#i just went with henry first since he was only in the last season

[supes9]

Roy + Johnny + Henry 🤎

[roosterforme]

Batting Practice Part 22 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: You love how excited Bradley and Everett are for the Tiny Eagles' final game, and you can't wait to show Bradley the surprise you have planned for him. With an undefeated season and the title of Coaches of the Year on the line, you and Molly cheer for the boys with everything you have. 

Warnings: Fluff, smut, angst and swearing

Length: 5200 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female single!mom Reader

Check my masterlist for more Top Gun fun! Batting Practice masterlist.

On Saturday morning, before the sun was even up, Bradley was kissing your forehead and whispering, "I'll see you at the game, Kitten." He had been spending more nights at your house than his own apartment, and every time he had to go back to his place to get fresh clothes or do laundry, he kind of hated it. 

As he climbed out of your bed and put on yesterday's clothing, you reached for him, and he gave you a proper kiss. "See you in a few hours," you mumbled before rolling over and going back to sleep. Ten weeks. He had only known you and Everett for ten weeks, but he was so in love with you and your son and your little house and everything about you. 

With a sigh, he grabbed his hat and his wallet and headed outside, locking up behind himself as he went. He had been doing the sneaking in late and sneaking back out early routine on occasion, not wanting Everett to feel like Bradley was taking over his house. But every time he was there, he felt like he belonged with the two of you. 

The school year was wrapping up for Everett, but Bradley had enjoyed working on math and reading homework at the kitchen island. He enjoyed tossing a baseball around your front yard. Every time he left, he wanted to go back.

He ran a load of his laundry while he ate breakfast in his sparse kitchen. Today was the last tee ball game, and he couldn't believe it was less than three months ago that Bob had been practically begging Bradley to help him with the Tiny Eagles in the first place. What if he had said no? He didn't even want to think about that. And as of right now, his team was undefeated, thanks in large part to you and Everett and how much fun Bradley had been having. 

As he pulled on his coach's jersey and grabbed his blue hat and whistle, he silently hoped his team would win their last game, because he knew how happy that would make Everett. And if he and Bob won coaches of the year, he'd give his trophy to Everett to add to the collection of baseball items in his bedroom. 

When Bradley parked at the field a little bit early, nobody else was there yet, not even Bob. He had noticed that Bob had been cutting it a little close the past few games and practices, showing up barely on time, looking a little disheveled with a smiling Molly in tow. It took all of Bradley's willpower not to rib Bob too hard about it, because his fellow aviator turned crimson every time. But Molly could take the trash talk like a pro, which Bradley already appreciated about your sister. 

And ever since Bradley had gotten a glimpse of the diamond rings that the jeweler had on display, he couldn't help but think that things with you were moving too fast and still too slow at the same time. So he fought the urge to max out his credit card, but he was still thinking about what kind of ring you would like.

"Coach Bradley!" 

He looked up to see Sandra and Henry rushing toward him with two gigantic gift baskets. She was wearing practically no clothing, and he was agitated that she had been able to corner him. "Hey, Henry! Sandra." He patted Henry on his shoulder, and then Sandra was in his personal space, handing him one of the baskets that was filled with so much random shit. "Thanks," he mumbled, trying to sidestep her hand as it found his arm. 

"You're so welcome. This season has been fantastic, all thanks to you and Bob," she purred. "I'm just hoping I can get Henry on your team for the fall league. And I'm hoping you'll choose me to be Team Mom next time."

Bradley rubbed his mustache. He'd been thinking about coaching again, even going so far as to considering becoming a head coach. He and Bob could have teams that went against each other, and Bradley thought that might be a lot of fun. "Thanks, Sandra. And you know what, that's a great idea. Since I'm dating our Team Mom now, it would probably be a conflict of interest if I chose her again in the fall."

The sour look on her face as Bradley noticed Bob's truck pull into the parking lot followed by your car had him smiling a little bit as he waved back to Everett who was waving wildly through the open window. "Excuse me," he mumbled as he headed for your car. Hadn't he just seen you a few hours ago? Been in your bed with your arms around his neck, felt your soft breaths on his cheek?

"Fuck," he gasped, jogging up the hill with his gift basket, antsy to get to you. When you climbed out of your car, he set the basket on your roof and kissed you hard. 

"Ew!" Molly gasped as she climbed out of Bob's truck. 

But you just smiled and said, "I like it when you wear your hat backwards."

"Why do you think I keep doing it?" he asked softly, and you bit your lip as you glanced back at the gift basket.

"Something to remember Sandra by?" you asked with an eye roll. "I'll give you a better thank you gift later, Coach."

"Oh, I can't wait," he mumbled, kissing your forehead as Ev climbed out of your backseat. "Hey, Kiddo! Last game. Are you excited?" 

"Yes!" he said, jumping up to high five Bradley before running over to Bob as well. "If we win today, then that means our team is the best one!" Bradley watched Everett bounce around between Bob and Molly as you chucked the gift from Sandra onto your passenger seat.

"Hey, careful, Kitten. There might be something good in there."

You rolled your eyes and closed your door, and Bradley laced his fingers through yours. "Yeah, I saw a Starbucks gift card. It's mine now."

"Whatever you want," he whispered, running his thumb along your ring finger. The kids were starting to warm up with Bob, and Molly had secured a good spot on the bleachers. "I'll see you after the Tiny Eagles go undefeated for a perfect season." 

You kissed him hard and then, when Bradley turned toward the other coaches, he felt you slap his ass. "You can do it, Coach Bradley! You're the best!" Then you turned innocently toward the bleachers and brightly said, "Hello, Sandra!" before continuing toward your sister.

---------------------------

"It's the tight, white pants that made me do it," you whispered to Molly as she shook with laughter. "I was helpless to control myself." 

"God, you're right," Molly sighed. "It's like... I never knew how badly I needed a man in a uniform. And I'm talking the flight suit, the khakis, and the tee ball getup."

You looked at Bob for a beat. "It's the glasses, Mo."

"The fucking glasses," she whined softly. She was going to move in with Bob next weekend after Everett's birthday baseball game. 

You wanted to warn your sister that she was moving really quickly, especially for her, but you just couldn't. You thought she and Bob made a lot of sense, and you were happy for her. Bob was the perfect departure from the bad boys she usually went for. He kept turning to look at Molly as the game started, just like Bradley did with you. 

"How did this happen?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know," you replied. 

"I'm fully addicted to the pizza nights now, I hope you know that," she told you with a grin. "We can win any argument when Natasha is with us. It's literally perfect."

You loved the pizza nights, too. You loved the way Everett was always welcome on someone's lap. You loved how Bradley cut the pizza slices smaller for him. You loved how comfortable you felt. "It is perfect."

Molly cleared her throat just as Everett went up to bat. "Not to dampen the mood, but what did your lawyer say?"

You took a deep breath, but you found that it actually wasn't so hard to talk about. "I'm going to meet with them in person, but getting Danny's name off of Everett's birth certificate is going to be challenging. Would be easier if I were remarried and looking to have my spouse adopt him. But they are going to do some research about child support based on Danny's shitty income which I'm sure will make him rage at me again."

Molly hugged you tight. "I'm sorry this is happening."

You nodded, but you found that you didn't want to cry about it anymore. "Me too. But we'll continue to be better off without him, even if they can't make him pay."

Then you both jumped to your feet. "Go Ev!" Molly cheered as he hit the ball ridiculously far. He ran the bases as Bradley and Bob cheered him on. And the look of pure elation on Bradley's face as Everett crossed home plate and ran into his arms was going to stay with you forever. 

"We're leading by one run now!" Molly was bouncing up and down.

Then it really hit you. "They're going to be undefeated, aren't they?" You felt kind of silly. It was just tee ball. But it had actually become really important to you and everyone around you. 

"I think so!" Molly gushed as you both sat down and held hands through the final inning. And when the Tiny Condors were not able to tie the game, you felt tears in your eyes for a different reason as you smiled and ran down the bleachers toward Everett. 

You scooped him up into your arms and squeezed him tight. "You're so good, Ev! I'm so proud of you!"

"Mommy! Aunt Molly! We won every game!"

"You sure did!" Molly told him, kissing his cheek before heading toward Bob. She made no secret of them being together as a moment later, you saw her hand slide up the front of his jersey as she kissed him. 

Bradley was left to converse with the umpires, but his smile was huge when he finally turned your way. He high fived and hugged all of the Tiny Eagles, but he knelt in front of Everett and hugged him for a long time. And when they started to have a quiet conversation, you gave them a little space.

You hoped this meant that Bradley and Bob would both win awards at the league picnic tomorrow afternoon. You already had a treat planned for your boyfriend just in case, but you thought you could use it either way. 

After Bradley kissed Everett's forehead, he stood and kissed yours as well. "Thanks for not pulling Ev from the team after I fucked up, Kitten."

You smiled up at him. "I didn't have the heart to do it. I'm glad I didn't."

"I love you. Let me buy you both some ice cream."

-----------------------------

After Bradley offered to buy you and Everett a treat from the snack bar, you told him to take Everett to the bench and wait. You insisted you wanted to buy it. So Bradley gave him a piggyback ride over to the same bench where you and he had flirted relentlessly on your 'first date'. Bradley smiled just thinking about how he had answered your phone when Frank kept calling you nonstop. 

Everett jumped down onto the bench, and Bradley sat next to him while you waved from the line. "Hey, kiddo?" he asked Everett after you blew him a kiss. 

"Yeah, Coach?"

Bradley chuckled and looked at his excited face. "You can call me Bradley now. All the time. Tee ball is over."

"Okay," he replied, still all smiles from winning the final game. 

Bradley cleared his throat and made sure you weren't on your way over yet. "Can you keep a secret from your mom? It's nothing bad or scary, I promise."

"Okay," he said again, nodding this time.

"What kind of ring did your mom used to wear? When she was married to your dad?"

Everett's little brow scrunched up as he gave Bradley a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Her wedding ring," Bradley told him quietly. "What did it look like?"

"Oh," he said, plopping down next to Bradley now. "She didn't have one."

Bradley cocked his head to the side. "She never wore one?"

"Nope."

"Huh." Surely you must have had a wedding ring? Did Danny really not buy you a ring? "Ev, she never wore any rings? Not even a plain one?"

"Nope."

Bradley settled back against the bench, and stared off into space. He'd been thinking about it a bit, and he really wanted to make sure he didn't get you a ring that was similar to something you had worn from Danny. But if you never had one at all...

"Take it before it melts!" you said, laughing as you jolted Bradley from his thoughts. He grabbed one of the ice creams from your hands and quickly licked the sides before he helped Everett with his.

"Thanks, Kitten," Bradley told you as you went to sit on the other side of your son. "Are you excited for the picnic tomorrow?" he asked Everett.

"Yep! I'm going to get a trophy!"

"I think Bradley might be getting a trophy, too!" you added, licking your ice cream and winking at Bradley. He watched you eat with narrowed eyes as his own snack melted. 

Bradley grunted. "Well, the most important thing is that I'm going to get you ready for real baseball in the fall. And the fact that San Diego has nice weather year round means that you'll probably get so good from practicing all the time that you'll be able to get a scholarship someday."

"What's a scholarship?" Everett asked as his ice cream dripped on Bradley's shoe.

"Ev," you mumbled and went to clean it up. But Bradley took your hand and guided you back to the bench with a shake of his head.

"It's fine, Kitten. It's just my shoe," he told you. And then he turned Everett's ice cream so it wouldn't keep dripping everywhere. "A scholarship is money that colleges sometimes give to athletes so they will come play sports for the school. Your mom would probably be delighted if you got one."

You laughed as you bit into your cone. "Would be nice. Lawyers are expensive," you muttered, leaning in to kiss Everett's cheek. 

"You need to keep me in the loop when you do things like that," he told you, shooting you a no nonsense look. 

"Okay," you whispered. 

Once Everett had finished his ice cream and washed his hands, Bradley walked both of you back to your car. "Want me to pick you both up for the picnic tomorrow?"

"Yes!" Everett cheered. "Your car is fun!" 

But once he was buckled in his booster seat, you pulled Bradley close and whispered, "I have something special for you, Coach." And Bradley audibly groaned as your hand came to rest on his cock, stroking him through his snug baseball pants. "Stay over tomorrow night?"

"Of course," he grunted next to your ear as you squeezed him gently. "Fuck."

You just giggled and said, "I think you'll love your surprise."

Then you backed out of the parking spot while Bradley stood next to his Bronco with a semi and waved like an idiot. He wasn't sure what kind of surprise you had in store for him, but he loved everything you did. And then he drove off in the opposite direction, back to the jewelry shop to pick up your necklace which the jeweler had needed to keep longer than anticipated. And he could also look at the rings some more. 

-------------------------

"Where's Aunt Molly?" Everett whined as you sat with him on your lap on the crowded bleachers. All of the tee ball teams had been invited today, and there were so many people at the picnic. 

"She's on her way from work, Ev. She should be here soon."

"What if she misses my trophy?"

"Then we'll have to show it to her when she gets here."

"What if she misses Coach Bob's trophy?"

You kissed his cheek and held him tighter. He was beyond excited that his coaches had been nominated for awards. "Then she can see Coach Bob's trophy later." 

You laughed at the inadvertent dirty joke you just told, and then you saw your sister walking down from her car right as the ceremony started. She found a spot to stand off the side and waved at you. "Look, Aunt Molly's here. You feel better now?"

"Yep!" Everett told you as he waved to her as well.

You watched the third and second place teams get their medals, and when they called the Tiny Eagles up to collect their trophies, Everett ran up alongside Bradley and Bob. You took some pictures while you cheered. You were struck with a pang of sadness over the fact that Danny didn't want to be part of this. But then you saw Bradley pull Everett into a big hug as soon as he had his trophy in his hand.

Your son was happy all the time when he was around Bradley. He always seemed to provide Everett with love, attention, and comfort. And that was in addition to all of the fun they seemed to have together. You took another picture of them hugging, and then it was Bradley's turn for his award.

Bob looked so shy and hesitant as he thanked everyone for a great season, but when it was Bradley's turn, you couldn't stop smiling. 

He gave all of the kids on the team a special shout out, and then he thanked the league for trusting that he and Bob could handle a team like this on their first try. And then you had to suppress your giggles as Bradley found where you were sitting on the bleachers and said, "And a big thank you to our Team Mom. None of this would have happened without her."

You waved down to them, and Everett, Bradley and Bob all waved back. Then Bradley was awarded his trophy and promptly handed it to Everett. "Seriously," Molly called out to you. "He's so much better than Danny."

"I know," you agreed, taking in the enormous smile on Everett's face as he ran to Molly. And then you were heading down the bleachers and into Bradley's arms. 

"Hey, Kitten," he whispered, kissing your cheek as you laughed. 

"Remember that day when you silently bullied me into agreeing to be the Team Mom?" you asked, looking up at him.

His grin and his backward hat looked exactly like they had that day as he said, "I sure do. God, I was so into you. I thought you must have been married though."

You buried your face against his chest and laughed. "The hot coach wanted me to be Team Mom? No way I wasn't raising my hand."

He kissed the top of your head and led you over to the picnic area where Everett was sitting with Molly, his grip on both trophies unrelenting. "Thanks for letting him hold that," you told Bradley.

But he just shrugged. "He can have it. I think he was more excited about me winning it than I was," he said with a laugh. "And I think I'm going to coach another tee ball team in the fall. I loved this."

Your heart swelled with love for him. "You should. You're good at it."

"Deployments will be hard to get around though," he whispered, kissing you on the head again. "Gonna be hard for us, too."

"Ev and I aren't going anywhere."

-------------------------------

After the picnic, Bradley drove you both back to your house and helped a very sleepy Everett get a quick shower and get ready for bed. "Go relax, Kitten. I got this," he promised as Everett changed into pajamas and brushed his teeth. 

You bit your lip and kissed Everett goodnight. Then you whispered, "Come find me when you're done," before you walked into your bedroom and closed the door, glancing at him over your shoulder. 

He grunted, wondering if he was going to get the surprise you promised him. His mind was filled with dirty blowjobs and kitten costumes, and he had to take a deep breath as Everett crossed the hallway back to his bedroom in his baseball pajamas and climbed up into his bed.

"Have you thought about moving into the extra bedroom?" he asked with a yawn, and Bradley smiled as he pulled the covers up over him.

"Honestly, Kiddo? I think about it all the time."

"We should talk to my mom about it," Everett muttered as he rolled onto his side, already half asleep. 

"Yeah," Bradley whispered, "we should." Then he straightened both trophies on Everett's dresser and turned off the lamp before leaving the room. But he thought that another level of commitment was definitely going to be necessary before he could move in here. He'd been thinking about it though.

But all thoughts simply vanished from his brain as he opened your bedroom door and saw you standing there next to your bed. A strangled sound escaped from the back of his throat as his jaw dropped open. 

"You okay, Coach?" you asked teasingly, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, hands planted on your hips. 

"Kitten," he gasped, eyes going wider. "Baby."

You were wearing a tiny, skimpy red and white cheerleading uniform and holding red pom poms at your hips. The little pleated skirt barely hid anything from his view, and he could see your peaked nipples poking against the top.

"Mmhmm," you hummed. "I heard you won Coach of the year. I'm so proud of you." You took a step closer to him, and he wasn't sure if his cock could actually get any harder than it was. You'd put on some red lipstick and some extra eye makeup, and you looked fucking hot. He was having a hard time speaking as he reached for you.

"This is for me?" he managed to ask as he pulled you against him and ran his hands along the little skirt. But you spun in his arms, and he felt all of the blood in his body rush to his groin as you rubbed your ass against him.

"For you." You looked back at him over your shoulder as he ran his hands down along your bare thighs.

"You look like one of the Phillies cheerleaders," he whispered in your ear.

"That's what I was going for," you gasped with a smile.

"My first crush was on the entire 1995 Phillies cheerleading roster."

"Why am I not surprised?" Your soft laughter had him bucking against your backside. He was completely ready to go. 

"You like dressing up for me," he muttered as you spun to face him again.

You nodded and shook your pom poms as you shimmied for him. "Yeah, I do. I think you like it, too."

"That would be an understatement," he growled as your tits nearly bounced out of that tiny top. When he pulled you closer by your hips, you dropped the pom poms to the floor and reached for the fly of his pants, and Bradley leaned down to kiss you softly. "I love this."

You kissed him all over his lips and mustache and cheeks, and he was sure he had your lipstick everywhere, and he was so fucking turned on. And then you were in front of him on your knees, and his baseball pants and underwear were around his thighs. He quickly pulled his jersey and undershirt off as you wrapped your pretty lips around his cock and looked up at him as you took him inch by inch until he met the back of your throat. 

"Yeah," he groaned. "Just like this. I'd jerk off thinking about those cheerleaders sucking my cock."

You moaned so loudly with him against the back of your throat that he had to bite his tongue against the urge to blow his load already. 

"But you're so much better. My god." He was already panting as you withdrew him from your mouth. Your lipstick was on his cock now, but he barely had time to process anything before you were sucking on him again. He watched you, his actual fantasy come to life, as you gave him excellent head. When he ran his thumb along your cheek, he could feel his cock inside your mouth. He needed to stop you, because he desperately wanted to fuck you, but this felt too perfect.

But when you started running your fingernails along his balls, he pulled you up to your feet. You let out a startled laugh before he pressed his lips to yours. "I wanna fuck you," he managed between sloppy kisses as he grabbed at your bare backside with both hands. 

You were moaning against his lips as his dick was poking into your belly. "Anything you want," you gasped, running your hands along his shoulders and pecs. 

"Don't tell me that," he growled, picking you up as you squealed and getting you on your knees at the edge of the bed. "God damn. I want everything." You looked too good on your hands and knees, glancing back at him while your glistening pussy and ass were bare for him. He ran his fingers through your slick until you were moaning his name, and then he knelt and put his mouth on you as he used his hand to coat himself with your wetness.

"Coach!" you cried out as Bradley licked your pussy and kissed the backs of your thigh. 

"You gotta be quiet, Kitten," he grunted, pushing your knees a little further apart as he lapped at you until you were bouncing back to meet his tongue. But you just got louder and louder, and when Bradley stood behind you and slid his cock inside, you nearly screamed.

"Bradley!"

"Shh." He tried his best to coax you to be quiet, but it didn't work until he clamped his left hand over your lips. "Baby, you can be as loud as you want when we're actually alone," he rasped, fucking you a little harder now. That little pleated red and white skirt brushed along your ass with each thrust, and Bradley wrapped his right hand around your waist, fucking you with deeper strokes. 

Your muffled cries had him close now as he moved his hand to palm your ass. He'd have to consider buying you a gag of some sort, and that had him actually cumming inside your tight pussy. 

"Fuck!" he grunted, letting go of your mouth and squeezing both of your ass cheeks as he fucked you until he was seeing stars. You just whimpered pathetically as you clenched around his softening cock. When Bradley pulled you up so your back was pressed against his chest, he ran his hands up under your skirt and teased your clit, really making sure you felt good.

"Coach!" you gasped, still fluttering around his cock as he pressed his lips to your neck. When you moved his fingers from your pussy up to your lips, he nibbled along your bare shoulder. You sucked on each of his fingers before you asked, "Did you like this as much as the kitten costume?"

He groaned so loudly, you giggled. "Yes, this was just as good as the kitten. Don't make me choose one." 

"You can have both," you promised, turning to kiss him as he withdrew his cock from your pussy and helped you to your feet. 

He watched his cum drip down and coat your thighs as he whimpered for you. And then he remembered what was tucked inside his pants pocket. Carefully he pulled out your repaired necklace and held it out to you. 

"Oh!" you gasped, reaching for it right away. "You fixed it!"

"Yeah," he whispered, kissing your parted lips. "Of course I did."

Once you had further examined it, you stared up at him with a look of awe. "It's better now," you told him, turning it over in your hand to inspect the engraving. One side of the paw print said Bradley and the other said Everett. He carefully clasped it around your neck before you wrapped your arms around his waist, and he just couldn't stop thinking about being here with you forever.

---------------------------

On Thursday, you were desperately trying to finish up for the day when another project got dumped on your desk. It was Everett's birthday, and you were hoping you'd be able to sneak out early and stop home to change before the Padres game. You started working on the new project before you decided to just say fuck it.

You turned your computer off an hour early and locked up your desk. You'd have time to change and meet everyone else at the ballpark since Everett was spending the day at the zoo with Molly. So you strolled to the elevator and then out to your car without a care in the world. 

And that's when your phone rang. It was your lawyer. You stumbled to a stop in the parking lot as you accepted the call. 

"A judge is not going to allow Daniel to sign away his rights. Not unless adoption becomes an option for your son. However, even when you acquire sole custody, which is basically a done deal, he'd still be required to pay you the child support he owes you, plus continue to pay in the future. Your ex husband would have one hundred and twenty days to try to dispute it. Would you like us to serve him with papers?"

Your heart was pounding as you played with the charm on your chain. You were beginning to feel like you had on your bathroom floor, short of breath and nauseous. "Can I think about it?" you asked softly. You didn't want to have to chase Danny for money. He would just make this as difficult for you as he could, and you didn't want to have to deal with him anymore at all. 

"Of course. Take your time."

You ended the call and climbed in your car. Bradley had implored you to keep him updated with the information your lawyer was giving you. But there was just no way you'd be able to tell him all of this. It would be mortifying, admitting to your boyfriend that more than anything, you wanted to know if he'd ever marry you and adopt your child. 

A pathetic sounding laugh bubbled out of you. No. You would just keep that information to yourself and decide if it was worth going after Danny at all. Because all you really wanted at the moment was your own name solely attached to Everett as his legal guardian. But that wasn't something you could have yet if at all.

---------------------------

Undefeated! Everett's birthday party is up next! Thanks to @beyondthesefourwalls and @mak-32!

Time to check out The Curveball for more of Molly and Bob!

PART 23

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[thenightling]

Addressing some old confusion about Nightmare before Christmas

Tim Burton is getting a lot of attention lately because of the new Beetlejuice sequel so a lot of his other work is being talked about. The Spooky season also leads to conversations about his work. And every year it's the same thing. Someone will list their favorite Tim Burton movies and someone will go "Umm... Actually, Henry Selick directed Nightmare before Christmas." Yes, he did. But I am willing to argue that three men deserve the bulk of the credit for Nightmare before Christmas. First we need to go backward to the early 1980s when a young Tim Burton was working for Disney as an animator, uncredited, for The Fox and the Hound. An unpleasant aspect of working for Disney is anything you create while working for Disney... belongs to Disney. While working for Disney Tim Burton doodled the characters that would become the main characters of Nightmare before Christmas. He also wrote a long-form story book / poem in the style of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. It wasn't until the early 1990s that Disney finally agreed to allow this story to be adapted into a film, and also allowed the book, itself, to finally be published a mere few months before the 1993 release of the movie adaptation. In the early 90s there was a cinematic trend that the author of a Gothic book was in the movie title such as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. But as Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley are long dead, no one mistook them as the director of their movies. The easy mistake may have been deliberate on Disney's part since Disney was preying on the (then) current rising success of Tim Burton's film directing career. (The 2004 Halmark mini-series of Frankenstein is closer to the Mary Shelley novel than the movie called Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, by the way.) Early in the production of the movie Tim Burton went to composer Danny Elfman's home and told him the story piece by piece. Danny Elfman immediately related to the protagonist Jack Skellington as he was in the middle of his own identity crisis as a the lead singer of New Wave rock band, Oingo Boingo. Danny Elfman had recently discovered his talent for and love for film and TV composing. Danny Elfman soon had eleven songs composed that made a full opera of the story Tim Burton told him. In fact, according to Danny Elfman, Tim Burton is uncredited but wrote some of the lyrics. Danny Elfman became so attached to Jack Skellington that he was also the character's singing voice for the movie. Danny Elfman's opera version of the story (just the songs without dialogue between them) became the basis for annual concerts that were performed as recently as last year at the Hollywood Bowl.

Henry Selick was the director of Nightmare before Christmas (the movie) and he had to deal with the tedious work of overseeing the entire stop motion process, probably the most painstaking part of the project. Caroline Thompson wrote the script for Nightmare before Christmas but only after the eleven songs were composed, the dialogue she wrote for the movie consisted of less than ten minutes of the movie's running time. So for the confused: The director of Nightmare before Christmas was Henry Selick. He had to oversee the entire stop motion animation process. The score, song lyrics, and Jack Skellington's singing voice was Danny Elfman, who wrote all eleven songs before there was a script and wrote them so well that they could stand without a script. (But he says Tim Burton wrote some of the lyrics but is uncredited). Tim Burton wrote the original short story / poem that was published the same year as the movie's release as an illustrated children's book. Tim Burton wrote some of the lyrics, chose the color pallets of the sets, and even was the one who decided Sally's socks would have to be striped when the puppet couldn't stand up right because her ankle were too small. Yes, Henry Selick should get credit as the director. But Tim Burton should also get credit for the original story, the character designs / concept art, and Danny Elfman needs the credit for all The scoring, most of the lyrics, and Jack Skellington's most passionate moments as he was the singing voice and Jack did a lot more singing than talking.

These three men, together, with their collective talents, are why we have Nightmare before Christmas.

[queers-gambit]

You've Got A Friend In Me

prompt: ( requested ) after a close encounter, you turn to an unlikely source of comfort.

pairing: Joel Miller x female!reader

fandom masterlist: HBO's The Last of Us

word count: 2.8k+

note: yes this kinda centers around episode 5, but i stop myself before THAT scene.

warnings: cursing, canon-level violence (it's very mild in this), feelings of abandonment, Joel's awkward but def has a soft spot for reader. half-edited, more hurt-and-comfort than anything i guess. ❗️season one, episode five spoilers

It had been one of the scariest moments of your life, when the sinkhole opened and spewed rivers of Infected to charge at the living. Your job was simple: protect the kids while Joel went up to a vantage point to use a rifle and take out enemies around you. Yet, you failed. The commotion was too great to keep hold or track of everyone, and though it was selfish, you figured Ellie would be more all right than Henry and Sam.

You know, because of the whole "immune" thing. There was no telling if Sam carried the same antibodies and since he was so much smaller, you were just naturally protective of him.

So, when all hell broke loose, you lost sight of Ellie as Infected ran around but knew Joel hadn't. He kept an eye from above. You turned for the truck the two brothers were seeking shelter under and reached your hands out for them. It was time to move, it was time to go. However, just as Sam latched onto you, from the other side, two Infected had grabbed hold of the two lads, pulling, pulling, pulling, and then, gnashing their teeth.

You weren't ready to give up without a fight, so you did your best to free the brothers when an uncoordinated Infected barreled into your right side - knocking you into view of the others. You cried out as the creature snarled and tried to bite at you, arms wobbling with exertion and failing energy. Yet, you refused to let your life end like this and kept fighting with a hidden determination.

As quickly as your could, you reached for the knife in your boot to slash and hack and stab at the fucker - only to come up against two more that screamed more than anything. It was a frenzy, a fight for everyone's lives, and though you didn't originally want to go on this trip (like Joel), you knew now there was a higher purpose on the line.

So, with renewed energy, you forced the Infected away from you; knife slashing around to carve into their flesh and send them back into the depths of Hell. Behind you, Ellie was helping Henry and Sam to their feet, and they made their getaway safely - letting you refocus on the brutal fight at hand.

You knew if you didn't leave soon, you'd be stuck here like live bait and your knife would only do so much damage. This was a fight that you needed to run from, and so, with tears of fear filling your eyes, you turned away to run. You found a gun from a deadman, picking it up without stopping, and offering aim as you tried to find the others. There were shadowed movements in the distance and you took a chance to rush for it, feeling relief when you noticed Ellie first - but gasp when something screamed from behind you.

Turning, you didn't ask questions - you just fired. Two Infected had been on your tail, one falling easily from the spray of bullets but the other kept coming. "Ah, shit," you stuttered, trying to back up as it just kept fucking coming. With a gulp, you braced your feet, steeled your teeth, and snapped, "Go back to Hell!"

You emptied the clip into the fucker - and it finally went down. With a sigh of relief, you checked around you and saw another gun not far from you; checking around before slowly lunging for it. Checking the clip, it was mostly full but slippery from blood; making you use your shirt to clean off the grip. Another scream echoed and you knew, if you lingered even another ten seconds, you'd be overrun.

With a sigh of relief, you were allowed to once more pursue your party but just as you cleared the small dirt hill, the woman, Kathleen, was pointing a gun at your ragtag group of friends. This made you raise your weapon to take aim at the back of her head, but paused when movement caught your eye.

Your head turned slowly and you froze.

You watched silently as an Infected child leapt onto the woman, allowing you to sprint around them and rush off into the forest with the others, you and Joel taking the rear to encourage them all not to look back - but you both had to, to make sure you weren't being followed. There were no words exchanged, everyone's minds racing with what they had seen...

This was nothing like the Boston QZ or any surrounding area... Suddenly, just like Dorothy, you didn't think you were in Kansas anymore.

It was another mile (or so) of hiking before you came up to a rundown motel and Joel decided it was time to rest after the long night. Henry stayed with Sam and Ellie to let you and Joel check out the area, but to your immense surprise, there didn't appear to be anything. Not wanting to question your luck, you and Joel settled on a room and went back for the others to quickly usher everyone inside.

Luckily, the bolts still seemed intact but Joel insisted you still push furniture in front of it and the boarded-up window.

You were unusually quiet as you worked, but the truth was, you couldn't stop wondering if the others were going to leave you behind. They were gathered and at the mouth of the forest when you caught up, so, you worried they were really preparing to head out without you. It's not like you couldn't blame them, but you could Joel...

It'd been years since you knew the Miller brothers. Once upon a time, you were the cute single nurse next door to Joel's house and sometimes would babysit Sarah if scheduling permitted, being one of the very last things of "home" that Joel recognized. Yet now, after life fucked all of mankind, you've reduced yourself to smuggling drugs in and out of the Boston QZ.

Sam and Ellie settled in their room, looking over their comic book together for a bit of relief after nearly facing down death that evening. It was heartwarming to watch, and children had a way of reminding you of innocence during drastic, dramatic times of stress. For a moment, everyone was content just watching the two gush over their booklet; a very simple reminder everyone survived.

While conversation wasn't abundant between the three adults, Joel still took note of how shaken you appeared. How your eyes seemed permanently glassy. How you seemed far from rational thought.

"You think they'll be okay?" Henry asked you and Joel, sat on the floor to watch the kids in the open doorway with the other man leaning on an old furnace - eating.

"Yeah, I think," Joel answered quietly, glancing at Ellie and Sam before over to you, sighing. "It's easier when you're a kid, anyway."

This caught Henry's attention, still trying to get used to the man's cynical personality and words; get used to the way his voice sounded like it was drug over pavement. Noting the man's look, Joel explained, "You don't have anyone relying on you... That's the hard part."

"Well, guess you're doin' a good job, then," Henry offered Joel.

He nodded in appreciation, then nodded his head towards the kids, asking, "What's that comic book say? 'Endure and survive'?"

"'Endure and survive,'" Henry confirmed, then, scoffing a little in humor. "That shit's redundant."

"Yeah, it's not great."

"No," Henry chuckled, folding up his rations.

Joel paused a moment, then offered, "Look, I don't know exactly how we're gettin' to Wyoming," his thumb gestured between you and Joel, "probably walkin'. But... You know, if you want to..."

"Yeah," Henry accepted, saving Joel from his own strangled words. "Yeah. Yeah, I think it'd be nice for Sam to have a friend. I'll tell him in the morning. New day, new start," He told you and Joel.

"Endure and survive," you mused, nodding as you got to your feet. "Excuse me a moment, gentleman. But hey," your fingers snapped, pointing towards the room, "needs to be lights out soon. They need rest."

Joel and Henry nodded in agreement and gave you time to tug the single table out of your way and slip out the bolted door. You didn't dare venture far out of need for safety, but you still needed solidarity with your gun. So, you leaned on the rotting bannister, trying to stabilize your breathing - but each inhale only struck you with the stale stench of burnt bodies on the air.

Though a mile or more from the "battleground", you could still smell defeat in the air as it traveled over the wind.

"Hey," Joel muttered, approaching you from behind. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't," you sighed, honestly unable to react to much these days.

"You all right? Been pretty quiet."

"I think I've just been overthinking again."

"About?"

You shrugged, admitting, "How it felt so much like you guys were gonna leave me behind. I-I wasn't dead... I wasn't injured..."

"Hey, hey, no," Joel rushed, speaking your name as softly as he could. "No, you misread the situation. When I didn't see you, I was telling the others to get to a rendezvous point so I could go back - but then you showed up after Kathleen. I wasn't gonna leave you behind. Ellie wasn't gonna let it happen... She felt guilty thinking she needed to help get Sam and Henry to safety first. How can you think we'd leave you?"

"I just - you were all gone. I was alone, and for a moment, I-I just thought it looked like you guys were getting ready to leave me."

"That's the farthest thing from the truth, you know what you mean to me. I wouldn't leave you behind... Don't think so wrong of me, darlin', I wouldn't leave you behind."

You nodded slowly, unsure of the emotion you felt before admitting, "I guess that all j-just really scared me, Joel. I... I think I'm still scared." You stated trembling. "I-I mean, now, I just wonder what civilization they've made underground - there was so many of them, and they're advanced. They're adapting and morphing and fuck - "

Joel shook his head, "It's over now. Ain't doin' no good dwellin' on the past right now."

"I can't get it out of my head."

"It won't leave for a long while, darlin', but best we can do is... Well, as much as I hate to say it, we have to just endure and survive. Doesn't mean you're not allowed to be scared."

"It feels redundant now. Misplaced. Fucking useless."

"I think fear might be the one emotion that can bind us all together. It's the one emotion we can all relate to these days. Look, tonight was a taste of what could be out there, waiting for us. We just need to adapt - like before. So, you and me? We're gonna stick together and help each other out - not leave one another behind. We're gonna watch each other's backs and make sure we stick together. Hear me? You and me, girl, we're gonna see this to the end."

You nodded, "'S gonna get scarier."

"It will," he agreed, sighing before offering a side hug; content to hold your shoulders. "But you and I are a team, we don't ever have to endure anything alone. We're a unit. You're... You're not alone, darlin'. Not with me... Not with us."

Those were the magic words that shattered the cracked-remains of your emotional dam. You let out an impossible sob, trying to keep quiet by slapping a hand over your mouth, but Joel sighed and instantly tugged you into his embrace. He was at a loss for words, but in this moment, he understood you didn't need any words - you only simply needed to feel safe.

No matter how fleeting, you needed comfort. You needed safety. You needed a friend, the support of a friend.

Who was he to refuse and walk away? Leave you there, like this? There were years of dynamic friendship between the two of you and he knew, after the loss of nearly everyone you ever cared about, this was the simplest form of solidarity he could offer you - reassure you, he was here with you.

You hadn't cried over Tess.

You didn't cry over Bill.

You looked choked up at Frank, but no real tears.

Tears were useless and detrimental to survival - or that's what you like to tell yourself. Tears dehydrated. Tears could be interpreted as weakness. Tears made you small. Tears left marks behind to indicate to others what you felt. However, standing here, right now, you simply sobbed into Joel's chest as you held onto him - and he, onto you.

"I was so fucking scared," you whimpered, trembling. "I-I still am, Joel. I-I shut my eyes, and it's there..."

"I know," he sighed, but didn't say the words on his tongue where he admitted that he was scared, too. Yet, you still heard them. "But we're still here, darlin', we're alive." His arms tightened as his voice lowered, reassuring himself as much as you, "Nobody's hurt. Kid's are safe. You and I, we're safe. Henry's safe... We're gonna be okay."

"Yeah," you sniffled with a pitiful head nod.

"It's all right, darlin'," he frowned, tightening his hold. "You're gonna be okay."

"What if I'm not? What if I can't do this anymore, Joel?"

"Then you'll take a pause, try to breathe, and reevaluate what you can do. All you gotta focus on is getting to Wyoming with us and then you can figure out next steps. But let's get to Wyoming first... Right?"

You sniffled and nodded, "All right, yeah, sure, fine. Wyoming. Wyoming first, then we find Tommy. Yeah, tha-that's the plan. Wyoming and Tommy... I can do that."

"You can do that."

"Yeah," you whispered, feeling his hands almost awkwardly rubbing your back. He wasn't the most experienced in offering comfort anymore, but for a very brief moment, Joel admitted to himself it felt good to provide you this (however fleeting) feeling of safety.

"We should head back in," he whispered, letting go slowly to look down at your tear-streaked face.

"In a sec, I'll be right there." However, Joel didn't budge. "You can go in, Joel, I'm all right. Just need a second..."

"I'm not leavin' you alone when you're this upset. No, ma'am. So, dry your eyes, pretty girl, and come with me. We're gonna get some rest - we're safe for tonight. Right?"

"Right..."

"C'mon," his hand was offered, and together, slowly, you reentered the motel room. Your blood felt weighted, like your limbs were too stiff to truly move but you understood it was the adrenaline finally draining from your body.

Now, you felt sluggish, stiff, and slow; Joel never rushing you, simply guiding you back into the room as there seemed a permanent frown on both your faces.

"Y'all all right?" Henry checked, the kids door closed to indicate their resting state.

"Yeah," Joel nodded briefly.

"Just needed a breather," you whispered. None of you felt too chatty, so, you laid down in respected spots to attempt rest after you and Joel pushed the table back in-front of the door. However, before you could lay down, Joel waved you over to sleep next to him for the night; something he figured you both could use. You liked sleeping near him, it was a simple reassurance of not being alone or dead. So, you shuffled over, and laid beside him.

He sighed, gently caressing you chin, "You're gonna be okay. Stay with me, and we'll be all right, darlin', I promise you."

You nodded and reached for his hand to press against your cheek for simple warmth, eyes closing in relief. You took a long, sobering breath, but didn't open your eyes. He sighed and leaned in to press a quick, simple, and almost minuscule peck to your forehead. While wildly out-of-character, it was a nice gesture; something that dated back before the Outbreak. His hand lowered from your face to lay between you in the small distance, finding yours, and intertwining together for a tight hold.

As you slowly, very slowly drifted off to sleep, none of you ever fathomed that come morning, havoc would ravage your lives - and all effort you and Joel put forth into protecting Ellie from the harsher realities of life would go straight out the window.

Your little clan of four had thinned to three after Tess, and then with Henry and Sam, you, Joel, and Ellie became five... Come morning, you'd be back to three, and in earnest, that morning would haunt you all for months to come.

requesting rules and masterlist

TLOU masterlist

[alcalystrasz]

I know you've been waiting for it. So... Here's my first theory about Stranger Things 5 :

(No Spoilers, just a theory)

Theory n°1 : Vecna's crazy role this season.

Alright, I'd like to start first with a resume about the 4 lasts seasons. For the three firsts seasons it's kind of my thoughts because Vecna never really explained his role during these three seasons, so I'll try to make it logical.

Season 1 -> Will gets kidnapped into the Upside Down.

If we remember what Vecna said to Nancy in S4, he says he was a sensitive, lonely kid. He was good at drawing, and he always felt different. You know who's EXACTY like that? Yup, Will. So in my opinion, he kidnapped Will in the first place because he was like him. But why keeping him so long without killing him? Because Will's good at hiding? No. We learn in the book about him being in the Upside Down what actually happened to him. He said he tried multiple times to "kill himself" like getting the Demogorgons to eat him, but whenever they got the chance they turned back. So I think Vecna was controlling the Demogorgons in order to not kill Will. He maybe wanted to test him, or keep him here until he could be able to do something with him. Take over him, get inside his body, or other stuff... So then Will's finally saved, but it doesn't end for him.

Season 2 -> Will gets possessed by the Mind Flayer.

So this season, Vecna probably wanted to test Will more, or, this time, to take him in his side, since they have the same personality. So he got the Mind Flayer and sent it to possess Will. However, in the end, Joyce made it to remove the creature from his body. That, of course, made Vecna mad, especially when El closed the gate. But, fortunately for him, it wasn't the end.

Season 3 -> The Flesh Mind Flayer wants to kill Eleven.

Russians opened an other door, which is why he was able to control the Mind Flayer through the Upside Down. Cause if the gate is closed, no more control and the Mind Flayer "dies." Which is what happened at the end of season 3 by the way. But, why willing to Kill El, and not controlling more Mike now? Simple question. She's always changing his plans and that annoys him. So killing her off would be the best to get Will to join him in is...what? Army? Maybe. But she managed to destroy the Mind Flayer, once again, with everyone else this time. That is when Vecna got super mad and finally decided to go in the nature and kill some teenagers. Yeah, let's go Henry!

Season 4 -> Vecna wants to kill Eleven.

Sooooo.... So far, Vecna was not a good master to his puppets (got the ref?), so he decided to be the big master, without puppets this time. We learn in the late season, that the more he kills, the more he becomes stronger, so he's like "Yeah let's go kill, to be come stronger." Logic. So he went down to kill, but not nobody, random teens with past traumas who feel guilt. Chrissy, Fred, Patrick... then El went to fight him, and honestly watching this I was like "Bitch are you nuts he's stronger?" And he, in fact was. The only reason El managed to get out of those vines she was trapped in was with Mike's words (sort of). So she then finally beat the ass out of him and he, of course, got totally BURNED by the fruity three (rip Eddie). But then what? We see he got away with it, he's still alive, and we learn from Will's words (oh weird?) that he's still alive, he's hurt, but he's there. And he doesn't want to kill just El or her friends now, but everyone in Hawkins. So it isn't about saving them anymore but the whole town.

So, now considering all that. Here's finally my theory:

We know Vecna wanted to control or make Will join him in the first two season, and it was logic, cause they're alike, they're sensitive, lonely, they feel different from other people and they're good in arts. During these seasons, Vecna probably wanted to observe and understand Will's behavior in some circumstances. Like what if he gets into this world like Vecna got into? He's traumatized? Oh shit. Well how about his personality changes completely like Vecna. He's also traumatized? Well that's a bummer.

What I'm trying to say is that Will and Vecna are very connected even now. Before, with Will's presence in the Upside Down and true sight, but also now because he also and still feels him behind his neck, like before. He was trying to, small steps by small steps, leading him to join him. And that'd what I want to point out.

I think, Vecna will try to finally make Will join him. BUT, Will, of course, won't accept. So I imagine Vecna putting Will in a sort of transe state, like he did with his four other victims, and maybe show him some moments in his life, that shows how miserable and how sad his life is, and that he'll be way better and stronger if he came with him. But Will will refuse. Why? He may be sensitive, a little naive and sometimes stupid, let's be honest, he's not going to let Vecna take him, because there's one thing that'll make him stay: MIKE FUCKING WHEELER. So I imagine, then Vecna putting his big ass hand on his face and that'll make Will float, just like in season 4 with Max and the other kids. But instead of being killed (cause it's Will, like, bro, come on), he can take a piece of wood or I don't know what but something sharp that he finds. You didn't understand? Let me explain: I imagine this, happen at the exact same place it happened to Max, that's why I said a piece of wood. WHO CARES? SO THEN HE TAKES THAT, AND BOOM, in the eye of Vecna, his left eye to be precise. Why? Don't you remember what Eddie said in his DnD campagne? :

"He's not only missing his left arm, but his LEFT EYE!"

So that's why I think Will could destroy his left eye, as a foreshadowing to what Eddie said (I mean why not?). Vecna would then be hurt again, and let Will go, but he could try to stop him, but not the same way as Max, nah that was too iconic, we need something more Byers, more Will... more William Byers... he could try to stop him by making him hear horrible things Mike told him, like in the rain fight of season 3, or the Rink O'Mania one... But he'd manage to finally get out of this, with the help of Mike's words also, cause I clearly see Mike talking to him. Maybe even a parallel, to what Will said while he had to get El out of Vecna's tentacles "You're the heart", but this time it is Jonathan Damn Byers who says it to Mike. Like, that'd be banger, just saying.

So what next? I already said he could try to take Will by his side, now what? Remember, in season 4 we learn the more he kills, the more he's strong. So I think, he'll try to get to kill all the characters we know, before killing whole Hawkins. Let me explain:

We know that everytime Vecna kills, he uses people's past trauma, in which they feel guilt. Who has past traumas with guilt? Yeah, almost everyone. So here's a quick resume and explanation of what could happen to almost all the characters.

-Nancy's targeted -> past trauma: Barbara's death -> saved by Steve or Jonathan. So why Steve or Jonathan? They're her two loves, be for real. However I see more Steve than Jonathan, but Jonathan could also be possible so it's between both.

-Jonathan's targeted -> past trauma: Will's disappearance in S1 -> saved by Steve. So why Steve? To show Jonathan that they're not enemies anymore, and that they could totally be friends. But it could also be Dustin, his bestfriend, or Robin, his girl bestfriend. But I have something else for Robin...

-Dustin's targeted -> past trauma: Eddie's death -> saved by Steve or Mike. Steve cause he's his bestfriend, but also why not Mike, because they both knew Eddie, and Mike could help him going through this because he also went through it.

-Lucas's targeted -> past trauma: Max's coma state/death -> saved by Erica. I say /death because we don't know if she will actually survive in season 5...

-Will's targeted -> past trauma: tons. Vecna wants him to join him -> saved by Mike.

So I have atleast 5 people that could be targets of Vecna, as for others... not sure what could happen to them. There's still: Steve, Joyce, Hopper, Murray (lol), Erica, Robin, Mike and Suzie (why not). I know Steve doesn't have past traumas he's feeling guilty for, but that's for another theory, along with Robin. Joyce, Murray and Hopper are adults, not sure they could be targetted. As for Erica and Suzie.... Erica doesn't feel guilty about anything, and she's younger so I think Vecna, has a small heart, and will let her live, and Suzie... it's Suzie... I mean... yeah, I think she's safe. However there are still characters we didn't talk about: Karen, Ted, Holly and the other family members of Lucas and Dustin. We know that the series really centered on the Byers and Wheeler family, but never on the Henderson's or Sinclair. So... there's a reason behind that. But it is for another theory.

So to resume, what is Vecna's crazy role this season? Well he's going to turn into a serial killer, trying to kill atleast 4 of our characters and make 1 try to join his army. But he's also going to do more, such as... destroying the Wheeler's house. I'm not kidding. After seeing a "spoiler" of ST5, that I know isn't real (it was clearly fake cause other stuff were like nonsense), I was like "yo it could be a great idea actually." So I imagined a really dramatic scene where, after his 5 tries, Vecna gets mad and tries to make fall the house of the Wheelers. Why? Maybe because everyone could reunite there and talk about a plan or something, when weird shit started to happen. Because it's a 2/3 years time jump, so the first episode is probably going to be them chilling in Hawkins and at the end, BOOM, Vecna's back bitch. And there he could have the opportunity to kill some people, but truth is... no one will die. They're all going to be saved, because they're all geniuses. But it could be a huge dramatic scene anyway. Or maybe if someone HAS to die, it'd be logic if it was either Karen, either Ted, or either Holl- nah just kidding. If one of the parents die, it could create a trauma for Mike, but that's for again, an other theory.

So what's next for Vecna? Honestly, if the Dragon we got foreshadowed since season 1 happens... I think Vecna's role won't be really interesting, so I keep my s5 vision without any Dragon. But I do see him trying to kill, so target, a lot of our characters...

That wasn't the best of my theories though. But, more theories soon, some better and cooler, but as for now, tell me what you think about this one, in the comments or as reblogs!

Thanks for reading all that by the way <3

...I probably am going to add more in this post, if I think about it, but I think I said everything I have to say...

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 12: Gas or Fail (SMUT)

*warning, warning, warning, actual, genuine spiciness and filth ahead - look out for the in-chapter warnings (it's not my best but this was just the beginning, so let's get started.)*

smut includes: (y/n) is muy horny, p in v sex, outdoor(?) sex (idk it's in a cave), dom! ray, sub (y/n), light fingering (just a smidge cos le smut is short), creampie. think that's it.

~In the Man Cave~

So, Captain Man had many traditions, some were cute, some were weird and some were just plain necessary. The time had rolled around once again where Ray made Schwoz test his superpower to make sure it hadn't deteriorated or weakened since the last time they tried it. And for years, the genius only had one superhero to work on as Ray was alone with his uniqueness, but now, he also had (y/n) and Henry to work on. All they had to do was wait for the kid to get to work after college.

"I'm actually pretty excited about it." (y/n) told her boyfriend, walking out from the back room where she had been feeding Colin as Schwoz set up all his equipment. The bunny had settled in nicely and she had to say, he was really part of the family, even if she did have to watch Schwoz like a hawk, making sure he wasn't experimenting on him. Anyway, each test would be similar, but for each person, he was going to have different results so he had to be prepared for that. Probably because Ray threatened him with unimaginable violence if something went wrong and his precious sweet girl got hurt.

"I don't you getting hurt." He murmured back, pressing his lips to her forehead as they sat on a chair in the main room, her perched on his lap. All the waiting was making Ray antsy, especially since the "pain machine" was in his line of sight; he just wanted to keep her protected, even if this whole charade was necessary and an important safety test.

"I'm Miss Danger, I don't get hurt." She reassured him and cupped his jaw so she could capture his mouth with hers. It was weird, normally he was the needy one, but on that particular day, he looked so damn fine, she just wanted to have him all to herself. Ray was more than happy to let her indulge in his bubblegum-mint taste and his hands clenched on her waist when her hips started undulating on their own. Geez, she really was needy.

The elevator dinged and in walked Henry, who shrugged off his bag and grimaced at the sight of Ray eating (y/n)'s face. Ugh, why did they have to do it where everyone could see? Noticing that his sidekick had arrived, the superhero broke the kiss so they could get this shit over and done with, but (y/n) wasn't quite ready to let go.

"Sweet girl...he's here." He chuckled when she clenched her fists tightly around the material of his zip-up hoodie and tried to keep the smooch going. God, he looked so good in it, she just wanted him to love her and she had to clench her thighs together to stop the ache in between them.

"Fine, let's do this thing." She grumbled, pulling away from him reluctantly and folding her arms with a pout on her face. Looks like she'd have to wait until later to get some action. 

"Aye-aye" Schwoz nodded and started powering up whatever he was going to use, but Henry needed to discuss something with them first and he'd say it was more important than the superpower thing.

"Uh, hey. Wait, guys, I didn't get any lunch at school, can we order some, like, Chinese food?" The boy asked the essential thing that had been praying on his mind all afternoon. If his stomach growling was anything to go by, he need some chow and he needed it soon. (y/n) hopped off her boyfriend's knee so he could change his shoes (why he needed to do that, she didn't know) and looked at Henry weirdly.

"What? Why Chinese food?" She asked, trying to shake off the fire pooling in her stomach and focus on what should've been a normal day. Stupid Ray and his stupid hot, sexy, handsome face and body.

"I want some of them, oh, whaddya call 'em? They're like Chinese dumplings?" Henry described, knowing exactly what he meant, but he couldn't quite get the name off the tip of his tongue. Luckily though, he was friends with Schwoz, he ordered Chinese way too often and knew the names of most things on every menu in town. Well, he did when it was described clearly.

"Oh, you mean wom-pons?" He asked, trying to think of the dish he was talking about. He knew what it was, but due to his thick accent, Schwoz mispronounced the name and like usual, Henry couldn't decipher it.

"Yeah...nooooo." He frowned, still not used to Schwoz and his weird way of speaking, despite him having worked as Kid Danger for over three years now. At least he had Ray, who had known the genius the longest and knew exactly what he was saying, well, most of the time.

"Won-tons, he means won-tons, not wom-pons." He stressed, quickly tying his shoelaces whilst (y/n) circled him so she could start rubbing his shoulders. He didn't know what her game was, but wow, her small hands felt like magic, even if they were feeling him up rather than massaging away his aches and pains.

"I did my best to say it right," Schwoz grumbled, kicking himself for screwing up his English again. He hated how complicated the language was and how he often made mistakes that he was teased for.

"Whatever, can we order some?" Henry asked his boss and put a supportive hand on Schwoz's shoulder. At least he tried his best.

"Not now, it's time for my bi-yearly quantitative physiological densitisation test." Ray put his hands on his hips, proud that he'd managed to say the complicated sentence with its multi-syllabic words all in one go. It made him feel so damn smart.

"I understood the word, test." Henry, on the other hand, wasn't so smart and picked up nothing apart from that Ray was doing something that sounded important. 

"It's a test to make sure that he's totally indestructible and no one can hurt him." (y/n) explained it in much simpler terms, wrapping her arms around Ray's waist so she could snuggle into his side. 

"Mmmmm, can we get some won-tons first? I'll order them, you two don't even have to stop being gross and all...huggy." Henry wrinkled his nose, gesturing to how the couple cuddled even when they were stood up. It was sickeningly cute and now a common occurrence in the Man Cave, not that it made it any easier to ignore.

"No, and we are not gross," Ray told him firmly, not seeing why he should let the kid order his food when he was mildly insulting him. He loved how snuggly and needy his girl was being today and he'd be damned if his sidekick got in the way of that.

"You'll understand when you're older and have a girlfriend." (y/n) bit her tongue as she smiled at Henry's overreaction. Yeah, he liked girls, but he didn't like them that much. Not yet, anyway.

"You see that machine over there?" Ray pointed to some weird launcher thing that Schwoz had primed and armed so it was now smoking from the back. Next to it was a smaller but still deadly laser cannon that was going to be used on (y/n), something she wasn't particularly looking forward to, but it was always cool to see how her body could heal itself.

"Yeah..." Henry nodded, wondering why there was so much machinery out for one superhero and his test. Little did he know...

"It's gonna shoot baseballs at ya." The young woman smirked, watching in amusement as the boy paled slightly. They wanted to do what to him?

"Bu--what? Why me?" He gasped, not realising that since he was now part of the superpower squad, he had to have all these regular checkups.

"Because! Because of your new superpower."Ray answered, making Henry throw his head back with a groan. He knew there had to be a catch, he just didn't know it would be so risky. "Yeah, you're hyper-mutilatiew..." Schwoz joined in, but his tongue just didn't want to work, so it came out all slurred and jumbled.

"Okay, it's hyper-motility." Henry enunciated, trying to give the small man an elocution lesson as Ray began stretching and warming up for his test. His muscles were flexing and tensing and when she got a small peek of the skin above his waistband, (y/n) nearly collapsed. If she could, she'd get on her knees in that very moment and show him how much she wanted to please him.

"Okay, okay, can we just move on?" She asked, needing to get her head in the game since she was about to be blasted with a powerful, skin-burning, hair-frying, utterly devasting beam that would kill a fully grown man. Not her though, of course.

"Schwoz, show him your bat," Ray ordered his handyman, also wanting to get on with the test since it was his chance to show off in front of his girlfriend. Yeah, she'd see how tough he was.

"His--his what?" Henry stuttered, praying that his boss wasn't euphemistically referring to something else. 

"You see...when you see the balls a-comin', you use this a-base-a-ball bat to swing-schvat the balls." He explained in his little Schwoz way and brought over a steel baseball bat for Henry. Thank god, it was a bat and not something awful like the boy had been fearing.

"Yep and then Schwoz is gonna measure the speed of the base-a-balls and then, after I get hit, I tell him when my pain stops and I feel okay." Ray finished, making sure to not pass up the opportunity of mocking the small guy. 

"And then, I will use my big brain and a mathematical equation to determine how indestructible Ray is." (y/n) smiled up at her boyfriend, fluttering her eyelashes like it would entice him to postpone the test for half an hour, just to quench her desires. Fat chance.

"...I just want, like, five won-tons," Henry whined, feeling like faint from low blood sugar or something. Food, that's all he wanted and after that, they could do whatever tests they liked.

"You can have some won-tons after we do this!" Ray snapped in an agitated tone. It would take like five minutes to do this; Henry could wait. "Right..."

"I'm gonna go stand here by the elevator. That's what I'm gonna do." The superhero said and swaggered over to the spot where he would be hit by the baseballs. Not wanting to be beaten up prematurely, (y/n) ducked behind the couch and awaited the beginning of the experiment with paper and pen. Schwoz was equally nervous; he put a large, clear cubic helmet onto his head and clipped it to his boiler suit. 

"What's that for?" Henry asked, sharing a confused look with Ray. Neither of them could see why being hit in the face with a rogue, flying ball would be a bad thing, mainly because when it happened to them, they always came out with no cuts or bruises.

"To protect a-my face from stray balls." He answered, his voice sounded filtered and robotic from the protective headgear. Whatever, they had to get on.

"Henry, take this base-a-ball bat..." Schwoz twisted the handle of the bat and pressed a button, making it illuminate like some kind of lightsaber shit, which thoroughly impressed Henry.

"Whoa, what kinda baseball bat is this?" He asked, twirling it around and admiring how it blurred into a whiz of white light. 

"It's thermal fusion bat I made myself." The genius said smugly, thinking he was oh so clever with his invention, but he was forgetting that he didn't work on it alone.

"Hey, I helped!" (y/n) called out from her hiding place, feeling irritated from his blatant dismissal of how she assisted in putting the damn thing together and from how Ray was blind to how much she wanted him. She should've dragged him back to bed when they woke that morning.

"You did the wiring." Schwoz scoffed, thinking that a little soldering and assembling was nothing compared to the science and schematics he studied. What a jumped-up, little asshole.

"All right, do it yourself next time, you dick." She muttered and flopped back onto her butt in a sulk.

"Can you make thermal fusion won-tons?" Henry asked, still having food on the brain. He couldn't swing on an empty stomach, but that was exactly what Ray planned on making him do.

"Come on, Henry, just get over there!" Ray instructed him and the kid sighed but did as he was told. He wheeled the chair from earlier out of the way and got into position. 

"Yah, yah, yah, here we go!" Schwoz squealed and ran back up to his controls so they could begin. "Okay, let's test one." He clapped his hands together and Ray prepared himself, shaking his body loose and clearing his mind. 

"Go for it." He growled, making (y/n) squirm as she peeped over the top of the sofa. That look in his eyes, the one he had when he was beyond determined, made her whimper.

"Ready, Henry?" Schwoz took one last chance to stop the machine, but the sidekick was also eager to do this thing. "Yeah, go."

Schwoz slammed his hand down on the release button and a baseball was fired from the cannon at a speed so fast, it could barely be seen by the naked eye. Henry's reflexes didn't care about that though, the boy whacked the ball as if it was going in slow motion and it pinged off his bat and hit the elevator so hard, it disintegrated the metal in a puff of smoke. Poor Ray, he didn't even get the chance to test out his superpower. 

"Hahahaha! Missed me, missed me, now you gotta ki---" Ray jeered at the boy, but it soon died when he realised that in these circumstances, he rather eat his own foot than kiss the boy. Ew, ew, ew, there was only one person he wanted to kiss and she thought his sudden shy attitude was so darn cute. 

"Now he gotta what?" She teased, loving how his cheeks were dusted pink and even Henry was amused by how he'd flustered himself. 

"Nothin', forget it." He rubbed his neck and avoided her playful gaze, which allowed her to check him out. From his floppy, brown hair to his slim waist that she knew was chiselled with pure muscle, she could hardly breathe when she analysed every part of him that she loved, which was everything that made up Ray Manchester. 

"No, no, no, now I gotta what?" It was Henry's turn to tease him, making his boss go all pouty and he scuffed his shoe against the tiles. "No, I changed my mind, okay? You don't gotta do anything." He squeaked quickly, his words jumbling together so fast that it was obvious that he was shy.

"Aw, you want to kissy, kissy, kissy." (y/n) pursed her lips together and giggled when he screwed his nose up at her silly voice. He did want to kissy, kissy, kissy, but with her only and it annoyed him when people mocked him otherwise.

"God, come on, Schwoz, if we're gonna do this, let's do it! God!" The sidekicks giggled and high-fived each other at how they made a grown man stamp his feet over something so silly. Okay, serious time, serious time.

"Okay, here we goes." Schwoz popped another ball into the machine and the young woman knelt behind the couch once again, ready to work out the math when Schwoz told her to.

"Oh, Ray, I gotta tell you somethin'." Henry suddenly remembered that he had something more critical than food to tell his boss, not that it was the best time to tell him.

"What?" Ray asked, just as Schwoz shouted for another ball being released. Even though he wasn't expecting it in the least, Henry reacted perfectly and whacked the ball like a pro. It ricocheted across the room and collided with Ray's jaw, sending him to the floor with a groan of pain. (y/n) winced at the velocity, but she needn't worry, the ever indestructible Captain Man sprung to his feet with a smirk.

"I'm okay!" He bragged, happily using his catchphrase since it made his girl breathe a sigh of relief. Aw, he liked it when she cared. 

"Two-hundred and four miles per hour, (y/n)," Schwoz reported as he read from his scanner and once she heard the figure, the woman began doing the long division, multiplication, subtraction and whatever else the equation called for. She liked math, not as much as mechanics, but then again, a lot of that boiled down to numbers and fractions.

"What did want to tell me?" Ray questioned, not once looking away from his girl as her tongue poked out in concentration. The sight of her moist lips entranced him and it was hard to pay attention to what the kid was saying.

"I can't make it to work tomorrow," Henry revealed, which captured his focus. He played a vital role in the Man Cave team and Ray didn't like the sound of being one sidekick down.

"What do you mean you can't make it to work tomorrow?!" He exclaimed, but the conversation would have to be put on hold as Schwoz sent the second ball through the machine. They needed an average, not just a one-off figure, so they'd have to do this a few times.

Henry hit the ball dead-on again, this time sending it into Ray's arm, which on any normal person, would break their arm clean through, but not with him. He fell again but quickly recovered.

"Still okay." He smirked, making eye contact with his girl when he caught her staring. What was with her today? She kept blushing and looking at him, not that he minded. It actually made him feel very cocky.

"Two-hundred and seventeen miles per hour," Schwoz announced, allowing (y/n) to move onto her second equation; the same process but with the new figure. 

"Tomorrow's Achievement Test Day at school," Henry told him, casually resting the bat on his shoulder, but unlike him, Ray was anything but calm at the news of this dumb school crap.

"Hey, you're my sidekick, that means tha--" Oh, poor Ray. The next ball came fast and furious, bouncing from Henry and landing square in his crotch, making everyone else wince at the sore impact. (y/n) was especially touched, since that was what she'd been after all day and their main chance of having children in the future.

"You guessed it; okay." He smirked, shaking off the excruciating agony to keep up his nonchalant manner. Yeah, (y/n) didn't have to worry, she'd get what she wanted, both promptly and distantly.

"Two-hundred and thirty-six miles per hour." The next result came in, each one increasing as Henry got into the swing of things. He should think about playing for Swellview High's baseball team if he could keep the game fair.

"Look, dude, it's not my fault, okay? If I leave school for any reason, I can get in huge trouble." Henry explained, not that Ray and his childishness could recognise how important this was to the boy. 

"Okay, fine, you baby. Take the day off, but it's comin' out of your vacation time." Ray conceded, confusing (y/n) and Henry, who had never taken a vacation day in the entire duration of their employment.

"We get vacation time?" (y/n) frowned, still counting herself amongst the workers since she received a paycheck every month, not that she counted this as work anymore. She deemed it "living with the hot boyfriend and occasionally kicking ass with him". 

"Uh, ah, eh--you...uh, you--you don't. I mean there's no state law that says you do, so y'know don't even check." Ray bit his lip, not wanting to admit that he lawfully owed his helpers time off, but he hated being without them since it made his life boring and/or dangerous. He liked having them around, not that he would ever be without his sweet girl.

"Wait, so are you saying that--" Henry was also confused, but Ray didn't want to talk about the awkward topic, so he yelled the release word and another ball was fired at the teen. He'd rather take another hit than admit his failings, but he wouldn't have to. Henry's aim was slightly off and this time, rather than hurting Ray, the ball smashed through Schwoz's useless helmet and smacked into his face. 

The three watched as the small man's eyes rolled back and he collapsed down the steps, completely wiped out. Oops, maybe he should've hidden behind a solid object like (y/n).

"He's probably all right." She shrugged, wandering over to his body with Henry and Ray. He was breathing, so she assumed that he wasn't going to die.

"Yeah..." Henry nodded, feeling a little guilty that he'd knocked the guy out when he was trying to help him. It wasn't his fault, not really.

"Get some won-tons?" The boy suggested, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but near Schwoz when he woke up with the mother of all headaches and no doubt the opinion that he was to blame.

"Yeah, sure, let's go." Ray quickly agreed and grabbed (y/n)'s hand so he could lead her to the supercomputer, where they could order some Chinese food. They'd order something for Schwoz too, of course, and hopefully, it would be enough to tame his inevitable anger.

~The next day~

So, (y/n) felt like she was burning up inside or dying. Yeah, dying sounded accurate. She had tried all day yesterday to try and seduce Ray into fucking her through his mattress, but no luck. 

When Schwoz had finished yelling at them and they'd eaten an entire Chinese buffet, including about a million won-tons, the superheroes had received call after call after call, forcing them to stay out until the early hours of the morning. Even when Henry had gone home early to sleep before his big test day thing, she still couldn't tempt him into her dark morality, nor could she when she wiggled her best assets or gazed at him with smouldering eyes. Ray was too tired by 2 AM, leaving her with no choice but to lay and listen to his heartbeat as he dozed off and she tried to keep the depths of her mind from stirring up all kinds of dreams that made her subtly grind up against him. 

The morning was no better, just when (y/n) thought that she might be able to pounce on Ray before he could leave the bed, Swellview's stupid emergency alarm started ringing, indicating that a major sitch was going down. Ray immediately sat up and flicked on the TV that was mounted on the wall, listening intently as Trent Overrunder described how a gas pipe had burst underground and was now leaking toxic fumes into the city. The cry from Mary for Swellview's greatest heroes to help forced Captain Man into action since he and his sidekicks were the only ones who were brave enough to go down into the Earth.

And so, (y/n) was dragged from the comfort of her soft sheets, made to put on the costume that hugged her in all the right places and sent off with Ray to clog up the leak. No matter how many times she tried to take a kiss further or subtly slide her hand down his stomach, he just pulled away and ranted about how innocent people were in danger, meaning the poor girl had to swallow down her desires and do as she was told. 

Now, getting to the burst pipe was quite tricky; they had to abseil down a narrow ravine, which was dug out in an old mine known for roof collapses and falling boulders. Yeah, it was pretty scary. It also didn't help that Schwoz had stupidly packed one rope, so Ray was currently descending the drop with his girl strapped to his chest and a song to pass the time.

"Captain Man, (y/n), beware! He's so attractive, you'll want to kiss his face...right on the mouth!" He sang pretty poorly, but she didn't care. Their noses were brushing against one another and his not-so-subtle way of asking her for a kiss reignited the fire that she had managed to contain on the drive to the old mineshaft. 

"Oh, my captain." She joked with a giggle and connected their lips in a hot kiss that made her melt against him as they swung a few metres off the ground. She was desperate to take it further and feel those lips move elsewhere, but then Ray remembered that they were down there for a reason and they had yet to make contact with home base.

"Schwoz, you there?" Ray said into his satellite phone, disconnecting their passionate tangle in favouring of ringing up his trusty assistant back in the Man Cave, even if he did crave more of her honey-like taste.

"Yah, what?" Schwoz's voice crackled over the poor signal, but it was understandable and a miracle that the phone was still receiving and transmitting so deep underground. 

"We're now two-hundred and fifty feet down in the nuclear gas shaft," Ray reported, but the small guy was taking advantage of the peace and quiet by watching one of his favourite TV shows, meaning he wasn't interested in what was happening to them. "Yeah, so?"

"Sooo, as soon as we can, we're gonna---ahhhh!" Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The superhero never got the chance to finish his sentence as a terrible combination of the old rope snapping and a shaft collapse coincided at exactly the wrong moment.

The couple fell a few feet to the murky floor, which wasn't a terrible drop considering that Ray's indestructible body took the brunt force of it so (y/n) would have a softer landing. He didn't want to see her hurt, even if she was nearly as powerful as him with her healing. The real problem came when rocks, planks of wood and other debris came dropping on top of them, forcing him to quickly roll her over so he could curl over her body and shelter her from whatever tumbled past their heads. The whimper from having the weight of him on top of her was mistaken by Ray as fear and he suddenly became hyperaware of what danger they were in. 

"Ray? Ray, what was the noises I just heard?" They heard Schwoz's concerned voice over the battered radio and Ray flopped to his girlfriend's side as they coughed and spluttered at the gas and dust that filled the air. (y/n) was fairly sure that she was littered with bruises and cuts, but trusted in her ability to clean them up in seconds.

"Ah, our stupid support beam broke." Ray grimaced, helping his girl to her feet whilst he looked up at the ravine they had just descended. God, the rope was shredded and the walls were sheer, unstable clay and rock, leaving them stranded in the festering pit.

"Can you get out?" Schwoz asked, suddenly disregarding his TV show as a calamity emerged. This was really fucking serious.

"No, the top of the shaft is mostly blocked off and the walls look like they could cave in at any moment." (y/n) butted in, leaning in close to the receiver as Ray curled an arm around her waist. He felt like she needed support in the tense moment, but little did he know, the small action made her use all her resilience to stop herself from jumping him.

"Oooh, that reminds me. This afternoon, I have my colonoscopy." They could hear his smile over the airwaves, drawing groans from the couple. He'd have to cancel it for the third time, they needed rescuing.

"Schwoz! We don't wanna hear about your body problems, all right? There's a lady present and we're trapped down here." Ray scolded him, making (y/n) smile at his protectiveness. She didn't care about what medical problems Schwoz have, but it was nice to know that he wanted to save what little innocence she had left. She was throwing it out the window if it meant she'd get to stop the thrumming pulse between her legs.

"Okay, you want me and to come and get you and your girlfriend?" Schwoz groaned at the prospect of having to move his butt, but it wasn't so simple. The way Ray and (y/n) had entered was utterly sealed off.

"You can't, what part of blocked off don't you understand?" (y/n) questioned sarcastically, starting to get irritated when she realised that they'd be down here for at least two hours, leaving her to die from being overly-horny.

"Okay, bye-bye." The genius took that as a sign that they'd be fine on their own, after all, they had craved it for so long before they had finally revealed their true feelings. 

"No, no, Schwoz! Now look, write this down..." Ray started, but Schwoz wasn't a fan of being patronised. He could remember this easily. "Okay...I need you to triple beep Henry. Get him out of the school. Tell him to pop a gumball...And then he's got to get the Tyson drill, come to the gas plant and then Henry needs to drop into the ventilator shaft, which is right next to us, drill through the wall and get us outta here." Ray gave his instructions clearly and succinctly with Schwoz repeating what he said every few seconds like he was paying attention. His show was much more entertaining.

"Got it," Schwoz confirmed, having written none of it down, but was confident that he had everything tucked away in his mind. Positively, his confidence was well-founded.

"Oh, and tell him to bring some of those won-tons." (y/n) added, guessing that if she was rather peckish now, she'd be ravenous by the time they were found. It was a small request, but a good one.

"Bring some wom-pons," Schwoz confirmed in his weird accent, playing on Ray's temper, which was irritated every time he said something incorrectly. It didn't help that he and his girl were trapped in a smelly hole either. "Won-tons!"

"Calm down, grumpy." (y/n) told him soothingly, wiping away the dust and grime that had settled on his jaw and cheeks. She overlooked the way his growling voice reverberated through her bones and settled in her core in favour of chasing away his anger.

"If you live in America, you should learn how to say won-tons." He huffed and pulled a laser from his pocket in an attempt to cut through the metal door of an old elevator. The orange beam illuminated the room and the two watched as it lightly scorched the metal, but stood no chance of melting it away. Whatever rust and gunk had solidified on it over the years was pretty tough and even if they did get through, there was always the chance that the elevator shaft was collapsed too. 

"Well, we could fix the gas leak." (y/n) suggested when that plan failed. If they died down here, at least they'd know that they'd done their duties and saved the good citizens of Swellview.

"Yeah, you're right, sweet girl. Come help me block it up with all these boulders." He mumbled and they started to shift the rocks around the room so they'd form a protective bubble around the crack. They had to improvise with the old wooden planks lying around, which they used as prop shafts to keep the whole thing in place and it was a damn laborious task. Hauling the rubble around was nothing for Ray and his bulging biceps, but (y/n) was daintier than him and lacked his super strength. She lugged the final boulder into place with a heaving, panting groan, which prompted Ray to wrap himself around her so his hands could help to manoeuvre the boulder too.

*MATURE - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*

"Last one, sweet girl, and this leak is plugged." He whispered into her ear, making her very aware of how he was curled over her with his lips centimetres away from the sweet spot under her ear. Was he doing this on purpose?

"Ray..." She couldn't help but moan out when his hips slotted against hers, making her grind backwards so her scorching heat would find some relief against the rough material of his pants.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked, taken aback by her whiny tone, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do anything about it. Far from it.

"Been needing you since yesterday. Won't let me have you." She whispered, screwing her eyes shut when the hand that wasn't preoccupied with keeping her tight against his chest slid from the boulder to her knee and then under her red, satin skirt. His fingertips stopped short of where she desperately needed them and he cruelly stroked the flesh of her thigh until she told him what he wanted to hear.

"Use your words, sweet girl." He growled, nipping at her earlobe, which tore a sharp gasp from her throat and she wasn't sure that she would be able to speak when the tip of his thumb brushed ever so slightly against her throbbing clit through her matching, red, satin safety-shorts and her panties. She jumped under the minuscule touch and whined when she felt the smirk against her neck.

"Tell me or I'll assume you don't want anything and I'll leave you alone." He threatened her darkly, feeling his own need growing by the second, but he lived for seeing her like this since he'd dreamt of it for so long.

"No...no....please, fuck me." She squeaked when his teeth sank into the tender skin of her neck and he relented on his teasing. Expert fingers stroked through her dripping folds, making her cry out when they glided from her clit so he could slip a finger inside her.

"Fuck, so tight...so wet, you needy little thing." He growled into her ear and she was eternally grateful for the arm holding her tightly to his chest as she was sure that without it, his touch would make her knees give out. 

"Shit, Ray...please, need you." (y/n) whined again when another finger joined the other, both of them working against her drenched walls as he angled his thumb to rub circles on her clit. He watched every facial expression, every moan that fell from her lips and decided that he wanted to hear and see more. 

"Fuck, stand up." He panted, feeling her needily roll her hips against his straining cock to stop him from moving away. The iron grip that yanked her upwards told her that he didn't like her disobedience, but she couldn't help but desperately clench around nothing when he left her core to throb.

"No, no, no. Fuckin' need you." She panted, clawing at his chest when he spun her around and picked her up by the thighs so her legs would wrap around his waist. She wanted the damn suit off but since they were technically still on a mission, it was too dangerous. Perhaps that was what she liked, the thrill of the adventure that shot straight to her pussy.

"Shit--why'd you have to do this to me now? Couldn't fucking wait, could you?" He nearly spat when her head falls to the crook of his neck and her tongue dashes out to run a stripe down the side of it. His hands squeezed her thighs hard enough to leave a mark that would fade instantly as he felt her blazing heat press against his throbbing length and a war waged in his mind; take what he wanted in this godforsaken mineshaft or be cruel and leave her and himself to wait for rescue, whenever that came. Seeing his internal battle, (y/n) decided that she'd help nudge his mind to the immoral side she was craving and tangled her fingers in his hair so she whisper into his ear.

"I'm sorry, captain. I've just been thinking about you and your fucking huge cock since yesterday, wanted you to fuck me so hard last night, but you wouldn't." She smirked when he released a tortured, strangled moan and he decided that even if he could convince her to wait for another two hours, he'd couldn't, not when he knew of the slickness between her thighs.

"Shit--you need to shut up. You need to be quiet, right now." He stressed, craning his head down so he could bite and suck at the flesh through the material at the top of her breasts. He wouldn't be able to release them from her bodice and it was another small form of torture that drove him wild.

"Could've touched me in the Man Van or anything." She whispered, throwing her head back and saying whatever came to mind as his lips roamed her collarbone and smooth skin. Feeling him bite at whatever he could reach gave her the biggest confidence boost; here was this all-powerful superhero that resisted even the wickedest of torture from his enemies, but with a kiss and a soft touch from her and he melted. Strong steel that bent for only her touch. "I would've let you, you can do anything to me and I won't mind."

"Shit," A snarl tore from his lips and his hips jerked upwards unintentionally at the idea. She knew what she was doing and loved to see his reaction. It was the truth, she'd take anything he'd give her and love it, mostly because it was exactly what she needed to stop burning. "Shit--I...shut up or I won't last, sweet girl." He grumbled, hands now squeezing her thighs so tightly, it was starting to hurt.

"Then fuck me and it won't matter. Want you to spill in me, so fucking deep." She purred into his ear, causing him to stride over to a particularly large rock that would do for her to bend over. Getting the hint, she wiggled out of his hold and wobbly stood on two legs before her hips were seized and she was folded over the rock so her elbows were holding up her body and he could flick her skirt over her ass.

"If you're so desperate, then keep those hands there and let me give you what I think you deserve." He grumbled and pulled her shorts and underwear over the smooth curve of her ass so he could see her glistening slit. She heard the sound of his zipper being pulled down and shivered when he bent over her so his back was flush against hers.

"Come on, you want it. Beg." Ray ordered, curling an arm under her body so two fingers could rest on her throbbing clit, but he wouldn't move, not even when his cock twitched as it brushed through her folds.

"Please, I've been good, I waited. Please, just fuck me...Captain." She whimpered, feeling how he was deliberately running the bulbous head against her folds to drive her insane. It was sneaky and his way of drawing those sounds from her lips, but the way she said his damn title, it was too much for him.

"F-fucking perfect little g-girl." He groaned and slowly sunk into her dripping entrance, making her fingers grasp the edge of the boulder as her insides tightened around him like a vice. Fucking finally, she had him and it seemed like he was just as desperate to move. His teeth sank into her shoulder, just as he pulled his hips back, only to slam them back against her ass with a harsh thrust. Even if he was reluctant to fuck down in the shaft at first, she could tell he loved it now. He loved the way her back was arching into him, he loved the way her pussy gushed when he breathed into her neck, he loved how the skin was stretched so tightly across her knuckles, it was turning white. 

"Fuck, f-fuck, is this what you n-needed, sweet girl? Just a little attention and my cock deep in your f-fucking soaked pussy? Hmm? Come on, you dirty little thing, tell me." He growled, creating a rhythm that was soul-shattering. It really shouldn't have felt that good, not when they were two-hundred and fifty feet under the Earth and possibly on the brink of death. His cock pushed against that spot inside her that made her see stars and a wildfire spread through her belly and down her thighs. Fuck, he knew how to ruin her, so when the fingers waiting on her clit started to jerk wildly, it came as no surprise. 

"Ray---Ray, shit, I'm almost there." (y/n) cried, feeling the heat sear through her muscles and her hips began to rock backwards to meet his wild thrusts. So nearly there, just a little more...

"Fuck, come on, sweet girl, give it to me." He panted and choked when she gripped his entire length so fucking tight that he had to still his movements to catch his breath. Her body went limp as he carried her through the waves of pleasure, the pressure on her clit never stopping, even when she was left jelly-like and sensitive. 

"Ray..." She moaned, trying to jutter her hips away from him, but a strong arm was crossed against her chest and she was pulled back and up to her feet, where he could trap her in his hold and make her take anything he wanted to do to her.

"One more, I want to see you cum one more time." He ordered, resuming the snap of his pelvis against her ass and he had access to her throat when her head fell back against his shoulder. He jackhammered into her, drawing his name from her like a prayer, one hand fondling her satin-covered breast and keeping her tightly against him as the other kept circling her clit. It was so damn debilitating, all of her sanity was wrung out of her body as she hurtled towards another release,  him hard and throbbing deep inside her as he chased his end too.

"If you want me to fuck you wherever the fuck I like, then I will. Show all those fuckers that want to flirt with you that you're mine." God, she could barely hear him over her endless moans, wails, and whimpers, but she did and it stole her breath away. She could listen to him all day, how he didn't want anyone else to fuck her the way he did, to know her the way he did, to love her the way he did.

"Fuck---'M yours, always. No one else's, just want you." She promised, clutching at the hand on her chest so he could feel the thundering of her heart.

"Yeah, that's right, no one else will never know how you taste or feel, all fucking mine, my sweet fucking girl." His eyes squeezed shut as his heart swelled at the sentiment. The words he'd waited years to hear, the feeling he'd only dreamed of ever experiencing, the girl he could never have imagined would let him do such terrible things to her in the dark, she was his.

"God, gonna cum again, Ray...shit." (y/n) whispered, her voice high-pitched and breathless as she felt the knot in her stomach tighten, making her claw at the arm on her chest. Ray felt her quivering walls around him and knew that her release was seconds away, causing him to speed up his thrusts until they were sloppy and without rhythm, but also brutally fast. He crushed her to his chest as he felt his own end approaching, but he wanted to feel her collapse first.

"Yes, fuck--yes, wanna feel it. Let me feel this fucking wet pussy cum around me again, little girl, Fuck, so sweet for me." He goes on, chasing her towards and over the cliff with his filthy words and suddenly, the cavern went fuzzy and dark as the blood rushed through her ears, her walls gripping around him for him to follow her. 

His hips don't stop, even when she's left boneless and he's the only thing keeping her up straight. All that left her lips was garbled "Iloveyou-Iloveyou-Ilove--", but it spurred him on, knowing that he was the only one who got to see how fucking beautiful and perfect she was in a post-orgasmic haze.

"Shit, I'm gonna cum, sweet girl." Ray moaned and gasped as the feeling crept up his spine and he daren't stop, not for anything. (y/n) could feel him hot and swollen, moving faster and faster and she knew that there was nothing she wanted more.

"Please, give it to me, fucking want your cum inside me." She moaned, feeling her walls flutter again at the impropriety of it, but she didn't care. She wanted to feel him leaking out of her all day, leaving her ready for later tonight when they'd inevitably go again because they couldn't get enough of each other.

"My girl, so fucking pretty, letting me fuck her so good, shit--I--I love you...so much." He choked, hoarse and deep as his hips faltered and he spilt deep inside her, drying up his words and leaving nothing but pure love for her on his mind. He pants in ragged breaths and his tight hold on her relents, allowing them to drop to the boulder to rest.

"I love you too...always." She giggled, turning in his arms so they could stand properly and she could give him a sweet, gentle kiss, nothing like the intense, wild sex they just experienced. His hands dropped down to pull her panties and shorts up over her ass again, making her blush when he squeezed her asscheek with a large palm. He'd be fucking half-hard all evening knowing his cum was slowly dripping through her folds, but it just left him all the more eager for when they returned home.

~Thirty minutes later~

*NOT MATURE (sorry for the filth)*

Well, after their heart rates had settled down and they giggled from the absurdity of it all, Ray plonked down on a small boulder and invited his cute girl onto his thigh. It was then that she realised how truly filthy they both were and made a mental note that it would have to be shower sex first and then whatever else later once they returned to the Man Cave.

To fight off the boredom, Ray had whipped out his little tablet and entertained them by playing one of the latest mobile games from the PearStore. His arms encompassed her waist and she laughed at his excitable enthusiasm for winning the game. He was such a child deep down.

"My God, this game's entertaining." He commented, pressing a kiss into her hair as he flicked his thumb over the control. She adjusted her position and leaned back into his chest, content to just lie back and rest after being drained of all her energy. Still, even if she was happy, he was getting antsy again; sure, he loved having the time to plough into her savagely, but he couldn't help but wonder when help was arriving. They'd been sitting doing nothing for half an hour, plus another half for when they were preoccupied, seriously, where was Henry? 

"Hey, Schwoz?" He picked up the radio and tried to call the lazy guy, who had managed to track down Henry at his school, sneak him out of class and send him to the mineshaft all with Miss Shapen noticing or his help. He much preferred to kick back and relax in an empty hideout.

"Go for Schwoz." He replied, mainly focused on what was happening on the screen in front of him since it was a lot funnier than Ray when he was looking for a round two.

"What's going on man? We sealed the gas leak, we've been stuck down here for over an hour now." Ray complained, (y/n) slipping off his knee so he could pace around the cave in frustration. She had to admit that being trapped was annoying, if slightly perilous, but she was feeling so much better than when she first entered, that she didn't really want to complain.

"Henry didn't get there yet?" Schwoz questioned, sitting up in his seat as he heard the troubling news. Huh, he would've thought that the kid would have been tunnelling them out of the mineshaft around about now, so it was worrying to hear that he hadn't even reached them.

"No, he didn't get here yet. Why would I be calling you if he didn't get here---ahhh!" Ray's harsh tone was interrupted as he was shoved forward by a giant drill bit smashing through the stone wall that he was resting on. He fell to the ground, making (y/n) dash over to him to help him up, even though Captain Man was always okay. So, that was where Henry got to.

"Ray? (y/n)? You in here?" The boy poked his head through the hole he made and peered through the darkness. Shit, he couldn't see anything, especially since his boss and his girlfriend were crouched down.

"Schwoz, we'll call you back." (y/n) said into the phone as she plucked it from the floor, snapping it shut before he could respond. She offered a dainty hand for Ray to take and he accepted it greatly so she could help him stand. Kind, sweet girl...

"Oh, hey. How you doin'?" Henry greeted them warmly, not seeing how irritated his boss was from being stuck in a hole with no feather mattresses in sight. He had a king-size one at home, the place he was desperate to return to after such a long day.

"Pretty good for a guy who just had a Tyson drill shoved in his back." The large man grumbled, rubbing at the spot where he was jabbed, not that it hurt anymore. He just wanted some fawning from his favourite girl.

"Aw, my poor baby." She cooed and cupped his face so she could caress his lips with hers. He was so brave, protecting her from the fall, helping her out in a way that only he knew, loving her always.

"Oh, god, stop. He's indestructible!" Henry groaned at their mushiness, screwing up his face in disgust. Honestly, they were the worst, always kissing, always snuggling, always doing things that he'd rather not have to look at. Geez, they'd had an hour to themselves, wasn't that enough?

"I'm still a person, with feelings," Ray replied curtly, briefly pulling away from the kiss so he could send Henry a scathing look. He ran his hands absentmindedly up and down (y/n)'s waist, loving it when his touch made her press against him even more.

"You can say that again." She purred, smirking and biting her lip when his ears and cheeks burned red and Henry audibly gagged and pretended to barf. Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross...

"Ugh, can we get going?! 'Cause I don't want to hear or see this and I really need to get back to school." He grumbled, making the young step back from her boyfriend since she knew that there was a better place and time. Namely, their shower and in about twenty minutes if all went to plan.

"All right, cranky-pants, we're coming. Pull me through." She told the boy, poking out her tongue at him after he mocked how much she loved her boyfriend and all the things he did to her. She offered the boy her hands and Ray lifted her waist so she was able to slide through the hole and into the digger, but not before Ray subtly pinched her ass and caught sight of her sticky thighs. Jesus, get him home, now.

"Me next." He said and gave Henry his hands just like (y/n) did and his sidekicks yanked him as hard as they could. Trouble was, it was incredibly difficult for a young boy and a small woman to take the weight of six-foot of pure, rock-hard, super-dense muscle. That, and his utility belt kept catching on the lip of the rock, making him whine as they struggled to get him moving. 

"Whoa! Whoa! Ray, have you gained some weight?" Henry asked, swearing that his boss never felt this heavy when they trained together and he had to flip Ray over his back. He had to lay off the won-tons.

"Hey, are you calling my boyfriend fat? Pull harder on your side!" (y/n) scolded the boy indignantly, feeling extremely protective over Ray and how he looked. He was goofy, silly, loveable and sexy and she was certain that if he had gained weight, it was muscle mass, not that it would make her love him even less.

"I think you gained weight." Henry disparaged, sneakily using Ray's famous temper to get him to wriggle through the gap even further. Ray would surely try to strangle him once he was in the digger, but at least they would have gotten him there.

"You take that back! I eat less than two thousand calories a day!" The superhero snapped, kicking his legs out like he was swimming in hopes of making it through. Being stuck so foolishly did make him feel a little chubby and Henry's goading wasn't helping. "Just suck it in!"

"Piss off, Henry!" (y/n) snapped, grabbing Ray's elbow and putting her heeled boot on the wall so she could it as leverage.

"God, this is so embarrassing," Ray grumbled, trying to his hips past the halfway mark, but they wouldn't budge. He just needed some encouragement, not putting down.

"Make it through and I'll give you a kiss, captain." (y/n) lowered her lips to his ear and instantly, he was forcibly jumping forward like a worm and with another harsh pull, he slid forward, landing in a heap in the ventilator shaft, on top of Henry as it were. 

"Oh, that hurt so bad." He grumbled, feeling his arms hurt as Ray pressed on them to get up. Why was he always the one took the bruises and pain? 

"Karma's a bitch." (y/n) deadpanned, pulling her boyfriend to her body to give him what he'd promised her.

~Swellview High~

So, they'd made it to Henry's school and things were all set for him to sneak back into class, disable this weird hologram of him that Schwoz had used to dupe the teacher and hand in his test like nothing had happened. There was a. catch though, of course, there was.

Sharona Shapen, the weirdest teacher in the school and the most desperate for the large cash bonus the good grades were gonna get her, was still prowling around the classroom and had caught onto fake Henry sitting and scribbling on his paper without listening. Time was up and every other kid had handed in their test paper (fully copied from Charlotte since she was a genius and Miss Shapen was turning a blind eye), meaning that hologram Henry sitting there blankly was starting to look real weird.

"You guys! You need to do something about Henry and Miss Shapen!" Charlotte hissed to Ray and (y/n), both of whom were still in uniform, plus Henry who was casually strolling through the halls like nothing was wrong. Thank god most of the kids had gone home by now or were still stuck in a late class, otherwise, their stealthiness would be in vain. 

"How? We need to get in there and distract her so I can turn off the hologram." Henry panicked, peering through the glass panel in the door and seeing how close his teacher was to sticking her fingers through his face and revealing the secret. 

"It has to be big! And something that will completely ruin her mind!" Jasper noted, trying to come up with everything Sharona Shapen liked, which stretched to cats and her freakishly large toe.

"Chicken?" Ray suggested, recalling that poor bird she'd annihilated on Valentine's Day when he'd been forced onto a date with her. Maybe he could dangle a chicken wing in front of her face and lure her away just enough for them to pull it off.

"Dude, where are we gonna get a chicken from?" Henry asked rhetorically, making Ray pipe down. Okay, chicken and any other food was a no-go, so what else did Miss Shapen dream of at night?

"Kiss her." (y/n) suddenly said in a grim voice, her eyes closed as she accepted that it was what they were gonna have to do. She idolised her boyfriend and fancied just as much as all the other women in Swellview did, meaning that a smooch from him would probably make her pass out long enough for them to swipe the hologram and test.

"What?" Ray, Henry, Charlotte and Jasper gasped and looked at her like she was crazy. First of all, that was their teacher, second of all, it wasn't just any teacher, it was Miss Shapen, third of all, Ray would never betray her like that, fourth of all, he repulsed the woman and so on and so on. There were a million reasons why that was crazy talk, but (y/n) just calmly breathed in and out.

"Look, a kiss from Captain Man will wipe her mind blank, meaning Henry can hand in his test with no problems." She explained, resting her hands on Ray's chest as his eyes bore into hers. Kiss someone else? He'd rather die, no one else would compare, especially not that old hag.

"Sweet girl, I can't kiss another woman, we'll think of something else. I love you and only you." He murmured, wrapping his hands around her wrists so he could bring one to his lips and kiss her gently thrumming pulse point. There had to be another way, one that didn't involve him breaking his endless faith and fidelity to her. He wasn't that guy anymore, he'd found his one and he didn't need nor want a bit of something on the side, she was everything he had ever dreamed of having.

"I know you do, but..." She started, sighing when she didn't know how to word it. She hated the idea of him kissing someone else, she loathed it even if it wasn't real and with Sharona, but she could overlook it just once if it was for an exceptionally good reason. "Look, I'm giving you permission this one time to march in there, look at her like you look at me and kiss her like you you mean it, so we can save Henry's butt." She said, giving him her sincerest gaze.

"How am I supposed to kiss her like she's you when she's not you? It's Miss Shapen, for god's sake." He groaned, pouting slightly at the idea of having to put his mouth on hers and pretend he was tasting honey. 

"Just imagine it. And when we get home..." She gestured for the kids to plug their ears and she leaned up to whisper against his neck. "You can fuck me again and again until I can't walk." 

"Fine." He agreed through gritted teeth and kissed his cheek in thanks. He fucking loved the sound of that and if he had to kiss that in the classroom to earn it, he would. 

"Kid, get ready to sneak in. I've got a Miss Shapen to kiss." He growled dramatically, tensing up his body like a true superhero. Henry nodded in understanding and stood next to the door so he could hear and look out for his cue. 

"Henry!!!" They could hear the teacher scream at the hologram inside and they knew that they had to act quickly.

Taking a deep breath and giving (y/n) one final peck, Ray yanked open the classroom door and boldly stood in the gap so she could admire his sudden entrance with awe. 'Just pretend she's (y/n), just pretend she's (y/n)' was all that was running through his mind.

"You." He greeted her in a tone that left his girl weak at the knees and if he squinted very hard and used the best of his imagination, she almost looked like (y/n). Almost.

"Captain Man!" She gasped at his sudden appearance. Oh my, he looked so handsome, better than she could ever have imagined and she was certain that this was a dream. The hero stormed over to her with a "hungry" look in his eyes, making her go breathless and weak at the knee. Sweet cheese, this wasn't happening; Captain Man seized Miss Shapen and dipped her in his embrace, leaning over her with a nauseous expression that he masked well. He just had to think of tonight and how his real love would be screaming his name.

"Do you consent to this kiss?" He asked in a tight, reluctant voice and cursed inwardly when her smile grew ten-fold. Well, that was a stupid question, of course, she wanted to snog Swellview's greatest hero.

"Sure, you want it in writing?" She joked, her eyes widening when he took the plunge and pressed his lips against hers. Dear, sweet lord, this was genuinely going to make him vomit. He'd kissed many people in his life and none of them but one truly gave him butterflies. Sharona Shapen was not that one; she killed the butterflies, burnt them, stamped on them, tore them apart. Her hands were roaming his back wildly and (y/n) looked in to see the abhorrent sight. 

"Go before I puke." She told Henry and the boy quietly tiptoed into the room. He too was disgusted by the sight of Ray kissing his teacher, mainly because she was a terrible kisser and not the one he'd fought so hard to set him up with. Ray kissing anyone but (y/n) would always look wrong, those two were made for each other.

He disabled the hologram, chucked it into his backpack and slid onto his chair, resuming the same position that it had been portraying; a pencil in his hand and a calm look on his face. Dear god, Miss Shapen giggling into the kiss was going to haunt his nightmares for weeks to come.

Okay, good. Henry was here, he was in the right place and just in the nick of time, which meant that for Ray, his work was over.

"Wait. Wrong woman." He said, suddenly pulling back and dropping Miss Shapen on the floor. His mouth tasted revolting and he made a quick exit for the door before she could claw him back for more.

"Let's get out of here." He mumbled, grabbing (y/n)'s wrist and pulling her through the halls rapidly. Charlotte and Jasper had already left and Henry could sort himself out, he just needed to leave and get home. 

"You're so brushing your teeth before you can kiss me again. I don't want to taste Sharona too." She chuckled, waggling her finger at him as his eyes darkened at the thought of kissing her. The right person.

"And then I get to fuck you?" He asked with hopeful eyes, glancing across to see her smirk and run her fingers through her hair like the seductive vixen she was.

"Until I can't walk." She promised, giggling when his legs started to work faster until they were practically running through the empty school corridors. Well, all's well that ends well, Henry had handed his test in without a hitch, Miss Shapen got to experience what a real relationship looked like and boy, Ray couldn't wait to get home.

[distantlaughter]

Rising Rosberg primed to emerge from old friend's slipstream

Originally written 22 March 2008 by Alan Henry for The Guardian (x)

German's podium finish last week showed he is ready to resume a decade-long rivalry.

It was the most touching moment of the Australian grand prix weekend. Lewis Hamilton was wiping away the perspiration of victory behind the podium when he spotted his old friend Nico Rosberg, similarly flushed after an impressive run to third place, his best finish in formula one.

Suddenly Hamilton leaped forward and gave Rosberg a big hug and the two of them jumped up and down in frantic delight. For a brief moment they were no longer young professionals in their early 20s, racing in big-time formula one, but the young karting drivers they had been a decade earlier.

"It's great to see Nico up here with me for the first time since our karting days," said Hamilton enthusiastically after showering his old rival with champagne. But Hamilton's memory was clearly playing tricks. "I didn't like to say it at the time," said Rosberg, "but he had forgotten the 2004 formula three Bahrain international in which Lewis and I finished first and second. I then went on to compete in GP2 the following season while he did another year in formula three before moving up into GP2 in 2006."

Rosberg has a matchless pedigree. The son of the 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, only the second driver to take the title at the wheel of a Williams, Nico was born four days after his father won the 1985 US grand prix in Detroit in a Williams-Honda. Nico recalled that he always had a really good relationship with his father, even though Keke could be very critical "although in a constructive way…"

"But my father helped me a lot and didn't intervene when I took the decision to pass up the opportunity to come to study at Imperial College in London for a degree in aerodynamic engineering," he said. "I think he could see that by then I'd made my mind up to pursue my racing career and I realised that I couldn't do both because I'd lose too much momentum if I went to university. So my father didn't say anything and just sat back and let me make my decision for myself. I think in the end he was just pleased that I'd come to a conclusion by myself."

The younger Rosberg started competing in 1996 at the age of 11, winning the Cote d'Azur mini-kart championship. He continued racing karts to the end of 2001 then switched to cars, winning the ADAC formula BMW championship with nine race wins. Many formula one insiders now regard Rosberg as among the most promising emergent stars of what some already call "the Lewis generation".

"Nico [and] probably Sebastian Vettel are the two drivers most likely to get in Hamilton's way to prevent him winning seven straight world championships," said the pundit Martin Brundle, not altogether seriously, in the Sepang paddock yesterday. Yet the point was well made.

After Fernando Alonso left McLaren last season, Rosberg was at the top of their wanted list as a new team-mate for Hamilton. But Frank Williams was not interested, rejecting a substantial offer from McLaren to buy out Rosberg's contract and rewarding the young German driver with an extension to his existing contract to the end of 2010.

"Finishing on the rostrum for the first time is an important milestone in every driver's career," said Rosberg, reflecting on his performance in Melbourne. "It's right up there with your first front-row start, scoring your first championship points and, of course, your first win, which I have still to achieve."

The Williams management consider Rosberg to be a chip off the old block, with many of the qualities that made his father so popular. The team have not won a grand prix since Juan Pablo Montoya triumphed in Brazil in 2004, and Jacques Villeneuve won their last world championship in 1997. "It's probably a bit much to expect Nico to have anything more than an outside chance of winning a race this year," said a team insider, "but Frank has great faith in him."

Rosberg agreed: "We are under no illusions as to where we are in the overall pecking order. To be honest, I don't see this as a launch pad from which we can make a bid for race wins. Not yet, anyway. We can't get over-confident just because we got a podium. The fact is we are still the fourth best team behind McLaren, Ferrari and BMW, so the best place we can finish realistically is seventh.

"That's our reality, as bad as it sounds. So we need to be careful and not be disappointed if we're suddenly running in seventh. And we also need to be careful because the teams behind us are very close - Renault, Toyota, Red Bull. It is not an easy situation."

[killiansprincss]

TIMELESS A CAPTAIN SWAN AU - CHAPTER 6/19

Summary: Season 3 divergence - When Zelenas time portal works, Henry wakes up alone in Storybrooke and must travel to the Enchanted Forest to get his family back. Only once he gets there he quickly realises its not like the one in his book, theres no Evil Queen and his mother Emma wasn't put through a wardrobe, theres even a poster inviting the entire kingdom to her engagement ball, to Hook. What will happen once Henry gets them to break this new curse and they get their memories back?

In which every chapter is inspired by a different Taylor Swift song.

Previous chapters

AO3 Link

Just want to send a huge love to everyone who has sent me love on this fic! It means the world that people are seeing and reading the fic that has made me fall back in love with writing! The best it yet to come so please keep reading!!!

_____

CHAPTER 6 - BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM

Now I'm running with my dress unbuttoned

Screaming "But Daddy I love him!"

I'm having his baby

No, I'm not, but you should see your faces

I'm telling him to floor it through the fences

No, I'm not coming to my senses

I know he's crazy but he's the one I want

~~

It had been two weeks since Emma last went to the tavern, since her night with Captain Hook. While it didn't lead to anything more than some flirting while drinking and then fumbled kisses towards the back of the tavern before she had to run back, she missed him. 

Every time she fell asleep her mind wandered to his scruffy face and his piercing blue eyes. They’d promised to meet back in 2 weeks, her parents were away on a diplomatic mission in a kingdom that was a four day journey out of Misthaven. This allowed her to see his ship and stay the night. Truly pretend she wasn’t a princess for a night. 

She had everything planned out. She told her ladies she would be going to bed early as she intended to wake early and go riding, that way they wouldn’t be alarmed when they go to wake her and find her not in her bed. While this wasn’t her first time sneaking out to stay with a man overnight, it was the first time with a Pirate. 

Captain Hook. Most fearsome pirate in all the lands. Supposedly. He was anything but fearsome. Sure a little cocky and arrogant, but not fearsome. He made her smile and laugh more than she had in a while. Emma had no clue what was going to happen tonight, but she didn’t care, as long as she got to see him again. 

When she gets to the tavern where they agreed to meet, Emma is practically shaking with nerves. Why was she so nervous? She orders a drink and sits at her usual table, waiting and waiting for the Pirate. 

“Swan. You came back?” Emma looks up to find the Pirate grinning at her. 

“You came.” She was so worried he wouldn’t come, that he would forget about her, but here he is standing in front of her in his Pirate leathers and a smile that makes her feel warm inside. 

“Of course I came back, I wouldn’t forget about you that easy Swan.” He tells her with a smirk on his face. “I couldn’t let a lady drink alone now could I?” 

The Pirate and the Princess. Who would’ve thought? But Emma didn’t care. What people at the Castle would think was the last thing on her mind right now.

That night was an incredible night. The famous Jolly Roger fastest ship in all the realms wasn’t Emma’s first choice to make love but it was better than an alley behind the tavern. 

Pirates had reputations. And Emma wasn’t so sure what to expect, she was used to casual fucking behind the tavern or bent over in the servants kitchens when nobody was around. It had been quick and only slightly pleasurable, more uncomfortable because of the awkward spaces and the fear of getting caught. But it was a totally different experience.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want.” He says as they enter his quarters, it was small but still large enough to host a bed and a desk. He was being a gentleman, but tonight she didn’t want a gentleman.

“I want you.” She tells him, grabbing him by the lapels of his coat and kissing him hungrily the way she had been imagining for the past 2 weeks. No man had ever kissed her like this, with such passion, no man had made her moan as his lips travel up her neck, biting that spot behind her ear. 

They had no fear of getting caught, Hook had told his men not to bother their captain. They had all the time in the world to slowly explore one another’s bodies. It was passionate, hungry and nothing like Emma had experienced before. Every night for 2 weeks she saw his face as she touched herself imagining what it would be like when it was his fingers instead of her own. 

That night, and the next few nights with Hook was just like she always imagined sex would be. Passionate and hungry for more. It’s like he knew exactly what to do with her body and what touches would make her moan and scream his name over and over again. She was never going back to fucking behind an alley with a stranger again now she knew Hook and how he made her feel.

____

5 years pass by in the blink of an eye and suddenly Princess Emma of Misthaven is in love with the infamous Pirate Captain. Of course nobody knows besides the two of them. Merlin forbid if her parents found out, they would kill her. And him.

Neither planned for it to turn into a secret relationship. But time passed and their feelings for one another only grew deeper. Hook couldn’t believe it either, the last woman Killian Jones loved was Milah and that was over 300 years ago. But Emma made him feel alive again, she didn’t judge him for his past and he felt connected to her in a way he couldn’t explain. 

They tried to stay apart for a while, a pirate and a princess couldn’t be together. But it lasted five days before Emma snuck out to see him. Being apart from him hurt more than anything. It was worth the risk. She loved him and couldn’t imagine loving anyone else even half as much. 

“Run away with me.” Killian whispers one night as he strokes Emma’s hair as she stirs in his arms. 

Emma isn’t sure if she heard him right. “What?”

“Run away with me.” He tells her again. 

Emma turns her body over to face him. “You’re crazy.”

Had she thought about running away before? Of course. But to actually go through with it was another story. 

“Am I?” He asks, looking into her eyes, Emma feels him look into her soul. “I love you, Emma. And as much as I love that you sneak out and risk everything to see me, I don’t want this to go on forever. I want to have you by my side always and parade the market without you having to hide. I want to show you there is a world outside of Misthaven.” 

She wanted that. More than anything. “I can’t. Killian I love you so much, but I can’t.”

“What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying that we can’t run away and be together. It won’t work. I can’t leave everything and run like you can.” They didn’t argue often, but this was serious. 

“Emma, you have been telling me for years that you never wanted this life, that being royal meant nothing to you. Why all of a sudden are you not willing to drop it all when what we have is so good and could be amazing?” 

“Look just because you don’t have any family left doesn’t mean I have to completely let go of mine.” She regretted it as soon as she said it. 

“I think you should go.” He tells her, and she doesn’t argue.

She lies awake that night considering his offer. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, she had no doubt about it. But at the same time, she would be giving up so much. 

She didn’t want to be Queen. Even being a princess was exhausting, it wasn’t the life for her. When she was with Killian she had seen a life she wanted, travelling across the realm and not having to play a role she didn’t know how to do. She was an extension of her parents, couldn’t get too political with the other members of the royal court, couldn’t express her true thoughts or feelings. She didn’t have to bite her tongue around Killian, she could speak freely and joke with his crew. She could walk around the market stalls and talk to people and they had no idea who she was. 

If she were to leave though, would she be able to see her family again? She didn’t want this life but she wanted her family. If she were to have a family with Killian, she would want their child to know its grandparents. 

Emma had been the responsible Princess for years now, she was careful with her steps and tracks with her sneaking around. She had a whole other life that her parents had no idea about. The Emma they thought they knew was nothing like the Emma she truly was.

So she sneaks out again a few nights later, when she is sure it's safe. She didn’t like leaving Killian after an argument, it didn’t feel right. And she had a plan. She would test the waters with her parents. Leave them a note and let Killian show her what he could for 2 weeks before returning. It would show she was serious about this, and serious about her future. When she tells Killian the news, he spins her around and kisses her. She knew this was the right decision.

____

That night she plans on leaving, Emma bids goodnight to her parents insisting she is tired and needs to rest. Instead once she begins to pack a bag. Just a few undergarments, shirts and loose pants she stole from her father a while ago.

“You’re leaving. For good this time.” Emma turns around to find her little brother-well not so little anymore- standing in the fireplace, a secret tunnel between the siblings' rooms. 

It’s not a question, but a statement, he knows. Leo is perceptive, he sees a lot more than people think. 

“The stranger you’ve been courting all these years. Mother and Father won’t allow you to marry him so you’re running away.” Leo was smart, he picked up on Emma’s more frequent running away and he also noticed her more frequently turning down suitors from their parents.  

“Yes.” She admits. She couldn’t lie to her brother. “But it’s not forever. I’ll be back in a few weeks , it’s to prove to mother and father this is what I want.”

“You’re leaving.” Is all Leo can say, Emma can see the hurt in his eyes-she doesn't like hurting him. 

“Leo. In a few years mother and father will step down as rulers of the land, and for years they have been training me and teaching me because I’m the eldest. But here’s the thing, it’s not gonna be me, I don’t care that it’s my birthright. Leo you will be an amazing King one day, I’m certain.”

She wraps her arms around her brother who, despite being ten years younger, was the same height as her. “I love you kid. And I’m not gonna leave you, I’ll still be here-just not in the Castle.” 

“He makes you happy.” Again it’s not a question. “I’ve never seen you happier. I can tell when he’s not around because you’re grumpy and moody but when he’s around you have that sparkle in your eye.” 

Emma can’t help but shed a tear as she wraps her arms around him tighter. 

Handing Leo an envelope, she tells him,” Give mother and father this in a few days. Not right away, let me get a head start first.” 

When Leo is back in his room and her parents are sure to be asleep, Emma climbs down her balcony for the last time and heads down to the docks, to her future. 

____

“Where are the rest of your crew?” Emma asks as she climbs aboard the ship to find it empty apart from Killian waiting for her.

His face lights up when he hears her voice, she’s his forever. “I gave them the night off. I intend to celebrate tonight.”

“And what exactly are we celebrating?” 

“The start of forever.” He says as he takes her hand and brings her closer to him. He takes her bag and tosses it aside. 

Killian gets down on one knee and Emma’s heart begins to race as he pulls out a ring. “Emma. I love you, meeting you all those years ago was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before I met you, there was a hole in my heart and every moment we have spent together has helped heal that hole. I don’t know what is going to happen, if we run away forever or not, but all I know is I want you by my side. Will you marry me?” 

Tears are streaming down Emma’s face, she hadn’t expected this at all. She loved Killian and while the thought of marrying him had crossed her mind a few times, she never expected Killian to actually propose. She can barely get her words out but she does manage to say “yes!” 

Killian slips the ring on her finger as he gets up and takes his fiancées face and kisses her. “I love you so much.” 

Wiping the tears from her face, she admires her ring. “This is your brother's ring, isn’t it?”

Killian nods. “Aye. It’s kept me safe all these years, and now it’s your turn.” 

Killian and Emma spend their first night as a newly engaged couple just wrapped in another’s arms, not quite believing what had happened. But they were happy. Both of them. Happier than they’d been in a long time.

___

Snow and Charming didn’t realise their daughter was missing a few mornings later. Leo didn’t say anything-keeping the promise to his sister. 

“She’s gone.” Leo eventually says, holding the note she gave him.

‘Dearest Mother, Father and Leo.

I must confess I have been hiding a secret for some time. I have been courting someone very important to me for years, and I wish I could have confided in you about it, but I feared the worst.

For you see the man I’ve been courting in secret is a Pirate. And I know what you’re thinking, Princess’ don’t marry Pirates. Well I guess you’re right, which is why I’m abdicating my line of succession. Leopold is the name of a King, and he will be a better ruler than I could ever be. 

I won’t be gone forever. This isn’t a note to say I’m running away and you’ll never see me again-well no it is a note so say I’m running away, but I plan on coming back. Just not as a Princess. 

All my love

Emma ‘

“Did you know about this?” Snow asks her son once they’ve taken in the letter.

Leo shakes his head. “All I knew is she was sneaking off to a tavern, but I had no idea about any of this.” It was a smooth lie, he didn’t know about the Pirate technically until last night.

“Tavern?” David asks. “What Tavern?”

Fuck. He shouldn’t have said anything. “I don’t know, all I know is she came back smelling of whiskey and rum and assumed that’s where she was.”

“The Tavern by the docks, in the village we used to live in.” Snow has practically a lightbulb moment. “I bet that’s where it is. Plus it’s the perfect place for a Pirate to steal her away.” 

The King and Queen send for their carriage almost immediately, wishing they aren’t too late, and Leo wishing they were.

“We’re closed!” A male voice screams from behind the door after David had knocked on it for a fair few minutes.

David knocks on it again, and it opens to reveal a rugged man with a stern face. “I said we’re closed didn’t you h-“ Suddenly the look of realisation hits the man as he apologises. “King David, your highness, I am so sorry. What, uh, what did you need this fine morning?” 

“Wait a second.” Snow interrupts before her husband can say a word, looking intently at the rugged man in front of them, searching for the reason she recognised him. Then it hits her. “Pinocchio?”

The rugged man smiles. “I’m shocked you recognise me, I am no longer made of wood, nor a boy. I go by August now.” 

Snow smiles at him fondly. He and Emma were best friends growing up, neighbours in their village. His father, Geppetto was a carpenter and managed to bring his son made of wood alive with the help of magic. But standing in front of them was no longer that little boy made of wood. No wonder Emma was able to sneak in here without being recognised.

“It’s about Emma. She’s run away. I assume you know her whereabouts.” Snow says, a mix of paranoid mother and Queen in her voice.

“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk.” He tells them, opening the door wide enough so they can squeeze in without him unlocking it properly. 

“Emma first came here about seven years ago.” He begins, pouring some water into a goblet for his King and Queen. “She didn’t know I worked here then, but when she knew I was protecting her identity she would come by every couple of weeks. Growing up we always said we would go to the Tavern together when we were of age, but that never happened so I guess it’s nice we kind of had that experience a few years later than planned.”

“But why?” Snow interrupts, desperate to know if they did something wrong. 

August just shrugs. “I can’t say for certain, but I’m fairly sure she wanted a night of freedom whenever she could get it. A few nights a month where she wasn’t Princess Emma, and didn’t have all these duties and requirements. It’s nothing against the two of you, she just wanted a chance to be normal again.”

“And what of the Pirate she’s run away with?” David asks with a sneer on his face, he’d never liked pirates and the fact his daughter had run off with one made him sick.

August chuckles as he takes a sip of water. “I was wondering when Hook was going to come up.”

“Wait, Hook- As in-“ Snow asks, terrified. 

“Captain Hook. The one and only yes.” 

Snow goes pale. The most fearsome Pirate in all the land, was the man their daughter had run away with?

“If I’m honest I never saw it coming.” August continues. “He has a reputation, but it continued for weeks, then weeks turned into months and months into years. I don’t know much about their relationship but all I know is I have never seen Emma as happy as she has been the past few years.” 

“Where is she?” David asks, worrying they’re too late.

“All the Pirate ships were gone from the harbour this morning, I have no idea where they are, truthfully, I'm sorry.” August couldn’t lie, Snow and David knew this, but it didn’t mean it hurt any less. 

“Do you know when they might be back?” Snow asks, holding back her tears. 

“Could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.” August tells them. “Look I know Emma, she won’t be gone forever, I think she wants to prove a point to herself and to you two that she is serious, the moment she’s back I will send word if Emma doesn’t do it herself first.” 

___

The King and Queen wait every day for the word that their daughter has returned but it doesn’t come and evening falls and they wait again. It’s two weeks later they get word from August a large Pirate ship had docked, and sure enough a few hours later Emma returns home. 

Well it’s Emma for sure. But gone was the Princess with her hair braided back into her tiara, now it was wild and in a loose ponytail with a headband gracing her forehead. And no longer was she wearing a gown made from the finest silk, now a white blouse with a brown corset covered her top half with leather pants and a brown belt with a scabbard for a rather large sword across her waist. 

“Hello mother, father, brother.” Emma says, making a point not to curtsey. 

“Emma.” Is all her mother can let out, taking in the sight of her daughter.

“Emma, you look incredible!” Leo blurts out, he knew their parents wouldn’t be happy but he knew his sister and she looked right in this moment.

She wasn’t alone, she was with the Pirate with a Hook in place of his left hand. He stood slightly behind Emma, but there was no doubt they had arrived together. 

The Pirate stepped forward and Emma took his right hand and laced their fingers together and smiled. “Mother, Father. This is Killian, my fiancée.”

“Excuse me, what did you just say?” David jumps up from where he was sitting at this news-his daughter couldn’t be engaged to a Pirate.

But Emma held her ground. “You heard me. We’re engaged to be married. And there is nothing you can do about it.”

“Are you pregnant? Is that what this is about?” He turns towards the pirate his daughter had locked hands with, “Have you impregnated my innocent daughter and come here begging us for permission to marry her so the child isn’t a bastard?”

“I’m not pregnant father. That has nothing to do with my love for him.” Emma was standing her ground, this was what she wanted, she needed to stay strong.

“Oh and you’re sure of that?” David questions, not recognising the woman standing in front of him, she couldn’t be his daughter, she just couldn’t. His baby girl was curious and quesuoned everything, but she wouldn’t hide this from them, 

“You wouldn’t.” Emma scoffs, knowing exactly her fathers next movement. 

“Guards. Take this Pirate away from my family.” David practically spits at the word ‘Pirate’. 

“Grumpy, stand down.” Emma commands, only leading to David telling him to take him away, and they repeat this until the head Dwarf gets very confused.

The other Dwarves come running in, ready to take an order from their King. 

“You can’t tell them to stand down, I thought you weren’t a Princess anymore?” Her father seers. He’s right, and this tells the Dwarfs they can seize the Pirate.

“If you’re taking him, you’re taking me too. We go together.” Emma tells her father.

“Emma, love, don’t worry.” Hook says from behind her, “they can take me, you need to stay here. You know where I’ll be.” With a wink, if they take him to the dungeons he can easily escape. 

The Dwarfs take the Pirate down in shackles and go down to the dungeon, much to Emma’s pleas not to. “What is your plan for me then Father dearest? Keep me prisoner?” I love him, is that such a crime?”

The King doesn’t say anything tot his daughter or even answer her, instead he turns to his son. “Leo, show your sister to her room. I believe the new amendments should be ready.”

Leo goes to object, seeing the pain his sister is clearly in, but his father stops him. “If you want to be a King one day, you shall listen to what your current King has to say.”

Emma doesn’t allow herself to cry in front of her father, he wouldn’t get to her like this. She needed to be strong, and figure out an escape. Her father threw Killian in the dungeon that he managed to get out of once before, he could do it again with ease.

 Am I truly a prisoner in my own room?” Emma comments upon entering her room to see a lock on her window, and extra guards posted right below the balcony.

“I’m sorry Emma. Mother and Father were so worried, I let slip that you would sneak out, it’s my fault.” Her brother says, also seeing the current state of the room for the first time. 

Emma wraps her arms around her little brother. “This is not your fault Leo. And I don’t care that you told them, they were sure to figure it out somehow.”

Emma doesn’t cry until Leo leaves the room and she knows she’s alone. This was meant to be the beginning of the rest of her life, but instead trying to prove she was able to live the life she wanted.

[effervescentvesper]

Henry is Eleven's father? Probably.

Alright, I know its played out, and honestly I've been one of those people denying it, but since the last season's release I've had some time to brew on it and I've decided that I think Henry Is eleven's father.

Let me get this out of the way: Look, I know Andrew Rich exists, being terry's Ives boyfriend in the spin-off novel, Suspicious minds and basically being confirmed (in the book) that he is the father, but honestly that is so boring and he's boring, and its a waste.

Stranger things has always had parallels, so it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to think they'd do a star-wars type thing and reveal it. Not to mention the fact that the spin off novels are more kind of like fanfiction the duffers allowed different authors to write and actually publish, some of the novels and comics have already been de-canonized by season 4 (referring to the ones talking about the others subjects). Which could always mean that he could be completely written out.

I will also point out that Jamie Campbell Bower and Millie Bobby brown share similar facial features, which could always be by accident, but usually casting is done with a certain intent so I don't think it was by mistake.

Also how would it be that eleven, not the youngest subject, not the eldest, just the eleventh would be the most powerful? She wasn't given henrys blood like the others, she gained her powers biologically, and we know that terry was experimented on, which could rebuke this idea, but also keep in mind that Henry's and Elevens powers are extremely similar, and he takes special interest in her.

So Why? Why I ask because 002 is strong, the others too, some of the other subjects could read minds, do arguably more than eleven could at the time, so why'd he pick her? Perhaps pity, which is likely, but could it also be that he felt a connection? a paternal connection, seeing his child, wanting to help, but only from a distance?

I'm also going to add in the fact of Terry's rampage into Hawkins Laboratory; Henry knows about this event, knows about eleven's mother. How does he know who terry is in the first place? Her involvement in the Mk-ultra was covered up, she was able to get into the lab easy before she started killing people, meaning she likely went unrecognized, unknown. Even after the event, everything was covered up, it wasn't like it was common knowledge, even terry's sister didn't know, so why would Henry of all people know?

I seriously doubt he was there to witness the event, and I doubt Doctor Brenner told him, so why would he know terry, and how would he know she was Eleven's mother?

My guess is that henry would've had to known Terry at some point before the rampage, perhaps in passing, or through whatever event that created eleven.

(They also literally never mention Eleven's father in the show, so honestly I'm positive they will get rid of Andrew Rich since he's so inconsequential. )

[circuses-and-childhoodtrauma]

So, guess who finally sucked it up and watch the final two (three? The two parter was a whole thing) episodes of danger force and…yep. It’s currently 5am so I’ll probably have more thoughts to post on the whole plot and what it means for character progression and endings in my mind once I’ve actually processed and thought about it. This may include what you’d consider hot takes on characters but just know it’s from a place of love and I wouldn’t want them to change (unless, of course, I’m talking about things I wished went differently) because that’s the best part of the show. Long post ahead and Spoilers for that btw

I will say I procrastinated the hell out of it after hearing a spoiler that Drex has an anticlimactic death, a spoiler which turned out to only be half the truth. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I will say thank you to whoever unknowingly spoiled it because y’all should’ve seen the look on my face when that motherfucker came back from his unimpressive dusty death. Truly, pure joy. The finale itself was weirdly underwhelming and I guess on brand for the show but I thought maybe they’d put more heart into it; you can really tell the difference of investment put into danger force versus the finale of Henry danger which was, despite Henry and rays final words being a joke, far more touching than the awkward, we know it’s abrupt ending that we got for DF. It feels a little odd as a Henry danger fan since it’s first season to see it end in such a way that leaves me with. Nothing really emotionally.

I’ll start with my thoughts on Ray’s character. Keep in mind it’s been a good few months since I’ve seen any episodes besides these last few (“Ray Forgives” and “The Battle for Swellview”) so forgive me if I’m rusty on some things I’m due for a full rewatch and so point out any contradiction or disagreements you may have because his character is one of my favorites to discuss due to the extremely polarized view fans have on him. I will say this ending truly showcases the final decline of Ray’s character as the show accepts him for what he truly is (see one of his final lines in the last episode as the DF kids try to process his departure “classic me”). Ray, I never had high hopes for you and I truly enjoy watching such a despicable person be our main mentor of the show and without you I would definitely be down a few class essays. I wish we could’ve touched on Ray’s inner workings and childhood as well as how his relationship with Henry is involved in any of this? The first part of that sentence I’m fine without simply because part of Ray’s charm is being a pretty vain character that gathers most of his motivations through that vanity and pursuit of his own goals, but the latter half? I really feel like the show is pretty lackluster for that loose end of Henry’s involvement which I now doubt we will see in the movie. More on that later.

As for Ray, I think I’ve mentioned in the past that his behavior over the course of the later seasons on HD as well as the first two seasons of DF (which is all that was out at the time) could really only lead to three options for his character. Either 1. he has to become so bad that he is actively a villain in the show (I say villain not antagonist because Ray has already been the antagonist of a few episodes), 2. He fully turns over a new leaf and actively works back to the strong figure he was in Season One of HD (too little time for that, get him a therapist), or 3. He spirals into a character so objectively and morally grey that he just leaves. I honestly figured they’d go for something more of 2 (or at the very least give us some growth and then lead into the third; which, no. The MILES system plot line does not count and I’ll explain why), but it seems the show went right for the third option. His character in the ending was just so shallow and lacking empathy that I was actually shocked. And sure, the show tried to play it off by saying “oh well he saw the kids prove themselves in the big fight”, when Ray had very clearly already announced his retirement before this happened?

The whole ending with Credenza felt very “Love Muffin”-esque in the way that you only see one aspect of Ray’s character (which makes sense in Love Muffin because he only had one portion of his character thanks to the muffin) but it was certainly a…decision…for the final ending of not just danger force but the full run of the Henry danger force series as a whole being considering there was no pause between the finale of HD and the premiere of DF. There’s just so much more to his character that could’ve been used there, and it contradicts a lot of things he’s stood for even as late as the second season of DF. Even if you follow his decline of character, there are still other notable qualities that would be far better suited for a goodbye like that. Ray is known for his childishness and his immature attachment style, I don’t think I need to show proof or references if you’ve seen the show but I will if need be. Ray is also shown with outbursts of anger and things like that which would have been a bit of a dud considering he did that in the HD finale and we don’t want a redo because this is something different. I really think the show could’ve done something better than just…calm acceptance? I could even call it delusion but it just wasn’t enough for a final goodbye. Ray’s immaturity, his anxious need for his employees to love him, his relationship with Bose? I can’t really think of a worse way to end things aside from Ray leaving offscreen like they couldn’t pay Cooper his final check.

It seems Ray simply doesn’t want to be a mentor anymore. Like other things, he grew bored of it? He found something better? One can only guess. But it feels almost as though the show is painting a picture that Ray was just doing the whole mentoring sidekicks thing while he looked for a hot date. Which, if so, was his whole goal from the beginning? Because Ray spent all 8 seasons of show trying his luck with various women and he was quick to jump in their arms at any moment to leave his superhero life behind. But then again, he was quick to take any opportunity to leave his job. It’s not a good characterization of him to say that he was just “looking for love” the whole time and once he found it, he was done with the superhero schtick. It disregards his whole obsession with the city of Swellview loving him. It disregards his childish idealization of super heroism (buying capes, creating other super identities) , something that persisted even after he’d worked the job for decades. You could say he “grew up”? But then why the “classic me” line at the end and why have we seen no other growth in any areas? I have my own view and characterization of Ray that was not changed by the finale, so I am ignoring a large portion of it, something you’ll see as a trend with the other characters. But, this is just food for thought.

And obviously, since he’s truly the highlight of the show in my eyes and the light of my life who brightens my face and day every time he comes on screen, I was very happy to see Drex make his presence in the finale. Of course I knew about him being Buddy Fudgers real dad (see the timeline I made for it because the initial reveal in the trailers and clips had me absolutely reeling trying to keep my own interpretations of the show at least somewhat in line with whatever canon threw at me). The simple fact of him *being* buddy fudgers biological father is the only good and useful thing to come of it in my opinion. The actual details…Credenza being Drex’s ex-wife?? Drex apparently being an active part of Buddy’s life for an undisclosed amount of time before leaving and then apparently finding the time to come back into Buddy’s life and having SHARED CUSTODY for an also UNDISCLOSED amount of time?? The retcons in this specific plot line and Drex’s plot as a whole make my head hurt. I’m not even going to touch on the marriage thing until I’m good and ready, but, let’s just say I have ideas for that. As for everything else? Scrap it, honestly. The show itself pokes fun at the paradox of Drex’s character (always losing for…some reason…as he puts it) and I am happy to keep my own Drex and Ray and hell even Buddy Fudgers dolls away from the canon of it all and leave it there.

I liked that the show didn’t try to put on an elaborate backstory as to why Drex and Ray really hate each other (because, hey, whaddya know, we already got that in Drex’s DEBUT episode in 2016, but it’s not like the writers are aware of that…) and they just left it at “I don’t know why we’re mad” as well as leaving any backstories of their friendship in one little photograph. Don’t bother with the details, we know it’ll make our brains hurt anyway. Even though it’s a bit of a copout, I wouldn’t have wanted to see one of the only stable and serious relationships in the show be reduced to a joke like “oh Drex are my last poptart 15 odd years ago and we’ve been enemies ever since”. A good part of Drex and Ray’s rivalry that still held up even onto season 3 of DF was because so much of it was left in the dark, we can only speculate. They always have just enough motive and reasoning for you to be like “sure, that makes sense” (In Hour of Power when Ray explains that Drex’s violent tendencies led to them just “having it out” provides a father-son Batman type feud between them as Drex’s rage is obviously not dealt with in a proper way, as well as in the finale of Henry Danger on the blimp where Drex’s thought-to-be final words to Henry are “I was always the better sidekick” implying a clear jealousy at Ray’s favor towards Henry). It kept things neat and clean and dark enough for Drex to be a good bad guy. And he makes a pretty good show of being a good guy in his fifteen seconds of fame (which btw had me beaming and shaking my screen at his happy saunter ahh I just love him so much I can’t)

And, of course, I must discuss, my Roman Empire, my magnum opus, Ray and Drex’s relationship. Or rather their father and son. relationship. Let me preface by saying of course you may interpret Ray and Drex’s relationship however you want (father-son, brothers, I think some people ship them as lovers as well) and by extension Henry and Ray’s. However, if you’ve caught even one glimpse of this account you’d likely see that I consider them to be scorned father and son. Same goes for Henry, I know some people think of him and Ray like brothers and that’s fine, but in my mind they will always have a pseudo father son relationship. Now, I’ve talked about all three of them and their relationships with each other a lot on my account, so I won’t waste space reiterating it. I do want to talk about the show’s portrayal of Drex and Ray’s latest moments together. Now, right from the getgo Drex is very much coded as a scorned son (or ex lover if you listen to Hour of Power’s euphemisms which is so gross not for Drex but for the implications the show put on Henry). He calls Ray “old man” and “pops” and even says something similar to dad if you’re desperate like me “finally got the outfit to match your dad bod”(excuse my paraphrasing on that last one it’s 6am and I don’t want to go look for the exact quote). But by the latest episode Ray calls him brother? I preferred the ambiguity; it’s not the biggest issue in the world but it feels like another part of Drex that they were trying to retcon. I have much bigger plans for him though, always.

There seemed to be a lot of copout “for some reason”s in the last few plots of the season but honestly, I don’t want to compare the two finales because they’re separate things and also one continuation of each other, and also I don’t care for the discourse between which is better. I simply look at this finale for a three season show that took the time to invest us in its characters and I just feel disappointed. I didn’t have high hopes for the ending given what they were working with.

Some other thoughts that didn’t make it into my totally “neat” paragraphs:

Ray getting decapitated was the total best move for showing just how unhinged and detached Henry danger force is from the rest of Nickelodeon in terms of censoring and morals, and I absolutely loved it.

Buddy turning into Drex, only to turn back into himself but bigger a few minutes later was…a choice. Although I did find it funny that the show pointed out his return back to Buddy-likeness.

I’m not sure where any of this fits into the movie but considering it didn’t begin work until after season three was done, it might have some impact. I would love to see Henry’s reaction to all of this.

I’m not sure why they felt the need to hammer home Bose’s dad being gone? It felt like a bad punchline the third or fourth time around and I was very confused and annoyed when they mentioned it 3+ times per episode despite it not being a prominent thing in any prior seasons. Felt like maybe it was supposed to be lead up for a conclusion that didn’t happen, so it was. Odd.

I felt like Chapa really got her spotlight in those final episodes which is cool but we also didn’t really see anything come of it, especially when Mika was the unofficial leader of the group, it seemed like Chapa was stepping up to take that place with her initiative. I’ve always felt like Chapa would be the one hero to stay in Swellview after CM if they took the route of only one hero taking over. But then again, nothing came of it.

Mike’s visions also got pushed to the back which, they kind of always have been, although it was always an opening to introduce new powers for the others, nothing came of that either.

As for Mika, no notes really. Great job. Although it seemed like there was supposed to be a romance between her and Bose that just never came to fruition either for time or other changes, which left us with something very similar to the Henry and Charlotte run. Bose and Mika seemed to have more intentional moments so I had a little more hope for them considering they weren’t just a few circumstantial jokes and a rushed one-off episode like Charlotte and Henry. Would’ve like to see something happen there simply because of the clear intent for something to happen there, but, unfortunately it didn’t happen.

Credenza I haven’t got much to say about, except the whole cult thing being ingrained into her by her ancestors seems like a cool aspect to her character that might lend to some neat little details in other stories. Buddy was cool, I think his character was fine as well although I never understand why they love to do this trope where these superheroes with SUPER SECRET IDENTITIES apparently “can’t ever keep any secrets at all” but it’s a gag at the end of the day and Mika suffers from the same trope at times.

That’s all my thoughts for now, I know it’s a lot, and I’ll probably have more once I’ve had time to fully flesh things out in my mind. I would love to use this for a chance to write new stuff, but unfortunately my laptop melted, so that’s that. Feel free to discuss your thoughts on any of this! Thanks for reading if you got this far I know it’s jumbled

[themeepyfreak]

Day 3: Favorite Episode

2x21 "Second Star to the Right"

I love this episode for a multitude of reasons.

First, I loved all of the flashback scenes about Bae's backstory. Ever since season 1, I wondered what happened to Bae after he went through the portal. And after all of the foreshadowing about Neverland (from all the way back to "Tallahassee"), it was so satisfying to finally see the pay-off. Not to mention that the flashbacks also explain the beginning of Bae's life of crime- since in Victorian England, it was the norm for street children and the only option he had other than working in a factory conducive to minimal pay and child abuse. I also loved the portrayal of Wendy and the Darlings. I'll never forget Bae's expression when Wendy accepts him and the Darlings take him in as part of their family.

Second, even the present day scenes filled my Swanfire heart. Emma was still suspicious of Tamara, and while she might have claimed that it's only due to her superpower, it's obvious that she's so diligent due to her jealousy concerning Tamara's engagement to Neal (especially considering how she acts around Greg/Owen who also set off her lie detector). Then, the beach scene where Neal apologizes and explains how he never forgave himself was so heartwarming and raw. Especially when followed by Neal saying that he'll always have Emma's back, even if he still didn't believe her about Tamara.

The cincher of the episode was Bae sacrificing himself to the shadow for the Darlings paralleled by Neal sacrificing himself to the portal while shot for Emma and Henry. It not only harkened back to "The Return" but also showcased Neal's self-sacrificing nature which is prevalent throughout his presence on the show (even debatably in his decision to leave Emma in "Tallahassee"). It was heartbreaking to hear Emma and Neal say "I love you" to each other again only to lose each other again.

I still remember when this episode came out, and during the hiatus before season 3 was released, I rewatched it multiple times, just dreaming of possibilities of how Bae's story continued in Neverland as well as Neal reuniting and reconnecting with Emma in the place of his former trauma. While season 3 didn't fulfill all of my expectations, the last 2 episodes of season 2 will always be in my heart because of the hope and daydreams they incited.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Season 2 Rewatch Drabbles: 2x6 Tallahassee

Summary:  A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my rewatch of season 2 of Once Upon a Time as an attempt to finally jump start the muse again.  There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season. Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on the very beginnings of Captain Swan’s epic love story, as soon as a certain dashing pirate makes his appearance.  

Word Count: 500

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (17.5) (18) (19) (20) (21-22) (22)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma turned toward the hole in the wall Anton had made for her, fully intending to get the hell off this beanstalk, but a sudden thought arrested her.

Hook.

He’d kept his word, helped her more than once.  There was no question without him, she wouldn’t have the compass.  He deserved for her to keep her part of the bargain.

But she couldn’t.  She couldn’t.

She tried to tell herself it was because he was a pirate, that he couldn’t be trusted, but in her heart, she knew that wasn’t the reason.

It wasn’t that she sensed she couldn’t trust him; it was that she sensed she could, and that terrified the hell out of her.

There had been something between them from the moment she first pulled him from the pile of bodies down in the refugee village, and that something had only grown and strengthened the more time they spent together on their beanstalk adventure.

Her mind went to the moment when they’d first reached the top, the moment he’d noticed the cut on her hand and insisted on bandaging it himself.  Her face flamed and her breathing hitched at the very sight of those blue eyes looking up at her from beneath hooded lids as he took the makeshift bandage between his teeth and secured it with his mouth.

It had been sexy as all hell, there was no denying that.

But it was more than that. She’d felt a deep and inescapable pull to him in that moment that went far deeper than carnal desire.  Soulmates.  The single word had echoed in her mind as he finished his ministrations, and it continued to echo as he told her of his past heartbreak and then continued to assist her.

She hadn’t felt a pull like this to a man—to anyone—since Neal, and therein lay the problem.  She’d given Neal her entire heart and soul, trusted him with every fiber of her being, and he’d betrayed her in the most painful way.  It wasn’t just that he’d left her, wasn’t even just that he’d sent her to jail for his crime.

He’d given her a son, and through his actions, taken that son from her before she’d even had the chance to hold him.  That moment, chained to a hospital bed in the prison infirmary, had shattered the last bit of her innocence, shattered her heart so completely it could never heal again.

It was at that moment she’d promised herself she would never again let herself be so vulnerable, never again give another man the power to destroy her.

Her intuition told her she could trust Hook, but her intuition had been wrong before.  She couldn’t take a chance that she was wrong about him.

And so, she knew what she needed to do.  She didn’t need to harm Hook, only to detain him. She tamped down the guilt at what she was about to do and turned toward Anton.

“Actually, I get two favors.”

                                                                          NEXT CHAPTER-->

[biigiiiii]

Rewatching the Bingham house scene and noticed a shot of what looks like a grandfather clock (or at least a grandfather clock face but - where is the pendulum?), immediately followed by a ‘Time Out’ sign 🫢

Also on my current rewatch I was paying close attention to the red tower in the lab, and….

(I can’t find or make screenshots of these things so you’re going to have to just deal with photos of my tv lol)

I know it’s been talked about many times how the Bingham house is full of foreshadowing. Some of season 4 was foreshadowed (like Tabitha being filmed choking, they broke the fourth wall so hard mike might as well have looked directly down the lens 😭) but I believe most of it will be hinting at stuff in season 5. I just noticed this detail with the clock and time reference, like the camera kind of twists/pans back from argyle to show the clock only to… move back in again? So the clock was intentionally shown. And then the very next shot is that close up of ‘time out’ before panning down to Eden putting Cornelius in time out. The last one I gasped at when I noticed it, since @chirpsythismorning kinda opened red tower gate in a post about how Will could be 12. So, I went back to season 1 where Hopper broke in to the lab to see if the drawing hopper found in 11’s room was the same and

No. lol. But it looks like El possibly draws her and papa a lot (which it’s shown in the rainbow room that they have colours and the kids do draw often), carrying out experiments. So if the first one was the test where he tried to get her to kill the cat, then the one that is featured in her replayed memory must have taken place in the rainbow room (as she drew the rainbow) and involved her, papa, and the red tower block.

I cant wait to see how this red tower stuff plays out but I think it’s gonna involve more lord of the rings parallels. But there’s just something about the “all this time we’ve been building it… for you” and all the other times this red tower features in season 4. I’m sure there is something important about the red tower. There’s something important hidden in the Bingham house. There’s something important hidden in the hellfire D&D campaign from episode one. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out, and I can’t wait to see more theories and analysis about this. I think that the upside down army that Nancy saw coming from the gates might build a tower, or that might have been their plan until their hive mind controller (Henry? Or the mind flayer? We still don’t know whose really running the show lol) has been weakened (assuming that it is vecna). So maybe in that experiment El drew, papa was trying to get her to knock down (or build?) the tower with her mind. Maybe we might see in 12’s room and the exact same drawing is there (but in will’s style). Maybe we’ll see this experiment in season 5, similar to how she kept getting lab flashbacks in season 1 (I mean they did say season 5 will be going back to it’s beginnings 🫢). Also something about how it was 12 building the tower. Something about that and the theory that Will created the 1983-Hawkins version of the upside down. Maybe vecna stole wills powers in the upside down to create a tower, just like he stole Els in season 3 to be able to open gates. Maybe theres gonna be Two Towers !!! One in the upside down one in the right side up and they can communicate easily between each other.

Omfg.

I’m so excited.

Idk if someone already opened red tower gate and it’s called something else, but if they did just tell me nicely in a private message so I can quietly slip away lol 😂

[henrysglock]

Some more FS au thoughts below the cut!

Henry saw El at the rink and then looked at both Brenner and Jim like: She’s my daughter now. Grand Theft Offspring.

Jim doesn't go in the kiss-and-cry booth much anymore due to the combination of unpredictable subjective point totals and his own unpredictable temper when he thinks a score is unfair. He’s upset on El’s behalf, he loves her, it’s just unnecessarily stressful for everyone involved. The kiss-and-cry booth tends to be Henry's territory, since he's more accustomed to dealing with the Everything about it. (In addition: Scott “it was totally political” Clarke makes an appearance rink-side)

Henry “You are better than they are. Superior.” Creel makes an appearance in the context of “Your competitors and their coaches, they want you to feel like you’re less-than. Don’t let them.” after El gets shoved around by a few of Brenner’s other students at Junior Nationals.

This was the same Junior Nationals where Brenner tried to “reconnect” with El after seeing her success at the previous competition. El isn’t having it, but having a big public blowout is not the way to handle things you Don’t Like in FS. That can kill your subjective scoring. Henry, more than aware of this and only somewhat afraid of Brenner after years of Fixing His Damage, catches him rink-side during warmups. He only has 10 whispered words for Brenner, the first he’s spoken directly to the man since The Injury: Come near her again, and I will kill you. Brenner’s half-convinced he means it literally. It was said so quietly that none of the surrounding cameras picked it up. Oh, how the tables have turned on the concept of “our little secret”.

Victor also wanted Henry to play hockey back in the day (because he played hockey as a boy and enjoyed spending time/having a shared hobby with Henry), but after watching little 8 year old Henry at hockey practice for One (1) hour, he went hm...maybe not. Victor “loves his son so much” Creel 100% supported Henry getting into FS instead (no one could have predicted the shitshow it would spiral into).

The Injury (pulled from Henry’s head injury in the canon electrocution scene) left Henry with a sick silver streak on his left side where they put the titanium plate in. The Party has a running joke that he looks like a supervillain because of it.

Henry stuck with Brenner from age 12 to about age 30, something of an unwritten record for a coach-athlete relationship. He only stuck with him so long because Brenner had secrets to leverage over him/had backed him into the “I’m the only one willing to have you” corner by building his cold/unfeeling/hard to work with persona.

Brenner 100% tries to cover his ass later by trying to paint Henry as a troublemaker, that really, if you think about it isn’t he the victim here, having put so much time and effort into Henry only to have him squander it by lashing out the moment he realized there might be a new winner? That little façade lasts a good long while, right up until Henry’s case is reopened and the truth of the matter comes out. The reader can fill in whatever blanks they want about what, exactly, was brought to light. The details aren’t super important atp!

El totally whoops ass at Junior Nationals, btw. She wipes the floor with all of Brenner’s newest round of students. If Henry’s a touch smug about it…well. Why shouldn’t he be?

In his day, Henry 100% had Yuzuru Hanyu style outfits, typically in some sort of white/grey/blue. Practice and coaching outfits run more along the lines of black pants and white sweaters/turtlenecks. (Scott is appreciative. If you've ever seen the pics of Yuzuru Hanyu's practice fits...you get it)

Brenner is the kind of coach to subtly rag on you from the boards. Henry is the type to actually demonstrate the skill he expects you to perform. (That’s canon, actually, shdhsjdhsj)

El's pink dress outfit from Season 1 is one of her first competition outfits. Yes, it's still a hand-me-down from Nancy. Yes, she still looks absolutely adorable. Yes, Henry's hovering behind her like a demon, daring anyone to so much as breathe wrong near her.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 17: Live and Dangerous Part 1 (SMUT)

*warning. smut ahead. it's not great ngl. old ruth didn't know what she was doing. i still don't but i try harder now.

It was another regular evening in the Man Cave and Ray, (y/n), Henry, Schwoz and Jasper were gathered around the couch table. In the spirit of generosity, Ray, being the boss, had decided that they should all create care packages for some of Swellview's troubled teens and so, he'd assembled as many helpers as he could to cram them full of junk.

"Pocket knife." Henry started them off, dumping the knife into a box with little care or attention to how the contents were laid out. Ray said it didn't have to look good, he only needed this crap shifting so he could make way for more useless stuff.

"Succulent." Ray went next, tossing a fake, plastic plant into the box in a similar, uncaring manner. He thought his plan was genius, plus, it did give him a good excuse to cuddle up to his girl on the couch. His arm was curled around her shoulders and she instinctively snuggled into his side, occasionally pressing kisses to his neck whenever she felt like it.

"Bag of noodles." (y/n) stated, throwing in her item before returning to peck her boyfriend's neck. It was part of the little system they had going on; every time she deposited her item, she'd give him a kiss because she loved it when he squirmed in place and looked down at her with warning eyes.

"Binky." Then, it was Schwoz. Why they were putting these random objects in was anyone's guess, but charity is charity and that way, no one can complain. 

"Protractor." Henry went again, throwing in a second item as they entered the second round. Maybe the teens could math away their problems.

"Mothballs." Well, no one wants holey clothes, especially teenagers.

"Lighter fluid." (y/n) swallowed nervously, contemplating whether it was a good idea to fill the boxes with a highly flammable liquid. Oh well, Ray was in charge and she was too comfy to complain, not to mention too enthralled in making him frustrated.

"Bottle opener." Jasper continued, smiling like he was so proud of himself.

"Chinese crayons." Schwoz finished, adding the last of the items into the box. That was the first one done, only like a million more to go, but from the way the boys cheered, you'd think they'd completed the lot. Onto the next one, but this time since they'd gotten the hang of it, the group went faster.

"Pocket-knife...succulent...bag of noodles...binky...protractor...mothballs...lighter fluid...bottle opener...Chinese crayons." Another package was accomplished and (y/n) kissed directly under Ray's ear as he and the others celebrated, giggling when she heard his voice raise in pitch ever-so-slightly. Just as his hand dropped down to rest tightly on her inner thigh, the elevator door slid open, revealing Charlotte, who everyone thought had gone home.

"Hey, guys!" She smiled at them all, making them greet her in return, but then Henry remembered that earlier on, she'd mentioned that she wouldn't be available for the momentous care package wrapping and so, her presence confuddled him.

"Wait, I thought you were having dinner with your parents tonight." He commented, watching as she briskly walked over to the supercomputer, throwing him a glance over her shoulder as she did.

"I did. I just came back 'cause I forgot my sweater." She replied, picking the garment up from the back of the computer's chair as everyone nodded at her reasoning. 

"Oh, Charlotte, sweetie, you didn't have to come back. You could've called and we'd have dropped it off for you." (y/n) smiled at her sweetly. It didn't seem right that the young girl had walked back to work at night to pick up one sweater, especially when her friend had a very kind boyfriend who probably would've agreed to drive it to her house. 

"We?" Ray looked down at her with raised eyebrows, knowing that she was referring to herself and him. Of course, he'd do it, he'd do anything for her, but he couldn't help but point out how he'd been roped into it.

"My license is in the mail, doofus. Until then, you're my personal taxi driver." (y/n) smirked at him with a flutter of her eyelashes. After the whole, stuck in two holes incident, the young woman had learnt her lesson and the very next day had taken a driving test to finally gain the right to drive. 

"Pocket knife." Henry butted into their mushy moment, eager to finish the packages before midnight or before he puked from their grossness. Ray and (y/n) were couple goals but you'd never catch Henry admitting that, not when he teased them for it so often. "Pocket-knife...succulent...bag of noodles...binky--"

"Hey! What are you guys doing?" Charlotte interrupted, thoroughly confused when she witnessed how they were throwing uncorrelated items into boxes. No one told her about this and to an outsider, the whole setup seemed highly bizarre.

"Ah, we're putting together care packages," Ray answered, placing his hand on top of his girlfriend's when he felt it move an inch up his thigh. He gritted his teeth and played it off like they were just being touchy like always, not like she was a vixen and he was her prey.

"Mmhm and then, we're gonna send them to the Swellview Home for Runaway Teens." Henry went on, causing his friends to beam proudly. When he said it like that, it really did sound generous. "...protractor...mothballs..."

"Uh, hold up." Charlotte stopped them again, irritating the group as she ruined their flow. Seriously, they need to get this lot done, but how were they supposed to do that if she kept asking questions?

"The Home for Runaway Teens shut down. It closed." She carried on and it was news to all of them. If there was no charity, then they had been working for nothing.

"Wha--then, what happened to the runaway teens?" (y/n) spluttered, having not heard of this development. If she had, she sure as hell wouldn't have been sitting on the couch trying to tempt her boyfriend away. It would've already happened.

"They ran away." The teen answered simply, prompting the boys to groan and shout as they realised that they worked and bought a load of crap for nothing.

"What?! I can't believe we've wasted all this time!" Ray shouted and stood up angrily, throwing a mothball into a redundant box before sitting on the back of the couch. (y/n) patted him on the knee softly, but even she was feeling a pinch of annoyance. The whole evening wasted, stupid Charlotte and her stupid news.

"Well, maybe we can give this stuff to another charity," Henry suggested, praying that Ray wouldn't overreact and sling the lot in the trash. The problem was though, he'd been tortured for the last hour and wasn't feeling particularly nice anymore.

"No, what's the point? They're just gonna run away too!" The man growled and whacked a can of chips away as his girl snuggled in between his legs and looked up at him. If anyone could make him feel better, it was her.

"Let's just throw all the stuff in a dumpster." Ray decided, swinging his legs back over the couch so he could stand up. Not wanting to be away from him, (y/n) stood up too and he broke away from his tantrum for a second to lift her over. 

"Hey, we don't have to toss it all out, Ray--" She tried to convince him as he held her in his arms. It was funny to have her face at the same level as his and just when their noses brushed to enjoy the moment, the computer's alarm went off. Not an "oh my god, super-scary, everyone panic" alarm, merely a message.

"Hey, looks like we're getting a video message. Ray, put (y/n) down and stop kissing her." Henry noted, smirking as the couple gave him two unimpressed stares. The young woman pecked her boyfriend anyway, nothing too heavy, just a split-second where they could savour the feeling of each other's lips against their own. 

"I'll check it out." Charlotte dashed over to the computer, putting down her sweater again, the only thing she had wanted five minutes ago. Work never seemed to stop and Ray dropped his girlfriend before turning to his resident repairman. 

"Schwoz, clean up all the junk." He ordered, curling an arm around his girl's waist and guiding her over to the large monitor so they could see what was going on.

"Aye-aye. Jasper, you clean up all this junk." Schwoz nodded but decided that it wasn't a job fitting of him, a seasoned, technical genius. No, this was more up the street of a bum, AKA, Jasper.

"What? But Ray told you to do it." The boy complained, not seeing why every shitty task had to be delegated to him. The boss didn't tell him to do the job, so why should he be forced to do it?

"What did you say?" Schwoz spun around sharply, his laser controller in his palm and pointed straight at Jasper. The sight of the small gadget made the boy go a little pale as he thought about being stung and he quickly gulped down his resilience. 

"Why don't I clean up the junk?" He smiled nervously and stepped over to the table so he could get on with it, which greatly pleased the cocky Schwoz. "I thought so."

"Let's see...looks like the video's from...IT'S FROM FRANKINI!" Charlotte pulled up the message and her mouth hit the floor when the image of a young man and fireworks popped up onscreen. Clearly, he was someone famous, judging by Henry's disbelieving "what?", but to Ray and (y/n), he was just a flamboyant guy who apparently like glittery, purple things and makeup.

"Who?" Ray asked, looking at his girlfriend in confusion, but she just shrugged and appeared clueless. Perhaps this was it, maybe they'd reached the point where youth culture no longer reached them, not that (y/n) cared. She'd accepted her age and was happy to age gracefully, unlike Ray who still clung to the childhood he never experienced.

"Frankini?! I wanna see!" Jasper squealed and tried to run to the supercomputer, but when he moved, Schwoz pulled out his laser again and threatened the boy with it. He wanted that job done, otherwise, he'd be the one made to do it. "Hey, hey!"

Now, Jasper looked like an idiot and sometimes, he acted like one, but he worked for a superhero, so, in some ways, he had skills. When Schwoz looked over his shoulder to get a peek of this Frankini man, the curly-haired boy saw his chance and plucked the device from his fingers before the genius could even react. Schwoz squealed at how the tables had been turned, causing Jasper to smirk at the power he had. "Yeah, now you clean up the junk."

"Okay, okay." Schwoz submitted, shuffling to the junk with his hands in the air as Jasper walked over to his friends.

"Come on, come on, play the video!" Henry told Charlotte excitedly, not being able to wait. He couldn't think of why Frankini would want. to talk to them but wow, this. was awesome, an honour, even. 

"Yeah, show us Frankini!" Jasper added, not seeing how Schwoz, also a man of many skills, had pulled a fast one on him and rather than doing as he was told, had scarpered over to the tube pads where he would make his escape.

"All right, give me a second! It's got to download." Charlotte calmed them, making (y/n) frown at how the boys were behaving so weirdly. Just how famous was this guy?

"Hey, Jasper!" Schwoz called out as he lowered a tube, feeling safe inside the thick, glass walls. Everyone turned around and wondered where he was off to, but Jasper just clenched his jaw in irritation. "Up your tubes!... Ha, missed me!" The boy couldn't stand the mockery and fired a green laser at the tubes, but sadly, they were highly blast-resistant and the plasma fizzled out across the barrier, leaving Schwoz unharmed as he left the building. 

"So, uh...who's Frankpini?" Ray asked, leaning against the back of the couch with his arms folded as (y/n) stood next to him in a similar position. They were really showing their age, but then again, they were adults with too much to do and didn't care about whichever weirdo was trending on Twitflash this week. 

"No, it was Franktini, right?" (y/n) corrected him unsurely, turning the kids and clicking her fingers as she tried to make the odd name come back to her. 

"Oh my god!" Jasper groaned with his friends as the adults made them cringe. Of course, they were so clueless, but it was astounding how they lived in the world yet still didn't know who Frankini was. They must kiss and do other gross stuff under rocks. 

"Frankini." Charlotte corrected them in a snappy tone, making (y/n) bite her lip when they got so cutely annoyed. Typical teens getting irate about stupid adults, it was kinda funny. 

"How can you not know?" Jasper gasped, making her chuckle even more and press her forehead into Ray's bicep to suppress it. She composed herself and looked at Jasper with an amused expression, still loving how miffed he and Charlotte looked.

"Because I don't spend all day on the internet. Y'know, 'cause I have a needy boyfriend, bad guys to fight, machines to fix..." (y/n) explained, making Ray look at her with faux-offence. Yeah, he was needy, but he had a hot girlfriend, what guy wouldn't be when they got to have an angel in their bed every night?

"Guys, it's not their fault. It's just 'cause they're old." Oh, poor, poor Henry. He made the gravest of mistakes; he used the o-word. (y/n) was fine, she accepted the fact that even though she was by no means elderly, she wasn't socially classed as hip or cool anymore (turning thirty is a societal death sentence). Ray, however, hated how time was ticking and he still needed to get married, have kids and stay handsome. He didn't want to lose his youth, not yet anyway and to hear his younger friends call him old was a bash to the old ego.

"Excuse me!" The man exclaimed, making Henry realise what he'd done and by the sorry expression on (y/n)'s face, he was digging the hole deeper. He didn't mean "old" as in "old", he just meant not a kid of the internet era.

"What? Oh, I didn't mean, like I didn't mean that you and (y/n) are--" Henry stuttered, trying to make up for his error before he sent Ray into one of his tantrums, but he was too late; the damage had been done. 

"I'm not old! I'm like a kid! I'm like a big kid!" Ray argued in a childish voice, wrinkling his nose and going all rigid. (y/n) could feel a chuckle rising in her throat at the irony of the situation, but she kept it down, fearing that she might make the situation worse. 

"Truer words have never been spoken." She mumbled, making Charlotte smirk slightly. She loved Ray with all her heart and adored his playful side, but she had to confess that when that playfulness turned to petulant tantrums, his attractiveness plummeted.

"Yeah, yeah, I mean, you're young. And (y/n) is, you're both very, very, very, very young." Henry smiled in an attempt to reassure his boss and glanced at (y/n) for help, but she was loving how badly he was handling the situation.

"Actually, I don't really care--" She started, wanting the boy to know that she wasn't offended and understood that his words just came out all wrong, but the big kid next to her didn't see it in quite the same light.

"That's right, I'm young. When I send text messages, I use emojis." Ray carried on, trying to think of all the rad, cool, hip things he did that could be classed as "teenager", but honestly, they just made him look a bit sad. "And I don't use capital letters or decent punctuation...and I have sneakers that light up in the back."

"The more you talk, the less attractive you become to me." (y/n) looked at him with her hands on her hips, which made him shut up. She didn't want to date a man-baby, she wanted her goofy, superhero, hot boyfriend instead.

"Do you want us to tell you who Frankini is?" Charlotte butted in, trying to steer them back to the original point before her boss had a meltdown. 

"...Yes," Ray replied quietly, his hands fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt until his sweet girl caught one and laced her fingers through his. At least he was calm now if a little sulky.

"He's one of the most famous people on the internet," Charlotte explained, highlighting how (y/n)'s guess was right. She had no idea who he was because she wasn't much of a web surfer, just the occasional browser.

"He creates these super funny videos that millions of people watch." Jasper carried on, making the couple nod slightly as they began to build a picture of this 'Frankini' dude in their minds. Weird, rich, wacky, that sort of thing.

"And he lives somewhere here in Swellview." Henry finished and Ray couldn't help but revert into his pettiness. He wanted to uphold his image of a young, spritely superhero, not the thirty-six-year-old grown-up he was.

"Oh-oh, you guys were talking about Frankini! I know who Frankini is! I'm not old." The man's mouth fell into a straight line again as he drove home the idea that he was still in his prime and more than capable of keeping up with these kids.

"Just play the video before he starts again." (y/n) rolled her eyes and gestured at the monitor, so Charlotte pressed a button and pulled up the video. The couple moved closer, with (y/n) standing in front of her boyfriend as his hands came to pull her hips and ass back into him. She sent him a mischievous smile over her shoulder, wiggling her butt slightly as they waited for the video to load, but nothing could prepare them for the madness they were about to watch.

"Emergency, emergency! Holy-ravioli, it's an emergency! Woo-woo, woo-woo, woo-woo, woo-woo! Ahhh!" A very energetic man screeched as he appeared onscreen and flashed a red light into the lense, his head spinning every which way. This must've been Frankini.

"Is he okay?" (y/n) wondered out loud, not ignorant to the fact that despite his shock/confusion, Ray was letting his hands roam her hips and occasionally, her stomach and even higher. She didn't want to move around too much, out of fear that any jostling would alert the kids and gross them out. Thank god, they were standing at the back.

"What has the world come to?" He murmured in her ear, making her giggle and his thumb brushed over the thin material of her dress covering over her hip bone. 

"Just kidding! I'm having a party and you're invited!!" Frankini announced, making the teens scream as (y/n) let her head drop back against her boyfriend's chest. She didn't like the sound of going to something hosted by this eccentric weirdo, but if it made her friends happy, then she'd do it.

"--Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger!" The revelation made Charlotte and Jasper wince whilst Henry celebrated. He was psyched to party with such a huge celebrity, even if he did have to leave his friends behind and take two uninterested adults instead.

"Oh, come on, don't be upset, guys. At least me, (y/n) and Ray get to go. Play, play, play, play." Henry giggled, not seeing how he was rubbing salt into his friend's wounds or how Ray and (y/n) shared a smouldering look of mild irritation that they'd have to go socialise.

"So, my private party's gonna be this Saturday night at the Frankini Club! And there's gonna be snacks and beverages and party games and fresh fruit and a bear and a hammock and cheeses and--ooh, digital fireworks!!" Frankini squealed and danced around his brightly-decorated room as a firework effect burst onto the monitor. 

"What is wrong with that guy?" Ray asked himself. He had to blink several timesto check if he really was seeing some oddball twirling around like he'd had way too much sugar. 

"I don't get how he can speak for so long without taking a breath." (y/n) replied to him quietly, craning her neck upwards so she could give him a subtle smirk. Her boyfriend pressed his lips to hers, wishing to explore deeper and hear some of those noises he loved, but the video kept playing and they were far too intrigued to not listen.

"I really like fireworks. Oh, okay, so see you guys at my party. Text you the address, B-Y-yo'selves andddd...poooh!" The video ended with more fake fireworks and the teens couldn't help but clap its brilliance, prompting Ray to awkwardly clap with them too. (y/n) didn't see the big deal, but let him have his moment.

"Okay, looks like it's gonna be me, (y/n) and Ray, this Saturday--awwww, no, no, no, no, no, god, dang my life!" Henry started in a cheery tone, but his smile dropped when something flashed into his mind and spoiled his mood. Looks like he was double-booked.

"What's up, kid? Why so down-in-the-dumps?" (y/n) asked as she witnessed his sudden change in mood and wondered what had gone so wrong. 

"Ugh, I gotta babysit my dumb sister this Saturday." Henry groaned, pinching his eyes tiredly as he thought about having to skip possibly the greatest party of his night just to stay at home and look after his sister, who in his opinion, was old and sassy enough to look after herself. 

"Your sister, Piper?" Jasper asked, just to be sure. He was Henry's oldest friend and definitely knew how many sisters he had, namely one, who was Piper. Duh.

"No, he means his dumb sister..Bacon. You know, the one who normally lives in the fridge, best friends with the carrots and milk?" (y/n) joked sarcastically, unable to help the sarky comment. Jasper asked a silly question, so he faced her sharp wit.

"Okay, well, that wasn't nice, but since you're my bud, I will babysit Piper this Saturday so you can go to Frankini's party." Jasper looked from the young woman and then to Henry, who appreciated the gesture, but knew that Piper would hate spending all evening with him. Jasper was an ignoramus and his sister would end up. killing him, but how did he cover that up with a small, white lie?

"Oh, thanks, but I don't think my parents are gonna trust one of my friends to watch Piper." He said, quite proud of coming up with it. It was reasonable and believable, meaning that luckily, Jasper bought it. 

"Well, if you want, I'll babysit Piper." Charlotte offered as she stood. up from the computer's chair and Henry's face erupted into a huge smile. Wow, his element of subtly was thrown out of the window as he ignored his previous point and accepted her help.

"You will? Thank you! Oh my god!" He shouted as he rushed over and swept the girl up into a hug, causing Jasper to look at them both disgruntled.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Ray put a hand on his shoulder, making him turn around to see his all-knowing smirk. He'd been in that position before. 

"Okay, Ray, (y/n), looks like it's gonna be you two and me this Saturday night, partying it up with Frankini!" Henry exclaimed as he let go of Charlotte and walked over to the couple, putting his hands on their shoulders as they all smiled, although (y/n) wasn't best excited, more apprehensive. Parties had never been her scene, mostly because she was shy, nervous and a bit of a nerd (mechanics aren't typically social beings).

"Can't wait to spend all night with drunken idiots puking their guts up into plant pots, being forced to dance and in uniform, no less." She commented, folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes. The night was looking less and less dazzling, more deflating.

"Sweet girl, smile for me. This party's gonna be off the hizno." Ray cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb across her cheekbone, settling her nerves. It would be okay, he'd keep her by his side all night, keep her safe, chase away any assholes who couldn't take no for an answer and most importantly, make sure she had fun.

"Yeah...off the what?" Henry agreed, smiling brightly to try and raise her spirits, which helped a little, but they both stopped and looked at Ray. Not again with the "trying to be young" thing.

"The hizno. Y'know, the hizno, yo!" He chuckled, not impressing or convincing his friends any further. He'd clearly made the word up on the spot in an attempt to look cool, but again, he was just appearing desperate. 

"I'm old, but even I know that that's not an expression." (y/n) deadpanned, making his excited face drop. First of all, he didn't like that he'd been rumbled and secondly, he didn't think she was old, she was six years younger than him, for god's sake. If she was old, where did that leave him?

"Yes, it is. I heard some teenagers say it at the mall." Ray lied, causing the teens to pause. They knew he was lying but wanted to catch him out again and educate him on how times had changed. Malls weren't cool anymore.

"We don't go to malls anymore," Charlotte stated, grimacing at even the thought of leaving the comfort of her home. She much preferred to stay home and browse online, ignorant to the fact that the mall used to be the best place for a teen to hang out and have fun.

"We shop online," Jasper added, making Ray rethink his entire argument as they all looked at him. (y/n) didn't like to see him struggle on the spot, but he'd put himself there.

"Uh, that's a lie...and I say that Frankini's party's gonna be off the hizno!" The man ignored their protests and decided that if he kept saying it, the phrase might just happen.

"That's not a thing!" Henry stressed, making his boss's could mood even worse. "It's a thing now! We're doing it live and it's a thing now!"

"Nope, still not a thing," Charlotte commented, not caring if she would face one of his tantrums. Sometimes people need the cold, hard truth, not that Ray would ever accept it.

"The hiz to the no, baby!" He kept shouting, making (y/n) sigh as he started to get away from himself. He was in too deep now and figured that even if he wanted to stop, it would make him seem more foolish.

"Ray, please..." She tried to reach out and take him into her embrace, more than ready to take him to bed and forget this nonsense, but he was relentless.

"The hizzy to the no-zy!" He waved his arms around, making his girl stop mid-movement and chuckle humourlessly at the spectacle he made. Sometimes she wondered how she fell in love with him in the first place...

"Okay, now, you just sound insane." Henry deadpanned, halting the man in his tracks as he finally caved in. He wasn't going to stand there all night and be ridiculed, not when he could be doing other things.

"Well, look, it's already nine o'clock, so we're gonna go to bed," Ray grumbled, reaching for (y/n)'s hand and yanking her towards the sprocket. She was glad that they were about to be alone for the first time since they woke up and happily followed after him.

"Night guys." She waved at the teens, sure that they could shut everything down, tidy up and lock the store before they left. 

"Love you." Henry joked, making (y/n) giggle as saw him make kissy faces at them. His favourite thing to do was tease them, but Ray wasn't really in the mood.

"Maybe I don't wanna be loved by you right now." He yelled over his shoulder as they stepped through the socket, leaving the chuckling teens to chat about the awesomeness of being invited to a Frankini party.

*RED ALERT SMUTTY SMUT STARTS HERE*

"Do you want to be loved by me right now?" (y/n) asked her boyfriend as he stormed down the corridor, his lips pressed into a stern line. He seemed angry, but she hoped that she knew him better than most and under the tantrum, he was still her boyfriend and most importantly, still a guy. 

"After teasing me all night, I'm going to take my time with you, sweet girl." A sharp tug of her wrist and she was pressed against the wall across from their bedroom door, his darkened eyes gazing into hers as his hot breath fanned against her lips. A hand gently rested on her throat, not squeezing, not moving, just motionless, a warning to tell her that he was in charge now after hours of her teasing and running the show.

"As long as you don't do it in your light-up sneakers." She couldn't help but smirk, which turned into a squeak when the hold on her neck tightened ever so slightly and his other hand disappeared under her skirt, immediately running through the dampness between her soft thighs. A gasp tore from her, making Ray chuckle darkly at how she wasn't so cocky now when he had her pleasure in the palm of his hand and at his command.

"Keep that mouth runnin' and I'll leave you here to finish yourself off. We both know that your fingers are never enough, little girl." It was his turn to be smug as he remembered how she'd confessed the secret to him after she'd overstepped the line and been left without his touch. 

"No--not again. Please, captain, I'll be good for you, I've wanted you all night." She begged, running her hands over his shoulders and chest, looking up at him through thick eyelashes, all in an attempt to get him to show mercy. Luckily for her, he wasn't so cruel as to leave her again and with his own need swelling, he prised her off the wall and fumbled to push her through their bedroom door. It slid open with the push of a button and he immediately aimed for the bed, pulling the dress's zipper down before laying her down on the pristine sheets. 

He shrugged the shoulders of the garment off, peeling it down her body until she was left in just her underwear, a lacy number that had been picked out for one purpose - to be taken off by him.  

"This has to go. It's in my way." He mumbled to himself, focusing on the panties since she was already scrambling to undo the bra catch. It was tossed somewhere unimportant and (y/n) laid back to wait for his next move, but the need to see her bare and shivering for him was too much, so when he tucked two fingers under the elastic, she immediately knew what he was going to do.

"Don't you dare--" She warned him, twisting her fingers into his floppy brown hair when he ignored her and tore the flimsy fabric with his bare hands. They weren't particularly expensive or her favourite by any means, but it was tiresome having to buy new sets every month because her boyfriend was impatient and needy. 

"Too late. I suppose you'll just have to start wearing nothing. Or better still, my t-shirts--let me fuck you in those." Ray growled, kneading at her exposed breast and pebbled nipple with his calloused palm. Just the thought of her wearing his clothes or seeing her nude form made his lower half swell and she couldn't help but wrap her legs around his waist as payback. 

"I thought you liked those tiny shorts I wear all the time." She whispered in his ear, making sure to nip at his earlobe as one hand trailed down his chest and then dipped into her slit to feverishly rub her swollen clit. His eyes followed her movements, choking up with her lips released a sweet sigh and her head flopped against the pillows. Her fingers barely teased her wetness, just enough to make him think she was ignoring what he could give her, his pupils dilating with desire and his cock growing desperately hard.

"Shit. Naughty, fucking girl." He spat and began to strip himself of his clothing before she could register what he was doing, flinging them into some unknown corner of the room. Her hands unbuttoned and pulled down his jeans and underwear in one go, licking her lips at the sight of his swollen member. Fuck, he was rock-solid and so perfect, just for her, it was no surprise that she reached out to curl her fingers around the scorching flesh.

"Come on, Ray. Need you to fuck me with this huge cock, been waiting all night." (y/n) cooed, slowing moving her hand up and down and watching as his hips stuttered at her touch. Shit, she knew how to wind him up, keeping her movements slow, just enough to make him simmer, but not enough to tip him over the edge. Her hand stilled before he could mount up any pleasure and a desperate fury reared its head inside him.

"Needy little thing. My perfect girl always needs my attention, every fucking night." He stuttered as he positioned his dripping head against her drenched slit and slowly pushed in. Fuck the foreplay, all the touches and lingering stares had left them desperate and aching; the sweet touches could be left for round two. They groaned in unison, one loving the burn of him stretching her out and the other loving the tightness that enveloped him. Ray leaned on his forearms and dropped his head into the crook of her neck, trying not to lose control prematurely.

(y/n) choked out a cry as he rocked his hips, pushing them fluidly into her in a steady rhythm as his palms rested next to her head and he dipped down to eagerly swallow her moans. Everything became scorching so quickly, his thrusts picking up speed until he was drawing nothing but tiny, breathless sounds from her, one hand exploring her chest until it came to cup her tits, swapping between each one regularly. It shouldn't have been possible to feel that good, but the raw passion swirled with pure love into a mix that made their heads swim from how fast everything had unfolded. 

"Fuck--love you, Ray--so much...even if you are a man-baby sometimes." She whispered into his ear, starting sweet but decided that she couldn't help but throw in the jibe just to rile him up further. And it worked.

"You fucking love pushing my buttons, don't you?" He gasped, moving even faster as he couldn't help but feel the familiar tingle crawling up his spine, signalling that his end was near. Any response died on her lips as he hit into something deep inside her, something that made her moan every time their hips met. Her hands drag up and down his back from the way his heavy thrusts made her body shift up the bed, leaving no scratches, just a sting that made the fire inside him blaze before fading after a few seconds. 

"Fuck--gonna love watching you shake your ass at that d-damn party in your short s-skirt. 'M gonna make sure no one touches what's mine, wanna fuck you again when we get back." His stuttering told her that like her, he was hurtling towards the edge of an orgasm, and using his words to embolden her, she moved her hand into his hair to pull on it and hissed in his ear.

"All yours, don't want anyone else--shit--no one else makes me cum like you." Her words came out like she couldn't stop them, anything that came to mind, anything that might tip him over, she let it out. "Made the suit for you, always wanted you to f-fuck me in it--now you can whenever you want to--" 

A wave of euphoria overcame her, stopping her mindless rabble mid-sentence as Ray tensed and his thrusts stuttered to a halt, grinding up into her and moaning her name huskily as he couldn't believe that someone so pure could be so damn filthy. (y/n)'s body was crushed into the soft mattress as his hips faltered when she squeezed him like a vice and everything went still as his sticky forehead rested against her shoulder. 

He bit into her skin, knowing that the bruise he left there would have long healed over by the time he got to see her illuminated body again, but the gentle pain was enough to give her one last shiver of pleasure as they panted in each other's arms, satisfied and sated for now.

*OKAY, YOU'RE SAFE NOW, i'm (not) sorry*

~Frakini's club~

Frankini's place was in a large building in a secluded part of town; you wouldn't have thought that one of the most famous celebrities in Swellview lived there if it was for the bright purple neon covering the building, but even that didn't give much away. Ray, Henry and (y/n), all dressed up in their spotless uniforms, easily got in through the front door and made their way up the staircases and down the corridors as per their host's instructions. The decor was interesting, to say the least, and everything seemed a bit quiet for a party, and they had no clue if they were going in the right direction.

"Come on. Come on!" Henry hissed to the adults as they took their time walking through the hallway. It's not like they were stalling or purposefully going slow, he was just impatient to meet Frankini and hopefully get his flirting game on.

"We're right behind you." Ray rolled his eyes at how excited his sidekick was getting and made no effort to quicken his pace. He was enjoying taking his time with his girl and trying to keep her calm as they approached what they presumed would be a crowd of people, something she didn't love.

"Yeah, calm your kiwis, kid." She told him, thinking that if she could keep her emotions under control then he could too. 'Brave face, (y/l/n), you've got this.'

"Uh, no, I will not calm my kiwis, 'cause this kid's about to kick it with Frankini!" Henry stressed, leaning in close to the adults and making them frown. Sure, this guy was famous, but underneath all the glitz and glam, he was still a person, nothing to be scared of.

"Okay, so you can't kick it with Frankini if your kiwis are calm?" The superhero bit back, just wanting them to go in, do some socialising, perhaps have a drink or two and then go home, after all, he still remembered how (y/n) said whenever in regards to her super suit.

"I cannot," Henry stated, making Ray sigh. He was usually the dramatic one, not the kid, but (y/n) brushed over their conversation, trying to see if she could find an intercom or something to tell Frankini that they'd arrived.

"Whatever, do you two see a doorbell or something?" She asked, trailing her fingertips over the door and walls, only to find nothing. 

"Gotta be around here somewhere." Henry said and found a speaker thing on the wall, but there was no button, just a mysterious rope behind them with a "yank it!" sign pinned to it. Wow, subtle.

"Look at that." Ray pointed at the rope and nudge his girlfriend so she'd turn around to look at it. She studied it carefully and concluded that whatever it was or did, she didn't trust it.

"What's that?" Henry asked for no particular reason and didn't really need an answer, he just said it out of instinct. Ray didn't pick up on that though." Some kind of rope with a sign on the end of it, that says yank it."

"Captain Obvious strikes again." (y/n) sassed, eyeing the rope suspiciously as Henry turned around to ask the adults for their opinions. It had an instruction, but they were in charge, or Ray was, or at least he liked to think that. "So, what should we do?"

"It's obviously a trap or something. It's got Scooby-Doo trapdoor written all--" The young woman replied, only for her to be interrupted by a voice coming from behind them. "--Yank it."

"What?" Henry gasped as they looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from and they got their answer when whoever spoke again. "Yank it." The voice came from the speaker thing Henry had been poking earlier and the boys looked at each other in contemplation. 

"Guy says to yank it," Ray noted, making (y/n) put her hands on her hips in annoyance. Seriously? After she expressed her distrust, he still wanted to pull it? 

"I'm gonna yank it." Henry nodded. Stupid males, they never listened to her until things went wrong and just to be on the safe side, (y/n) stepped away from them and leaned against the wall. "And I'm gonna stand over here."

Henry gave the rope a strong pull, expecting something weird, wonderful or terrible to happen, but all it did was fall to the floor. A prank, damn it and whoever set it up, AKA, the voice on the intercom, thought it was hilarious.

"Ha, I can't believe you yanked it!" He giggled, making (y/n) groan as she moved away from the wall and scowled. This guy seemed like an immature asshole and the idea of a party was getting better and better.

"You told us to!" Ray snapped, softly intertwining his gloved hand with his girl's so she'd stay calm and not leave prematurely. He didn't want to party without her and the thought of her walking home alone through the dark Swellview streets turned his stomach. She was staying.

"And this signed encourage us," Henry added, his tone emphasising his frustration at how they'd all been taken for fools, something that especially stung his and Ray's egos.

"Well, you know what they always say..." The man started but never finished, leaving the superheroes confused as to what he meant.

"No, what?" (y/n) questioned, quickly losing her patience with whichever idiot they were dealing with. 

"Um..." Okay, this was getting ridiculous. This guy was thick and couldn't even come up with a saying to justify his reasoning, irritating them more.

"What do they say?" Henry pressed, curious to know whether this conversation had been worth it. Couldn't they just go into the party already?

"Oh...come in!" He exclaimed happily and must've pressed a button because the door lifted, allowing them into the room where they assumed the party was taking place. Well, the music was blasting and things looked pretty sick in there as Henry was the first to step in, Ray and (y/n) close behind him.

"How cool is this place? Pretty cool, yeah?" Henry gasped as they all took in the funky decor and wallpaper, including some strange, glowing boxes that fascinated the couple. This Frankini guy had weird tastes, but something seemed off...

"S'aight." Ray shrugged, letting his hand rest on his girlfriend's lower back as she quietly took everything in, roaming the room when something struck her. Were parties always this...empty?

"So this is where Frankini does all of his live streams from?" Ray asked Henry, who nodded whilst (y/n) gulped. She was getting a funny feeling in the bottom of her stomach like they weren't meant to be there. "Yup."

"Guys...I don't like this." She muttered, letting them both see her worried expression, despite the mask concealing her identity. Perhaps it was just her nerves or maybe her gut feeling was right.

"Sweet girl, just relax, everything will be fine." Ray tried to soothe her, but no amount of gentle words could trample down her feeling of fear, the feeling you get when you're being cornered like prey.

"I thought this was meant to be a party. Don't you think it's weird that we're the only ones here?" She looked at both of them with a tight-lipped expression, making their smiles falter. That was weird now that she mentioned it and struck a nerve within them.

"Yeah...Frankini!" Henry yelled, Ray, doing the same as they tried to locate their host. Hopefully, he could hear them above the loud music, or maybe he was a lot closer than they thought. The man himself dropped down from the ceiling like a bat, smirking at how with their backs turned to him, they had no idea he was there.

"Where is he? Are we early?" Henry asked Ray, who pulled out his PearPhone to check the time, but to his confusion, everything should've started by now.

"He said nine o'clock and it's already...nine-o-five." He answered, making the bat-like man behind them giggle as they stood there puzzled. 

"So, where is this guy? This Frankpini-tini-ini guy?" (y/n) questioned, getting annoyed at how they'd gone to the effort of turning up, not to mention how she'd gone the extra mile and done her make-up for the event (something she never did when in uniform), but the jerk hadn't turned up. What host did that?

"I don't know, sweet girl--" Ray's arm slid around her waist, but he and Henry whipped around when they swore they felt something or someone tap them on their shoulders. (y/n) felt nothing, just the slight tingle of breath hitting her exposed neck, a feeling that she wrote off as her imagination.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked them, seeing how Ray instinctively brought her closer and pulled his fists up a little bit like he was preparing for a fight. He was getting that funny feeling too, something here wasn't right. 

"That was weird."

"So weird." Henry and Ray mumbled, freaking her out a little as she took in their peaky skin and tense muscles. They were evidently unnerved by something that she hadn't experienced, although the breathing thing was starting to become more and more worrying as the seconds passed.

"What happened? Come on, tell me!" She insisted, putting her hands on her satin-clad hips and switching her stern gaze from the superhero to his sidekick. 

"You know, generally when you feel someone tap you on the shoulder and you turn around..." Ray spoke cautiously, not wanting to worry his girlfriend, but the news struck a chord in her, setting off the panic anyway.

"...There's a person there" Henry agreed. This was getting weirder and weirder and judging by Frankini's gleeful smirk as he dropped back down and listened to their bewilderment. 

"I felt someone breathing on my neck and I swear--" (y/n) told them, not being able to finish her sentence as she felt the same prickle of hot air on her neck and her friends jumped again. 

"This is freaking me out," Henry mumbled as they all turned around to see nothing again. This wasn't how parties were meant to go and Miss Danger couldn't help but get the sense that it was wisest to just run out of the building whilst she still could.

"Could we be imagining the tapping?" Ray suggested, not wanting to work himself up into a state before he had all the facts, despite the whole "(y/n) being in danger" scaring the shit out of him. 

"How could you imagine something simultaneously, doofus? And I swear the breathing was real---HOLY SHIT!" (y/n) rolled her eyes, only to nearly have a heart attack and cement herself to Ray's side when Frankini picked the perfect moment and dropped from the ceiling. It scared the living daylights out of the heroes, making Henry gasp in shock and Ray clutch to his terrified girlfriend as she stared at the interestingly dressed man before you.

He was wearing a gold-motif outfit and flopped down onto a sofa with a good deal of sass, making Henry applaud his fabulously cruel entrance. Ray and (y/n), on the other hand, went so happy, what was wrong with just walking up to someone and saying hello?

"Yeah! Nice entrance!" The boy laughed and clapped his friends on the back, trying to inspire a similar reaction from them. However, Ray was far too protective over his girlfriend to condone any discomfort caused to her and his flat tone and poor clapping indicated how he wasn't impressed. "Yeah."

"You must be Frankini." (y/n) smiled sourly and spoke from behind gritted teeth and she unstuck herself from her boyfriend's side before straightening her back into a more professional stance. She was in her super suit, she had to stay mature and focused. 

"So, where's the party?" Ray asked the flamboyant guy on the alarmingly metallic sofa, trying to cover up how his girl was one step away from throttling him.

"The what?" Frankini repeated, looking as though he had no clue what they were talking about. Wait a second...

"The party we've dragged our asses here to attend? The one you invited us to, remember?" (y/n) spoke in a low, emotionless voice, folding her arms as she looked down. as the striking man, who seemed to be fuelled by the anger radiating from her. Two can play at that game, dickhead.

"Wait. Are you guys talking about the party that I'm having next Saturday night?" Frankini said but showed no real care for how they'd made a mistake. 

"Next?" Ray reiterated in disbelief, putting his arm around (y/n)'s shoulders as she scoffed. She must've read that invite a million times and was one hundred per cent sure that this was the right date, time, everything. 

"Uh-- We were pretty sure that you said tonight." Henry stated, not wanting to offend such a "prestigious" man, but he trusted in the young woman next time him and knew that she never made mistakes like that. 

Their conversation went no further as the loud, booming voice of the guy from the speaker earlier came bursting into the room with three half-mannequins tucked under his arms. "Frankini! Frankini!" The man in question shot up from his couch and excused himself as the large man came bounding over into the party room, confusing the hell out of the superheroes.

"What is it?" The celebrity asked as the guy juggled all of the mannequins, but straightened up under the watchful gaze of his boss.

"I've got the underwear. Want me to give it to 'em?" The man smirked, making the superheroes look at each other confusedly as to why he was carrying such strange "underwear". They were more like leggings, long and brightly coloured, ranging from blue to pink to purple, but they all had a metallic, shiny lip pattern that made them extra weird. 

"No, Goomer. These aren't the male and female models." Frankini replied to "Goomer" and his words were carefully calculated to inflate Captain Man and Kid Danger's egos. Modelling was right up their streets, a chance to show off how great they were, but Miss Danger was a poorer choice. She was by no means unattractive, certainly not, but she was camera shy and had a degree of modesty that told her that flaunting her assets did her no favours. 

"M-M-Male models?"

"What?" The boys stammered, wanting to hear that again since it pandered to their big-headedness, causing (y/n) to flick their heads in an attempt to keep them sane. She didn't like the thought of undressing in an unknown place and then modelling underwear, even if it was weird, in front of strangers. It caused dread to settle in her stomach and despite having her fearsome, superhero boyfriend by her side, the thought still terrified her.

"This is Captain Man, his girlfriend, Miss Danger and Kid Danger." Frankini introduced them to his assistant, who suddenly clocked on. "Ohhhh, yeah."

"This is my obtuse assistant, Goomer." He told them, making the three wave at the man who seemed to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic but friendly.

"I used to hang out with Frankini's sister. But that's a long story." Goomer smiled but despite the friendly welcome, (y/n) still wanted to leave. This whole thing was a farce, a waste of time, a setup even and she wanted out.

"Goomer, what made you think that Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger were male and female models?!" Frankini questioned, his voice sounded a little rehearsed and their suspicions were raised when she saw the celebrity nudge his friend to make him read something off of the palm of his hand.

"Uhhhh, because they're so handsome and per-hiscally fit. And Miss Danger is a real pretty lady, who you've always liked for her nice smil-ee and great butt." Goomer read the smudged ink badly, causing Henry and Ray to smile at the truth being spoken.

"Well, first of all, thank you very much."

"We do get that a lot...wait, what?" Well, the man did smile until he choked at someone else talking about his girlfriend's ass. Yeah, it was great, perfect, incredible, a top-notch butt, whatever, but such brash talk made her uncomfortable and that jarred against his stroked ego.

"What do you need models for, male or female?" (y/n) asked the man quietly, her arms pulled up to her chest like she wanted to hide away. Suddenly, the uniform seemed a little smaller than usual and she'd do anything for a giant turtle-neck to cover any bare skin.

"Well, because of my internet fame, I started my own business and this...is the first product!" Frankini explained, dipping and spinning his body as he did. He twirled towards the mannequins that Goomer had set down, showing the superheroes his so-called underwear. 

"Partial mannequins?" Henry knitted his eyebrows together, not getting the correlation. 

"No, silly...these! Frankini-bottoms!" He snapped the underwear's elastic as he held a mannequin in his arms. It looked comfortable sure, but (y/n) was certain that her usual cotton sets were much better and more normal.

"A new revolution in men and ladies' underwear!" Goomer added like he was trying to sell the undergarments at a market and it worked on Ray and Henry.

"Wow, nice! Longer than traditional underwear."

"I see that. I see that now! Brightly coloured." They complimented the underwear whilst (y/n) preferred to stay silent, only giving the more feminine leggings a few glances. 

"Thanks, you guys. And, believe me, I totally get that you guys are way too important to wanna do male and female modelling. Pfft." Frankini commented, trying to dig deep and find that soft spot that would convince the heroes to put on the underwear and it looked like he'd have to work even harder to persuade Miss Danger.

"Well, I'm not saying that we want to, but if it would help you out...I would do it." Ray replied, Henry agreeing with him all the way, which made the young woman standing with them exhale strongly. One of these days, they'd get told to fall off a cliff because they looked so good doing it and then they would listen, but she wouldn't be around to pick up the pieces.

"Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! Goomer, pinch me!" The guy squealed and his assistant followed the order, giving his boss a strong nip on the back of his arm. Frankini seemed to be a bit of a wuss, 'cause the pinch made him squeak and whine. "Ow, not so hard!"

"Yeah, 'scuse me, Mr Frankpini?" (y/n) piped up, raising her hand to try and catch his attention as Henry cringed at how she got his name wrong, only it wasn't an accident or slip of the tongue.

"Frankini." He corrected her under the disguise of a cough, not that she cared. This guy was weird and didn't trust him or his underwear.

"Whatever. Mr Frankweener, I'm not really much of a modelling person and for that reason, I'm going to have to decline your kind offer." She smiled, trying her best to be polite but the passive-aggressiveness seeped its way into her words but Frankini didn't care.

"But, sweetie, I'd love to see you in my underwear." He pouted, trying to seem upset, but he and Goomer had a strange look in their eyes and their gaze settled on her soft thighs or curves, telling her that his words were empty.

"I'm sure you would, Frankenstein, but I only show my underwear to my boyfriend, sorry." She smirked, sensing that Ray was getting cocky behind her and it spurred her on even more. Yeah, that's right, he was her boyfriend and the only one who got to see her like that, the only one she trusted to show her vulnerability to, not this human glow stick.

"Oh, sweetie, that can be arranged all in good time." Frankini rubbed his hands together, making her frown as she tried to analyse the hidden meaning in those words. Whatever they meant, she didn't like it.

"What you saying, Frankfurter?" She questioned, folding her arms and jutting her hip out with as much sass as she could muster, but this was Frankini she was dealing with and he had just enough attitude to fight back. He matched her glare with a soft, playful smirk as if he was daring her for a fight like he enjoyed her feisty side. 

"So...you want us to put on your underwear?" Henry butted in, cutting through the tension as Ray gently took hold of (y/n)'s elbows and pulled her back into his chest. He didn't know quite what had happened there, but he recognised the look of a guy being interested in a girl for whatever reason or motive and knew he didn't like it.

"Yes, yes, um, Goomer? Take them to the changing rooms, where they can put on the Frankini Bottoms and we can start the photoshoot!" The celebrity instructed at a fast speed, all the words tumbling from his chapstick-covered lips as he turned to Miss Danger again. "I hope to catch your best side,  sweetie."

"Okay, fellas, swee-I mean, lady, grab a partial mannequin and follow mee!" Goomer announced, making Ray, Henry and a reluctant (y/n) take up their clothes. 

"I don't want to do it." (y/n) reiterated to her boyfriend, hoping that he'd help her out and order Frankini to let her sit this one out, but he didn't want to disappoint Henry's rival and even though his primal instincts were telling him to take care of her and run, his inflated ego was telling him it would be fine.

"Relax, sweet girl. Sounds legit." He smiled, dragging her into the changing rooms where they split off from Henry and entered their own private space. Well, that was something, at least. The way those creeps were carrying on, she wouldn't have been surprised if they asked her to unclip her skirt in the middle of the room. 

~

(you have no idea how long it took me to find these damn leggings)

"I look stupid." (y/n) pouted once she'd slipped off her skirt and pulled the underwear on. It was hideous and clashed with the red and blue satin of her bulletproof bodice and the sheen of her boots, not that Ray was bothered. He just loved how all of her curves were on show and took a moment to appreciate her figure.

"You look hot." He answered honestly, speaking the first thing that came to his mind. The blush that spread across her cheeks made it worth it, but still, there was that lingering sense of apprehensiveness in her tummy.

"I don't want to look hot in front of Frankini. He's weird." The young woman told him honestly as he pulled his tunic back over the leggings and readjusted his belt. Yeah, okay, he was a little jealous at how two other guys were gonna see every rise and fall of her body, plus her "great ass", but he was sure that he, Captain Man, could keep her safe and let's be real, Goomer didn't seem like a lady-stealer. And Frankini, well, he wasn't (y/n)'s type.

"You're with me, it's okay." He promised her and held her hand as they exited the changing rooms, meeting up with Henry on the way out. He too loved his ridiculous new pants and couldn't help but swagger down the corridor back to the party room.

"Heyyyy! These Frankini Bottoms are awesome!" Ray shouted happily as they interrupted a heated conversation between their host and his assistant. They quickly snapped out. of whatever they were talking about and (y/n) just focused on getting these stupid photos done so she could go home.

"Yeah, man! Really amazing underwear." Henry complimented it too, wiggling his butt to feel how comfortably stretchy they were. He could see people wearing them underneath their pants or not. 

"Yeah, woo. Fantastic." (y/n) cheered pathetically, trying to inspire a little excitement in herself, but it just wasn't happening. This whole setup made shivers run up and down her spine, like something bad was about to happen.

"Thanks, fellas, sweetie." Frankini grinned at them, especially Miss Danger, who found her skin crawling as he kept calling her that. Why couldn't he just call her Miss Danger? It was clean, simple and professional.

"I have a question." She announced, throwing her head back in annoyance as Ray placed a hand on her hip with the sole intention of maybe letting it drift southwards if an opportunity presented itself.

"Yes, sweetie?" Again with the sweetie. It was nauseating.

"Why does this underwear have little batteries in it, Frankincense?" She asked, running her fingertips along the hard cases she could feel stitched under the lining. He better have a good explanation for that because, otherwise, it looked very suspicious.

"Yeah, we've never worn underwear with batteries in them," Ray added, seeing where she was coming from with that. He'd noticed them when he'd been. running his hands all over her hips and wondered why on earth they were there.

"Well, I could answer that question, or, you guys could start being male and female models," Frankini whispered into the boys' ears, making sure that since she was stood in the middle, (y/n) could feel his hot breath wafting over the nape of her neck. The idea of being a model sounded too good for Henry and Ray to pass up, so they both readily agreed, leaving (y/n) to just sigh and follow them since she didn't want to be left alone in this dump.

"That's what I like to hear! All right, you three models, go stand over there on your mark." Frankini instructed them, making the heroes walk over to the spot where they'd be posing. Goomer wheeled out some weird monitor that Frankini was eager to receive, but Henry and Ray had never seen it before.

"What's that?" The boy asked, curious to know what photographic doohickey it was. (y/n) could swear she'd seen something like it before, maybe with Schwoz or maybe even in college but she just couldn't think.

"This is a Domitron." He told them, the name meaning. nothing to Ray and Henry, but it didn't sound like a camera to the young woman next to them.

"Yeah, it's a domitron."

"Yeah, no, I was about to say that, my uncle has a couple of those, yeah." (y/n) stayed deep in thought as the boys pretended to understand the science behind whatever that thing was, but Frankini was all too happy to use it and then explain the technical specifics.

"So you boys know what a Domitron does?" He asked them, loving how cute little Miss Danger was actually taking a moment to try and figure each component out, but her colleagues were just blindly trying to look cool and intelligent until they finally admitted that they had no clue what a domitron was.

"Frankly, we're just excited to be male and female models!" Ray exclaimed, speaking for himself and Henry since (y/n) was somewhat lost in thought. D--decibel, d--density, d-deliquesence, no, no, no. 

"Why don't I demonstrate the Domitron?" Frankini suggested and Ray and Henry agreed since they heard no advice or protests coming from the wise woman between them. If she thought something was wrong, surely, she would said something by now...

"All right, why don't we give 'em a few good action hero poses?" Ray whispered into his sidekick's ear, making the boy smirk. He could definitely do a few of those.

"Uh, yeah, let's do like--" Henry started throwing fists and puffing up his muscles so he looked like the cool superhero he was, but Frankini wasn't bothered. He was just getting his machine ready for the big finale.

"And here goes Frankini!--" He smiled, pressing a few buttons and raising the power levels for the Domitron to work and seeing him do so triggered a flashback in (y/n)'s mind. Oh, god, a Domitron, now she knew what it was.

"Wait!--" She yelled, but it was too late. Frankinihad pressed the button and energy flowed into their body through the pants. The superheroes were defenceless as their muscles turned rigid and they couldn't move, powerless to stop that bastard from controlling them.

"Ugh, what? Why I can't move?" Henry groaned, barely able to speak but he used all of his strength to say something, anything. The underwear was illuminated and tingling against his skin and the kid was beginning to. get the sense that this wasn't any ordinary photoshoot.

"Yeah, I can't move either. Miss Danger, are you okay?" Ray didn't care that he was frozen in his place; in times of emergency, his mind always drifted to one person, his sweet girl, who was feeling a little stupid for not realising the truth sooner.

"Bombarded atomic particles sending electronic waves into the body to control the brainwaves. That's how a Domitron works." She mumbled, everything fitting into her head like she'd figured out the last piece of the puzzle and Frankini grinned at how clever this one was.

"Oh, a scientist! I knew we liked you for a reason! Now, gentlemen, lady, you can squat-waddle!" Frankini smiled and the superheroes gasped as their knees bent all on their own and they began to waddle around the floor like ducks or idiots. Mainly idiots.

"Wha--why am I squat-waddling?" Ray gasped, trying to fight for control over his body but everything was numb and unresponsive. He just had. to go with it.

"Because, as your little girlfriend explained, I can control you now!" Frankini answered gleefully, loving how he had the greatest fighters in Swellview obeying his every command and in the palm of his hand to humiliate, hurt or destroy. Control was his and he liked it.

"Well, I don't want to squat-waddle," Henry argued, feeling like a moron as they hopped around the floor. 

"Okay!" Frankini didn't care how they stood, he just loved toying with them. He swiped up on his control panel and the three shot up onto their tip-toes, a position which was just as uncomfortable, perhaps even worse.

"All right, I don't know what your---" Ray began one of his Captain Man threatening speeches, but the crazed celeb chose that he didn't need to hear it. It was Frankini time. 

"No more talking! Instead, why don't we sing some pretty scales?" He suggested, pressing a few buttons and suddenly, Henry, Ray and (y/n) were vocalising against their will. "Ha! Keep singing, Miss Danger sounds beautiful!"

"She is a really pretty lady!" Goomer smiled dumbly. He and his boss had always had a little competition to see who the heroine would like best; Frankini thought she was a fashion icon whilst Goomer believed she was just a nice person.

"Yes! I have done it! I'm sorry, Captain Man, Kid Danger and my sweet Miss Danger, but I'm afraid you're my puppets now! And I'm the puppet's master!" How does that old saying go? The eyes are the windows to the soul and in this case, that was very true. Despite being completely frozen and unable to move, the heroes' eyes gave everything away. They were wide and fearful like they were just screaming out for help as Goomer tapped his boss on the arm.

"What?!" Frankini snapped, wanting to know what was so important that he was being interrupted in his moment of glory for it.

"Can they hear what you're saying?" Goomer asked, by no means a scientist. He had no idea how this all worked, to be honest, he didn't really want to be a criminal. He was just the heavy-lifter and easily led.

"Yes, they can hear me. They just can't respond unless I allow them to." Frankini explained, dumbing it down for the stupid man. Of all the. people he could've had, he picked this moron.

"Well, shouldn't you explain to them why you're doing all this? That's what they always do in the movies!" The assistant proposed, making his boss sigh. 

"All right. You see, boys, sweetie, the world record for the greatest number of people watching a live stream is nine-point-eight million. And I am going to smash that record by live-streaming a video of the three of you doing all sorts of silly, embarrassing activities!" The psycho giggled at the thought of stardom and swiped on his control panel to make them say something nice.

"Great plan!

"I love you Frankini, you're so awesome!"

"Is that all?" Henry, (y/n) and Ray said, one after the. other, each of them sounding like robots.

"I'm so glad I made you ask that!" Frankini grinned, loving how he could make them say or do anything. He'd always wanted to hear Miss Danger sing his praises, but this was just phenomenal, better than he could have ever imagined. "To make sure we have as many views as possible, I'm going to promise everyone a special treat." 

"What's the special treat?" Goomer questioned, even though he'd already been told the plan a million times. He just did it to impress Frankini.

"Hold on one second." The man told his guests and gestured for his assistant to come over. Goomer bent over so he could hear his boss, who just angrily shouted in his ear, totally unimpressed. "You already know what it is!!"

"But I'll say it anyway...when we get to ten million viewers, the three of you are going to tear off your masks and reveal your true identities to the world!" Ray's fury could be seen on his face and Henry and (y/n) were looking quite pale as they heard the news. Their identities were the most precious things they owned as superheroes and if they were revealed, all manner of danger and death threats would be unleashed upon them and their families. 

"For dinner, can we have pork and beans?" Goomer asked, not seeing how much of a special moment this was for Frankini. No one had ever come this close to hurting Captain Man and his sidekicks and with her superhero life in tatters, Frankini saw no reason why Miss Danger wouldn't come work for him as his best model/co-star. "Yes and yes!"

~

The cameras were set up. Everyone was watching. It was time. To get everything set up for the big moment, Frankini had arranged for his new friends to do a few humiliating tasks before they revealed who they were, just to draw in the crowds.

"Now, how about a little pre-live stream fun? Do you boys and sweetie like musical theatre?" Frankini asked them, not like they would reply. All they could do was die on the side as h forced them to dance like ballerinas, Ray and Henry flanking (y/n) as he took up her hands and began to lead her through the dance. Okay, this was getting weird.

"From the top! Three little maids from school, are we. Pert as a schoolgirl can be, filled to the brim with girlish glee, three little maids from school. Everything is a source of fun, nobody's safe for we care for none! Life is a joke that's just begun! Oh, three little maids who are all unwary, come for the ladies, seminary, free from a genius, tutelary...three little maids...three little maids...from school...tee-hee!" 

The dance ended with Frankini and (y/n) kissing each other's cheeks chastely, a move that set an angry fire burning in Ray's stomach. They felt like idiots, having danced in front of thousands, pretending to be schoolgirls, but the worst thing was having to watch that glow-in-the-dark bastard lead his sweet girl in a waltz whilst Ray sang backup. 

There was no way out, no one coming to help and no chance of Frankini changing his mind. All the heroes could do was gaze into the camera and hope that someone, somewhere could see that they were in grave danger.

[tylrgalpins]

so thoughts on the ted lasso finale since you reblogged to say you enjoyed it.

i'm going to put them undercut just cause it will contain spoilers!! but yes, i did like and enjoy the finale.

so my thoughts on the ted lasso finale, why I enjoyed it and why I felt the majority of the characters ended up where they should be.

so first let's address ted because so many people didn't like the fact he went back to kansas and left his found family just for henry. I saw loads of people say it was very out of character for ted but I got to disagree.

in s2 we found out that a lot of ted's issues and struggles stemed from the fact his father committed suicide when he was only 16 and that resulted in him feeling like his father abandoned him.

with ted having carried that all his life I understand why he felt he needed to go home to be with his son and be more active in his life. he never wanted henry to feel like he had abandoned him and so he went home to be with him even if it meant sacrificing his life in richmond. ted put his son first. and yes, it's nice to think 'well Henry could come to England' but realistically, to uproot his life like that and take him away from everyone in his life would be a lot for a teenager to go through.

Now let's talk about Rebecca.

I know loads of people are angry about tedbecca, which personally I don't ship so maybe that changes my opinion but I generally don't think the fact them two not getting together spoilt her story or her arc.

To me, the entire arc of Rebecca was for her to finally stop caring about Rupert and what he thinks, to get out of his hold and actually realise how much she loves and care for the club.

And she did that, she stopped caring about beating rupert and cared about the team instead. she realised how much good she had done with the club and how important it was to her and how important she was to the club.

That was her story arc done, and to me it was satisfying.

I know tedbecca shippers are upset and yes it sucks when your ship doesn't happen but to me there was no way they could have worked. ted needed to go back to henry, and rebecca needed to stay. imagine how angry everyone would have been if rebecca gave it all up to be with ted. just look how much everyone hates ross & rachel for the exact same reason.

So the roy/jamie/keeley part.

So this was maybe the part i was least happy about but also I don't think it was that bad.

I loved roy & keeley and it sucked so much that they didn't end up together but I do feel that was best for the characters at this moment.

they broke up because roy didn't feel worthy and then he did nothing to help change that mindset. we finally saw him making strides in the last few minutes and i do feel he needs to sort himself out before him & keeley give it another go because at the moment nothing has changed.

I also kinda liked that Keeley ended up single, for the entire series she's pretty much always had a partner. I like that she's decided to focus on her career for a while.

Sure it would've been nice if they had done the previous two bullets throughout season 3 but they didn't, and I think they are important for the relationship to work.

Now jamie, i do largely want to ignore the comment he made about keeley because he's made the best character progress of the season and I love him. at the same time, while the comment was out of line, i do sort of think it's on brand. a lot of the roy/jamie friendship is based on trying to out do each other and I just don't think jamie thought before he spoke which I also thought was on brand for jamie. that said I don't agree with the stuff he said.

I still love jamie and i don't think that one comment ruins his entire redemption.

other stuff.

I was really happy colin got to kiss his fella even if we all saw it coming. i've really enjoyed his storyline and I thought it was done well.

I am really pleased with where the team ended up at the end of the season.

I loved that sam got to play for nigeria.

i've seen a few people say they hated that nate didn't really move forward, especially as he came back to richmond as a kitman. but i felt this was the whole point of his story. he reached the top and it sucked for him, he lost everything but then realised that actually, that didn't matter anyway.

YES for roy kent as manager.

a little gutted they didn't end up winning the whole fucking thing.

happy with where trent crimm ended up.

loved that beard stayed but not so much that he married jane.

i think that covers everything but come talk to me about anything you want regarding the final.