't laugh if you fall on your butt," (y/n) told him gently after cupping his cheeks gently and pressing a kiss to one of them. She'd never laugh at him, not cruelly anyway, he was her beloved doofus and if he wanted to try and land a backflip then she wouldn't judge.

"I love you, darlin'," Ray grinned as he dipped his head to press their lips together one last time before separating from her and moving into some space. He could do this, he had the sweetest, kindest, the most understanding girl he'd ever met as his audience and perhaps if he did it right, she'd be so impressed that his reward would be more than a peck on the cheek.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Now, go on, I'm sure I've got time to see one attempt," she grinned at him kindly and perched herself on the edge of the table with her box bumping against her knees so she had a front-row seat to the show.

"Okay—I-I got this. I can do a backflip...Okay—" Ray muttered to himself as he did a few more stretches that definitely weren't for the benefit of the fine filly admiring his ass and strong back as his muscles rippled beneath his shirt. Okay, he couldn't draft this out any longer, sometimes you just have to go for it and hope for the best, so he did. But it wasn't exactly the best.

(y/n)'s eyes widened and then squinted with a grimace as he jumped and pushed his weight back in a decent takeoff but then he failed to pull his knees to his chest to rotate his body, so he just harshly fell back onto the hard tiles beneath him. Her face contorted in horror as his head and neck took the brunt of the landing and caused his back to crack viciously as he also twisted his shoulder, resulting in a cry of pain breaching his lips. Thank god for his indestructibility.

"Oh god, doofus, are you all—" (y/n) gasped and hurried over to his side as he writhed in pain, her heart lurching at how he seemed to be hurting all over, but she never got to finish her sentence as, to her shock, the elevator door opened, revealing that Henry hadn't gone home just yet. Had she taken too long or was there another reason for his presence?

"Hey, I forgot my backpack..." Henry announced as he stepped into the room and reached for the bag he'd clumsily left next to the elevator and then forgotten, but then he caught sight of the odd couple in the centre of the room. 

He didn't want to ask why Ray was floundering on the floor like a fish out of water with (y/n) crouched next to him, neither did he want to ask what had been keeping her so long but he felt compelled to ask anyway, even if there was an ick factor.

"(y/n), is he okay?" He asked the woman as her eyes darted around the room and her tongue ran over the inside of her mouth in an attempt to not fidget nervously. Spoiler alert; it wasn't fooling him. No matter how innocent she tried to play it, Henry wasn't gonna buy that nothing was wrong because her puppy eyes didn't work on him. They only ever worked on Ray Manchester.

"Uh, yeah, yes, fine. Everything is fine, perfectly normal, in fact. That is a lovely backpack—" (y/n) stammered as he stared her down and analysed what the scene looked like. Judging by how she was avoiding the question and failing miserably, she was trying to protect Ray, who hadn't just tripped and fallen since he moaned in agony until the pain went away.

"Did you just try to do a backflip?" he asked with a smug smirk growing on his face. It all made sense in his mind when he viewed the pair and then did some deeper thinking. He should've known that his boss couldn't let it go, he was famous for never letting anything go, which spawned both his fathomless loyalty and his knack for holding twenty-year grudges.

"No, no! I was—was just on the floor to...closer to these yummy floorjitas!"

"Oh, dear lord..." (y/n) facepalmed when her dumb doofus couldn't face the truth. Surely, it would've been better to admit that he'd failed at doing a backflip and had nearly slipped a disk doing so, rather than sliding on his belly to get to the cold, sloppy mess of the fajita mix that Jasper had dropped.

"So good, so good..." He told the boy as (y/n) screwed her nose up at the deplorable sight and Henry shucked on his backpack with a similar look of disgust. If he told himself over and over again that t tasted nice, maybe it would start to change flavour, y'know, a bit of reverse psychology, but not even Freud could stomp out the shame he felt when his sweet girl shuffled back a bit at how he'd gone a step too far.

"Okay. Good. 'Cause that would've been embarrassing!" Henry chuckled as he felt for the elevator button. Ray still hadn't budged from the mess on the floor and he wondered if he actually liked eating them. Nah, not even Ray was that weird, Schwoz maybe but not Ray. He was a mostly functioning human being who was set to get married and have a happy life. God help any children those two may have.

"I know right!" "Yeah, would've lost all respect for you! You comin', (y/n/n)?" Henry grinned as Ray reluctantly pulled another lump of chicken and a few strings of vegetables into his mouth and pretended that it was equal to a five-star banquet.

"Uh, yeah, hold the door," (y/n) replied and Henry did as she asked as she bid her dumb, gallant doofus farewell.  

"I'll see you later, sweetheart. There's my homemade cookies in the kitchen but if you're gonna eat them, please use a plate and not the floor," she teased and dropped a kiss on his forehead as his face flushed bright red. Could this be any more humiliating?

He'd land a backflip. He'd do it for her. He'd practice all afternoon if he had to. And he'd reap whatever rewards she gave him.

~Henry's house~

How do people sew for a living? 

Now, (y/n) couldn't exactly talk because she was a secret superhero and that came with its danger and even if she had opted for the quiet life, mechanical engineers don't have it easy either. She'd lost count of how many times she'd nicked herself with a rogue screwdriver or burnt her fingers when soldering or even getting molten solder onto her legs—all of which was before the whole super-regeneration thing.

Her chosen professions both came with their occupational hazards but dear lord, seamstresses had it rough. It seemed like such a cosy job; quiet nights by the fire where hard work and tranquillity were patch-worked into one as the rain came down in ribbons outside and a kitty named Buttons snoozed in the dying light of the embers. Everything would come together in the end as if it had been woven by fate itself and then after weaving another commission with another customer, it would be onto the next creation. If only it was that idyllic.

A few weeks of working on this design and she knew that all of that was complete crap. Sure, there were a few moments where she could sit and natter with Ray or her friends or marvel over the pretty fabric and feel like an elegant lady doing something so quaint and delicate. But then she'd stab her finger and swear like a sailor as the droplet of blood that beaded on her fingertip instantly vanished again. It was a temporary pain but it sure did hurt like a bitch. 

Then came the long, bleary nights where she'd stay awake long after Ray had fallen asleep, his nose pushed against her hip and his arms slung over her legs as she stayed sat upright to complete the intimate stitching on the bodice. 

Deadlines were deadlines, so it had taken a lot of coffee and the looming fear of letting everyone down to push her to keep sewing and keep sewing and keep sewing until it took the next sting of the needle to jolt her awake again. The lack of quality sleep full of snuggling made them both grouchy and whilst this had been fun, she was looking forward to never volunteering to be the seamstress again.

But for now, the most relief she got was when she and Charlotte took a step back to admire their masterpiece and she had to admit that she was proud. The girl's design had been beautiful and thanks to her, the dress had come together beautifully. What had started as mere graphite swirls on a sketch pad was now a fitted bodice and a matching jacket that covered her arms and shoulders slightly, made from a cactus green material speckled with pink flowers and cording. 

Stitched onto the back of that was a fan of tropical leaves that gave the dress a bit more majestic height before you got the full sweep of the dramatic skirt—reams and reams of rich, green fabrics sewn together to give the girl a stunning figure and an air of elegance that befitted a queen. 

And that was all without her hair and makeup done or the crown and staff that the organisers had made for her, plus the sash that (y/n) had brought along after finalising the beading that proclaimed her that year's monarch.

"Don't sit there," Piper warned her brother as he went to sit on the couch. It wasn't a command or anything, it was a genuine warning as she looked up from buttoning her jacket and whatever adjustments Charlotte and (y/n) were doing to her hair and dress before Patina arrived. She'd worked on it too, of course, although (y/n) silently wondered what she had contributed at all apart from a few dictatorial instructions about how everything should look or be put together. How much work could someone do when they couldn't leave their house?

"My house too, Piper," Henry replied in that tone that all rival siblings have when addressing each other. The teen had long learnt that he didn't have to put up with his bossy sister's shit just because she was scary, most of her ferocity had mellowed over the years and now she was more bite than bark. Ergo, if he wanted to sit on the couch then he was gonna because she needed to remember that she wasn't the damn queen yet.

"I sits where I wants," he declared and perched himself on the cushion, only that wasn't the only thing he sat on. Instantly, he squeaked as something pointy dug into his butt and his eyes watered at how it was like a million needles pricking his ass at once...because it was. Cactus needles to be specific.

"Well, you should look before you sits, Hen. We left the cactus needles for Piper's dress there," (y/n) told him with little to no sympathy as he grimaced through the pain. He'd been warned and he'd ignored it, resulting in a rather painful problem that she wasn't gonna yank out, not when she still had so many final details to perfect.

"I feel that now..." the boy groaned huskily but Piper had one more surprise for him. "Also, I'm gonna need those needles back," she told him, adding insult to injury as he stood up with pain thick in his throat and began plucking the needles from his butt one by one. He'd be there for a while since he was covered in them and each had a very important place on the dress apparently, so he better stop whinging, especially before Patina arrived. Let's just say, Jasper was feeling a bit nervous.

"Jasper, what are you spraying?" Charlotte spluttered as her odd friend squirted a thick, sickly smelling aerosol in their directions, causing her, Piper, (y/n) and Henry to choke a little. God, it was probably a nice smell if its sweetness was anything to go by but not when they could taste it from how much was in the air. Had he smelt something bad? Why the incessant need to make them all choke?

"Oh, air freshener! Cashmere-plum! I want it to smell nice for Patina," he replied as he sprayed the area near the stairs and then realised that he might smell bad too. He decided that there was no harm in his mouth smelling like his grandmother's car and he went ahead with squirting the stuff in his mouth. All that effort for a girl that wasn't gonna be in the room. 

Not even Ray had been that desperate to win (y/n)'s affections, although he did once drive fifty miles to pick her up from the airport because he hated the thought of her taking public transport after an already tedious journey to a family reunion. They always went to those together now.

"Who cares how it smells? Patina's allergic to unfiltered air so she won't even be here in person." 

"Yeah, she's just gonna be on that video monitor that her nurse pushes around," Piper and Henry noted as he continued to use the air freshener until the can was half-empty. He couldn't be too careful, he wanted to impress this girl so bad and nothing or no one was gonna stop him from making the environment perfect for her monitor.

"Well, what if she asked her nurse what the room smells like, hmm? What then? What then?!" Jasper asked impatiently with yet another squirt on the end just for good measure and his friends sighed tiredly. They understood his need for this to go well since he wasn't exactly a ladies' man; all of his exes had been psychos and those he did like never fancied him back but perhaps this time would be different—if he stopped trying so hard and just let it flow naturally.

"Jasper, calm down and take it from someone who spent ten years crushing on one guy—it's always better if you just be yourself. Don't you think Patina will want to get to know the real you? The funny, cute boy who doesn't normally kill houseplants with air freshener?" (y/n) gave him a gentle smile as she looked away from her work to focus on another problem. He released a deep breath as he absorbed her words, concluding that she was right.

"You're right. You're right, all right? I just need to...chill out," Jasper sighed and calmly sat down on the couch, thinking that whatever happened, whatever was thrown his way and however beautiful Patina looked, it was better if he didn't freak out. He was chill, he was calm, and nothing would break down the fortress of tranquillity that had surrounded his mind because everything was fine and everything was gonna go well. That is until the doorbell rang.

"She's here! Everybody shut up!" The boy jumped up from the couch not a second after he'd settled into the cushions and ordered his friends to button it even though they weren't talking. He didn't know if the nurse and Patina could hear anything from the porch but he didn't want them to think they were all weird, neither did he want them to think that they were stiff. 

"Wait! When I open the door, everybody laugh like I just said something really funny, okay?! All right and funny, funny!" He changed his tune pretty quickly as he zipped to the door and then directed them all to start laughing. Yeah, it would've been better if he went with (y/n)'s advice on being natural because no one's laughter sounded genuine, more forced and strained as he opened the door as suavely as he could to the raucous sound as a backdrop.

"Hey, Patina," "Hi, Jasper!" "Come on in, come on in," and despite all of that effort, he welcomed her in as if it was the easiest, most natural thing in the world with Patina not even noticing the fake laughter as her weird, socially-deficient nurse pulled her monitor into the room. The girl was more bothered about seeing a new place albeit virtually than the people in it or what they were doing but still, he had time to catch her attention.

"I love this house!" She complimented Henry and Piper, who had varying opinions on the compliment as she was wheeled in and absorbed every detail from the whacky knickknacks to the bright decor. If only she could see it in person, her life would be complete. But that was the whole point, right? Her life was miserable because she swelled up whenever she went outside.

"Thanks!" "Okay..."

"Morgan, what does the room smell like?" 

"Smells like cashmere and plum. It's delightful," the nurse responded to the surprising question, which shocked everyone but Jasper, who couldn't believe that he'd played a hunch and gotten it right. Of course, the smell of the room made everything that much better and he'd been certain that Patina would want to know what Henry's house smelt like so she could imagine herself there fully, much to his friends' disbelief. Okay, go, Jasper, sure, he'd been a bit crazy but the air freshener had been a nice touch.

"Does this place have a basement?" Morgan the nurse asked suddenly as Henry gave Jasper an approving nod. That was an odd question to ask but whatever. He was more concerned about getting stuck in with his wingman duties because, and he couldn't believe he was thinking this, it seemed like Jasper was in with a chance here. And he couldn't idly stand by and watch him screw it up.

"Huh? Uh, yeah—" "Uh! I'll find it..." the nurse cut him off ominously and then left Patina's monitor by the fireplace so she could go off in search of the basement. Okay, someone was giving off murderer vibes and everyone watched awkwardly as she disappeared to the door that led to below the house, wondering what she was possibly gonna do down there.

"...You look gorgeous!" Patina gasped at Piper's dress as Jasper pulled her—the monitor—closer to the girls so she could see the amazing work they'd managed to do in such a short amount of time. (y/n) and Charlotte were busy adjusting the sash on the outfit as Piper blushed by they felt pride run through them anyway because it was true—Piper did look lovely.

"Thank you!" Oh, Jasper. It was an honest, understandable error to think that his crush was talking to him as he got close to the screen to drag it across the room but it didn't make it any less awkward. Cute but still very awkward.

"She was talking to me," Piper pointed out dryly, wondering what planet the boy was on as he stared at the floor and wished it would eat him whole. That way Patina wouldn't see his mortified blushes but luckily for him, Charlotte was quick on her feet with a saving diversion.

"Hey, is this how you said you wanted the sash to hang?" Charlotte asked as she and (y/n) held the silk in place over Piper's torso, pinning it to her shoulder so it crossed her body to have the bow at the back. Yeah, the sash was nice but again, (y/n) couldn't help but wonder just how much the other girl had contributed. How else could a sash hang? Not many in her mind, but whatever, she held her tongue just like she held the luxurious material and distracted herself with how pretty her engagement ring was when the diamonds caught the light.

"Yes! You nailed it! Ugh, Piper... I wish I could see you in that dress at Cactus Con in person," Patina sighed as she realised that all of her/their efforts would amount to nothing for her because what was the point in designing a beautiful dress if you'd never see it in the light? She'd never seen people marvel and admired it, she'd never see how Piper glowed it in, and she'd never get to thank Charlotte and Charlotte's grown-up friend for making it real. It was a real shame, such a shame that Jasper couldn't help but wonder if there was a solution to her problem, one that could be twisted into a win-win situation.

"Oooh! Then—-then, do it! Come with me, I'll be your date!" He was straight in there, possibly a little bit too quick for a guy who'd already made an idiot of himself once. To everyone's shock but Patina's endearment, he sank to one knee and held his hands in front of him, clasped together in a plea for her to accept that appeared to be too extra by Henry's standards—and (y/n)'s, if she was honest. God, it had taken her doofus eleven years to get to that stage and there he was doing it after eleven seconds.

"Uh—slow down—too bold—" Henry muttered and spluttered the message by covering it up with a cough, hoping that his best friend would get that he was throwing himself into the deep end, running before he could walk or y'know, setting himself up for sabotage. He needed to secure a good friendship with the girl, hit her with a few cheesy one-liners to make her blush, eat her mom's homemade brownies and tell her she looked beautiful at least twice before he asked her on a date. Well, that's how he would've done it, nice and slow, not rushed and not so...desperate.

"Jasper, I would love to go to Cactus Con with you..."

"—keep going—it's working—" Never mind. The Henry method didn't always work out apparently and in this case, Jasper's approach of throwing caution to the wind and just ripping the bandaid off was well-played, much to everyone's shock. Someone should've told Ray that when he was debating whether he should confess to (y/n) or not but anyway, Henry did not stumble when it came to being a good wingman. When he saw the way Patina melted at the kind offer, he instantly changed his advice, not that things were gonna work out so well.

"But I can't." Well, that was...blunt. It was like a stab to the heart for Jasper as Patina shot him down after sounding so sweet and promising, which was heartbreaking for (y/n) watch as the sad bit of every rom-com she'd ever watched play out in front of her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. If this was a movie then the glorious plot twist of the lovers finding a way to make it work would be right around the corner, but not before someone took a cheap dig.

"Oof, dude, you just got curved hard!" Oh, Piper. She knew how to throw salt into a guy's wounds as he bled out from a broken heart. 

"No! No, no, no, I didn't mean to curve you!" Patina, however, was quick to correct her as she saw Jasper's face drop into disappointment when he realised that he'd built his hopes up for nothing. He thought that a girl like Patina was way out of his league and that even thinking of dating her had been a foolish fantasy. Plot twist coming; his crush didn't see it like that at all. "I just meant, I'd go if I could leave my house but I can't." Well, that was sad.

"Well, what if you could?" Jasper suggested, not knowing where he was going with this but honestly, he was feeling like doing something stupid. It was the crush making him feel that way, that's why people say love makes you do and say stupid things because he had the chance to take Patina Elle on a real-life date and he was gonna find a way to do it even if it had complicated repercussions.

"I don't see how that's possible. I'm allergic to air!"

"...Kid Danger!" Jasper exclaimed suddenly and he grunted and groaned through ten seconds of intense theory, scouring his brain for an idea on how they could get Patina to the convention without killing her in the process. He bit his lip and turned to his friends for help but it turned out that he didn't need it, or when he saw his best friend—his superhero's sidekick—best friend standing there. He knew there had to be a perk to that and now he'd found one, much to (y/n) and Henry's immediate fear and apprehension.

"What?!"

"Oh god..." They blinked the shock away from their faces so that Patina nor Piper would see the colour draining away from them but to the trained eye, such as Charlotte's, it was obvious that they were terrified. The mention of his alias was a dangerous one because Ray's rule number one for his employees was to never, ever reveal his, Miss Danger's or Kid Danger's secret identities. 

They were straying into perilous territory just by saying that name because what if someone made the connection? What if he blabbed something and the truth got out? Ray would kill them and Schwoz would have to whip out the memory-wiper. This was a bad idea.

"What about Kid Danger?"

"He...owes me a favour!" A very bad idea. Jasper didn't want anything to get out of hand but now that he'd dropped the name in front of Patina to capture her delight, it was impossible to take it back, even though he knew that his boss would strangle him if he found out that he was using his, (y/n)'s or Henry's secret influence to make himself look good. How on earth would he, a normal, average kid who never did much, let alone get to know a celebrity on a level like that, score a favour from Kid Danger? It just didn't make sense to anyone who heard it.

"He does?!" Piper asked with a frown. Come on, she was the president of the Man Fans and she'd helped the superheroes out a bunch of times and even she didn't know Captain Man and Co like that.

"Uh, yeah, does he Jasper? 'Cause I don't—I don't—"

"Yeah, he does!! He could, uh, he could protect you!" The teen bellowed over his friend's attempts to get his name out of the picture. Jasper needed Kid Danger right now, the young, cool, popular guy who had the gadgets to fix any situation and even if it made him and (y/n) incredibly uncomfortable, he was gonna risk it. The crush would just be too much to handle if he didn't act on it.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Kid Danger, whoever he is, can't protect someone from allergies..." (y/n) noted as she and Henry nervously watched and listened, occasionally sharing some worried glances as their palms grew sweaty.

"No! I mean, yes, but I-I just mean that Kid Danger has all kinds of cool gadgets and stuff! R-r-r-r-right, Henry? Right, Henry? (y/n)? (y/n/n)?" He clarified, missing yet another chance to leave the heroes out of it and then, he made it worse by turning to the woman and boy as if they could share the intimate knowledge they had. Why would he do that? Did he want to expose them? (y/n) could swear that her eye twitched and her heart imploded as the room looked at them weirdly, expecting the answers they had.

"Personally, I have no idea what you're going on about, Curly..."

"How would we know that?" The sidekicks replied flatly in an attempt to seem as neutral, unbiased and innocent as possible because Piper and Patina were not allowed to see anything hint that they knew more than they should as regular citizens. Help, someone help, they felt like they were in a goldfish bowl right now, or at the very least in a corner being attacked from all sides by questions that didn't know when to stop. What else was he gonna say to make them squirm?

"Uh, because you're both such big Kid Danger fans! And (y/n), we all know how much you love Captain Man!" Charlotte jumped straight in with a reasonable lie that covered their backs should none start developing deeper into how Henry or (y/n) could have that knowledge.

"Yeah, whatever!" Jasper wasn't fussed about that, though; yeah, (y/n) loved Ray and vice versa, tell him something new. He was more concerned with using his best friend's legendary status to score him a date with the prettiest girl in school. 

"If I could guarantee that Kid Danger could keep you safe, will you come to Cactus Con with me?"

"Guarantee's a strong word..." Henry said to himself in a strained voice so that only (y/n) and Charlotte heard him. They had to jab him in the robs to make sure that no one not on the "need-to-know" list heard him but they understood what he meant. Having all of that responsibility to make sure that Patina didn't have a severe allergic reaction was a big deal and despite his skills, not even Kid Danger could push the air away and protect her from rogue particles. He was a sidekick, not a miracle worker, big difference.

"Oh, Jasper, that would be amazing! But would Kid Danger really do that?"

"Of, course! He loves me!" Jasper reassured her, exaggerating just how deep this fake-but-not-fake relationship went.

"Love's a strong word..."

"HE'LL DO IT!!" Still, his best friend ignored his subtle pleas to think of something else and much to the sidekicks' displeasure, Jasper found himself with a date as Patina gasped and grinned with delight. Oh good, this was gonna be fun.

"Jasper, thank you so much!" Patina smiled warmly at her date, who himself was beaming with pride at how he'd managed to secure an afternoon with her against all odds.

"Uh, this is just great! Great fun for everybody—hey, Jasper, could I talk to you outside on the porch, please?" The blond boy held a tight smile as he approached Jasper in a friendly manner that suggested that nothing was wrong. Right, the porch, the place that witnessed every important private matter that had to be discussed in the Harts' household and (y/n) knew where this going, unlike Jasper.

"Sure!"

"Cool..." the boy muttered as he shoved his friend towards the door, not caring if it seemed a bit harsh because, in effect, Jasper had kinda thrown him under a bus. One look over his shoulder to the woman standby awkwardly with Charlotte and they were out of the door, (y/n) hot on their heels since she was the only Man Cave adult around to referee the ensuing argument. 

"Uh, I'm just gonna go...yeah," she muttered something incoherent as she tiptoed across the room, ignoring whatever was coming from the monitor—something about Patina telling her mom about her perilous trip outside. Yeah, she shouldn't get her hopes up just yet.

"Dude!"

"Bro!" Henry was the first to sigh exasperatedly at Jasper, who then sighed back with that dopey, smitten look on his face and his hand over his heart as they started a battle of who could say the same word for the longest. 

Henry knew that look, he knew it very well—that was the kinda look that Ray used to wear when he was daydreaming about (y/n), watching (y/n) hover around the Man Cave, waiting for (y/n) to come home, wishing (y/n) would fall in love with him, wondering if (y/n) would ever feel the same way, just anything about his future wife before they got together, he used to look so distant and soft until he got that love for real. 

The woman watching the exchange never saw it in her relationship but she sure as hell saw it in Jasper as he fought like a knight battling for a princess' hand. And they just had to be the wicked witch and evil warlock trying to hold him back.

"Dude!"

"Bro!" Great. This could go on for a while as (y/n)'s head flickered back and forth between the boys who just couldn't break out of the cycle. They both had such strong feelings about this and neither wanted to back down, even when it started to get weird.

"Dude!"

"Bro!

"Dude!"

"Bro!"

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous, use your words!" (y/n) exclaimed as they seemingly had a conversation just by saying two things. Finally, another voice of reason might work with hers to cut through whatever this was because they just weren't listening.

"Dude!" "Bro!" "Dude!" "Bro!" "Dude!" "Bro!" "Dude!" "Bro!" 

"They've been doing that for ages. I can't even get through to tell them that I have an idea on how to help Patina," (y/n) said as it just went on and on and on. Charlotte came to stand in between them with her, and the woman couldn't offer her an explanation as they continued to argue with next to nothing being said, the only clue on how they felt being the steadily deepening growls in their throats. Well, they were getting angry at each other and that's when the girls decided that they'd heard enough, well, Charlotte had. This was stupid, so she intervened to the best of her ability.

"You guys!" She snapped and the boys stopped arguing to look at her and (y/n) as they stood there with irritated expressions. At last, a bit of peace to work through this. Shouting wouldn't help, as (y/n) had learnt through numerous screaming matches with Ray, so it was best to just calmly voice their opinions and come to a reasonable compromise, as she demonstrated.

"Use your words..." the woman reiterated and Henry sighed, knowing that she was right. Well, then if he had to behave like a grown-up for this, he'd give Jasper a taste of reality because what he was asking for wasn't fair in his opinion. His job was his life, which sounded a bit sad but he could never endanger the operation Ray had going to keep Swellview safe and his friend's little jaunt with his new girlfriend/date was surely gonna put that in jeopardy.

"(y/n), will you please tell Jasper that he can't volunteer Kid Danger for his personal life?" Oh jeez, it was always fun to be the referee, y'know, the one stuck in the middle with people pulling you on both sides. At least the woman was used to it, after all, she lived with a rather opinionated coconut and a man-child, being a keeper of the peace was just about her third job.

"Will you please tell Henry that I'm in love?" Jasper countered with just as much passion, although (y/n) was fairly sure that what Jasper was feeling wasn't love. Puppy-love maybe but not love-love. Not the love she felt every morning when she woke up next to her future husband or when they looked at possible venues for the wedding. He was a long way off experiencing that kind of addictive, all-consuming, golden, toe-curling feeling where he'd know if he'd found the one or not, but she wouldn't tell him that. Everyone needs to have their heart broken a few times before getting it right.

"Will you please tell Jasper that we don't have anything in the Man Cave that can help Patina?" Henry bit back, thinking the same thing as her when it came to Jasper being in love but again, like a good friend, he held his tongue. No one wanted to be cruel here, but he did want to be realistic and in all of his time in the Man Cave and every time he'd sorted through Ray's junk, he'd never come across anything that looked like it would save a girl from going into anaphylactic shock. But little did he know, there were a few hidden gems knocking about the place.

"Actually, we may have something in the Man Cave that can help Patina..." "(y/n), will you please ask Charlotte what she's talking about?" The boy frowned as he heard the girl's hesitant words. Huh? This was the first he'd heard of this, had Schwoz been inventing again? (y/n) would know what she was going on about, she watched over the Man Cave like a hawk and his frown deepened when she nodded slightly. This was her idea coming into play and she was glad that at least someone knew what she was referring to and that someone paid as much attention to what happened around them as she did.

"She's talking about—" (y/n) was gonna elaborate but then, with perfect timing, Henry's watch started to beep and flash, indicating that someone in the Man Cave wanted to chat. It wasn't an emergency, just a double beep to let him know that his services were needed for something, so as the kid went to flick it open, they were all left in suspense.

"Wazzzzzup?!" It was Schwoz, of course, it was Schwoz. And of course, he was doing that stupid greeting that the boys in the Man Cave couldn't help but do because it was oh-so hilarious. Ever since they'd heard of the old nineties trend, Jasper, Henry, Ray and Schwoz had taken the pleasure of using it whenever they called each other because it was just so funny, not that (y/n) or Charlotte understood the hype. It was twenty years old and a tad immature, perhaps a bit laddish, why did they do it?

"Wazzzzzuppp?!" "Wazzzzzupppp?!" The boys responded with their tongues sticking out and grins curling the corners of their mouths but even still, (y/n) and Charlotte stayed quiet. Hello or hi would suffice for them, but they weren't gonna let them do that. This was a group effort and according to pop culture law, once some said wazzup, everyone else had to do it too.

"Come on, come on, do it do it..." Children. They worked with children. Sighing, the girls repeated the greeting with a lot less enthusiasm than the boys mustered but still, it was good enough. Hardly a formal greeting but if it made them happy, they'd muddle through, especially since they were curious to know what Schwoz could be calling them about. Normally, it was Ray who did the calling if there was an emergency and ever the worrier, (y/n)'s heart lurched when her brain generated a million questions about why he wasn't around. Still, she needed to clarify something and so, she told her nerves to go away because the most probable situation was that Ray was off somewhere doing something dumb to keep himself busy.

"Schwoz, I'm fairly sure we do but have we got a three-ply, airtight, hypoallergenic bubble-suit somewhere in the Man Cave?" (y/n) asked the small man once they'd all calmed down. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she recalled seeing one of those suits tucked away in a box in case they ever needed to enter an environment where there was a dangerous airborne disease or particle around but she wanted to make sure with the genius who didn't necessarily keep a better inventory than she did, but he was the one to ask for reassurance. It was his tech, he'd know, right?

"What size?" Schwoz questioned without even batting an eyelid, "Small." "Oh, yeah, we've got that," he replied easily, knowing that they had a variety of sizes in the Man Cave ranging from Captain Man size to Miss Danger size to Kid Danger size and to his own size. Whatever they needed it for they could borrow it, it's not like he was planning on going into a hazardous area any time soon, not when he already had so many odd jobs to do around the place. Well, then, that was their Patina problem solved, she could walk around in the suit with the air filter on her back and not have to worry about a thing. Apart from popping the thing.

"Well, that was easy," Charlotte noted and (y/n) nodded, feeling much more relieved now that they had a plan of action, but her chest still felt uneasy at the thought of Henry having to hover around the girl all afternoon. As long as she didn't stare and he didn't say much they should've been okay.

"So you'll do it?" Jasper looked at Henry with hope gleaming in his eyes and for a moment, the boy thought. Hard. Like (y/n), he had many reservations about this plan, so much could go wrong and they had so much to lose, but then at the same time, this was Jasper he was dealing with; the kid he'd known since he was tiny, the kid who always had his back no matter what, the kid who had no luck with girls at all but deserved a chance because he was a great guy underneath the weirdness. Could he throw caution to the wind and live dangerously just this once?

"Fine..." "BRO! "Dude!" Yes. Yes, he could do that. It was worth it to see Jasper's ecstatic face when he conceded, even if the ensuing hug made his pancreas and liver feel like they were gonna explode. His friend was happy, that was all that mattered and all they had to do on the day was b extra careful to not let anything go wrong. It would be fine, he'd be a great wingman and then Jasper would owe him a huge favour because he was seriously sticking his neck out here, not that his boss, the guy who was most likely to flip when hearing about this, was in a position to care about the recklessness of their idea right now.

"Hey, you guys wanna see something funny?" Schwoz suggested with a mischievous smirk as Jasper put Henry down after his bone-crushing hug and immediately, (y/n) felt suspicious. He had that look of mischief in his eye and sure, she was up for seeing something funny but he seemed positively devious with whatever was going on around him. There had to be a reason why he'd called, right? 

"'Course." "Yeah!" Henry and Jasper nodded, not feeling at all apprehensive as the genius pulled the remote control for the holo-caller from his back pocket. They'd had a rough fifteen minutes, they needed a laugh and there was a reason why Schwoz had called them of his own free will, mainly because this kind of entertainment only came around once in a while and it was only brief, which was a shame. It was pretty funny.

"Ray is still trying to do a backflip!" He exclaimed, making (y/n)'s face quickly contort into one of adoration and sympathy at how her poor doofus was trying so hard, only to be teased and mocked. The camera angle turned so Schwoz left the hologram and instead, it focused on Ray, her sweet Ray, as he did the lunge-hand-swing thing again to build momentum, only to fall on his ass again when he jumped back. The sight of him flopping onto the floor in a pile of doofus had the teens pointing and laughing as she cooed like she was watching an adorable baby fall whilst taking its first steps and even though it was a bit funny, she didn't have it in her to laugh along.

"He can't do a backflip!" "He can't do a backflip!" "Can't do a backflip!" They all chattered as Ray looked up in confusion and saw that he'd been caught on camera and that all of the sudden noise was his friends laughing at his failings. Was his sweet girl laughing too? She would never, but he couldn't see from that distance, so his cheeks flared from embarrassment when he made out the distinct voice of Jasper and Henry mocking his law of gymnastic prowess.

"Don't look at me!" He exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet and stepped out of the camera's shot, feeling like he was gonna explode as the teens continued to giggle. He'd do it. Maybe. He'd do it and then who'd be laughing, huh? Not them because he'd be just as good, if not better.

"Awww, don't laugh, he's adorable!" (y/n) nudged her friends and scolded them in a tone that said that if this was anyone else, she'd be laughing her ass off like they were. It was only because she worshipped the ground he walked on that she was trying to shoo them away, which wasn't working. The laughter was then aimed at her as their teasing turned to how much of a simp she was, how she found anything he did cute and how she'd slap anyone if they were picking on her lover. 

To them, the guy was nice but he was also a buffoon, so they had no idea how she was able to look past all of that and see nothing but perfection. Not a perfect man but perfection as in his strengths and flaws in one man that captured her heart. Was that what was gonna happen to Jasper? He already didn't see the monitor, he just saw the girl; perhaps in time, he'd only see the best in her too and love whatever her ugly side looked like just as much.

They could laugh all they wanted, to her, Ray really was adorable and dorky, and she didn't care if he could do a backflip or not. Hell, it probably would've been better if he stopped because every time he landed, it looked like he was gonna snap his neck. 

It wasn't possible but something would go wrong, she just knew it, and what would she do if she had no doofus? She couldn't survive the teasing about how whipped she was alone. It was her and Ray against the world, or rather, her and Ray against the merciless teens that were their family.

~A few days later, The Cactus Convention~

Well, this was nice. The place was packed as the security guards held back the crowds from swarming the displays prematurely because there just was that much excitement for this year's convention. They had everything here, every cactus on the Earth, every specimen, every breed, every species, they were all lined up and waiting to be viewed and loved and that was just the plants.

On one table, some souvenirs were no doubt gonna be sold out by the time things were closing up, so everyone made a mental note to get a hat or a t-shirt at some point during the afternoon. But how could they do that when there was so much else on offer too? The food, the balloons, the games, the cacti experts dotted here and there, there was so much to look at, do, experience, taste and learn about that one afternoon didn't seem long enough, not when some unfortunate souls were left out in the cold because they hadn't been quick enough to buy tickets. 

That was (y/n) or Ray's problem, though. They'd queued for ages to get in and had excitedly flashed their tickets at the doorman before someone else could take their spots and they were inside the building in no time, which was where they'd met up with Henry, who unlike them, wasn't set for a super fun day. 

No, whilst they were kissing and hugging and doing cute date stuff, he had to chaperone Jasper and Patina around, so he couldn't escape the romance and neither could he relax. Those two were taking ages in the parking lot what with the bubble-suit and Jasper trying to be the perfect gentleman, despite (y/n) advising him to loosen up and have fun, so he had time to crumble about his problems. 

The crowds wouldn't leave him alone when he was dressed at Kid Danger and that's all he'd been complaining about to the couple over the last few minutes as they patiently waited for Cactus Con to start. And that job fell to Piper.

"Hear me, hear me!" The girl shouted as she stood there looking all beautiful and regal in her dress. Everything had come together perfectly in the end and after a rush job of completing the sash, (y/n) was happy to let Charlotte stand up there with the girl to smoothen out the creases and adjust the spiky crown she was wearing as she bellowed the traditional commands, "As your Cactus Queen, I declare the Swellview Cactus Convention, open!"

To her and everyone else's surprise, no one budged when Piper opened her arms to announce that it was time to give the crowd what they wanted, but the guards wouldn't drop the rope. That was weird, she was supposed to have absolute power for the day, which probably wasn't wise considering what Piper could be like sometimes, but it still was a mystery as to why they weren't obeying. She had the crown, she had the gorgeous dress, she had a goddamn bejewelled staff complete with a cactus glued on the end, what more did they want?

"You have to tap your staff on the ground...my queen!" One security guard with blonde, curly hair called out. She was named Fran as everyone would find out at some point and she was weird, annoying and just a little bit...bitchy. Little did they know but she was gonna be a sore spot for the team in the future and possibly one of Miss Danger's most annoying rivals but that would save for another day. All they noticed now was her belligerent attitude when she dropped a sarcastic curtesy to Piper after sounding so churlish.

"Open!" Piper corrected herself by tapping her impressive staff on the ground twice and finally, the guards dropped the golden rope to the applause of the convention-goers. Really? Couldn't they have just done that in the first place rather than complain about it? Whatever, they moved off without any more fuss now that the Cactus Queen had done her job correctly and that meant that the crowd could flood in, with Henry, (y/n) and Ray trailing at the back, the couple happily holding hands since they weren't working. 

The job for today was to relax and spend some quality, normal time together, which came with the added joy of the girl being able to wear her engagement ring out in the open. It wasn't easy to tell but Ray was happy, very happy judging by how he deliberately chose to hold her left hand just so he could feel the metal against his skin.

"It's just a backflip, bro. You just do it, you just flip backwards," explained Henry to Ray as the man guided his sweet girl into the room with a thoughtful look on his face. Of course, the conversation had made its way back to the one stunt Ray couldn't pull off because even after a few days of practice, he still wasn't able to do it without falling. 

He didn't want to spend the whole day talking about it, not when his fiancée had gotten all dressed up and he'd put on one of his best Hawaiian shirts to make their date complete, but he wanted to hear the theory behind it because for some reason, no matter what he tried, he couldn't get it right. 

"Yes, but how?" He asked, wanting to know how they performed such wizardry because he'd spent days getting it wrong every time. He understood that bit, he knew how it worked, he just didn't know how to do it himself. His body wouldn't comply, not even when he'd made his sweet girl stand in front of him and do three in a row so he could study her figure—movements, he meant movements. 

"It's like trying to explain to somebody how to walk. You know what I mean? Just right foot, left foot, repeat."

"Backflipping is not the same as walking!" Ray argued when Henry tried to point out how simple it was as they walked and stopped in the middle of the room to chat, which was a bit weird since Kid Danger was appearing quite chummy with this man and his lover. It was just one of those skills where you either had it or you didn't and as much as it frustrated him, Ray had to admit that he didn't. Maybe it would be better for him to admire (y/n) doing it instead, at least then he'd merely drool and not hurt himself.

"Yeah but equally as easy!" "No, they are not!" "Maybe not for you but for most people, it is..." "Ugh, stop arguing! I swear, you're both like children!" (y/n) groaned as her doofus and friend kept bickering over the same thing repeatedly. They were cutting into her date time and that wasn't something she got a lot of these days, so she was eager to pull Ray away but at the same time, she didn't want to seem needy or pushy. 

But Charlotte swooped in like she always did and took the wrap for her, but to be fair, she did have an excellent reason.

"Uh, you guys?" She came over casually like she wasn't doing much, just looking fabulous with her hair in a rare style for her and a sick outfit. She'd been experimenting with her look lately but enough about that, she was more concerned about how easy it was for the couple to forget that when they weren't in uniform, or y'know, letting Henry do his thing alone, they weren't meant to know who Kid Danger was.

"Hey, Charlotte..." "What's up, Char?" "What's going on?"

"Maybe since you guys don't know each other, you shouldn't be talking, Ray, (y/n) and Kid Danger?" she advised subtly as if she was pandering to the sidekick and not speaking to him on a friendly level. The three realised their mistake instantly as (y/n) and Ray were suddenly very aware that they lacked the blue and red uniform that the kid was wearing and they quickly checked that no one was staring. 

Luckily, no one had clocked onto the fact that they'd been talking for a weirdly long time, which was a lucky escape, and swiftly, Ray pulled his girl away from Henry before anyone could get suspicious.

"Dude, she's right." "Right, scatter, scatter!" The hero told his employee and sidekick as he tightened his hold on (y/n)'s hand, who couldn't stop the smile from worming its way onto her coral lips when she realised that their date started now. 

It would just be them together but with people around them, no friends as horrible as it sounded, no interruptions, just them doing cute couple stuff like every other couple in the city did. There'd be no gunfire, no people to save, no fires to put out, everything would be perfect and her happiness was obvious to the teens as they saw how eager she was to pull her fiancé away.

"Have fun on your date!" Charlotte, or maybe Henry, called out over their shoulder as they all went their separate ways, which caused the lovers to look at each other and giggle with lovestruck faces. Right, this was their time and they were gonna make the most of it by seeing everything there was to see, eating as much food as they could and kissing more than was publicly appropriate and it all started now. 

Except, they weren't off to a very good start. Ray, being the doofus he was, didn't look where he was going as they quickly turned around to march off in whichever directions the teens weren't going and therefore, he marched straight into a cactus. A very prickly, very dangerous cactus.

"Argh, what the butt?!" "Doofus, be careful!" (y/n) told him in a worried voice as the needles tried to pierce his skin to no avail. Thank god he was indestructible, otherwise, he'd be in a very sticky situation right now and their date would've been finito since he practically faceplanted the thing. He felt the pins tickling his face before he pulled back to shield his sweet girl from any danger because even though she'd survived a prickling too, he didn't like the sound of plucking needles out of her palm or cheek as tears gathered in her eyes. That sounded awful, his heart would never cope.

"Ha, dude, you just bumped into the world's most poisonous cactus," and here came Kid Danger just to rub it in that he was clumsy. He might have been ordered to keep his distance so everything seemed normal during his mission, but when he witnessed his boss stumble into one of the deadliest plants in the world, he just had to poke fun. Come on, the guy was a walking disaster nearly and it was only thanks to his indestructibility that he hadn't gotten himself killed yet.

"How do you know that?" Ray asked indignantly, wondering what his sidekick was basing the level of poison this cactus had. Was he a botanist now? Could he name every cactus in the room and backflip to them all in succession? Was this just 'make fun at Ray' day? He didn't know why he looked so smug but (y/n) did because she knew that too. Anyone in the room could know it if they wanted to, all they had to do was be observant, another skill that her sweetheart sometimes lacked. 

"Because it says it right there, doofus. World's most poisonous cactus, don't bump into it," she read from the tiny card that had been placed in front of the plant, which would probably save the organisers from a lawsuit but in general, it wasn't very safe. There were so many people in the room, kids, elderlies, and idiots, anyone could brush up against this thing since there was no railing around it to keep people at a safe distance. What if someone got jabbed and keeled over? What then? 

"Oh, someone should be guarding this thing!" Ray snapped as Henry walked off to attend to his actual duties, leaving the man to do what he liked. First of all, Ray was gonna keep his sweet girl at arm's length away from the cactus, she was the first person he'd ever want to keep safe, followed by whoever else might follow. 

No one could say that his sense of justice and duty wasn't constant; even out of uniform he felt the need to do the honourable thing and whilst it cut into their date-time, (y/n) didn't have it in her to tell him no. Just seeing him standing there looking all diligent and powerful made her knees wobble. Or perhaps that was because of the earthquake caused by Fran as his feet slapped against the floor when she saw them hovering near the cactus.

"Hey, hey, be careful with that!" She said as if they weren't already aware that the plant was highly dangerous, probably too dangerous for public display, "that there's the world's most poisonous cactus. There's only one in the whole world...and we got it."

"So, don't you think you should be guarding?" Ray asked impatiently and folded his arms, having no time for her bragging or the way she smirked at him with a smouldering look in her eyes when she licked at a cactus-flavoured ice cream cone. Yikes, not another one, but this time, (y/n) didn't have to worry about him running off into the sunset because Fran, well, she wasn't his type. Or anyone's really. 

She was weird and too forward, not to mention the fact that she wasn't (y/n) and Ray Manchester only went for one specific woman these days. He never wanted to be single and ready to mingle again and certainly not with a person like her, she wasn't even sweet to start with.

"I was on an ice cream break," the security guard scoffed at his standoffish behaviour. He obviously liked that thing next to him too much to have a slice of mama's pie but that didn't matter. She'd always be waiting for a guy like him if he ever got bored of a salad with no dressing and preferred a meat feast instead, he could slip by anytime as long as he didn't come with annoying questions like that.

"Didn't this place just open?" Oh, and the tits and teeth could talk, how fascinating. What did he see in her? She was so...plain. Sure, her face was pretty and her body was...fine at best but what did she have to offer that good, old Fran couldn't?

"Yup! I got the first ice cream cone!" She grinned ferociously at (y/n), who instantly got the feeling that this woman was a nut, especially when she took such an obnoxiously large bite of her ice cream that it left a milky-green stain around her lips. And she thought she could date the god walking the Earth that was Ray Manchester? Good luck with that. "Balloons!"

And with that, Fran stomped off to grab herself a cactus-shaped balloon, leaving the hottie and his goldfish girlfriend or whatever to waltz around the exhibit, which wasn't very responsible since almost immediately, the toxic cactus nearly claimed its first victim. Good thing that Captain Man is always ready to save the day, especially when no one else wanted to do the job, that's why he started as a superhero to do the crap that the police couldn't be bothered to do.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He swooped in like a true hero as a small, adorable boy ran up to the cactus, intent on touching it cause he was still at the age where he couldn't read the sign or understand that you look with your eyes, not with your hands. (y/n)'s heart practically exploded from broody love as he sheltered the curly-haired boy from any harm and ensured that he'd live to touch something else and her heart couldn't take it, not when she was reminded of how great a father he would be. 

"Careful there. Uh, here, why don't you play with this non-poisonous cactus?" Ray suggested with a bright, friendly smile as he passed another cactus to the boy, which still wasn't great but better than him dying. He'd learn about poky things and not suffer dire consequences, whilst (y/n) would have to pick herself up off the floor after seeing him ruffle the boy's fluffy locks and move him away. Be still her beating heart. 

"Run along now...That's nice to see, right, sweet gi—?" Ray turned around with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face as he watched the boy run off to find his parents, and he felt proud to know that he'd done his part to keep yet another citizen of Swellview safe. 

But for (y/n), that kid wasn't just another citizen and that wasn't just another rescue, it was an insight into the future and with a wave of broodiness washing over her, she couldn't help but seize the lapels of his shirt and pull him down into a passionate, breathless kiss before he could even finish his sentence. 

Ray gasped at the bold movement since his girl was never normally so spontaneous with the kisses she gifted him but after a few seconds of stillness and having his eyes open, he melted and curled his arms around her waist as her fingers clutched patterned cloth. Their lips moved roughly against one another as (y/n) couldn't get enough of him, desperate to try and convey everything she felt for him in one kiss. 

"What—what was all that about, sweet girl?" Ray panted breathlessly as she slowly pulled back with love sparkling her eyes and puffy lips at how hard she'd attacked him but she wasn't sorry—not when he looked positively wrecked with his swollen lips and rapid breathing. That had come out of nowhere and whilst he wasn't complaining, he did want to know what he'd done to make her so needy, especially since she was usually so reserved in public places.

"I'm so in love with you, Raymond." She didn't want to explain that she felt the sudden need to jump his bones because of a one-time interaction he'd had with a child. When that scenario ran through her head, it seemed so silly, the sort of thing that was best kept to herself, so she opted to simplify it instead and tell him a boiled-down version of the truth that had his cheeks flushing and she stepped forward to pull him into one her rush-of-affection hugs—the ones that left people with rib cages like dust but warmth in their hearts.

"Well, I'm in love with you too, sweetheart. I love you so much," he grinned and returned the hug with equal strength, even though they were in the middle of a crowd and probably looking a bit weird. A flash of the ring on her finger and the elderlies who frowned at their openness suddenly understood—engaged lovers. They were like that once and it made them smile to see that romance wasn't dead. And there was evidence that romance wasn't gonna die out during the age of the digital divide either—it lived on in the youthful couple who'd just walked through the door.

"Aw, doofus, look at Jasper with Patina. Aren't they cute?" She grinned as he pulled away to subtly turn around. Well, he'd seen his fair share of teenage lovers and whilst he wasn't a romance aficionado like his sweet girl, he knew when kids were crushing bad. Hell, he had it bad right now, that lovesick puppy look on Jasper's face as he carried the air filter for Patina was probably the same look he had on his face when he carried mountains of bags in the mall when he took his fiancée shopping. And neither was ashamed.

"Well, I have to admit that the kid has done all right. Not even Henry thought he was gonna get a date. I sure as hell didn't," Ray admitted as he watched the usually awkward kid walk in like a true gentleman. He was doing everything right; keeping Patina safe and comfortable. It looked like it was going well, especially when that freaky nurse cleared off and left them to explore on their own. And then Henry came in and Jasper still kept his cool, despite the imposing stature that was Kid Danger colliding with his regular-guy one.

"He was so excited yesterday. Kept calling it the "first date of man". Do you remember our first date?" (y/n) giggled and then look up at her doofus as they observed the blossoming love between the boy and girl across the room. No one knew what would happen with Jasper and Patina but it was nice to think of the time when they were like that. 

Well, it was hard to judge the exact time because no one, not even Ray and (y/n), could precisely pinpoint their first date. Was it one of the outings they went on where they were very much in love but before they got together or was it after that fateful day when it was officially called?

"Well, I'd say that our first date was the first time I took you out to dinner. You were wearing that pretty, little black dress and we had steak, I think. I just remember being so nervous because you looked so damn pretty and for the first time in my life, I actually cared about what would happen after we were done eating." Ray confessed to her ear as he hugged her from behind. 

That was the first time he could remember when it had just been the two of them facing each other in a restaurant, giggling and getting drunk on overpriced wine as they swapped childhood stories. The end of the night came and just as they were about to get into his car, he knew he should've kissed her—he certainly wanted to, but he chickened out at the last minute when he thought about that proper date he'd promised the cashier at the grocery store the following night. What a mistake to make.

"Oh, yeah. I remember. You were wearing a shirt that was a size too small and you pulled the chair out to help me in. I was so nervous too because that was so nice of you and I didn't even know how to act, not like the other girls you took out, that's for sure," (y/n) smiled fondly at how she'd nearly spilt the wine down herself three times just by how badly her hands were shaking, not that her "date" said or even noticed. 

That was the first time she could remember putting in so much effort for one guy, picking a dress that was a little too risqué for her and taking a little more time for her hair. The end of the night came and just as they were about to get into his car, she knew she should've kissed him—she definitely wanted to, but she knew that he had a real date the next night with Emily or Elina (or was is Estelle?), so she shook off the thought, deeming it inappropriate. What a mistake to make.

"No, you weren't like them. You were nothing like those other girls. I fell in love with you from the moment I met you and I spent the next ten years wondering how to tell you that." Ray pressed a kiss to her cheek to assure her that whilst she wasn't inferior in any way. That following date had been a disaster, so bad that he'd made an excuse to Ellen, Evangeline (or was it Eileen?) and left early to go home to her. And every date after that had never ended well; once his heart was hooked, it never let go.

"It's okay, doofus. I'll never stop loving you, even if you do wear a size too small shirt to show off," (y/n) reassured him too and grinned when he turned her in his embrace so their lips could meet again, soft and slow this time. 

Only, they never got that far because annoyingly, Ray's phone started to ring. What now? Sighing, the man stepped away from his hot fiancée, who was just begging for her to smother her with kisses and pulled his phone out of his pocket to see the contact. It was Schwoz. Why was he such a damn cockblocker? Every time he barged in on a kiss, on a tender moment, sometimes even in a spicy moment, it was like he sensed inappropriate times.

"Answer it. It could be important." The girl told him as his thumb hovered over the red button because their date had been rather stunted so far so he wanted to keep work away for the next few hours whilst they enjoyed themselves. However, that sense of morality and her knowing smile won him over in the end. She was right, it could be important so, he reluctantly answered the phone in the only way he knew how.

"Wazzzzup?!" "Wazzzzzup?! Like he was in a Budweiser commercial. This wasn't an ordinary phone call despite the jokey tone as the boy exchanged pleasantries as they normally did and (y/n) strained to get her ear next to the receiver as Ray secured an arm around her waist. Henry was patched in too and she frowned at how they were all together for one call. Her tummy didn't like this, something felt...wrong.

"Listen, the Man Cave got hacked!" Schwoz exclaimed and suddenly, all of the good feelings from the date, Jasper's date, that stupid greeting, the general happy atmosphere at Cactus Con, all of it burnt away at that one sentence. 

Instantly, (y/n) felt like she was gonna throw up as Ray yanked her closer so she could hear properly but she couldn't feel it, not even the gentle thrumming of his heartbeat—it nearly always calmed her, but not now. No wonder her tummy had felt something, no wonder it was making her feel all nervous because this was possibly one of the worst things that could happen to them. 

"What? What do you mean we got hacked?! Schwoz?!" The woman practically screeched down the phone, causing the genius and boy on the other lines to wince at how she was freaking out. So much stuff was stored in the computers and all of their systems were controlled through them too. All she wanted to know now was what, how and who had compromised Captain Man's most sensitive databases, which seemed impossible but apparently not.

"We got hacked! You know, someone hacked us!" "I thought you said the Man Cave computer was unhackable!" Ray stated, remembering vividly how Schwoz had strutted around his home like a peacock as he boasted about upgrading their server to be impervious to any attack from a vicious snooper or virus. Not so cocky now that they'd been snooped, and Ray didn't like it, not one bit. He didn't like how vulnerable he was starting to feel, nor how his sweet girl was freaking put, nor how Schwoz seemed to be at a loss. 

"I thought it was but someone did it! And now, every computer in the Man Cave has the same message on the screen!" The small man snapped back, not liking how his past arrogance was coming back to bite him. It was so freaky; one minute he'd been relaxing, just doing the odd job here and there, watching a bit of TV since everyone was out at the convention and then, poof! Their systems—his systems that he'd designed, were being unscrambled and replaced with a creepy message and a strangely familiar yet foreboding logo.

"What did it say?" "It just says, game on! Over and over!" He told Henry as the monitors flashed in the background, so the boy walked over to his boss and panicking friend as they tried to decipher what was the message. Whoever sent it was one cryptic bastard, couldn't they just make their demands without a stupid game?.

"Game on? What does that mean?" "I don't know—" Ray frowned, looking at his sweet girl to see if she had any ideas since she was always so bright and quick-thinking but not even she could work out this puzzle, not yet anyway. But then, they were thrown another scrap to the mystery as the hero got a text. And Henry. And (y/n), which caused her to take her phone from her purse. And Charlotte. In fact, everyone in the room received the same ping in different text tones at the same time, and strangely, they all had the same message.

"Uh, did you guys get this text?" Charlotte whispered to the three as she stared at her phone with a deep frown on her face, but that wasn't the most worrying thing right now. No, the most worrying thing would have to be the correlation between the text and the Man Cave getting hacked because (y/n) would bet her left kidney that it was too big of a coincidence to happen at the same time. That, and the text had an eerie message that just screamed whackjob.

"Yeah... Hello, Swellview..." "I will pay one million dollars to whoever can bring me, the world's most poisonous cactus. Sincerely, R.T." Everyone mumbled under their breath as they read out the peculiar text. It raised a lot of questions, all at once and no one knew where to start. What were they gonna do with the cactus? Who was R.T? One million dollars? What were they planning in general? Y'know, 'cause this all felt very big and as the heroes began theorising about who could be their number one suspect, they didn't see how the crowd were starting to smell money like sharks smell blood.

"Who's R.T?" Henry looked at Ray, whose guess was as good as his, but still, the man gave it his best shot, even if it wasn't particularly good. He'd never really had a chance anyway, not a probable one.

"...Randy Tinklemuffin!" "Who?" Oh, how had the kid not heard of Randy? The guy who must've been bullied in school for a name like that? He was well-known in some circles, mainly the ones that Captain Man and Miss Danger stuck their noses into, just another lowlife but it didn't seem like his style, not when sophisticated computer programming skills and mind-boggling puzzles came into play.

"Nah, it can't be Randy Tinklemuffin, doofus. He's in jail, remember?" (y/n) tried her best to not totally lose it as she looked away from her phone screen and up at her adorable lover. It was a nice shot, but not the right one and playing guessing games wasn't going to help them, not even when it gave her a good excuse to lose herself and her worries in the happy bubble he seemed to create around them.

"Oh, yeah, sweet girl. I don't even know why I said that." "Wait, is that really his name?" Henry asked as Ray grinned down at his girl, who he could see was trying to put on a brave face so he took precautionary measures as kissed her forehead, just as the kid asked his question. It worked a little, (y/n) had a genuine smile on her face now and gladly took his hand when its fingers nudged hers.

"Yeah!" "What?" "I think it's short for Randolph, which doesn't help his case very much 'cause I imagine that school bullies love a kid called—" "Uh, guys? We have bigger problems," Charlotte interrupted their tangent on how Randy's parents must've been evil or something, but she had a very good reason. In the last few moments, the crowd had begun to swarm, forming a hoard around the world's most poisonous cactus. Money makes people do crazy things and it also makes them cruel and uncaring, so even if it was dangerous and a terrible thing to give the mystery man what he wanted, they wanted that damn plant.

"Uh...dude?" Ray suggested to Henry that now might be a good time to flex his superhero status because right now, he couldn't do much about anything. All he could do was keep his precious girl safely tucked behind his shoulder as they backed up a little bit because if this lot charged and rioted, he knew that his probity would be to secure her safety first. 

"Bro?" Henry suggested back, feeling just as scared by what he was facing. They were his problem, the kid knew he had to step up to the plate as Kid Danger on his own and it was safe to say that he was heavily, hilariously outnumbered. Even that pathetic excuse of a security guard was figuratively rubbing her hands together at the thought of an easy payday, so the idea of defending his friends single-handedly was just a tad alarming.

"Okay! Okay! Everybody, calm down! Everybody, calm down! Just...relax!" He started by telling them all to zip it because it was gonna be hard to keep the peace if everyone was shouting over each other. Piper sat on her throne with a curious expression, wondering what the sidekick was gonna do because she was inclined to side with him. As much as she loved the people who'd done nothing but bow, curtesy and grovel at her feet all day, that cactus was Cactus Con property and no one was gonna steal it on her watch—that was just wrong.

"Now, I know that you all want that million dollars some mystery person promised for that cactus," he went on, which caused a lot of miffed comments from the angry mob. Damn straight they wanted the million dollars, they were just normal people who had to work hard for a living and to get that much money, all they had to do was take one plant and punch a few people in the process. Who wouldn't do that? 

Well, neither Ray, (y/n) nor Charlotte would since they were standing behind Henry and were feeling pretty intimidated right now, so god knows how he was feeling. And then, there was Patina and Jasper to think about too since they were cowering at the back of the room, worried about the bubble-suit being damaged if there was a stampede. So many problems, so few Kid Dangers to sort them out.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" Fran yelled above her fellow potential thieves, vying for the attention because being the slightly terrible person she was, she wasn't afraid to bend the rules or jump sides to make it in life, "Kid Danger's right!"

"Thank you," Henry really shouldn't have got his hopes up. That uniform was just a lie.

"This cactus is worth a lot of money. Now, let's get it!" She yelled, causing the boy to freak out internally when he realised that she was the instigator of a charge for one million bucks. Without missing a beat as the crowd began to close in, Henry grabbed the laser control from the back of his belt and fired a quick succession of plasma at the ground so that everyone who pushed forward was then pushed back.

"Uh-oh! Daddy wants the big piece of chicken tonight!" He smirked at the crowd as he wiggled his beloved control between his fingers, thanking Schwoz for inventing what was arguably his most useful gadget. Still, it couldn't keep back the crowd forever, not even when he zapped a few more people back since they were getting close to the cactus.

"Man, sure would be nice to have Captain Man here right about now. Or Miss Danger, she's pretty useful too..." Charlotte hinted subtly, trying to make it seem like she wasn't addressing the heroes themselves but then again, no one was listening as they were either working on a plan to get rich quick or avoiding being a human sprinkler. However, whilst (y/n) got the hint and opened her mouth to say something about waiting for the opportune moment, Ray was not so brainy when it came to subtlety, so when the superheroine was mentioned, all he wanted to do was dream about her in uniform. And out of it, to be honest.

"Yeah, she's pretty. And smart. And sweet. And hot. So freakin' hot. Honestly, she's the best and y'know, I get to marry—" 

"Raymond..." "Think it through..." Charlotte's dry tone contrasted (y/n)'s sing-song intonation as the girl rolled her eyes whilst the woman blushed, still flustered by her fiancé's brazen compliments even after well over a year of dating.

"Oh, yeah! Right...she's still hot, though" He suddenly realised what the girl was driving at and found himself being dragged through the crowd before he even knew what was happening. He would never take back what he said, but now wasn't the time, not when the crowd was closing in on Henry, who desperately needed some help, so with everyone not looking, they began to search for a nook or cranny where they could hide, but in a large, open hall, it was a challenge.

"What's everyone waiting for?" Fran asked the mob as she wondered why no one was attacking. Of course, she wasn't gonna attack first, that would be stupid since she was planning on relying on the old theory of safety in numbers, but she couldn't for the life of her work out why no one else was taking the plunge. Could it possibly be that like her, no one wanted to be hurt by Kid Danger's lasers if they singled themselves out?

"He's got a zappy thingy!" "Yeah, but there's a lot of us and only one of him!" She pointed out as a skinny tiddler of a man whined at the thought of being stung and even recoiled to her disgust. Fran knew that if everyone went at once, there was no way that the boy could take them all, which would be her chance to throw her weight around, land a few punches and wrestle her way to being a millionaire before anyone knew what was happening in the chaos. Well, that was the plan anyway, but luckily, Piper wasn't gonna let it be so easy for her and her heinous plans.

"Wrong! There's two of him!... Us!... Shut up!" The Cactus Queen leapt down from her throne and nobly stood alongside her secret sidekick brother in an alliance forged to defend the world's most poisonous cactus from any fool who dare try his hand to lift it. 

She tapped her staff twice on the ground to tell her rebellious subjects that she meant to attack if any one of them came too close—that way they'd find the cactus on the end of it in their faces if they weren't careful. Fran thought she had Kid Danger in checkmate but she forgot one very important rule - the queen holds the most power on the board.

"Come at me, bro!" Ah, yes. Words to go down in the history books for being so damn queenly. Still, they made a good team as the girl threatened the security guard and the rest of the crowd with her pointy staff as Henry lasered at a few more people, jabbing to keep them all back from their ward but things weren't going so smoothly for the other heroes in the room.

"There's too many people here!" Ray exclaimed as he, his sweet girl and Charlotte made it to the other side of the room behind the crowd but even with most eyes of the fight, it was impossible to find somewhere safe to transform into their uniform. They couldn't help if they weren't their alter-egos, but neither could they leave him and Piper to be mauled so they were stuck floundering.

"Yeah, we can't transform without a place to hide! Seriously, why can't our dates ever be normal?" (y/n) agreed as she scanned the room for a closet door or a curtain to hide behind but there was nothing but flimsy stalls and nosy people in the room. So far, the date at Cactus Con hadn't been a roaring success but at least they were still together and hey, no one could say that it had been boring.

"Go like this and (y/n), stand in front of Ray!" Charlotte told them quickly as she demonstrated what looked like some kind of funky yoga pose to the couple—perhaps a weird tree pose with one arm crooked in the air and the other on her hip. It didn't make much sense but there was no time to have a debate, let alone time to think it over.

"What are we doing here?" "Well, I'm just confused—ohhhhh, nice!" Ray frowned as he copied the pose and watched as his lover was shoved in front of him in the same position, which only deepened his questions until Charlotte began to shove them into the corner of the room. All was made clear as they were shrouded in the shadow of a large, fake cactus, which was big enough to cover both of them as they transformed with a quick blow of a bubble and nothing more than a swift flash of light being shown to the crowd, who were not even looking anyway.

"Okay, we'll go help Henry. You, take this zapper," Ray sniffed and gingerly handed his laser control to Charlotte so that whilst he and his fiancée were throwing fists, she could give them some anonymous cover fire from a safe distance, "Now, let me Captain Man-splain to you how that works," Yeah, it really wasn't a good idea to patronise Charlotte, not when he'd just handed her a painful weapon—all his ignorant comment resulted in was a spot of plasma to the stomach. Serves him right.

"I think she knows, doofus. Now, come on! These people are getting crazy!"  (y/n) tugged him away before he could run his mouth anymore and it was a good thing too. The crowd had been getting so impatient and frustrated with Henry and Piper that they'd taken to throwing lumps of cactus at them, which wasn't very nice because y'know, cacti are spiky and sharp and ouchy.

"Throw more. Cactus are his weakness!" And of course, Fran was right in there seeing that like any normal human, Henry didn't like the idea of being a pin cushion. But with her order, the people soon started to get the idea and the war ramped up, pelting Henry with cactus leaves that took all of his super-fast reflexes to dodge. For Piper, it meant she had to be pretty good at baseball as she whacked away any bits that came near her but still, it could be worse, she could be Jasper. 

The boy had nobly opted to protect Patina and her suit from any punctures by acting as a human meat shield, which was very gallant as he took every cactus that came their way but his eyes were starting to water.

"Look! There's only one of him again!" Fran yelled after Piper had screamed and charged at a group to clear them out of the building, but a few stupid ones stayed behind to try and swipe the cactus anyway, leaving Henry to nervously look at them all since he'd struggled when he had a friend, now he was on his own. Or not.

"Wrong! There's three of him! Us..." "Shut up!" Ray and (y/n) couldn't help but feel so cool and so dumb as they skidded into the spots by Henry's sides, standing shoulder to shoulder with him so that they could take on the crowd together. Well, this was a more even chance now, they had Captain Man on their side and Miss Danger, who were more than one fighter each so even Fran had to think twice about whether or she wanted to try and attack the famed heroes. But then again, she wanted that money too and money always pays out.

"Dude, that cactus is worth a million bucks! You're standing between me and buying a moose!" She exclaimed before turning to her fellow rioters for one last offence, "now, come on, they can't stop all of us. Mama wants a moose!" She yelled and the hoard ran forward. Fran didn't get very far though, not when Ray used a strong kick to the gut to send her flying back, which may or may not have been fuelled by that repulsive flirting from earlier. 

Henry punched a few, (y/n) tripped a few and kicked their butts as they fell and Ray body-slammed a few more as he left his sidekicks to work together. Just because Ray Manchester was protective didn't mean Captain Man didn't know the strength of Miss Danger.

"Kid, watch o—arghhhh!" (y/n) should've worried about her own affairs as a kid jumped on her from behind as two more took Henry down, causing Ray's eyes to bug out in worry as both of his sidekicks were overwhelmed. Okay, maybe he was still quite protective but he had stuff to do too, such as beating up the punk who tried to slug him once or twice. Henry had to contend with a freaky lady who had cacti for nunchucks, which pushed his superpower to its limits just so he didn't have his eyes scratched out.

"Leave...him...alone!" Miss Danger cried as she tackled a woman who was thumping Ray's back as he struggled with a guy who'd jumped on top of him. The relief was only momentary but it was enough for him to throw down the man and help his sweet girl up with a gracious smile before they returned to the action and luckily, the crowd was definitely thinning out now.

There were only a few desperate ones left, the crazy ones who still hadn't managed to swipe the cactus from the stand yet and a few final punches sorted them out, and that left the heroes to slowly back into each other, panting and exhausted. They gasped when their backs touched, fearful that they were someone else coming to beat them up, but there was no one else to fight. Thank god. Everyone had learned their lessons, which meant they could breathe a sigh of relief.

"You okay, sweet girl?" Ray asked on a long sigh, his fingers brushing the underside of her chin so she'd look up and he could check for "injuries". There never was and there'd never be any injuries but (y/n) couldn't help but smile up at his caring words, even when they'd all just been in a fight and all deserved someone fawning over them He couldn't help it, not when he'd been so cruelly denied a date with her, not that it mattered. What they'd got had been good enough.

"Fine, doofus. Just fine," she replied, leaning up on her tippy toes to brush their lips together, which she blamed on the pos-battle adrenaline but Henry knew better. Just as they went in with perfectly practised execution, however, a squeaky groan from the floor made them jump, break apart and spin around to see what else wanted to attack them. It wasn't though, it was just Jasper, who squeaked with every step he took because his entire body was covered in the cacti that he'd shielded Patina from. At least it pleased her, right?

"Jasper, you were amazing! And I'd hug you but those needles would puncture my suit..." "I get it..." And they say romance is dead. They were the epitome of the modern couple, weird yet strangely devoted.

"Uh, here, Captain Man. You...dropped this during the fight," Charlotte butted in and threw the laser control back to Ray as if she was merely a concerned citizen, not the one who'd been backup for the heroes. It had been fun whilst it lasted but she wasn't cut out for the hero life; seriously, how did (y/n) enjoy this?

"Oh, uh, thanks, girl I don't know..." Ray was still gracious enough to give her a subtly grateful smile as he took back his weapon, which was good enough for the girl since she knew that he couldn't thank her properly in front of Patina but it would do for her. After all, it was as good as it got with Ray and thank yous, plus, they had more important things to worry about.

"We did it..." Henry smiled in relief, knowing that they'd each done their job and protected the world's most poisonous cactus from whichever weirdo wanted it for themselves.

"Yes, we did. We saved the citizens of Swellview once again." "Yeah, by punching them in the face..." (y/n) countered, feeling like they hadn't protected society when most of the people who'd visited the convention were now lying on the floor in a fit of pain from being beaten up. Oh well, they'd asked for it by trying to steal the cactus, it was only right that they'd faced justice for behaving like animals. At least that was the way Ray saw it.

"Aw, come on, precious girl...victory dance!" He grinned when he started to shuffle and ended up making her laugh with his funny moves. It wasn't exactly a traditional victory dance but it was kooky and weird enough to suit Ray down to the ground, especially when he was egged on by his friends to take it to the next level.

"Do a backflip!" "Oh, I don't know, man..." Ray wasn't sure he could pull that off, even though he had been training and practising for the last few days. Still, if he could do it, how impressive would that be? He already had his fiancée laughing and smiling at how cute his dancing was, what would she say to his backflip? If his reaction to hers was anything to go by, then perhaps the date wouldn't be such a bummer.

"Don't think about it, just do it!" "You think I can do it?" "I know you can do it! Come on, Miss Danger's watching, do it!" Henry egged him on, seeing how Charlotte nudged the woman watching just to tease her further because everyone knew that the hero was only attempting it in public because she was there. She made the perfect audience and was excited to see if he could do it or not because her planned reward would make up for all the shittiness of the day that had left their plans in ruin.

"Okay, I'm flipping! Here I go!" Ray took a deep breath and just went for it, using everything he'd learnt in the past few days about rotation, balance and gravity to curl in the air perfectly and to his surprise, to his friends' surprise, to everyone's surprise, he didn't fall, he didn't land flat on his face and he didn't look like an idiot. He looked like a guy who'd just landed a backflip perfectly. 

He grinned with a shocked expression on his face as Henry and Charlotte clapped his success and (y/n) took a more...enthusiastic approach; her arms wound around his neck and she pulled him in for a much deeper kiss than they'd shared before, causing Ray to feel so damn proud that he'd managed to pull it off because the way she energetically moved their lips together made it all worth it.

So worth it that when they parted and he clumsily knelt to grab the laser control that had dropped from his hand, he was on cloud nine so bad as his eyes stayed on her pretty face that he didn't even realise that he'd pressed the button until it was too late. A blue laser zipped across the room and melted a tiny hole in Patina's bubble-suit, causing everyone to freeze and gasp instantly as the pressure left the suit and all of those evil unfiltered particles flooded in.

"Uh-oh..." "Patina, your suit!" "Forget the suit, what about my tongue?!" The girl whined in panic as instantly, her tongue swelled up to what resembled a strawberry and quickly, (y/n), Henry and Charlotte found themselves by her side to see if she was all right as Ray awkwardly put the control away. Right, she wasn't kidding about that allergy thing and if (y/n) had ever seen one, that had to be a severe allergic reaction. Just from the air? Jeez, she had it rough.

"Oh, sweet cheese, she's not gonna be able to breathe soon," The woman told Henry as Patina's mouth struggled to fit all of that tongue in there and it was only a matter of time before her airways would close up and she suffocated. And they didn't want a dead person on their hands, that would be a tragic way to end the day.

"Oh, can someone take me to the hospital? Miss Danger?" The girl looked at the heroine hopefully as the teens looked at Ray since this was all technically his fault. Plus, he was the other adult in this situation, as hard as that was to believe and (y/n) needed all of the help she could get since Patina wasn't in any fit state to walk. Henry had done a great job of protecting her, he should do the President next.

"Captain Man? A little assistance, please?" "Yeah, sweet girl. I got you..." Ray nodded, unable to leave his girl or Patina alone to sort things out so he accepted the blame and stepped forward to pick the patient up bridle style, that way they could easily take her to the Man Van with Jasper trailing behind. He might want to see a doctor too, those cacti looked pretty painful and it wasn't like his date could go any further now that his crush was on the verge of dying.

"Nice, shot, bro," Charlotte stated sarcastically as she watched her boss carry Patina for a few steps with (y/n) tittering about keeping her head safe. The last thing they needed was to bash her against the wall or something and focusing on getting to the hospital should've been their number one priority but as always, Ray couldn't help but brag just a bit.

"Yeah, but that backflip, though!" "Doofus! Out the door!" (y/n) snapped and shoved him towards the exit as she heard Patina's wheezing get worse and she only prayed that they wouldn't waste any more time in getting her to an epi-pen or something. Jasper was waddling behind them with the air filter, which was pretty useless at this point but there was no doubt that Schwoz would want it back for repairs so they piled everything into the van, leaving Henry and Charlotte alone in the convention hall.

"Good job." "Thanks..." Henry didn't mind a bit of praise now that the work was finished, but he couldn't help but think that his friend deserved some too, "Hey, good work with that laser!" To be fair, it had been pretty sick.

"Thanks! I really enjoyed zapping people!" "And we saved the world's most poisonous cactus—is gone," Henry trailed off when he looked across to see the prize that they'd managed to save, only to see that in the confusion of the battle or the relief of the aftermath, no one had managed to notice that the plant had been stolen. Shit. 

The stand was empty and all that was left behind what a tiny, white business card with a strange logo printed on the back, meaning that any praise they'd given themselves was premature. They stormed over to see what the card was, Charlotte picking it up with a confused look on her face because she prided herself on being quite observant and she hadn't noticed anything, not one suspicious person. Thank god, (y/n) and Ray weren't here to see this, they'd go nuts and the former would probably have a heart attack. No, they needed to discover this one alone, but it only worked to make the mystery deeper.

"What's it say?" "Thanks for the cactus. Game on." It was that same taunt again. The one that had appeared in the Man Cave, it was the same logo that had been seemingly following them everywhere they went, not that anyone noticed. Whatever this was, whatever was gonna happen, whoever was planning something, the team had to be ready for it because something was coming. It had to be the card, the monitors, R.T had said so.

Game on.

[sylvia-forest]

[CN] Shaw's 2022 Birthday R&S

⚡ Warning: This post contains detailed spoiler's for r&s which hasn't released in EN yet!⚡

[Released Date: 16 June 2022]

[This was translated with the help of Google Translate and by my friend!]

Look back at the birthday before he met you. He has always been firm in his goals, and he will always bear in mind the company he has gained.

—

✧[Chapter 1: Happy Start]✧

In the lounge of Live House, the members of Isolated sat in a circle, listening to several new songs produced by Adam this time.

“Everything looks fine, what else do you want me to say?” Shaw shrugged, looking indifferent.

Adam's voice was inexplicably angry when he spoke again: “You have to play this song when the time comes, shouldn't you say something?”

“I'll just play it, I'm just a bassist, and I don't understand the overall harmony of the no. 1 band.”

“Hey, why did you mention this again?” Jensen, who smelled that the atmosphere was wrong, quickly stood up and started speaking. “Adam is outspoken, and he becomes angry when you don't make things clear, so don't take it to heart. . . ”

“I'm not angry.”

Adam interrupted Jensen unceremoniously, ignoring the hint of the wink, and he even raised his voice by an octave.

“The improvisation he did last time had a problem, he didn't even allow anyone to talk about it?”

Randal, who was sitting in the corner, held his cheeks and looked like he was talking to himself: “Although I was really taken aback by Shaw's improvisation at first, the reaction on the scene was very good, and later I played very intently. ”

“That's because of the atmosphere!” Adam simply stood up and started his machine-like “continuous attack”.

“The sound conditions of the stage that day were general, so many details could not be heard. To put it bluntly, we were lucky.” 

“As a result, the organizer asked us to use what we improvise before to perform. This means that any audience with a sharp ear would be able to hear the problem with the composition!”

“Besides, is this what I'm angry about? No, I'm so angry that I talked to him about it, and this kid doesn't care about it at all!”

The messy fluorescent pink hair shook with Adam movements, Jensen sighed, and he knew from the attitude that he had to go up again.

“Okay, stop talking.” He patted Adam's shoulder hard and looked at Shaw, “Shaw, Adam didn't stop you from improvising, just wanted you to think about the overall arrangement before doing so. After all, it's such a big deal.”

“Right, Adam?” Jensen covered Adam's mouth, pressed his head and nodded twice, “He's right. ”

Shaw, who had never spoken, suddenly chuckled and raised his eyebrows “It's really such a big deal. Even if the integrity was a bit lacking, the performance was still interesting, isn’t that enough to make up for it?”

After Shaw finished speaking, he pushed open the door and left without looking back: “If there's nothing else, I'm leaving.”

He had just walked a few steps when Adam reacted after realizing what had happened, kicked the chair next to his feet, and was about to rush out when Fitch grabbed him and held him in place. Jensen chased after him quickly and closed the door behind him: “Shaw, don't forget there's a performance tonight! It's the 100th commemorative performance of Isolated, don't be late!”

Shaw waved his hand and didn't answer.

In the aisle, Shaw's mobile phone beeped.

“Dear member, I wish you a happy birthday! Come to the store today and enjoy a 20% discount on the birthday package of Miaomiao Paradise.”

Looking at the information on the screen, Shaw's mouth curled into a sneer. 

This was really a “happy” beginning.

✧[Chapter 2: Request for Apprenticeship]✧

“Big brother, have you made up your mind? Can you become my master?” 

In the skatepark, Shaw, who was pulled by a chubby six-year-old boy, frowned with a headache. He originally just wanted to come here to vent his emotions, and didn't want to encounter another “trouble”.

“I'm not the only one who can do the dolphin flip. Why do you have to pester me every day to become your master?”

“Because you are the most handsome!”

“Although you are very discerning, I don't want to teach people... I may not be able to teach you. You'd better find your friends to play with, I'm busy.”

Just as Shaw was about to leave, Little Fatty grabbed him again: “I, I don't have any friends…”

Shaw was startled until he heard little fatty's stomach “grumbling” several times. He sighed and raised his chin.

“Tsk”

“...Where to go?”

“Skateboard at noon, let's have lunch.” 

Inside the fast food restaurant, two figures, big and small, looked up at the menu screen at the same time. 

“Big brother, can I really order whatever you want?”

“Were you lied to since young?”

“No, I only grew so big by drinking milk and eating meat every day.”

Little Fatty stared wide-eyed at the screen for a long time, and pointed with his little hand: 

“I want this!”

Shaw was stunned and saw the words on it - “Miaomiao Paradise Birthday Package”

“ ... your birthday? ”

 “I, I just want the dolls in this package!”

“.......”

When Shaw came to little fatty with a full plate, little fatty's eyes lit up and excitedly picked up the doll on the plate.  

“This is the latest “Hercules doll”! My friends love this animation!”

Shaw casually stirred the ice cubes: “Didn't you say you don't have any friends?”

Little Fatty's eyes suddenly dimmed: “I used to have, but after I got fat, they didn't like to play with me.”

“Just because of that?” Shaw snorted disdainfully, “It's fine to leave them alone.” 

“But if they were to be alone, wouldn’t it be lonely?”

Shaw pondered for a while, as if thinking of something, he sneered.  

“Do you know what loneliness is at a young age? Only an old man can use such a mature word.”

“I know! ” Little Fatty's eyes widened: “Loneliness means that the set of meal can only be eaten by one person, skateboarding can only be played by one person, and no one will accompany you to watch the cartoons.. . . . . ”

The more he spoke, the lower his voice became, his head drooping: “So, in order for them to play with me, I have to practice skateboarding and lose weight successfully! To become...” Little Fatty looked at the “Hercules Doll” on the table, picked it up excitedly: “Become like Hercules!”

Shaw frowned: “You practice skateboarding just to lose weight?”

“Yes, because my friends say that being fat is not good for health, and they want to play with a healthy me.”

Shaw looked at this energetic little fatty with some surprise, and shrugged his shoulders: “Okay, then you can work harder.”

Little Fatty's eyes lit up: “Then big brother, will you promise to be my master?”

“You little brat, you are quite insatiable. ” 

Shaw raised his lips and flicked little fatty's forehead: “I refuse. ”

“One yard to one yard, you can cheer for you, don't think about it when you are your master.”

✧[Chapter 3: The so-called maturity]✧

Shaw went home and changed into a formal suit, and had a rare hairstyle where he had split his bangs apart, and ran directly to Loveland University.

In the afternoon, the school will hold an important academic seminar. All teachers and students of the school will be present at that time. Shaw also has his own task. He stood at the door of Professor Shen's office and knocked on the door twice.

“Please come in”

Professor Shen raised his head from the paper and was surprised when he saw Shaw.

“Yo, it’s a refreshing look!”

As he said, he grabbed Shaw and took a serious look. Compared with his usual jackets full of “nails”, this dress is more student-like.

“You came at the right time. After knowing that you won the “Wenbo Scholarship”, several professors who have a good relationship with me asked me to send you some books, saying that they were very optimistic about you and asked you to continue to work hard.”

Shaw looked in the direction that Professor Shen pointed - two full cardboard boxes were placed in the corner.  

“ .....…That much?”

Professor Shen patted him on the back angrily: “Don't be in a blessing and don't know the blessing. You must know that this was the most gold-containing scholarship in archaeology. Now you're being watched by the entire archaeological community in China! Several schools that are ranked in the top rankings have called me. They want to know if you have any intention to continue your studies in the future? ”

The last sentence was a bit of inquiry.

Shaw understood what he meant and smiled: “I have just finished graduating school, and I haven't thought so much about it for the time being. Let's talk about it later. ”

Although he hopes to keep such an outstanding talent in his school, Professor Shen knows that this kid has always had an idea, and this kind of thing can't be forced, so he smiled and waved his hand.

”As long as you have a plan in mind. Be sure to be on time for your speech this afternoon.” Then, he thought of something: “I have arranged the seats for you that you asked me to reserve last time. When will your friends come?”

Shaw's expression froze, and soon he smiled again: “They won't be coming.”

Professor Shen was keenly aware of the strangeness, and said solemnly: “This kind of interaction with people, sometimes it's the same as studying, it's not done overnight. As long as you spend your time pondering and understanding, there's nothing that can't be solved. . . . . . This is also a kind of mature expression of human beings.”

“I understand.”

Professor Shen nodded in relief.

“I understand your logic, but I’m at the age where I would do what people of my age would do. If I were to say that I reached the state that you’ve mentioned, that is an immature appearance.”

After Shaw finished speaking, he grinned and waved to Professor Shen, whose eyes were wide open. 

“I just finished writing this speech last night, and I'm not familiar with it. In order not to embarrass you later, I'll go practice it first.”

✧[Chapter 4: Speech scene]✧

The “National Academic Symposium on Archaeology in Colleges and Universities” was held in the Great Hall of Loveland University. 

In front of the podium, there are archaeology professors and academic authorities from various colleges and universities, and the students behind them are all sitting upright, peeking at these industry leaders from time to time.

On the side stage of the podium, Shaw found Professor Shen's figure through the curtain, and at the same time saw the four seats in the row behind him being empty.

Shaw's eyes sank, and a certain emotion flashed across his eyes.  

After hesitating for a while, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and looked at the “Adam” name in the address book. 

Just as his thumb was about to move to that name, the classmate in charge of the cue process reminded him in a low voice.  

“Schoolmate, it's your turn.”  

Shaw frowned slightly and turned off the phone.

“Next, I welcome the winner of this Wenbo Scholarship, and the only graduate student representative, Shaw, to deliver a speech.” 

The host's voice fell, and amidst the warm applause, Shaw walked to the podium. 

He took a steady step, and the corners of his mouth raised a calm arc.

Shaw had no interest in this scholarship, which represented the highest honor for students in the Department of Archaeology, until Professor Shen called him to the office again and handed him another application form.

“Professor, I said I'm not interested in this matter.”

“I remember you said before that it was boring to take theory classes every day, and you wanted to participate in field practice?” Seeing that Shaw's unconcerned expression loosened, Professor Shen smiled again. He continued, “The application criteria for this scholarship include the field practice direction. You must know that ordinary students cannot participate in field practice until the summer…”

Professor Shen cast a meaningful glance at him. After a period of contact, he had already figured out the student's temperament - sometimes it seemed to be loose, but it was only because he didn't come across anything that really interested him.

Sure enough, Shaw's eyes lit up. He thought for a while, then smiled and raised his head. 

“When is the deadline for this application?”

After that, Shaw took part in a one-month field trip in order to write the “Wenbo Scholarship” thesis. It is rare to hear that he actually participated in school activities, and he was so laborious. The members of Isolated were amazed by this. They even came to care about Shaw a few times, but found that he was not as tired as they imagined, but his whole person was full of inspiration. An eye-catching radiance.

People always enjoy doing what they love.  For Shaw, a month passed like running water.

Although Professor Shen kept him concerned about the results of the scholarship, to Shaw, the selection results were not important. The moment he submitted the paper, he already knew the result. This result filled his chest with a cheerful emotion at all times.

Just like when he tried to restore the original appearance of the cultural relics from the layers of sand, he forgot the passage of time due to delving into incomprehensible academics—

The results obtained through hard work are as interesting to him as the process.  

Shaw in front of the podium retracted his thoughts and glanced at the people under the stage.  

He smiled, pulled up the microphone, and leaned over after a sharp hum—

The presentation went as smoothly as expected.  

After the meeting, Professor Shen introduced Shaw to those professors and experts, and suggested that everyone take a photo together. Shaw, who was praised by the professors, always felt that something was missing in this harmonious atmosphere.

“... Teacher, what time is it?” 

“It's almost six o'clock, what's the matter?” 

Shaw was silent for a while, as if he had decided something, he bowed slightly to the professors. 

 “Sorry, I'm suddenly in a hurry, I'll be leaving first.”

✧[Chapter 5: The 100th performance]✧

The entrance of the Live House was crowded with people, Shaw thought for a while, then climbed up the wall and walked in through the back door. 

There was a lively voice in the aisle, and in the noise, he heard someone calling him. 

 “Where's Shaw?”

When Shaw heard the sound, he saw that the owner of the Live House and the band members were standing in front of him.  

Facing the boss's questioning, Jensen smiled and smoothed things out: “He was in a hurry and may not be able to make it.”

“Then why didn't you tell me beforehand? Today was such a big event, how can the band suddenly lack one person...”

“I'm here.”

Shaw put one hand in his pocket and walked out of the dark.  

The boss and the band members both widened their eyes, not because of Shaw who suddenly “falled from the sky”, but because of...  

“What are you wearing?”

Adam habitually asked first, and when he met Shaw's gaze, he looked away unnaturally.  

Shaw tilted his head and thought for a while, then looked at Randal: “Don't you have an extra coat in the lounge? Lend me for a while.”

Randal froze for a moment, then nodded hastily.

“Yes, yes!”

“Don’t talk about coats anymore. Pants, shoes and accessories all that, I can get you a whole set!”

“.......”

Although the show was not rehearsed in advance, the tacit understanding of Isolated did not require any rehearsals.

They didn't ask the reason for Shaw's sudden appearance, but naturally picked up the instrument to audition, just like they had done in countless previous performances

Under the flickering stage lights, screams rang out.

Until the end of the song, the fanatical mood of the audience ignited by Isolated could not subside for a long time.  

Among the ribbons flying all over the sky, the staff raised the camera and shouted to the five people on the stage.

“Today happens to be our band's 100th performance, which is especially memorable. Let's take a photo together!”

Shaw complained: “... I'll still remember this.”

Jensen withdrew his head: “One, two, three - Eggplant!”

The eggplant band members raised their index fingers high towards the camera, Shaw pouted, showing the same gesture.

After the group photo, Jensen and the boss confirmed the matters for the next performance. The other members were busy collecting equipment. Randal suddenly shouted: “I really want a drink! Who is free to buy it?” The members agreed. his eyes tacitly turned to Shaw who had just returned from changing his clothes.

Shaw subconsciously frowned, but when he saw the expressions the members were expecting, he swallowed the words of rejection.

“……so troublesome.”

He walked to the street and bought a few cans of soda from the vending machine on the side of the road, when his phone suddenly rang.  

The moment he saw the message, the first cheerful smile on Shaw's face instantly collapsed.

“Adam: Now that you've got your stuff cleaned up, you've got stuff left at the Live House.”

✧[Chapter 6: Leave it to the future]✧

A nameless anger surged in Shaw's heart, he rushed back to the Live House with a sullen face, and the pace under his feet became faster and faster.  

Shaw pushed open the door of the lounge “with murderous intent”, and was about to ask what Adam meant when he heard a “bang”, and countless streamers suddenly fell from the top of his head.  

“Happy birthday!”

Shaw was stunned.  

The members of Isolated looked at him with a playful smile, and Adam laughed especially wildly.

“Look at the expression of this brat, he’s definitely angry and ready to put up a fight!”

“...What are you guys doing?”

Looking at Shaw, who was rarely a little confused, Randal punched and pointed at the cake on the coffee table.  

“What are you talking about? As a birthday star, don't tell me you forgot what day it was today?”

“It's hard to say.” Adam rolled his eyes. “After all, this kid's phone has been turned off all day, so he might be crying.”

Randal nodded thoughtfully: “It makes sense, after all, if you find fault with him early in the morning, he must not be in the mood to celebrate his birthday. It was estimated that he even missed the school speech in the afternoon. No wonder the security didn't let us in...  ”

Shaw's originally speechless expression was stunned for a moment. He took out his mobile phone and turned it on, and saw that there were indeed several messages from the members.

“Did you guys come to school?”

Adam rolled his eyes again : “Bullshit. We’ve already agreed to stand for you when it’s your turn to speak, do we look that untrustworthy?”

Seeing the two of them having a lively conversation, Jensen hurriedly stepped forward and supported the shoulders of the two of them.

“That's right.... The members of our Isolated are to support each other and understand each other, and communicate with each other if there's any problem.”

“Who wants to have an understanding with this brat? I just don't agree with destroying the complete arrangement of the song.” Adam shook Jensen's hand away.

Shaw also nodded as a matter of course: “Indeed, I will change it later when I feel it.”

“.........”

Seeing the embarrassment on Jensen's face, Randal hurriedly interrupted, “Shaw, come and open the present!”

The touch in his hands was a bit familiar. When Shaw saw it, it turned out to be the same “Hercules doll” in the “Miaomiao Paradise Birthday Package”, but it was more refined than that, and it was provocatively showing off his biceps to Shaw...

Adam smiled wickedly: “I heard that this was a very popular animated character recently, which just represents our blessing to you - I hope you can thrive in the future and become a muscular man as soon as possible!”

In the eyes of everyone “watching a good show”, Shaw was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

Randal's smile was instantly frightened away: “It's over, this kid has gone stupid.”

Jensen couldn't help interrupting their nonsense, and smiled and hugged everyone, “Okay, come and eat the cake.”

Fitch, who had been watching, suddenly stepped forward and smeared a cream on Shaw's face.

“.......”

The Live House was lively, tacitly as usual.

As night fell, Shaw placed the “Hercules Doll” next to two boxes of archaeological materials in the antique shop. 

He casually played with the animal-print snuff bottle on the counter with rock candy agate, and said to himself, “Old man, you have a good eye for things, but your eye for people is not so good.”

Shaw smiled lightly, as if he was talking to the person in the memory through a snuff bottle. 

 “I'm in graduate school now, and there are a few people I get along with.”

“You used to worry that when I became your age, I would be lonely like you, guarding this slap-sized shop all day - ”

Shaw's voice paused for a while, and the curvature of the corners of his mouth deepened.

“Can you rest assured now?”

He stretched his brows and eyes softly, and lay down on the bench at will: “I'm fine now, I have things I like, and a direction I want to explore. I didn't lose any of you, I won the most authoritative scholarship in my major. If you see me now, I'm sure you'll be happy for me.”

“As for the apprentice and daughter-in-law you mentioned”

“Let's forget about it for the time being.”

Shaw rested his head on his arms and looked at the silent night sky, his eyes shining brightly.

“Maybe it will happen someday in the future.”

“But those things in the future, leave it to the future.”

—

[nancypullen]

Oops

Soooo, I’ve been making a lot of noise about getting our back porch stained.  It’s just bare wood, and my decades in the deep south make me itchy to protect it from weather, bugs, rot, etc.  Maybe it’s different up here but I doubt it.  Anyway, we were in Easton a couple of days ago so I popped into Lowe’s and bought stain.  Our house is gray, the shutters are sort of a deep charcoal, the front porch and all the window trim is white.  In Nancy Land that means that you don’t buy any of the hundred shades of brown stain - tones from light oak to mahogany or a deep walnut.  Nope, I looked at the semi-transparent grays.  I didn’t want to match the gray of the house, I knew that I needed to compliment it with a deeper tone.  I should add, that I wanted to just paint it white to match the front porch.  The mister was adamant that white was not a good idea.  I agreed that white wouldn’t last on the floor boards, but everything else would work.  He stood his ground.  I figured if I was going to give him his way with a color choice that something attached to the back of the house was my best bet.  So I picked a color called Dutch Licorice.  I chose a semi-transparent base for the color because the sample piece of wood at the store in that color and base was just right.  Not too light, not too dark, the woodgrain showed through the wash of color - perfect.   Except it’s not.  You guys....I snapped this photo when I was about halfway finished.

Yes, I know the patio looks absolutely awful.  It’s begging to be power washed.  I’ll get to it.   But look at that stain!  Yikes!  I told my sister that it looks like Darth Vader is sitting right in the middle of my carefully curated, blossom covered, white picket fenced, birdie sanctuary.  Rats.   Because I am cheap, I used what I bought.  Lowe’s won’t let me return a can of regret.  I’ll admit, it’s finished now and looks almost okay in sunlight.  I’m going to have to brighten it up with white pots of colorful flowers. I’ll provide more pics when it gets to that point.  I can count on one hand the times in my life when I’ve regretted a color choice (we’re not talking about my hair) but this one goes on the list.   I’m glad it’s on the back of the house, but I still think the squirrels are judging it.

In other news, my itty-bitty vinca are trying really hard to show off. I’ve been so concerned about them because they haven’t seemed too robust, but they’re trying.  Hopefully they’ll fill in, flower abundantly, and that row of little flowers will become a tumble of red.

Vinca was an easy, reliable work horse in my gardens in Mt. Juliet.  Maybe they don’t like it here.  I’ve dropped sunflower seeds along the porch and they’re doing great.  I can’t remember the name, but they should be about four feet tall which would be perfect for this bed.

This little clematis is thriving, and I’ve provided some twine for it to climb toward the porch.  Grow, little girl, grow!

I rescued this baby from the orphan table for $2.00.  I think she’ll make it.  She probably won’t stay there, that’s just her ICU.  She might end up potted with some friends.  We’ll see.

This fern loves its spot by the front door.

It’s early days, but I have high hopes for this spot.

I’ll add more, but it’s coming along.

Have I made you forget about that travesty of a back porch yet? I tried not to think about it as I sat at my desk today and played with some paper and paint.  This sweet kitty kept me company.

“Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”   - George Eliot She told me that she didn’t care one little bit about the color of that porch. Then I remembered that cats see basically in blue and gray and realized that she doesn’t appreciate anything I do around this house.  All that matters to her is the can opener. Still, I appreciated the support.

Tomorrow the mister wants to run off to D.C.  He’s got an urge to go to the Air & Space Museum and I figure I can at least get lunch out of it. Since I’ve spent the last few days spreading mulch, scrubbing and staining that porch, and hauling and cooking groceries - I need a nice lunch in a nice place.   That’s it for me tonight.  I’m off to soak my aching bones and then read myself to sleep. More tomorrow, hopefully something fun from D.C. ,certainly more exciting than mulch and stain. Sending out loads of love, wishing you peace and contentment, and hoping that you stay safe and stay well. XOXO - Nancy

[moonchildstyles]

i keep being self indulgent with prosecco with her tanning in his backyard and now this but idc im lonely today and i want older h so bad

they’re going on a little date and it’s nothing too fancy, maybe a picnic or something in the evening and he’s all ready to go picking her up and she’s running a little late bc we don’t have reservations h i didn’t wanna rush and he’s just :) okay :) because he loves her and he goes into her room while she’s curling her hair and maybe she sits on the floor in front of a mirror while doing it and he just plops down next to her, listening to her talk about her day and the gossip she heard from Tawny or something and he’s so :( bc this is his girl just all pretty doing her hair and she has a little bit of highlighter on her cheek and it’s glimmering in the light and he just kisses the top of her cheekbone while she’s talking and she doesn’t acknowledge it because she’s in the middle of a thought but she just gets smiley and he puts his hand on her leg bc she’s in a little sundress and ofc he helps her when she’s having trouble getting a piece of hair, so he holds her hair out of the way and she’s going extra slow so she can finish her story and it’s just so cute and smushy and lovey :(

wait wait wait wait:(((((( stop this is the cutest thing ive ever read in my life I could cry:( like its not new that she takes a long time to get ready and that usually puts them behind on any schedule he might have in his head but he just :( can't find it in himself to be bothered:( esp when he comes into her apartment (bc she gave him a key ofc) and she yells to him that shes in her room and hes got their little picnic basket:( and shes on the floor in front of one of her big mirrors she has and shes doing her hair and her makeup is all done she's just doing some finishing her hair before shes ready to go bc she wants to take pics when they go!!!! and he doesn't even think when she's like ill be done soon I don't want to rush!! will u sit w me ???? and hes soooo excited to just sit w her and hes putting their basket in her fridge to make sure everything stays cool before hes on the floor next to her all criss-cross apple sauce and shes def concentrating on her reflecting picking out little pieces of hair and timing the curls and everything and shes like did tawny tell you about Adam and Emily????? and hes like uHHHH??? no????? and she gets to rattle off all the little gossip she has and talks but class and shes the kind of girl that like in the middle of telling one story she ends up going off about 9 other stories bc its all just connected somehow and she has to tell him everything for everything to make sense and h just....he loves:( he loves just sitting w her like this and listening and giving her all her little reactions like a gasp or an oh no!! whenever its needed and shes all !!!I know right!!!!! and omg he'd def just look at her see her all prettied up w her makeup and her pretty highlight that gleams in the sun and he gives her the softest kiss so he doesn't mess it up but he just wants to kiss her:( and she has to keep talking bc she can't forget what she was telling him but shes so smiley and h just ;(((((( thats his baby:( and he would TOTALLY!!!! check the back of her hair for any missing pieces or anything that didn't curl quite right and he'd help as best her could concentrating on each piece she needed help w and helping her shake out her hair for the curls to look all pretty:( this is such a perfect thing to think about its so my favorite thank you:(

[diegodog2002]

Charity Cruise

They all got onboard the Coast Guard rescue ship.  Some completely naked, others in stained and tattered remnants of their once fancy dress clothing, while others were totally naked.  One thing is for sure, none of them would ever forget their ordeal at sea.

The story actually began about six months earlier when Tom was sent an invitation for a black tie charity event that was to be held on a luxury yacht.  Tom was quite surprised to receive such an invitation, as he was not a wealthy patron of the organization sponsoring the event.  Tom was very curious and felt the invitation was surely a mistake.  He contacted the organizers of the event and gave them his contact information.  They informed him that he was definitely the person for whom the invitation was addressed to.  It was then revealed the invitation was forwarded to him from a friend of his who was connected with the charity.  It seems his friend was unable to attend the event and requested his invitation be forwarded on to Tom.  Tom thanked the charity representative and hung up the phone.  

Tom was so flabbergasted by the invitation that he had to call his friend and thank him for thinking of him.  He telephoned his friend, and to his surprise his friend Armand answered the phone. Tom asked Armand what made him think of him for the charity event.  Armand told Tom that since he was going to be out of town for the event, he did not want the invitation to go to waste, and surprisingly enough, Tom was the first name that came to his mind for giving the invitation to.  Tom thanked Armand for the invitation but told him that there was no way he could accept such an offer.  Armand stopped Tom, he knew Tom was hesitant in accepting the invitation, and Armand knew why.  Tom’s financial status.  Tom had some money, but not the kind of wealth and means that Armand had.   He then told Tom that there was nothing to be worried about.  No one was going to ask him for a monetary contribution.  Armand said he had already taken care of that.  He told Tom to go and enjoy the party.  Armand than asked Tom if he was aware that the charity event was a black tie affair.  Before Tom was able to answer, Armand told Tom to go to his (Armand’s) tailor.  He informed Tom that his tailor was aware that Tom would be there and to set him up with everything he needed for this black tie affair.  Tom protested and told Armand that he could not accept such a generous offer, it was just too much.  Armand responded by telling Tom that this was a gift to him for all the help and assistance Tom has given to him in his personal life.  Then Armand said he would not hear anymore argument about going. Tom knew when Armand made up his mind and was adamant, there was no changing his mind.  Tom graciously accepted Armand’s invitation and gifts.  

The following weeks were filled with trips to the tailor for Tom.  There were measurements to be taken, fittings to be done, and accessories to put together for the tuxedo.  By the time everything was finished, Tom had a complete tuxedo ensemble. He did not want anything flashy, so the tuxedo was classic black in style and cut, made from a combination of silk and wool.  His shirt was a simple pleated shirt with French cuffs and wing collar.  His tie and matching vest were black silk.  Sheer TNT socks, garters and suspenders were also included, along with a pair of slip on black evening slippers.  Tom chose a pair of black pearl shirt studs and matching cufflinks.  Tom was afraid of spending too much money.  He also knew he would probably never wear the tuxedo again.  He was not in the formal gala circle.  

A few weeks before the charity event Tom received his finished tuxedo.  He had it hanging in the doorway of his apartment.  He could not stop looking at it.  It was more than he could have ever hoped for. While he was admiring the garment, his telephone rang.  He answered the phone and was surprised to hear Armand on the other end. “I understand from my tailor that your tuxedo was delivered today.”  Armand said. “Yes, yes it was delivered today!  How did you know?”  Tom asked.   “My, I mean OUR tailor notified me that he had delivered it to you.”  Armand responded.   “It is absolutely beautiful!  I have never seen such a magnificent piece of clothing in my life!”  Tom exclaimed.   “Good, I am so happy you are pleased with how it turned out!”  Armand said. “I am just so concerned with how much I spent!” Tom said sheepishly.   “Oh please…  Truth be told, I am surprised you only spent as little as you did! Now I want you to have a wonderful time at the event, and you must tell me all about it when I return from my trip! That is the only requirement!” Armand said.   “I will, and once again, thank you for everything!”  Tom said. With that, they said their goodbyes and good lucks.  

The day of the event, Tom took a vacation day from work.  He did not want his work to possibly interfere with his evening. There was always the possibility of problems at his office, and having to work late to resolve the issues.  Tom went for a haircut, and a manicure.  He spent the rest of the day relaxing and generally taking care of himself.  

Tom took a very long luxurious shower.  He took time and pampered himself using the soaps, lotions, and oils he only used on special occasions.  Now out of the shower and dried off, Tom took a look at himself in the mirror.  He was pleased with what he saw reflected back.  Tom was in his late thirties, just over six foot tall.  He had light brown hair that was receding a bit.  His brown eyes still had a sparkle to them.  He was in very good shape for his age, and still had quite the bubble butt.  He always referred to it as one of his better assets, emphasis on ass.  As far as his endowment, he was satisfied at his size. He was not the biggest guy around, but he was far from the smallest one either.  

Tom took his time in putting on his tuxedo. He put his shirt on, and fastened the studs onto the front of his shirt, followed by his cufflinks.  He then made his first attempt to tie the black silk bowtie around his neck.  It did not turn out very well.  He tried a second time and unfortunately, his results were the same as the time before. He began to get frustrated.  Then he remembered what the tailor told him when he taught him how to tie the bowtie.  The tailor told him that he had to remain calm and relaxed when tying a bowtie, and do it very slowly.  Tom started over again with the bowtie.  This time remaining calm and tying it slowly.  He was amazed at the results.  It was as if the tailor had tied the bowtie for him.  It was perfect.  Next, Tom put on his sheer black TNT socks and garters, then his trousers and suspenders.  Tom could not wait to look in the mirror to see how everything looked.  Even partially dressed, he liked the reflection he saw in the mirror.   He put the black silk vest and his jacket on, followed by his evening slippers. Tom looked in the mirror once again, now that the package was complete.  He could not believe how good he looked all dressed up.  

Tom was ready to leave the house when his telephone rang.  It was Armand. “Hi Armand, I thought you were out of town!” Tom said.   “I am!  But I forgot to tell you, that I was sending a driver and a car to take you to the event tonight.”  Armand replied.   “That is not necessary, I can drive myself!” Tom exclaimed.   “It is too late, he should be at your place at any time now!  Please allow me to do this.  I want you to enjoy your evening.”  Armand explained. Just then, the doorbell rang to Tom’s apartment.   “I hear the doorbell.  That must be the driver!  Enjoy the evening!  I will talk to you later.”  Armand said excitedly.   Armand had hung up the phone before Tom could even say goodbye.  

Tom answered the door, and sure enough it was his driver.  He informed Tom that he would be waiting for him at the front of his apartment, and also told Tom not to rush, there was plenty of time.   Tom could not believe this.  He felt as though he were Cinderfella, and Armand was his fairy godfather.  He wanted to pinch himself to make sure it was not all a dream.  

Tom was driven to the private dock where the mega-yacht was docked.  He could not believe the size of this ship.  As soon as he exited the limousine he was handed a glass of champagne and escorted by one of the ship’s crew to the ship.  Tom could not help but stare at the ship’s crew.  They were all cute European looking gentlemen, who were beautiful specimens of the male body.  They were dressed in black fitted short military style jackets, white shirts with black ties, and the tightest fitting white slacks that accentuated their butts and crotches.  Tom could hardly keep his eyes off the crew.   Once on board the ship, Tom noticed that all the guests appeared to be gentlemen.  He scanned the deck he was standing on, and did not see one woman. This was obviously a men’s only affair. He was actually relieved!  He would not have to make small talk with women he had nothing in common with.  Tom looked around and saw that some of the men were obviously coupled. There was no attempt to hide their sexuality.  

Tom was then greeted by the ship’s captain.  With a slight Italian accent, he addressed himself as Captain Lorenzo.  Tom thought he was beautiful.  He had wavy black hair, and green eyes.  He also had broad shoulders that tapered down to a slim waist, and very nice bubble butt.  Tom was tongue tied.  The Captain was more gorgeous than the ship’s crew.  He also wore a short fitted military style jacket on, but he had four gold stripes around the cuffs, and a series of medals attached to the breast of the jacket.  His white slacks were also very tight and fitted.  The outline of his cock was visibly obvious in the front of his trousers. The Captain told Tom he hoped to see him after they left the dock.  Tom nodded in approval, but just thought the Captain was being nice to him.  Tom began to mingle with others on board, and estimated there were only about fifty guests on board.  All men.  As for the crew, there had to be at least twenty crew just serving drinks and offering hors d'oeuvres.  Plus the crew he did not see below deck.   As the ship left the dock, a group of guests congregated on the aft deck to watch the lights of the city come to life as the sun set.  Everyone chatted.  No one questioned Tom as to what he was doing there, or what he had contributed to the charity.  Tom was put to ease with the ongoing conversation and was comfortable joining in.

Once they were out of sight of the city, Tom felt someone tap his shoulder.  He turned to see who it was, and was very surprised to see it was Captain Lorenzo.  Captain Lorenzo asked Tom if he would be interested in a tour of the ship.  Never having been on a yacht before, Tom said he would love to see the ship.  The Captain motioned for Tom to join him.  Once Tom broke away from the group he was with, the Captain took Tom by the arm and escorted him away from the group.  Tom’s whole body suddenly tingled.  The Captain asked Tom if he would like to see the control room of the ship. Tom managed to stammer out that he would enjoy that.  As Tom and the Captain headed to the control room, the Captain was handed a sheet of paper by one of the crewmen showing the weather report for the evening.  The weather report indicated the water was going to be flat, with no wind and clear skies.  The Captain signed the report and handed it back to the crewman and instructed him to have the helm proceed on their designated course.  What the Captain and the crewman did not know was that there was an update to the weather forecast.  The updated forecast indicated there was a severe storm brewing on the exact course the ship was headed.  There was a warning in effect to avoid the area due to the severity of the storm in the area.  The reason no one had seen the updated weather report was because when it came off the printer, it fell out of the output paper tray and slipped out of sight. So without knowing, the yacht was heading directly into the storm.  

Captain Lorenzo was showing Tom all around the ship.  He showed him the engine room, the state of the art radar station, a private dining room, and even the fully equipped sickbay.  Tom was impressed with all the gadgets and technology that was onboard. Captain Lorenzo was getting friendlier with Tom also.  He began to stand closer to Tom than was absolutely necessary, and occasionally “accidently” brushed his hand across Tom’s crotch or butt as they were walking. Needless to say, Tom did not mind the attention he was getting.  He was getting quite aroused by the attention.  Tom decided to “accidently” brush his hand across Captain Lorenzo’s crotch. He was surprised to find that the Captain was also aroused by their situation.  The ship suddenly lurched.  Nothing severe, but not what one would expect in calm waters.  Captain Lorenzo grabbed Tom by the shoulders to steady him. Standing directly in front of the Captain, Tom got a chance to look down at the Captain’s crotch.  His cock was straining under the thin fabric of his white trousers.  His already engorged cock outline was clearly visible.  Tom liked what he was seeing.   The Captain reassured Tom that an occasional wave was not uncommon, even in smooth waters.  The Captain then asked Tom if he would like to see one of the staterooms on the yacht.  Tom knew what was coming next, and he said he would enjoy that.  The Captain led Tom to one of the staterooms.  He opened the door to let Tom in and turned on the subdued lights.  Tom was overwhelmed by the opulence and grandeur of the room.  It was not just a stateroom with a bed, there was a sitting area, a dining area, and what even looked like a reading area in the stateroom. The stateroom was quite large. Captain Lorenzo then opened the floor to ceiling draperies in the stateroom.  This gave them an unobstructed view of the bow of the ship. Captain Lorenzo opened the sliding glass doors.  The fresh scent of sea air rushed into the room.  No sooner had he looked back to call Tom to look at the view, the bow of the yacht took a deep dive.  Ocean water rushed over the bow of the yacht, and a huge wave of water rushed into the stateroom.  The gush of incoming water knocked Captain Lorenzo off his feet and pushed him back into the stateroom.  He was knocked out, on the floor drenched.  Tom ran forward and was able to close the sliding doors, stopping the sea water from further drenching the stateroom.  Captain Lorenzo regain consciousness and sat up.  The yacht continued to pitch forward as the waves began to swamp the yacht.  Tom wobbled over to Captain Lorenzo.  Captain Lorenzo said he was alright.  As he said that, Tom fell to the wet floor, and rolled into Captain Lorenzo.  Captain Lorenzo reached up to Tom and grabbed hold of him.  This prevented Tom from rolling over Captain Lorenzo and stopped him from falling across the room as the yacht continued to pitch up and down wildly.  Sadly though, Captain Lorenzo grabbed Tom by the arm, and even though he kept Tom from free falling across the room, he tore the sleeve off Tom’s tuxedo jacket.  Tom landed in Captain Lorenzo’s crotch.  Had the situation been different, Tom would have enjoyed being in that position.  Tom rolled off the Captain quickly.  He did take a brief moment to look at the Captain’s crotch.  His cock was clearly visible beneath his soaking wet, tight now transparent white trousers.   The yacht continued to bounce up and down in the large swells, knocking both Captain Lorenzo and Tom about the stateroom. The Captain finally made it to his feet. He told Tom they needed to get out of that stateroom and find out what was going on.  Tom asked the Captain if he should stay in the stateroom.  Captain Lorenzo told Tom to come with him, it was not safe in the stateroom.  Another good wave could smash the windows open in the stateroom and completely swamp it. Tom stood behind Captain Lorenzo when they were ready to leave the stateroom.  Once again, the yacht pitched wildly, knocking both men back into the stateroom and onto the floor.  Water started to gush into the room.  It seems the locking mechanism on the glass doors was not working, and one of the sliding doors had opened up.  As sea water gushed into the room, both Captain Lorenzo and Tom were once again soaked with water as was everything in the stateroom and knocked off their feet.  Captain Lorenzo was first to try to get to his feet. Tom watched as the Captain fought his way onto his feet.  He saw that Captain Lorenzo finely got this feet under himself from a sitting position. He raised himself up, but his tight wet trousers were unable to take the strain that was being put on them.  Tom watched as the Captain’s tight wet white trousers burst apart along the arse seam as he raised himself up.  His trousers ripped all the way up his backside, and through the waistband. Tom wanted to laugh, but it was not a situation to laugh about. Since the Captain’s trousers did not have a belt to hold them up, his wet pants fell to his knees, exposing his large bubble butt cheeks that were swallowing his white thong.  The Captain turned around to face Tom.  The Captain may as well have been naked.  The front of his white thong was completely transparent in the wetness. Captain Lorenzo tried to get over to Tom, but his walking was hindered by his trousers down around his knees and ankles and his other wet clothing constricting his movements.  Captain Lorenzo removed his jacket.  His toned and muscular torso clung to his wet white shirt.  He quickly removed his tie and his shirt, tossing them aside.  He looked down at his thong covered crotch and made a halfhearted effort to try and cover himself up.  He then took hold of what remained of his trousers and tore them off.  Tom looked at him with a very surprised expression on his face.   “Well, there is nothing I can do with them, to keep them up!  And we have to get the hell out of here!”  Captain Lorenzo said.   Tom wanted to freeze the moment; this beautiful specimen of a man standing in front of him.  There was nothing left to the imagination.  He may as well have been naked.  All that remained on the Captain were his white deck shoes, and his black nylon socks that were being held up by his sock garters, and of course, his tiny soaking wet transparent thong that was barely large enough to contain his manhood.  

Before Tom knew what was happening, Captain Lorenzo whisked by him and grabbed him by his arm.  They made it out of the stateroom and into a hall lined with other staterooms.  The floor was drenched with water.  Captain Lorenzo knew the situation was bad.   “We need to get down to the wheelhouse. I want you to stay with me!”   Tom nodded in agreement.   As they made their way down to the wheelhouse. The yacht was once again hit by a large wave.  They were both knocked off their feet and went sailing down the hallway.  Captain Lorenzo reached out to catch Tom as he slid by him on the drenched carpeted floor.  All Captain Lorenzo was able to grab was the pocket on Tom’s tuxedo trousers.  As he did, Tom continued to slide.  His tuxedo trousers were the next victim of the turbulent seas.  As if made of tissue paper, Tom’s tuxedo trousers ripped open along the front pocket seam.  Captain Lorenzo did not know what was happening, and held onto Tom’s trouser pocket with all his might.  Tom’s trousers continued to rip open down the whole side, and across the top, just under the waistband.  They then continued to rip down the other front side pocket seam and the inseams.  Tom finally realized what was happening and yelled for Captain Lorenzo to let go of him.  However, it was too late.  The front of Tom’s trousers were completely ripped away.  Captain Lorenzo got to his feet first and picked Tom off the floor. Whatever remnants were left of Tom’s trousers fell off him at that point.  Tom had forgotten what he was wearing beneath his tuxedo trousers.  He stood in front of Captain Lorenzo in a pair of pink lace panties, and a matching pink garter belt with long elastic straps to hold up his TNT socks.   Completely embarrassed, Tom tried to cover himself up with his wet torn tuxedo trousers.  Captain Lorenzo took the torn trousers from Tom’s hands and dropped the trousers to the floor.  He helped Tom out of his soaking wet torn tuxedo jacket and vest.  Tom stood there in just his pink lace panties, TNT socks, shoes and white shirt and tie, soaking wet.   Captain Lorenzo looked down at Tom and said “I approve!  Now, let’s get to the wheelhouse.” They tried the hatch door that led from the hall to the wheelhouse, but it was jammed and would not open.  Captain Lorenzo said they would have to go topside, and then down to the wheelhouse from the other side.    

Tom knew what this meant. They would have to go up to where all the guests were.  Everyone would see him in his pink lace panties and garter belt.  He asked Captain Lorenzo to leave him where he was, but the Captain insisted that Tom accompany him.  Just as they were ready to ascend the stairs to where the guests were, the yacht took a steep pitch once again. Captain Lorenzo was quick enough to grab hold of Tom as they both were sent off their feet and rolled back down the hallway.  Tom did not know how, but his shirt was now torn open when they came to rest in the corner of the hall.  The Captain’s free arm was tangled inside the fabric of the shirt.  Captain Lorenzo was pressed tightly against him.  They were face to face, chest to chest.  Tom felt the Captain’s chest heaving against his. Their cocks were pressed tightly against one another.  They both spent a few moments longer than was absolutely necessary together before getting to their feet.  Captain Lorenzo accidently ripped more of Tom’s white shirt.  It was now at the point where the shirt was not covering very much of Tom’s torso anymore.  Tom removed his soaking wet vest, and tossed it aside.  He then repeated what he saw Captain Lorenzo do earlier.  He took hold of the remaining fabric of his tuxedo shirt and just ripped it away.  Captain Lorenzo gave Tom a nod of approval at what he was looking at.   Tom no longer cared how he looked in his pink lace panties and matching garter belt.  He knew he had to stay with the Captain if he wanted to stay alive.  

Both Tom and the Captain knew the yacht was in trouble.  It was obvious to them that the yacht was being tossed around in the sudden storm that had come up.  They were being constantly knocked about by the waves and swells battering the yacht.   They made their way up to one of the large indoor salons where the guests and the crew who were doing the serving had gone to for safety.  It was an absolute spectacle in the salon.  Guests were tossed all about, and soaking wet, as was the crew.  It was obvious from the torn and ripped clothing that they all just grabbed onto whoever or whatever they could, hoping it would steady them.  Some of the guests had the further humiliation of having whatever food was being served tossed all over them.  If Tom did not know better, he would have guessed that they had a huge food fight.  One guest was covered head to toe in what looked like guacamole.  His black tuxedo was wet and green.  While another guest, whose pants had been completely torn off somehow was covered in some sort of bean dip.  It was especially funny to see him without any pants, and beans dripping down his once white boxers.  Another shirtless guest and a crewman were smeared with what appeared to be a combination of caviar and toast squares.  Most of the guests were now in some stage of undress.  Every one of them had torn trousers, torn jackets, or somehow managed to lose their clothing in their fight with the waves, fierce storm, and water.  It was obvious that the rocking the yacht was doing was much worse on the upper decks. Tom got a glance at some of the crew men.  Most of them had ripped their tight white trousers in the melee.  Tom did notice that they were all wearing the same style white thong as Captain Lorenzo.   Suddenly, the yacht rocked side to side very violently.  Everyone in the salon, including the Captain and Tom were thrown from side to side. Water began gushing in the open front glass doors of the salon.  This was not good.  Tom watched as some of the guests and crew who could not grab hold of anything were swept out of the yacht when the yacht lurched and the water that filled the salon emptied.  Tom wanted to help them out, but Captain Lorenzo took him by the arm and told him they had to get to the wheelhouse and try to save the yacht.  Captain Lorenzo instructed whatever crew was left to get life jackets on everyone including themselves and see what happened to those who were swept out of the salon.   After being banged and battered about a few more times, Captain Lorenzo and Tom made their way to the wheelhouse.  Most of the crew had been knocked out by the battering the yacht received.  He and Tom put life jackets on them.  Captain Lorenzo worked with the yacht’s stabilizers in an attempt to keep the yacht from capsizing.  Tom could tell it was doing some good, but the seas were too violent to completely stabilize the yacht.  Water was pouring into the wheelhouse.  The engines were dead, and power was going out.  Captain Lorenzo gave the order no captain wants to give.  He ordered his crew to assist the passengers and abandon ship. There were inflatable rafts for use in emergencies.  He told one of his men to take Tom with him and make sure he was on one of the rafts. Tom protested and said he was staying with Captain Lorenzo.  There was no way he was going to leave his side.  Captain Lorenzo argued back, but knew it was futile once Tom made up his mind. Captain Lorenzo looked at his charts, and from their last known position, determined there was an island approximately 10 nautical miles away.  He told the crew to head for the island with as many passengers as they could find. The crew all knew their jobs, and did as they were told without hesitation.   Captain Lorenzo knew time was of the essence. The yacht was taking on a lot of water now in these rough seas, and was listing severely.  He told Tom to stay at his side at all times.  They made a search of the yacht looking for anyone who may have been left behind.  They found no one.  Everyone was off the yacht.  Captain Lorenzo only hoped that everyone was in one of the lifeboats.   Captain Lorenzo sent one final SOS message before the power finally failed completely.  He was also able to send a message with their last known position.  

Tom and Captain Lorenzo were the last two aboard the yacht.  He told Tom that he was going to remain on board with the sinking yacht. Tom said he was staying also.  Tom remained adamant in what he was doing. He knew it was silly for Captain Lorenzo to remain on board when the yacht sank, and he told him so.  Captain Lorenzo insisted that the Captain must go down with the ship.  Tom then reminded him that he had a crew and passengers who were out there someplace that he was responsible for, and that if he stayed on board the yacht, he would not know what is happening to them or his crew.  Tom also reminded him that the yacht was replaceable, but human lives were not.  Captain Lorenzo finally acquiesced.  It was nearly too late for them.  The yacht was sinking quickly now.  They went to the deck that was even with the water.  Captain Lorenzo tightly fastened Tom into a life jacket and told him to swim as far from the yacht as possible.  He told Tom that when the yacht sinks, it could cause him to be sucked down into the water if he were too close.  Tom was hesitant to jump in first, because he feared Captain Lorenzo would stay onboard the yacht.  Captain Lorenzo assured him that he would jump in as soon as he saw that Tom was a safe distance from the yacht.   Tom jumped into the water.  He swam as hard as he could to get away from the sinking yacht.  When he finally looked back, he saw that Captain Lorenzo was still onboard the yacht. Captain Lorenzo saw Tom bobbing up and down in the swells, and he too finally jumped into the water.  Tom stopped swimming. He waited for Captain Lorenzo would catch up to him.  They were both bobbing up and down in the sea swells.  Not being a swimmer, Tom was exhausted.  Captain Lorenzo took hold of Tom by his life jacket and led him away from the now sunken yacht.  Debris from the yacht started floating around them.  Captain Lorenzo told Tom that there was one of the life rafts not far from where they were.  He knew Tom was exhausted, but he knew that if he told Tom about the raft, it would give him the incentive to swim.  They yelled as the got closer to the raft, and those onboard the raft heard them and paddled back toward their voices. The seas were calming down some.  The waves were not as high as they were before. When they approached the raft, a couple of the crewmen grabbed hold of Tom and hoisted him onboard.  That only left Captain Lorenzo in the water.  Now he was exhausted after pulling Tom along and swimming for both of them.  He tried to hoist himself onto the raft, but he fell back into the water.  He tried again and managed to get his arms over the edge of the inflatable.  He started slipping once again.  His crew grabbed him from wherever they could.  Unfortunately, one of the crew grabbed the Captain by the waist of his thong, thinking it was one of the tie ropes of his lifejacket.  The crew pulled the Captain up, but his thong snapped and ripped off him.  It fell back into the water.  Once on the raft, the Captain asked for a status.  He was told that every one of the passengers had been accounted for with the exception of Tom and all the crew was also accounted for.  The rafts were in communication with radios.  The Captain told them to head for the island and they would regroup there.  

With everyone accounted for and business taken care of for the moment.  Captain Lorenzo found Tom.  He stood hovering over Tom.  Tom started to laugh. “What is so funny?”  Captain Lorenzo asked.   “You, standing over me like that!  I think you lost something.”  Tom said pointing to the Captain’s midsection. It was only at that moment, Captain Lorenzo looked down and realized he was naked.   “Well, what do you think?”  He asked Tom.   “Hmmm, I must admit, I do like what I am seeing, and would really like to get to know you much better.  But I don’t think this is the time or the place for that.” Tom replied.   One of the crewmen handed Tom and the Captain each a blanket.  The Captain covered Tom with his blanket, and huddled next to Tom and wrapped himself in his blanket.   “I would like to get to know you better when this ordeal is over.”  The Captain said.   Tom looked at him and said, “I would like that very much!”   The Captain took his blanket off, and wrapped Tom in it.  He remained naked while on the lifeboat.  

A few hours later it was nearly sunrise, and the island they were headed for was in sight.  It did not take long to get close to the island. But since the shoreline was rocky, the crew was afraid the rocks might puncture the lifeboats.  It was decided to anchor the lifeboats as close to the shore as possible, and have everyone swim to the shore.  By the time all the boats were emptied and the crew and guests swam to the shore it was mid-morning.  Then and only then was Tom able to see the assemblage of castaways. There was not one of the guests whose tuxedo was intact.  Most of their tuxedos were ripped to shreds, if not from the ordeal onboard the yacht, but also from swimming to the shore of the island.  The rocky shore destroyed what remained of their tuxedos.  Some of the gentlemen were missing their jackets, some were missing their trousers, while others, what remained of their tuxedo was shredded to pieces.  A number of the guests were in their various styles of underwear.  A few had some boxers on.  Most of the boxers were solid white cotton, but there were a few with embarrassing boxers. You could tell those who were wearing the embarrassing boxers because they kept trying to cover themselves up. Others wore boxer briefs, and still more were wearing briefs.  Some of their briefs were white, some colored, and few of the gents even had cartoon briefs on.  They probably thought no one was going to see what they were wearing under their elegant tuxedos.  Tom was surprised to see a few of them even wore jockstraps under their tuxedos.  And Tom was happy to see he was not the only one wearing lace panties.  There were a couple other gentlemen wearing them in various colors.  The crew was very easy to identify.  None of them had trousers.  It was apparent that their tight white trousers ripped and tore away sometime during the ordeal.  However, they all had their white thongs still intact.  Some of the crew still had their shirts, or remnants of their shirts. Tom thought it would be tough to even put together one complete outfit from what everyone was wearing.   Captain Lorenzo however was quite un-phased by the fact he was now totally naked.  He lost his deck shoes and socks somewhere along the way.  

Captain Lorenzo suggested the guests pair up with a partner, and look for fresh water to drink, and food to eat.  He said he hoped his emergency messages were sent giving their position, and if so, they would not be on the island too long.  But just in case they needed to find food and water.  He had the crew start to build some lean-tos for protection from the sun and shelter in the evenings.  The Captain asked everyone who was still in passion of anything made with elastic to give it to the crew to use to hold the lean-tos together.   Tom removed his garter belt and TNT socks. He was now barefoot, having lost his formal slippers while swimming away from the yacht.  He gave them to Captain Lorenzo and said he hoped they would help. Captain Lorenzo thanked Tom and told him to follow him.  They were going to help look for some food.  

Tom and the Captain went in the direction not being covered by the others.  They looked around, but only found some grasses that might be edible. Tom was getting very discouraged. Captain Lorenzo stepped up behind Tom and began to kiss him on the back of the neck.  Tom could think of nothing else now other than being with the Captain. Tom felt the Captain’s cock stiffen up and begin to press against his arse.  The Captain continued kissing Tom and rubbing his hands up and down Tom’s body. At one point, he slid his fingers under the waistband of Tom’s lace panties and slid them down.  Tom’s cock immediately sprung to attention.  Captain Lorenzo slowly and carefully parted Tom’s butt cheeks before inserting his hard engorged cock into his arse.  Tom stiffened, but quickly relaxed so that the Captain’s cock could slide in.  Tom was in ecstasy.  He thought the Captain was going to split him in two with his huge engorged cock.  But the Captain was gentle.  Tom wanted to scream out in sheer delight, but he knew he had better not for fear that someone would come running thinking something had happened to one of the teams.  Captain Lorenzo thrust his cock deep into Tom, and Tom was loving every moment.  It was not long before Captain Lorenzo could not contain himself.  He stiffened up and filled Tom with ribbons of hot cum.  Tom did not know what to do after the Captain pulled out of him.  Tom stood there with his back still to the Captain. The Captain gently turned Tom around and just looked at him.  He motioned for Tom to lie down.  Tom did so obediently.  Captain Lorenzo knelt down in front of where Tom was lying.  He took Tom’s still hard throbbing cock in his hand.  He then lowered his head onto Tom’s cock.  He sucked Tom’s cock like no one had sucked it before.  The Captain seemed to know all the tricks to make Tom’s cock bigger and harder than it had ever been.  Tom could not take any more.  His cock erupted in Captain Lorenzo’s mouth.  The Captain drank in all of Tom’s nectar, relishing every drop of it.  Once he had completed draining Tom, he got down on the ground and laid on top of Tom.  He said he hoped he was not too forward with him, but felt that he and Tom were meant to be together.  They rested there for a few minutes.  Then Captain Lorenzo got up. He reached down to help Tom get up.  Tom took his arm and got off the ground.  Tom pulled his panties back up, and he and the Captain continued their search.  A while later, they came across a waterfalls.  They looked at one another and without saying a word, they both ran under the waterfalls.  The water was cool to the touch, but not cold.  They cleaned themselves off under the waterfalls, before frolicking in the water. They started to get frisky with one another once again.  Their playtime was interrupted when from a distance they heard the sound of what sounded like Coast Guard ship.  Once they heard the sound of the horn, they both ran out from the waterfalls pool and ran over to where the sound was coming from.  

Captain Lorenzo and his crew started using whatever pieces of clothing they had left in order to get the Coast Guards attention.  Now all the crew was either naked or only had their white thongs on.  Even some of the guests removed their remaining clothing to assist in flagging down the Coast Guard.  It was impossible for the Coast Guard to land their vessels on the shore because of the rocky shore.  However, within minutes helicopters were in the air making their way to the island.   As the helicopters landed, they were loaded up with the guests first, followed by the crew, and finally Captain Lorenzo.  Once he was onboard the Coast Guard ship, the Captain made a full report as to the events of the prior evening.  Tom was hoping to talk to the Captain, but the Captain was so busy, he had no time for social obligations.  When the Coast Guard ship made it ashore back in the city, everyone had been given a military style jumpsuit to wear.  Once again, Tom looked for Captain Lorenzo, but he was nowhere to be found.  

A few weeks past, and the uproar about the doomed cruise had died down in the press.  Tom had returned to work, and even his good friend Armand telephoned him to see how he was.  Armand promised to make up for the misadventure Tom had had.  Tom laughed it off and told Armand that it would be a long time before he would be going near the water again.  Armand and he had a bit more small talk.  Then Armand said he would try to stop by and see Tom in the next few evenings.  Tom told Armand that he would like that.  They said their goodbyes and hung up.  Tom did not mention his fling with Captain Lorenzo to Armand.  He was still confused as to what happened between them.  Tom also realized that there was no way for Captain Lorenzo to find him.  All the Captain knew was that his name was Tom, and there must have been a number of guests with the name of Tom on that cruise.  

Late one evening Tom was reading a book he had started a while ago.  It was a very hot and humid evening.  Tom was wearing very little, as was his custom on these hot and humid nights. No one could see into his apartment, so he did not mind wearing a pair of skimpy briefs or if it was too warm, nothing at all.  Tonight was no different.  Tom had on a pair of see through red nylon bikini briefs.   For some reason he could not keep his mind on the book he was reading.  He found himself reading the same page at least four times before he put the book down. He decided to make himself a cocktail. He thought it might help to relax him a bit more, so he could get to sleep.  While he was sipping on the drink, his doorbell rang.  He was not expecting anybody.  His immediate thought was that it must be Armand stopping by to see him. Since he knew it was Armand, and Armand had seen him many times in just his undies, Tom did not bother to put any more clothing on.   The doorbell rang again, and Tom said, “Just a second Armand, I will be right there!” Tom opened the door.   “I am sorry it is not Armand.  I hope I haven’t disappointed you!”  The person at the door said. “Captain Lorenzo!  How… how did you find me?”  Tom asked.   “Are you going to ask me in, or am I just going to have to stand here in the doorway?”  Captain Lorenzo responded.   “Yes!  Please, come in!”  Tom replied with excitement in his voice.   Tom led Captain Lorenzo into his apartment. “I am sorry for the heat in here, but I do not have A/C in the apartment.”  Tom said apologetically. “Ah, that explains your state of undress!” Captain Lorenzo said jokingly.   Tom suddenly realized what he was wearing, and began to turn and run to put on more clothing.  Captain Lorenzo grabbed him by the arm.   “Don’t run away!  Please, don’t put anything else on, I like seeing you just as you are.”  Captain Lorenzo said.   As he was saying this, he held out his hand that he was holding behind his back.  He was holding a bouquet of flowers.  Tom graciously took the flowers and set them down on the end table next to where they were standing.   “I have been looking for you ever since we got back on land.  I had no idea of your full name.  So, I got a copy of the guest manifest, and I have been searching out every Tom on the list. I am so glad I finally found you!” Captain Lorenzo explained.   “But how about you?  Did you get into any trouble because of what happened, and because you were with me?”  Tom asked. “Do not worry, being with you was not an issue! The Coast Guard pieced the events together, and came to the conclusion we did not receive the second weather report warning us about the imminent storm.  The case has been closed, and everyone has been exonerated.”  Captain Lorenzo happily said.  

Tom was so excited!  He wanted to give Captain Lorenzo a hug and a kiss, but he was still not sure that everything was how he hoped it would be. That was until Captain Lorenzo grabbed him and gave him a long loving kiss on the lips.  Tom nearly melted.  His knees went weak.  The Captain held him up and led him to the sofa and set him down.   “Are you alright?”  Captain Lorenzo asked.   Tom not wanting to admit he was smitten, said, “I’m OK, I just lost his balance”.     Tom finally got to look at Captain Lorenzo standing directly in front of him.  Once again he was wearing his very tight white trousers with a crisp white shirt and black tie.  Over which he had on his black waist coat with the gold braid around the cuffs.   “Get dressed!  I am taking you out tonight.  I want to finish the date we started onboard the ship.”  Captain Lorenzo exclaimed.   Tom wanted to go, but was not feeling right about it.   “No, no.  It’s too late, and I am not really feeling up to going out tonight.” Tom said.   “Am I reading the situation wrong?  Have I gotten the wrong signals?”  Captain Lorenzo asked.   “Oh no no no!  It’s just me.  If it had been any other night, I would have been more than happy to go out with you.” Tom explained.   “Fine, then how about I stay here with you then?”  Captain Lorenzo asked awkwardly.   Tom stood up from the sofa, and walked behind Captain Lorenzo.  He removed Captain Lorenzo’s jacket and placed it on a chair.   “Please.”  Tom said. “Make yourself comfortable!”   Captain Lorenzo smiled.  He slipped off his shoes, followed by his tie, shirt, and white trousers.  He was now dressed in only his white thong.   With that, they headed to Tom’s bedroom.