#and how she couldn't do that stuff for various reasons and was worrying about what would happen to me if it was bad

[defiant-firefly]

I know it's strike days now so there's a huge focus on boosting Palestinian voices, but I just wanted to share that we finally got my mum in to be checked for cancer today and the doctors said there's nothing to worry about! She's in the clear! Mum's gonna be okay! The relief is HUGE you've no idea!!!

[eosphoria]

quirkless teacher izuku, running out on his class because kacchan got kidnapped again. And just because he's quirkless doesn't mean he's still not fearl and protective of kacchan.

No cuz imagine if Deku found his purpose in teaching, as a way to keep on going even if quirkless. And his selflessness and poor skills to take care of himself kick out even as a teacher. He does not miss a day in school, he'll go with a fever, with leftover pain from his old injuries. He'll be there no matter what because his students need him.

But one day at school he notices people murmuring and shushing when he passed by. He got antsy but he also paid no mind, there's too much to do!!!

Unless he hears one of the last year students say Dynamight's name. Izuku thinks he heard wrong. Maybe it was all might instead of him. And if it was all might, yes he would be worried, but he might just take some fruits and sweets to his hero and that's it.

But izuku's heart sinks, because the reaction of his students is too damn obvious and he seems almost apologetic. What is it. Please someone tell him what happened.

He never was as happy as right now for a "problem child" as aizawa called them, because she was brutally honest and told him that Dynamight has not been seen since his last mission, and the last radio communication they had with him, had clear noises of struggle and pain.

Izuku might not have OFA anymore. But something clearly ignited in him, and he was never this fast. Not even with a quirk. Cuz when he had it, he wasn't able to save katsuki.

Izuku had told his students, about how his journey as a hero started because of his body moving on his own. They had never seen it in person, because back then they were still little. But now classes had been stopped because of a raging green haired teacher running through the hallways to leave without a notice or word of any kind.

He tried calling Dynamight, he tried calling everyone that was on that mission. But dynamight's phone was the only one turned off, instead of beeping and going to voicemail.

He was frantic, unstoppable, until being tied by aizawa who had a mixture of annoyance and nostalgia to see his student, now coworker, acting like this. He thought for a second on how to get through this rabid man who was muttering to let him go, let him go to help him, let him go to...

"what can you even do? Do you have that little faith in him?"

Izuku was breathing so fast that he was breathless, he choked up and only could say no with his head while still trying to get out of aizawas grip.

Aizawa thought that his students couldn't see izuku like that, and he could not let him go home because the idiot would certainly go to find Bakugo so he tied him as tightly as he could and promised him to get in touch with dynamight's team so he could give any update to izuku.

Izuku was spiralling, for various reasons. He still had the memory of katsuki's corpse on the field. He felt lonely without OFA but now he felt helpless.

Where could he be. What is he doing.

Is he not going to be capable of ever helping or saving bakugo?

But aizawa was right, he had to have faith in him. He had to have faith in his hero, in the one who again and again has done amazing stuff and came thru the other end alive, even in the most ridiculous scenarios.

"he'll be fine, he'll be fine, please be fine" the muttering continued for hours.

It was now dark, and aizawa had not returned as he was also busy with his class and izuku's class. Deku was swaying himself, while tied up still, to calm himself a bit and wait for answers.

"where is he?!?" He heard, it was still low but soon enough it was a loud and strong voice that he recognized and made him choke up. Dynamight. "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING WAY WHERE THE FUCK IS HE." Dynamight was alive. Deku was not believing his ears though, he had to see him.

The students in their dorms were able to hear the screams, and were still very much confused after their teacher went missing for the entire day and now one of the pro heros was making a scene.

Deku tried to move but the hunger and emotional turmoil had gotten him exhausted and now he just wanted to bawl his eyes out.

But he finally saw him, the relief of hearing him had gone away. Dynamight was injured. Seriously injured. Not dead, wonderfully, but his suit was ripped. He was dirty with mud and blood, and had a slight limp to his movements. He had awful dark bags under his crimson eyes, that were still sparkling as they did when he used cluster. "Why were you calling? What the fuck happened and why did old aizawa had to tie you up? Answer me dammit"

What do you mean why was he calling, WHERE HAD HE BEEN. WHY IS HE IN THIS STATE. WHY HAD HE GONE MIA AND WHY COULD NO ONE GIVE HIM A FUCKING ANSWER.

But katsuki was too busy thinking that izuku needed him, and when he found out that this fucking nerd was searching for him, he spent the last bits of his energy in a sudden escapade throwing all their strategy and planning through the window. The villains were thankfully caught, but all of the evidence they needed had been destroyed because Blondie right here had decided to explode everything and anything to come over here.

Seems like they'll keep to misunderstand each other, and of course they didn't talk about this on their way home, as aizawa told them to deal with their fucking mess and leave him alone.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Young Master Shield's Chapter 209

TL;DR - Lily worries about failure and disappointing her family. Everyone reassures and supports her. Cale meets academy staff and is overwhelmed by the welcome. Effric keeps saying stuff that makes Cale embarrassed. Sui and Alberu laughing at Cale's situation. A wanderer gatecrashes the event.

Lily's Worries The first quarter of the chapter was about Lily. She was happy that her brothers were attending, but also worried about her future. Like what if she failed? Fortunately, everyone was supportive of her.

CH said with a sincere and gentle smile that he couldn't study and was bad at it. Basen told her that he was bad at swordsmanship. And Cale told her that it was fine to fail. Her family would not be disappointed in her even if she failed. Awww~ 🥰

Effric's "Attacks" on Cale The entire chapter after Lily's part was so hilarious. Effric, the president of Roan Academy, dealt several blows on Cale that made him feel so embarrassed. And Raon's comments that his human's eyes kept shaking added to the fun. 😂

Effric: *bows at a 90 degree angle* It's an honor to meet you, LORD CALE! Cale: ... Various deans from other departments: IT'S AN HONOR TO MEET YOU! Raon: Human, your eyes are shaking! Effric: A lot of people wanted to hear your speech, and we barely managed to reduce it from the tens of thousands who wanted to. Cale: (Huh? How many thousands?!) Effric: We cleared all schedules today for your speech! Hahaha! Raon: Human, your eyes keep shaking! Effric: I'm sure you'll be a great role model for the students. And for us adults too! Hahaha! Raon: Human, why is your smile like a shrivelled persimmon? Effric: I am looking forward to it, Lord Cale. No, Commander Cale. Hahaha! Cale: ...Yes... I'll do my best...

Cale: *sees the academy plaza* Effric: What's the matter? Cale: It reminds me of the capital's plaza. Effric: You're right. It was modeled after the capital's plaza. Cale: *freezes* Effric: *smiles* I guess you remember that time. Cale: ...Pardon? Effric: Where the legend began. Cale: *freezes again* Effric: *talks more about Cale's shield legend in the capital plaza* Cale: *awkward smile*

Embarrassed Cale Next part was funny. The way to the podium had a red carpet laid on it, and Cale felt embarrassed walking on it while thousands of eyes were watching him. Raon's comments weren't helping him either, especially the one about how Sui kept laughing for some strange reason. Cale could only mentally curse and hold it in. 😂

Cale was dressed in his black commander uniform, so the students were very excited. And when Cale met eyes with a knight student, the "Shield" chant began and spread all over the plaza. Cale was embarrassed again, and Raon made it even funnier again.

Raon said that Alberu had arrived and was laughing out loud at Cale... 🤣🤣🤣 Poor Cale... 🤣🤣🤣

We did get some thoughts on Cale about his past. His KRS self found school life as dull, and he found speeches boring, so he decided to keep his speech short. And also a line about original Cale not having gone to school because he was busy acting like a trash.

Speech Curse is Real We were all expecting the speech, right? Unfortunately, Cale's speech curse is back! 😂 Anyway, we find out that CJS actually headed back to report to GoD after his time on the Central Plains. Cale had messaged GoD, asking to send CJS and reporting about his finding of the Five-Colored Bloods being like wanderers, but GoD ghosted him... 😂

As for the speech curse...

Cale to the students: Nice to meet you. Raon: Human, CJS is here! Cale: (Okay, I just greeted them...what now?) Raon: CJS said it was urgent! He said he could sense another wanderer nearby! Water AP: The sky is strange. Cale: *looks up the sky and sees an incoming black dot* Cale: (Is that a person? A wanderer? No, why is this always happening to me?) Cale: Damn it.

Ending Remarks I loved today's chapter. Reading about an embarrassed Cale is so fun~! 😂 And the speech curse at the end! 🤣🤣🤣 Given the chapter title, I guess we'll see the return of Cale's shield legend next chapter. I can't wait for Friday to come!

[moonlight-tmd]

How would the Bumblebee ships work in the Shattered Glass reality.

I'm not too sure what Shattered Glass is but i suppose i can try?

I've seen some takes on that by others- most often i see Bee being depicted as a total opposite of himself so i will go with this too. Bee's usual happy-go-lucky, overconfident attiture gets switched up with a shy and fearful one. He's a scaredycat and always always does what he's told to do to avoid the punishment.

I imagine his team is not very nice to him, they're the main reason he's suffering. Bulkhead isn't even friends with him and basically got stuck with him during boot camp and somehow his job. Optimus is mostly silent and ceases any insupordination with violence. Ratchet has been kicked out for unethical practice on patients and still does it sometimes on folks that aren't his team. At least Sari is your typical hurt emo kid that got mistreated by her father, so she and bee kinda stick together. But still, you can imagine ProwlBee isn't very happy; Prowl is an arsonist and a manipulator, he speaks softly only to get you to follow him and then stab you in the back. He saw Bee as an easy target and pretends to love him when in reality he only sees him as another one of his toys. Bee is very naive and believes everything he says, even if he physically hurts him he always comes back cuz he thinks this is the best he can get.

Now, since the Autobots are the evil ones, Decepticons are the heroes that will save the yellow princess. ShockBee; Shockwave was send to spy on the Autobots under the disguise of Longarm. He wasn't very good at being mean or not showing much emotions which got him some suspicious looks. Then he met Bee, the little bot whose Spark was nearly literally pouring out of him from sadness and suffering. He talked to him and they kept in contact in secret, but then after he got assigned to the repair crew, Optimus found his little communicator and broke it and beat him up. Longarm suspected somethign has happened to he volunteered to find him and Megs. And sure enough, Earth was the place. He was so happy to see Bee- but Bee seemed to not even want to look at him, not talk at all. He tried his best to get him to open up again but to no avail... even so the final straw was pulled when he saw Bulkhead trying to punch him dead while they were investigating some Decepticon signal (cuz Shockwave couldn't sit still in the autobot mode). He jumped out and nearly offlined said giant and took Bee with him, all while making sure the big bot saw him and would say he was kidnapped instead of a traitor. After that Bee was brought to Decepticon base to keep safe. Shockwave revealed himself to be his good friend Longarm and Bee, after a long period of holding back, caved in and told him everything while being held in a hug. From then on Shockwave takes care of Bee and teaches him all the fun stuff he gets to do now that he's not with his team anymore. Sari also gets pulled with him once Megatron onlines again and she can have the caring and supportive father she always wanted.

Now onto BlitzBee, the very popular choice; Bee and Blitz don't meet until they are on Earth, although i think Shockwave wold tell Blitz things from his job for fun therefore he learns about the existance of the little yellow mini. Blitzwing is very much different- his Icy (Joy) personality is very cheery and positive if not a little unsettling, Hothead (Scaredycat) is worried 24/7 and will cry if you yell at him, and Random (Blunt) is the serious strategic deadpan of the three, mostly in charge while in combat. He's also the one that will hold emotions to let them out in a gruesome way on either an object or the enemy. I imagine he met Bee while he was out at night and caught the scout crying alone,he managed to talk with him and noticed all the various dents he had on him. They became friends rather quickly and before either knew they fell in love. But just a couple of meetings after the confession Bee has disappeared, he didn't come to the spots neither he was out while they fought. Something must've happened to him and he knew it. But then he saw him sitting there in the cons' medbay being treated by Blackarachnia after the fight and he could not have been happier. Turns out Shockwave has found him imprisoned deep within the autobot base and took him from there, the autobots said he was kidnapped by decepticons which wasn't true so he looked. Bee told him that the others somehow found out about their relationship and self-sentenced him to tortures instead of typical death penalty for treason. Blitzwing listened while set on his blunt face and only cradled his little love when he was all good to go and rest. Bee and Blitz are by all means the cutest couple there could every be, Blitz is so very caring and does everything to make sure Bee feels safe and loved. And since i can't leave the child out of this, Blitz flies and rescues Sari from the tower, upon both Bee's and Megatron's request. They're all one big happy family.

I think you could make BlitzBee and ShockBee into one with this but i won't go into it further. Anywho, hope this was what you were looking for!

[fl3shm4id3n]

Bₑᵢₙg ₐ 'bᵢₘbₒ' ₐₙd ᵢₙ ₐ ᵣₑₗₐₜᵢₒₙₛₕᵢₚ wᵢₜₕ: ₑₑₜᵤ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴇᴇᴛᴜ x ꜰᴇᴍ! ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Tw: mentions of humans and that's it.

Masterlist

Who would of thought Eetu would end up being with a human. The first time he saw you, he thought you were a flower. How could he not? You were decked out in pink and somewhat blended in with the flowers. That's how he began to call you syulang, because you his flower.

For a long time, Eetu disliked humans. For the harm that they've done. Who wouldn't? He thinks that humans destroy everything they touch, but when you came into his life, he had a change in mind. Maybe not all humans are evil like the RDA. After all, you were from the resistance.

Eetu has never had a mate, so this whole relationship thing is new to him. Specially being with a human, he knows nothing about humans, but he is willing to learn about you. He loves to learn new things, specially when it comes to you.

He likes to watch you do your makeup. You had to explain to him what makeup was. He thought it was human war paint, but when you explained the difference, he understood. He loved watching you apply on your glittery eyeshadows, blush, eyeliner, and put on your fake lashes.

Half of the time, he is asking what product was what. He really likes highlighter for some reason. He asks if he could put it on you. At first he tried using your makeup brush, but it was too small for him to hold, so he just used his index to put on your face. He couldn't help but feel his tail wag every time he does.

Another thing that he likes, if how your lipstick stains on his skin when you kiss him. On the lips, cheek, or forehead. He loves it. Sometimes he asks if he could get a kiss on his forehead. He'll be walking around with your kiss stain in his forehead, right between his face paint. It might be small, but he loves it. He's careful in trying not to smudge it. But in general, Eetu loves your hugs and kisses. He is very affectionate lover and so are you. Both you and him can't keep your hands away from one another. Literally.

When it comes to your outfits, he likes to see what you're planning to wear. You give him a little fashion show and ask if you should wear whatever outfit you had planed on wearing. He'll give you his honest opinion, he'll also compliment you on your outfits. Whether is a dress or your pink track suit, but what he'd really love to see you wear, is his clan's attire.

Since he knows that you have a love for pink, he tried to find you or make you stuff using pink materials. If doesn't mind, he loves to make stuff for you. He made you a songcord, normally na'vi have them, but he thought that you should have one. Its made out of various pink colors, from the string and beads.

Along with giving you pink or similar colored flowers. He loves seen how your cute little face lights up the sight of him bring you flowers. It makes him happy hearing you do that cute little squeal of excitement.

To his surprise, Zomey likes you. At first it worried Eetu that she'd try to eat you or hurt you, but turns out, she likes you. A lot. That made him very happy, his two girls getting along. He's seen how you treat her, he finds it cute when you tie little bows on her antennas or on her headpiece.

He loves to take you on flights, specially when you've been copped up in the lab all day and are in need of fresh air. If you're scared, don't worry, he's holding you the whole time and Zomey is also cautious.

When you and him are in the forest, he likes to help you get around. He know that you're able to get around, since you've been around the forest for many years. But he still likes to lend out a helping hand. He doesn't help holding your hand or even picking you up. Sometimes he gets you to hop on his back, while he climbs high places.

He loves to take pictures with you, he's not familiar with human technology so might teach him how the camera works. His favorite part is when he gets to keep the pictures of the two of you. Your smile being his joy.

Another human thing that he learned, was about music. He grew interested, learning about the many kinds of music the humans made. He'll listen to whatever music you're into, whether is pop, punk, metal, rap. He'll listen to it no problem. He'll even try to learn the lyrics to your favorite song, so that he could sing with you.

Since Eetu had learn things about humans, you also decided to learn more about his clan. It made his heart warm up, seen you learning the Aranahe Clan. He's becomes your teacher in a way, he loves teaching you everything that you wish to learn.

[crownmemes]

Questioning Sentences, Vol. 14

(Questioning sentences from various sources to ask all kinds of muses. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"You've been here for a day and a half and you already have a nemesis?"

"Seriously? You don't want to go to Mars?"

"Why is it you always think you know what's right for me?"

"Is that stuff dangerous?"

"Why don't you do something completely new and have some friends?"

"Should I be worried about your commitment to our engagement?"

"Is this as bad as it seems?"

"You're not very good at this, are you? "

"How am I even supposed to be in a relationship with you if you don't let me in?"

"Are you going to ask me another question, or can I go back to bed?"

"Well, before we get started, have you got your story straight?"

"Am I witnessing one of your famous hunches?"

"Do you miss it? Out there?"

"You do realise that this is still a crime scene?"

"Why couldn't I spend the night last night?"

"Do you ever keep secrets from your dad?"

"Who says we're on the same side?"

"Is there anything that you don't believe in?"

"Would you be doing all this if I was a man?"

"Why are you so in denial?"

"Will you join me in a prayer?"

"Do you work out?"

"You really get that from just this?"

"What kind of idiot kills off his best-selling main character?"

"Why did you come back?"

"This is your case. I'm just here to lend support however I can."

"I'm home! Did you miss me?"

"Is it wrong that I want to kiss you right now?"

"Do I look like a killer to you?"

"Where does this attitude of general unpleasantness come from?"

"What's in it for me?"

"You sound a bit delusional, you know?"

"What is this? Some kind of conspiracy?"

"You're calling me a liar?"

"Does there have to be a reason?"

"Does she make you happy?"

"What's the main reason that people get angry?"

"Do you believe in the soul?"

"I thought you quit?"

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date?"

"You just want me to take my shirt off again, don't you?"

"Answer my question: did you kill him?"

"Are you sleeping with her?"

[2030kamenriders]

Life update: accidentally landed myself in some kind of a Toshiki Inoue Drama situation, but I'm not sure where on the scale of Faiz to Donbrothers it lands. So instead, I'm gonna vague-post about it and then we can vote on it together like some kinda AITA post (but with Inoue shows instead. You'll see what I mean, hold on)

So!

(gestures next to me) this is Desk. Desk has been with sitting in my room for over 15 years, and is very reliable, helping me through various situations. Fun fact: it is a gift from an old family friend that passed away a few years ago. Other fun fact: it's the kind with the piece of wood that slides out for a keyboard, and the sliding parts are still perfectly intact (to be fair, I adjusted it near the start of the pandemic, so it's even better than new).

Anyway, when I had to rent a place this year for university reasons, my parents ended up getting me... a second desk. I insisted against this, but they insisted for it (our reasons will be obvious in a bit).

See, the place for rent is a small place. It doesn't fit a desk. I did the measurements before moving in and everything. (So already this is a source of stress rather than making my life easier.) So I've been keeping the desk in one of the emptier rooms for a while until some of the other tenants move in and out (lots of rearranging going on).

Mom and Dad kept insisting that maybe there was a chance that the desk would fit in once things settled down at the place (not in my room). Then Mom started saying stuff like "wouldn't it be nice to replace your desk at home? I mean, this one has drawers!" (Again, I don't want to. Desk 1 may be a bit worn-out here and there, but I like it and it does the job more than well enough.)

So I bring this up offhand at the place I'm staying. One of the other tenants brings up that they're looking for a desk. I figure that I may as well avoid the hassle of lifting Desk 2 into a vehicle and taking it back home, so I ask my parents and the landlady about it. Dad is chill with it. Mom isn't. Landlady says she'll move Desk 2 to the garage once all the tenants move in, and I can do what I want with it.

I go back home without the desk. Dad and I figure that Mom wouldn't mind. Sure enough, she hasn't brought it up (she's just happy I'm here for the weekend).

Now here's where things get complicated.

Before moving Desk 2 to the garage, it was in a room meant to rent out (the room I currently rent didn't have space for it, but a couple other rooms did. I was staying in one of those rooms before all the Rearranging).

(2030 why the heck did you move rooms?! Listen it's a complex situation and I'm trying to go with the flow. It's difficult and I have other things to worry about)

So. The turns out that, before moving the desk, the new tenant moving into that room (not the previous one, who was in the building before I got there) saw it and was like "oh neat."

And then the landlady was like "oh that's for someone else, but they're trying to figure out how to get rid of it."

And then this tenant was like "can I have it?"

So I get a text from the landlady being like "kid why didn't you take back the desk?"

And I was like "what?"

And then she explained this whole Dilemma I just explained right here. And then she brings up the following:

I can't physically give it to both of them

If I pick one then the other person will get upset, and the last thing the landlady or I want is a feud between tenants

If I really wanna get rid of it, I should probably state a price. On the one hand, maybe only one of them will be able to buy it, avoiding a feud. On the other hand, if I give it for free, the other person is gonna feel really upset.

However, according to her, it's just easier to take it back

Now you might be wondering "well 2030, why did you get this other desk in the first place?". And again I say: I didn't want it! I repeatedly said I didn't need it and couldn't bring it!

And finally, the cherry on top: the desk doesn't even come with a chair. We did get a chair, but I promised my brother to give him the chair long before any of the other tenants knew about the desk.

With that all being said:

[fandoms-in-law]

A Hoard of Thoughts

Summary: A few times when Steve's small hoard is added to and a conversation with Eddie over what gets included in it.

/1\

The first time Steve knew what the need to hoard felt like was because of Tommy. They'd been friends for years and in that time Tommy and the Hagan's had gifted him plenty of things, hoping to get Steve's favour. It would be like that with everyone, Steve believed, just because that's how dragons were viewed.

This gift was different, silly, cheap and nothing to do with his scales, the horns on his head or the stereotypes about dragons his parents spent so long forging. It was a gift that acknowledged Steve as just a boy, a friend of Tommy's and he had to treasure it; everything in him was screaming to.

That was an overwhelming need in him so Steve did, not realising then that he'd just started his hoard. After all, he'd already got one of those in the form of a large box under his bed filled with the gifts the Hagan's, and many of Steve's other friends families had gifted him over the years. Except that box was one he'd happily give to his parents if they hadn't abandoned him here age 8 when they worried about him stealing from their own hoard. The notebooks Tommy gave him Steve would kill anyone trying to take.

/2\

For years after that Steve hoard remained so small, remained just the notebooks that he treasured but slowly began to realise the words inside them were cruel, or at least judgemental. It was still precious to him, but had an extra reason of wanting nobody to see them after trying to be a nicer person for Nancy.

Nancy was the next person to give him something that became part of his hoard and probably would never realise that.

At the time Steve had expected the headband to be the first of many little things, artefacts of their relationship and lives together, but instead it remained a lonely headband reminding him that they did look after each other in the time they had.

Perhaps it was odd to keep a headband given just so they could do facemasks together, but it was also an acceptance of his idea. It told Steve that he didn't have to be the 'man in charge' constantly with Nancy and he had to keep that.

An acceptance like that felt vital to him.

/3\

There were times after that that Steve wondered about items, about whether he could have them for his hoard. He'd realised that it was the protective instinct he had that made the hoard his, not the value of it as he'd assumed was why his parents made theirs the way they did.

Taking things from Nancy or after that break up Dustin felt wrong, even if they'd left things at his house or in his car he'd make sure to return them later.

Until Scoops Ahoy and breaking in to the Russian base occurred, nothing more was added again.

When the plan was made and Hopper was trying to keep everyone in the same timing for there plan Steve pointed out his watch, like his car keys, had been taken by the Russians. Erica didn't let anyone get frustrated or even decide one taken from the shops in Starcourt would work before she was taking hers off and strapping it to Steve's wrist.

“I'll be with Dustin on whatever hill he's talking about. You might have to come back here. I get pizza next week on top of free ice cream for life.” She demanded, returning to telling everyone what's best for them.

Steve did try to return it, first once everything was over and then again when he, Robin, Erica and Dustin were having the pizza. She refused to accept it back so it became part of his hoard and he couldn't be happier about it.

/4\

The Byers left Hawkins and Will donated all his DnD stuff. Steve heard that a hundred times in various ways from Dustin; incredulous, upset, confused and finally proud. The kid decided it was the perfect idea to give Will's things to Erica.

Except that didn't explain Steve's handful of dice, given to him by Will. If he'd understood why or what was happening, Steve would have immediately taken them to his hoard, but instead he just stared at Will.

“In case Dustin succeeds in getting you to play.” had been the explanation given. It was a simple reason and possibly not the most personal as Steve sometimes wished the things in his hoard were, but it still made the dice one of his treasures.

/5\

The Buckley's knew Steve. They'd met him shortly after Starcourt was burnt to hide what actually happened there and had mostly welcomed him into their daughter's life. Neither had done more than just confirming he was a dragon but wouldn't steal from them.

That was why when Robin came in a few months later rambling about how it wasn't her idea or choice but this was for him Steve didn't get annoyed. Instead he read the note included with the cufflinks and smiled. He laughed a little when adding them to his hoard, finally it had something his parents would add to their hoards as part of it.

Steve could see that this was more expensive than Robin or her family ever usually got, but also see that they'd tried to pick something he'd like. It wasn't gold, but silver, and while there was a gem, most of the design and bits that looked like gems were glass, in colours Steve had worn when picking Robin up or hurrying over because one of them had had a nightmare and needed to know the other was alive.

It was the fact he'd been so ready to rush over for the smallest things that actually made the Buckley's buy them. Their note mentioned wanting to thank him for everything he was still doing and how worried they'd been when Robin befriended him in the fire that he wouldn't stick around after it.

Part of him had wanted to visit Robin's parents and say they shouldn't have spent so much on him, but he knew that would offend them, had made mistakes similar to it in the past. Instead he wrote a letter thanking them and checking that they hadn't put stress on their finances for the gift, explaining his concern as one he'd seen his parents encourage their acquaintances to do so when young and never wanting anyone to do that for him. He wasn't even sure if that was a lie or not.

/\

“Robin says you actually do have a hoard, Harrington.” Eddie stated while they lounged together on the sofa. “Not sure I believe her since there's nothing anywhere in your house.”

Steve shrugged, “It's not big. You've contributed to it once though.”

That got Eddie scoffing, “Nothing I have is worth anything, let alone enough to be part of a dragons hoard.”

“Don't expect me to conform to my parents style of hoard, Munson. The vest you told me to burn has been in my hoard since then.” Steve corrected, quietly and trying to use the type of phrasing Eddie did in his table top cafeteria speeches to call out the stereotypes Eddie was thinking in without doing so directly.

“So the richest kid in school, literal dragon, doesn't have a hoard that focuses on wealth? What on earth are you hoarding for my vest to get included?” Eddie frowned, genuinely trying to understand Steve rather than ready to argue more about what he knows of dragons.

For a moment Steve thought before standing up and holding a hand out to pull Eddie up too. “You like making puzzles for the kids to solve in that game of yours. Why don't you treat this like one of them?” He suggested, leading the way up to his room once Eddie was standing too.

“You're showing me it?” Eddie asked, eagerly following but looking at bit bemused.

“Yeah, I trust you. Might as well see what connection you'd make between them.” He reasoned, only hesitating a moment before puling the suitcase he'd got for them all. A thought flashed through his mind of those notebooks Tommy had given him and all the things written in them. “Just don't read the notebooks too much.”

Eddie was leaning over next to him, curiously looking in the case but not reaching for anything. “They look old. Who gave you them?”

“Tommy. Just cause I said not to read them, doesn't mean I'm stopping you from actually picking the stuff up. You just can't take any of it.” Steve reiterated, plucking the headband from it's place next to the books and handing it to Eddie.

He got a glance between the headband and himself. “Would be sweet if you followed the admission the books are from Tommy by saying this is from Carol but to guess the rest, this is from Nancy, watch probably Erica but I wouldn't put it past Mike or Dustin being shitheads. The dice could be from any of the boys, but I'm betting Dustin. Only thing I'm not sure of is the cufflinks. I might have said the Wheelers but that doesn't seem like them.”

“You're certain they're all gifts?” Steve asked curiously.

“You're parents aren't here, but my vest got put in your hoard already so yeah. These are things people have given to you. I can't wait to see what other things I give you end up in here.” Eddie decided, nodding as if that made his words more accurate.

Pulling the vest out was easy, except for Steve's hands shaking at the mention of getting more things for his hoard. Robin hadn't said anything like that when she saw it, just called him a sap. Nobody else had cared enough to ask about his hoard, or maybe thought it was more private than Steve treated almost anything. “I guess that is accurate, but I've been given a lot of things that never made it into here. Everyone wants a dragon friend for the things superstitions say we'll help with, no these are gifts that have some meaning or story between the gifter and me.” He explained, adding “Even if it's getting dragged to a hell dimension and my body being too distracting for the man with pretty eyes.”

It was a risky tease, or would have been to direct at any of his old friends, but Eddie had called him big boy and liked getting in his space. If a little courage to step closer together was what was needed then Steve was ready to do so.

“So I should find something sweeter to give you on our first date? Also what did Tommy write to insult me? Don't tell me that's not one of the things included in those books you don't want me looking at.” Eddie met him there, just as eager for their relationship to begin apparently.

“When are you taking me on this date then Eddie? Maybe I'll let you read what was written about you then.” Steve spoke quietly, letting the moment become more intimate.

“Soon.” With that word Eddie's lips met his, sealing the promise of their first date between them.

[ghossttoast]

Are we connected?

Chapter three: snack break!

(A/N: I know I said id start writing longer chapters but various stuff irl made it a tad tricky (III╥_╥⁠))

first ,previous next

Kris laid on their couch the same as they had the night before, it had taken them a bit longer to fall asleep, and now they were up early. The Player just disappearing last night was weird, there was obviously some outside force that had caused it, and the way its voice had bugged out as it disappeared was odd. Kris was fine though, it felt more like when Ralsei had somehow sent it away then when they had ripped it out, so they were pretty sure they'd be ok. They should probably enjoy the bits of peace they had, they’d already turned the TV back off so they could lay there until Susie wakes up, exactly what they’d be doing normally.

“Work you stupid-- let's go, I’m in!” And it was back, so much for bits of peace. “Ahaha! I am a god, Gaster trembles before me!” It gloated to itself, “Yo Krispes you can still hear me right?” It asked them

They wish they couldn't

“Oh good! Sorry, I spent like a solid hour trying to get back in, but I’m here now and my stuff is totally broken!” It laughed, forcing Kris off the couch, “So are we up early or what?” It asked as it dragged them around their house, making them examine the items they already knew so well.

Kris is up far earlier than they normally would be, especially for a Saturday

“It's Saturday!? Dude, I totally thought it was Wednesday!” It exclaimed

Well that was stupid of it

“Excuse me for thinking we were gonna start at the start of the week.” It scoffed, “I’m rolling my eyes by the way” It added on, did it even have eyes? “Anyway now we’re missing out on a big chunk of the timeline, so I am unsure what we’re gonna do”

Just hang out? They didn't constantly need to be in dark worlds fighting for their life.

Probably.

Technically, the dark worlds helped them make new/talk to old friends, but technically The Player was also there for all that and there was no way in hell Kris was giving it any credit for that even if it was the only reason they could do any of it. A chill day with Susie would be nice, they could probably spend more time wandering around town, just screwing around without having to worry about saving the world or whatever.

The player walked them over to Susie, who despite its best efforts (spamming “yes” to the “wake her?” prompt that appeared) stayed sound asleep. It then went over to go harass their mother, because this thing constantly needs to be doing something for some Angel forsaken reason.

“Oh, Kris… you’re up early” She yawned, rubbing her eyes

They agree.

“Well, would you like some breakfast?” She asked them, standing up, “Susie is still asleep, but I'm sure she would not mind some pancakes” She mused to herself as she walked into the kitchen.

Kris remained in their spot near her chair, either the player had gotten distracted or it just didn't see a reason for them to move (unlikely, it was constantly doing something), it didn't really matter why though, because the inability to move, to do anything on their own left them feeling out of place in their own home.

After an uncomfortable amount of time, they were moving again, “Yo i’ ‘ack I as ga-in a hack” It… tried to speak? Its voice was sort of muffled, “Whoops, mouth full,” It laughed, because sure why not? It has a mouth, apparently.

Kris took a step, probably to go harass their mom or something, but quickly got cut off as they heard a yelp and a thud behind them. Turning around, they spotted Susie laying face first on the ground, quickly scrambling up in the hopes that no one would notice.

“Hell are you looking at, Kris!?” She demanded, pointing at them accusingly.

“Your tail.” They responded, after the player had imputed how to answer.

Susie quickly checked that any tail that may or may not actually be there was showing before turning back to Kris, “I don't have no tail!”

“Pancakes are ready,” Toriel called to the two, setting plates on the table “And good morning Susie,”

“Oh uh… thanks ma’am.” Susie answered, quickly straightening her posture to a comedic degree before walking over to the table

Kris followed after her, grabbing for the syrup to pour into their cup before eating, as Susie had already finished tearing through hers.

Drinking the syrup earned a confused and maybe distressed “Dude?” From the player, which caused them to snicker in satisfaction, their turn to weird the other out.

“I have some pie as well, if you want some, as long as someone didn't eat it all” She said side eyeing Kris, who swallowed a mouthful of the syrup before shrugging. Toriel just sighed before going to grab the pie and cut a slice off for Susie. “Kris, you may have yours after you finish your pancakes, and no, you may not have more syrup.”

Kris sighed and finished their pancakes before going to cut themself a slice of pie, their mom did not approve of the size of the slice, granting one that was significantly smaller than what they were hoping for. But, pie is pie, they guess.

“Thanks again for the food, ma’am” Susie, said standing up and walking for the door

“Susie, wait, let Kris walk you home” Toriel offered, without asking her child if they feel like doing that, “Kris, walk Susie back to her house,” She said, gently pushing them towards Susie. Kris sighed before walking back out the door, Susie following behind them. “Hey, uh… we don't have to go straight to my house, I don't mind walking around for a bit,” She said once the door had closed behind them.

Good, Kris doubted the player would go anywhere without checking to make sure it had done everything possible first, at least they won't seem like a jerk for wandering around when they were supposed to be taking Susie home. They weren't sure where she lived anyway, so why was she following them and not the other way around? Well, that was a question it seemed they wouldn't be getting an answer to, considering they didn't care enough to ask and Susie probably didn't know either.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

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

Episode 10: Knight & Danger (SMUT)

*smutlet wasn't planned but I had encouragement and then I was inspired and then this sinfest was born. Nothing extreme (lies), just a light sprinkling of filth to get us started. SKIP IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE BEAST WITH TWO BACKS, THE HOKEY POKEY, THE TERRIBLE TANGO, THE—you get the picture*

~Junk-N-Stuff~

Novelty lamps? Check. Assorted ping pong balls? Check. Hula skirts in various sizes? Check. Creepy clapping monkeys with cymbals? Check. New shipment of fifty glow-in-the-dark lightbulbs? Ten, fifteen, twenty—wait... Ten, fifteen, twenty... Twenty?

"Doofus, I'm trying to do something here!" (y/n) whined as she tried to count what the store above her home did and didn't have, but her attempts were thwarted by someone trying their best to distract her. 

It had been a late start to the morning and she had a lot to do because of said late start; the shop floor needed to be swept, the displays needed to be adjusted and fixed but most importantly, she needed to check her list of items in the storeroom around the back to see what they had plenty of and whether they needed to place an order. 

But that was hard when a strong pair of hands were wandering from her waist to her tummy to her hips and...elsewhere.

"It's a fake store, sweetheart. You don't need to worry so much...I don't," Ray replied, kissing down his sweet girl's neck as her shaking hands wandered through the shelves. She was trying to keep counting, hoping to come up with a figure so she could finish up and give him the attention he was so desperately craving but her brain couldn't grasp any numbers right now, even though they were her speciality. He was too good at distracting her. 

"Yeah, I know you don't, Raymond. But fake store or not, our customers are going to get suspicious when they come in to buy some junk and find that we have nothing to sell. So, that means I have to take stock, which is easier said than done when you've got hands...there," she scolded him, rolling her eyes when she felt his smirk grow against her skin and she knew that he'd never feel any shame for what he was doing, not when she showed that she loved it just as much as he did. 

His fingers were playing with the button and zipper on her jeans, flicking the metal slider and circling his finger around the cold stud, taunting that he might or might not pop it open and slide it down.

"But baby, it's been so long since this morning—since I last had you..." Now, he was the one whining, a high-pitched lilt in the back of his throat that told her that he wanted something and wasn't going to stop until he got it or got pushed away. But his statement was ridiculous; after all, there was a reason why she'd started so late, much later than she normally would on a Saturday morning when the teens were due to come in for work.

"It was an hour ago! And I've been trying to catch up on work ever since, so go...do it yourself," (y/n) muttered, feeling her cheeks heat up at the thought but she didn't have time for "action", not the sort he was after anyway. Henry, Charlotte and Jasper would be in the store any minute and she'd melt into a puddle should they see or hear or sense something that didn't involve them. 

Seriously, Henry's poop jokes would end and in the ashes would rise the endless teasing of how they did it in the back room. Nuh-uh, no way, Pedro, no thanks and goodnight. Besides, he'd loved her for years before they'd gotten together, so surely, one more round going solo wouldn't hurt.

"Hour's too long and anyway, I can't fuck my hand, sweet girl."

"And why's that?" She looked over her shoulder, inhaling sharply at how the air in the room had seemingly gone from frigid to suffocatingly hot in point five seconds. 

Only he could beat her argument of staying focused by being so crude, only he could say one thing and have her full attention, despite all her big talk about focusing on the task at hand and how he was the culprit who delayed her in the first place. She was intrigued, though. Most guys would happily take self-pleasure over no pleasure at all and they'd also probably think that they'd get lucky next time but not her doofus. He wasn't like most guys.

"I'm not interested in myself...I'm just after this," Ray whispered hotly and nipped at the skin under her ear as his fingers expertly worked the button on her jeans, poking it through the hole in the denim until it was open and then it was just a matter of slowly sliding down the zipper. 

Show off; he only had one hand but that was all he needed, just four fingers and a thumb to open her pants and pull them down by just a fraction. Not much, no more than an inch, just enough to loosen them so his fingers could dip past her waistband and into her cotton panties. Okay, so, that was his plan all along.

"Shouldn't have worn these jeans, pretty girl. Shouldn't have reached for the top shelf either," he growled, the throaty noise reverberating in her ear and causing the woman to release a soft, barely audible moan. 

Honest, he hadn't come upstairs looking for trouble, he'd actually ventured into his store to see what she was up to and if she needed help since she was on the shorter side when it came to stacking shelves but then, when he'd stepped out of the elevator, all he'd been able to see as she reached for a pink flamingo garden piece was denim pulled tight and smoothed across her ass, which was perfectly on display as her shirt rode up. 

"I walk in and I see this," the hand that had been holding her hip came back around to squeeze and knead her flesh briefly, "--this perfect ass practically presented to me," a rough slap to her left cheek and his hand left the part that had made him spiral into temptation in the first place, leaving the handprint there to sting numbly under the jean material. 

At this point, (y/n) was breathless, her breathing coming into soft pants as his digits danced and stroked around her mound, pulling back and then returning in a torturous rhythm that left her wanting what she'd originally avoided, but not on the verge of being incoherent. Not yet anyway. 

"I was—am working, d—doofus. I needed to s-stretch to get to the—the lightbulbs," the heroine argued, her voice breaking every time a fingertip dipped into her slit and brushed against her clit. There was nearly no pressure, he wouldn't allow her that luxury yet, no, Ray was going at a leisurely pace that suited nine AM and he found the way she jolted in his arms with each touch too hot to stop. A strong arm had curled around her upper body, leaving her torso immobile against his so all she could do was squirm in his hold and take what he gave her. And he had a lot to give.

"Oh, you're working? My sweet, little girl is working? Does that mean she doesn't want my hand down her pants, playing with her little pussy and the mess she made after I fucked her this morning?" He asked in a light, mocking tone, not enough to frustrate her but enough to make her wriggle when he pretended as though he was about to leave her alone. 

He would never be that cruel, not when he'd been the one to seek her out in the first place to pull more sweet moans from her lips. 

The previous hour hadn't been enough, not when she'd only come once and for a guy like him, who thrived off the pleasure of his partner, it didn't sit right. He wasn't looking for another fuck, that would take time and it would be messy and as much as he wanted to, they couldn't spend the entire day like animals, but he was looking to set the ratio right; three to one, that's how he normally played it. One had been given, two to go, but the lightbulbs still needed counting, even if the idea of a glow-in-the-dark lightbulb was ridiculous. 

Running his fingers lightly through her lips once, not enough for a lot of stimulation, but enough to explore, he could feel the wetness that had gathered there earlier and dare he say the cum he'd pumped into her, slowly leaking out, even though it belonged in her pussy and nowhere else. 

He groaned gutturally, harshly panting into her ears as she whimpered, bucking her hips into his hand when he returned to her clit, circling it once to smear the pearly stickiness that he'd left behind. Shit, did she know how hot she was?

"No—no, I'm your good g-girl. Please, s-sir—" a harsh tap landed on her clit, causing her whole body to tense and jerk at the rippling pleasure that seized her every nerve. It would've been a harder hit if he'd had the space to pull back his hand properly, but it was enough of a warning to make her bite her lips and be quiet, his good girl. But—good girls know what to call the ones giving them such pleasure.

"What do you call me, little one?"

"Captain!—I-I'm your good girl. Please, Captain, keep playing my pussy. Please, I need it." Had (y/n) not felt the pulsating need in her core, she would've been embarrassed by how needy she was, and even more embarrassed by how slick her blazing cunt was. 

It was their dirty, little secret that she sometimes walked around filled with his cum and then when he finally had another chance to get her alone, Ray took great delight in peeling her underwear down her legs and seeing what had stained the fabric. But for now, he also loved how he could switch between rubbing tight, fast circles and doing nothing.

"Precious girl, I know you need it. This cunt is insatiable," Ray murmured, savouring the sensation of silky, velvety slick coating his digits as he ran his fingers back and forth, stopping once to curl his fingertip into her clenching hole just once so he could push his seed into her again, but being filled was what so sorely craved; a fingertip wasn't enough. "But it's like you said. You have work to do."

"Wha—? Noooo, no work now. It's not important—just a—I'll just do it in a minute," the girl whimpered, fighting relentlessly against his iron grip to no avail because the minute she started whining, he began retreating. 

It was all part of Ray's game; turn her from a normal, functioning human being to a dripping mess in under five minutes and then refuse to go any further once she was aching with desire and then, he could tease her, taunt her, her until she went crazy...or at least until he decided that teetering on the brink of pleasure wasn't enough to satisfy his need to have her in his arms. 

The bulbs needed counting, it was unavoidable and his sweet girl had often said that she was the queen of multitasking.

"Count them." "W-what?" She blinked in surprise at his sudden command, having no idea what he was talking about since she couldn't think through the haze that clouded her mind. 

Count what? The number of orgasms he was going to rip from her body? The number of minutes he'd tease her for? The number of fingers he'd be able to fit inside her? The number of seconds they had left until someone came into the shop, whether they be a friend or stranger? 

She didn't know what he wanted, apart from that he wanted her like putty in his hands and wouldn't stop until she was twitching and oversensitive.

"I said, count the fucking lightbulbs, sweet girl. Do your job and I'll do mine," he ordered her, his voice deep and rough yet gentle in his command as his thumb kept its circling pace on her throbbing clit. "I'll push my cum back into your perfect, little pussy and while I do that, you can do the last job on your list. Seems fair, right?"

"No. No, I can't—Ray—I-I can't think or c-count—" (y/n) begged for mercy, knowing that focusing on anything but what he was doing to her was going to be near impossible. The pressure of her clit was heavenly, and so was the occasional finger that slid in to stroke her walls, it was too much...and yet he wanted her to do math at the same time. It couldn't be done, surely. Speech was difficult at that moment, let alone keeping track of what she'd looked at and what still needed attention.

"Yes, you fucking can, smart little girl. You can see if there's fifty bulbs here or not—and you'll take whatever I give you in the meantime," Ray snarled against her neck, dragging his canine down to her pulse point until she gasped at the sensation. 

Fuck, he could feel how her cunt clenched around nothing when he did and he suddenly became very aware of how hard he'd grown in his jeans. Rock-solid, twitching, ready to just slide into her pussy—it would take it, he could feel how wet she was—and if he wasn't trained in rarely practised patience, would've pulled her jeans over her ass and fucked her hard against the shelf, game or not.

But, where was the fun in that? He much preferred to see her cum than himself and giving in now would leave a disappointing anticlimax as if he wolfed down what he should've played with first. This was about his darling fiancée, he'd been allowed to make her orgasm more than just the meagre one she'd experienced earlier and he was gonna take that chance. Anything to hear her moans and sighs of pleasure, his be damned. 

"Come on. Count." Swallowing harshly, (y/n) looked into the crate of stock that she'd pulled from the top shelf—the action that had caught his attention. There were so many and they all looked the same, how the hell was she supposed to do this properly? 

An estimate wasn't allowed, it had to be accurate for the books and giving up would result in her being left to finish herself off and then would be downright abysmal in comparison to what her doofus could give her. His fingers were longer, thicker, faster, leagues in front of hers, so she just had to go for it, and that was precisely Ray decided to plunge into her heat.

"O-one—fuck—two—three—three—four—f-five..." It was a shaky start, but then again, she was shaking quite badly herself. Her knees felt like jelly and her core was pulled tight as one finger curled in and out of her pussy, palm brushing her clit every time it did, making it torture to keep going. Her eyes wanted to snap shut and work on grinding her hips into Ray's hand, anything to chase the climax that was on the horizon, building up in the pit of her stomach, but she knew that he wouldn't like that. 

But she was trying her best and that was what he liked, especially when he saw what he was doing to the woman who could do her sixteen times tables in her sleep.

"Good girl, keep going. This cunt is so tight, so needy, it's practically sucking my hand in—you wouldn't think it was fucked an hour ago," the man rambled, spilling whatever filth came to mind because he thrived off it as much as she did. She was so sweet when she whined for him, so sweet when he bit and suckled on her neck to leave fleeting bruises that never lasted long enough for him to admire. It was one downside to her superpower, but not one to dwell on, not when she was piecing her mind together to get the job done.

"Five—t-ten—fifteen—twen—twenty—twenty-five—thirty" her hand brushed over each bulb as she counted, ticking off clouded boxes in her head as the other gripped the metal shelves for dear life and slowly but surely, she started racking up the tally to the rhythm of his pumping finger. She could handle one, one wasn't bad, it wasn't what she needed but it was a start and not too distracting as she counted, so she was grateful. But Ray wasn't feeling merciful and it wasn't meant as a favour either. One was just the beginning.

"Thir—oh, fuck, yes..." her counting was thrown off when a second digit prodded at her entrance before sliding in to join the other, generating a delicious burn at the new thickness. Again, it wasn't enough, nothing would be unless it was his perfect cock but being filled more ever so slightly was enough to short circuit her brain and stop her fingers from tapping each lightbulb as she went. 

For a moment, numeracy was out of the window and she lost herself in the one thrust backwards she allowed herself, moaning when the fingers entered her more roughly and his palm gave hard pressure to her bud. She needed more and she found it, but as quickly as it came, Ray caught her and took it away.

"No—no. Don't test me, sweet girl. This pussy is mine to fuck or not fuck, so don't be getting ahead of yourself. Stop pouting, that mouth is better off finishing what you started before I leave you here to make yourself come on the dirty floor of the back room."

"Thirty," she knew he wasn't joking, he could easily step away and leave her a twitching mess on the floor and the idea of losing the fullness of his fingers made her break into reality again with enough clarity to finish what she started, "—thirty-five—forty—forty-f-five."

"That's it, so close, my love. So nearly there and I just know that you're almost ready to cum, aren't you?" He asked gently, kissing her cheek when she gave him a quick succession of nods. Fuck yes, she wanted to cum and there were only five left to count, not long to bring her to the die, so Ray upped the ante and slid a third finger into her hole. 

She was filled fully now, too shaky to try and add a fourth, that only happened on rare occasions when he wanted to keep her up all night, but three were satisfying enough. He pumped them slowly, wanting his girl to get used to them before he broke her into pieces and put her back together again, but for (y/n), even the slow pace was enough to drag her to the edge and hold her there.

"Yes. Yes, please, I want to cum so bad."

"Finish your job then, sweet girl. Finishing counting and you can cream this little pussy for me," he smirked, increasing the pace a little bit to make her walls tighten but not enough to push her over. He knew the signs, he knew when to stop and back off, he knew how to get her right back there because this was his game—and she was determined to finish it.

"O—kay...forty-five. One—two...three—f-four—five—fifty!" The quivering woman gasped, immediately rocking her hips into him when the winning number fell from her lips and she'd never felt relief like it. "Fifty—they're all here! Please, Captain—please, can I cum now?"

"Fuck, of course, you can. You're my good girl, aren't you? Cum on my fingers—that's it—fuck..." Ray groaned as his fingers pumped into her at a lightning speed, rubbing her clit furiously as his crotch met her ass and the ensuing hardness that ground against her taut flesh was enough to shove her across the line. 

White, hot light seemed to stab through her body as she came—hard—instinctively pressing her ass further into his hips as if she was trying to pull his cock into her further, only it was his fingers that she was clamping down on. A broken moan fell from her lips as she was crowded against the shelves, completely at his mercy as Ray got off on the sight of her facial expressions, right up until the waves of pleasure started to dissipate.

"Shit—shit, you're so hot, sweet girl, so fucking hot when you cum for me," he panted, feeling an all-to-familiar feeling creeping up his spine as his hips kept gyrating against her plump ass, his cock falling against his zipper perfectly like it was looking to slot in between her cheeks. Fuck, he couldn't take it, not when he felt her twitch again at the feeling of his hardness. Insatiable. "Fuck, pull these jeans down for me. Hurry up, need to see it—need to see your pussy before I—"

Even though the world seemed to be spinning after cumming so hard, (y/n) didn't need to be told twice, not when he practically barked the order at her. Upon hearing the sound of Ray's zipper going down and the rustling of fabric, her thumbs hooked her waistband and shoved her pants down over her ass, not to the floor, just enough to expose her glistening lips as she leaned on the shelves and presented to him. Just because she'd come ten seconds ago didn't mean she wasn't up to take him any time, any place.

"Show me—fuck—I can see my cum oozing out of you, sweet girl—" Ray's eyes darkened to the point of nearly swallowing the brilliant blue of his irises entirely when he saw the creamy mess of her puffy cunt. Dripping, clenching, vulnerable and for his eyes only as she wiggled it at him for a split second and it was enough to cement the idea in his head. He'd wanted this to be about her, he'd wanted to give her more orgasms since they'd woken up late and only had time for one each, which wasn't the usual agenda, but he couldn't ignore his throbbing hard-on any longer. 

He opened his fly, popped his jean button and pulled down his underwear, freeing himself in time to position the tip at her molten opening and push in. (y/n) had no time to react as his length slipped in with no resistance, aided by her slick-coated walls and the embarrassing amount of pre-cum that had built up as he watched her fall apart. The sudden thickness made her clench harshly and Ray couldn't stop himself from cumming; it shot up his spine and took them both by surprise the second he bottomed out, tip pressed deep inside of her as he shot his load and painted her walls white. 

"Shit, Ray—cum-cumming—again," she gasped when the hot, sticky substance filled her—the oddest sensation that she loved but never got used to—and it was enough to make her quivering walls convulse again. As if it was commanded of her, (y/n) came again, this time being wrung out dry by the perfect cock that she could clench around. 

All they could hear were ragged pants and the ticking sound of the wacky clocks on the shop floor as Ray held her to his chest like his life depended on it, pelvis not leaving her ass cheeks until his heart rate had slowed considerably. It was true, he'd cum like a teenager, one second of having her walls around him and he was a goner but to be fair to him, he did get off on her orgasms and any man would ruin themselves if they had her on their dick—not that they'd ever get the chance.

"That was unexpected," (y/n) was the first to speak, gulping with a rather dry mouth after all of her ragged breathing and moans. Ray shuffled behind her so she turned her head to find his lips, sharing a gentle kiss after an intense session to round it off sweetly and she could feel his smile against her cheek when he pulled away to kiss that too, and then her jaw, temple and the top of her head. He got soppy after sex and a quickie in the storeroom was no different, even if the aftercare couldn't be as good.

"Can't help it, sometimes. But I remembered I only made you cum once earlier and then, I definitely couldn't help it," Ray replied goofily, his need to be a dominant sex god draining away and leaving the same old, lovable idiot he was before and she shook her head at his logic. Right, he'd made it his mission and whilst she'd been fine with just one session that morning, considering they were behind in starting the day, it had not sat right with him.

"Whatever you say, doofus. Just warn me next time you want to fuck me upstairs. Y'know, anyone could walk in—"

"Nah, nah, nah, bro, I swear, Club Soda was bought by some rich kid last month."

"Henry, I know what I'm talking about! Trust me, when I went on Friday, the same old guy was still behind the bar!"

"Jasper, aren't you a little old for Club Soda? I mean, did you do your weird dance moves with a bunch of twelve-year-olds?"

"Hey, the J-man Shuffle is not weird! My mom likes it..." they couldn't make it up; they were still catching their breath as the signature sound of the T-Rex breathing fire and three voices entered the store, and they weren't customers. 

Ray didn't need to feel his girl tense and wriggle in his arms to know that play time was over and he hastily let her out of his embrace and gently pulled his softening cock from her slick, swollen pussy. A quiet grumble left his lips when he saw the mess he'd left behind; pearly white leaking through soft lips and down to her clit. The sight was glorious but if he stared any longer, he'd find himself running back down to Man Cave for a cold shower and leaving her to give his excuses. No, they were satiated...for now.

"Keep my cum inside you, sweet girl, where it belongs... That's my good girl," he grinned when she pushed her ass towards him even more when he pulled her panties back up, hiding his favourite sight from view until later that night. It was a shame but a man could daydream and they needed to straighten themselves out quickly so normality could resume. 

He tucked himself away and buttoned his jeans again as she tugged hers up and did the same, allowing him one last look at how they smoothed and shaped her ass perfectly. It made for a pretty picture, one that he could help but fondle gently one last time.

"You're such an ass man. You never leave it alone."

"I think you mean I'm a you man, babe. I can't leave you alone," he replied smugly, enjoying his dumb little joke when it tugged a smile on her lips that she couldn't smother. That was more accurate; he loved her ass, hips, tummy, thighs, boobs, face, hair, legs, feet, ears, nose, mouth, everything about her. And he didn't love them on anyone else, just her because he was what Henry would call "whipped".

"Okay, scratch that. You're such a dork, Raymond," she smiled and lifted the lightbulb tray back onto the high shelf, only to be helped by him when she couldn't quite stretch. She patted him on his pec as a small thanks and headed for the beaded curtain so they could make an appearance in the store before suspicion could be aroused and of course, Ray followed her heels like a love-sick puppy. Anything to stare at her butt as she walked away.

*AND WE ARE SAFE. Thank you for "coming", the ride is now over, please pick up your tongues and exit the smut with caution. We thank you for choosing Ruth's abomination that has landed us all in hell as we are now all filthy sinners. Bye-bye and have a lovely day.*

"Why's Ray a dork?" Henry's head picked at the noise of the infamous couple coming from the back. The three teens had perfectly clueless faces as they smiled at their boss and his fiancée, appearing like the ideal, idyllic couple as they floated into the store, him trailing after her with droll practically running down the sides of his mouth. They were so in love, it was cute, but what could he have possibly done or said to make him more of a dork than usual?

"Uh—well—he—we—"

"I told (y/n) a really funny story!" Ray quickly lied, seeing how his sweet girl was struggling to come up with something believable to tell their innocent faces. She couldn't tell them that they'd been having a steamy rendezvous in the storeroom, they would never go in there again unless it was hosed down and sterilised. 

And of course, being the funny man he was, he had material to back up his claim, so there was no need to worry her pretty little head about anything. All she needed to do was stand there, look gorgeous and admire him in his hot, blue shirt.

"Oh, right...let's hear it then," Charlotte smiled, eager to hear this story that had amused (y/n) and that would hopefully amuse them. She was all for funny stories and even if it was a little corny, enough to label him a dork, they'd never satisfy their curiosity until he spilt the beans.

"Okay, so there's this bowling alley downtown, right? Well, it used to be downtown, it got demolished a few years ago, but it was super popular back in the day, y'know when I was in my...early twenties. Anyray, I was there with a gir—a person once—" he started, plucking the most random funny story he could from his memory. It wasn't the best story, it was long and rambling, old and irrelevant but he was sticking with it. He had to, although some details were rather unfortunate. 

"Ray, I don't care if you went on a date with a girl when you were younger. I went on dates with guys too, you can say it," (y/n) told him gently, not missing how he avoided so the g-word with her around. It was silly really, unnecessary; she knew that he'd done some normal things just as she had, dates, sneaking out, making out, driving out, everything that a boy could get up to as he progressed into manhood and through his hero training, she couldn't be mad at him for that. 

Hell, he'd once taken three separate girls on three separate dates in the early days of their friendship and they'd still found their way into each other's arms. It was okay, it was normal, not some big secret.

"...Thanks, sweet girl," the hero smiled at her softly and curled an arm around her waist as they stood before the curious kids, who were hanging onto his every word, "—So, the guy that owns the bowling alley, he comes out from the back and he says to me this guy, he says, I got a hundred bucks here for anybody willing to box this kangaroo."

"You mean like...put him in a box?"  "Why would you put a kangaroo in a box?" "You should not cage animals," the teens told him, finding the tale weird from the get-go. First of all, it had been so long since Ray had confessed to (y/n)—or it felt like it anyway—so it was weird to imagine the man with anyone else. Second of all, they'd never heard of there being a bowling alley downtown, old or not. And third of all, what were these people doing to the kangaroo? They couldn't tell if this was a nice story or not, or more likely, a shaggy dog story that was a figment of Ray's imagination. 

"No, box, like boxing. Like, put on boxing gloves and fight," the large man clarified, wanting to make clear that he didn't lock up some poor kangaroo, he intended to fight it instead. Which, of course, was so much better.

"You should not fight animals." "Yeah, doofus," oh, (y/n) was loving this. Ray gave her a dry look as she smirked up at him, loving how he was forced to tell this story with no prior rehearsal. No frills, no lies, just the truth as he remembered it and as the teens found it hard to believe him, she studied his every facial twitch. A peck on her forehead kept her quiet, but not for long. If he loved to tease then so did she.

"Well, darlin', I didn't. As I put on my boxing gloves, my cousin's car comes smashing through a wall!" Ray exclaimed, letting go of his sweet girl as he got more and more animated and into the story. He could recall the thrill, the adrenaline, the craziness of the story, he almost didn't believe it himself, but he'd been there. They just had to take his word for it...with a pinch of salt.

"So, I dive out of the way before my cousin could run me over with his car, and naturally, the kangaroo, he jumps straight up into the air and he lands right—" "Uh, do you guys hear that?" Charlotte asked, butting into Ray's big climax with little animosity, merely a curiosity for what the hell was going on outside. Now that she said that, there was an awful racket going on past the glass, not that they could see anything happening on the road. It sounded like screams and crashes? Eh? Should they be concerned or had the circus arrived in town early?

"It's just a bunch of people screaming. Now, the kangaroo lands right on top of the clown! Now, we don't know if the clown is okay at this point—we don't know if he's dead, we don't know if he's alive..." Ray moved on, ignoring whatever was going on because he had started so he'd finish. He even tried to get (y/n) to stay with him, clawing for her waist absentmindedly when she wandered over to the door to see if she could find something out. Who cares? He looked good today, he had one of his best shirts on, and his biceps were out, why would she want to look at anything else as he told the best story ever?

"Uh, those screams are getting louder," Henry pointed out, feeling like the people in trouble were getting closer, not that it made a slight bit of difference.

"Then so am I. My aunt was an amateur lion tamer!" The man shouted at the top of his voice, earning him a pointed look from his sweet girl as she gave up trying to see. The view was too narrow and clearly, he needed supervision, judging by how he wasn't using his inside voice. With her back by his side, or rather, with her arms wrapped around his waist and her cheek smushed against his back in a hug from behind, the hero calmed down and returned to his story. 

"Now, everybody thought, hey, she can tame lions, she can probably tame tigers, right? As it turns out...not the case at all," the more random his story got, the worse the situation got outside, up until the point where it was turning into a Captain Man and co sitch. Come on, people were running past, screaming at the top of their voices, clearly terrified of something and trying to get away from it, how could he ignore that? Oh, right, he could ignore anything with the love of his life by his side and an amusing story to tell.

"Ray, sweetheart, those people look scared," (y/n) said to him softly, pulling away from his back so he lost the warmth she gave him and it sucked. Five minutes, that's all he needed. Five short minutes to wrap up his story, kiss her senseless and then go out to see what was going down. Was that too much to ask for? Captain Man waited for Swellview, couldn't they do the same for once?

"You wanna know who was scared? My aunt in a circus tent surrounded by tigers! Now, my cousin comes out of the back, right? And he's like, we gotta go to Florida real quick." "I think that guy's on fire," Jasper pointed out and everyone turned around to see the horror on some poor man, whose sleeve was ablaze. He was understandably panicking, waving his arm around in an attempt to smother or blow out the flames but nothing was working. All he could do was scream and pray that it didn't spread. So, it was left to the Man Cave team to wonder what the hell was out there that could set something on fire like that.

"Great! We will call the fire department after my story!" Ray told him firmly, growing frustrated at how close to ten minutes had elapsed and he still wasn't near the end. And he would've been able to finish it, probably, had a weirdo not burst through the door, shocking them all to the core. What the—? 

"What is this land? Where is Astoria?" The stranger demanded to know, which would've been rude and odd enough had he not been dressed in a full suit of armour. Not like swat team armour, no, proper solid steel, shiny, medieval, knight saves the princess armour, the kind that you'd see in an old castle full of treasures. And not only that, his entire vibe screamed weirdo, plus, he also screamed literally. He spoke with a powerful, commanding tone that held an archaic lilt as if he was from five centuries prior. All around, his sudden presence was a shock but as the teens froze and (y/n) instinctively glued herself to Ray's side, the man knew how to deal with him perfectly.

"Uh, I'll be with you in a second, pal! I'm telling a-storia right here," he replied calmly, keeping her noise down and not rising to the man's challenge. How dare he come into his store and start mouthing off. This asshat could wait patiently like all of his other customers did and maybe if he was lucky and if he didn't scare his precious girl again, he'd be served with a polite smile.

"I need a sword!" The knight demanded and to their surprise, began pushing over displays and rooting through the fallen junk to see if he could find a suitable weapon. It was like he had no etiquette at all, but Ray wasn't diverting from his zero-tolerance policy. Junk-N-Stuff was a front anyway, he didn't care if some of the items broke, as long as he got to speak before this guy did.

"Dude, that guy's breaking a bunch of stuff," Henry pointed to the man, who was seriously testing (y/n)'s patience as he knocked over piles and piles of stuff that she'd straightened out earlier that morning. Hang on, who was this dick? This was her home, her store that she ran and he was tearing everything apart—if it wasn't for the hand suddenly placed on her shoulder, she'd have stormed over there and scratched those stupid face tattoos right off his stupid cheeks. Her doofus needed to do something, use those big muscles, that big mouth, anything before she blew a casket.

"Who cares? It's a fake store." "Raymond, we went through this earlier. Fake store or not—" "Now, I don't know if the clown and my aunt were dating or not...I didn't ask any questions," Ray brushed past anyone's concerns and slung an arm around (y/n)'s shoulders as if that would be enough to keep her calm. The woman huffed in frustration, eager to rip that guy's head off if she was given the chance. It was like she'd said earlier; a fake store didn't give the knight a free pass to be a bully and neither did it mean that she wanted to piss away money on the ruined stock, something she wished she could get into her doofus' head.

"Where's the nearest castle?" The intimidating man demanded to know, no manners about him at all. He was used to getting his own way, whether that be in whatever play he was starring in or whether he genuinely had minions to order about, but now, Ray too was getting annoyed. He was the alpha around these parts, when he wanted silence, he generally got it and no one challenged his position as the leader of the team, so he wasn't going to let some asshole with ideas above his station change that.

"Hey, guy. You are interrupting my story!" He growled, but even his authority didn't do much.

"There's a Burger Castle about a mile that way." "Yeah, turn left when you walk out and keep going until you get hit by the smell of French fries," Jasper and (y/n) told him, not thinking much of it because that was the nearest thing Swellview had to a castle. A medieval-themed fast food restaurant down the road that served normal, cheap food, paper crowns and foam swords, nothing special. But it was the best thing they had to offer and maybe it would please the rude man into leaving them in peace—and apparently, a "castle of burger" was what he was looking for now that he'd found a novelty sword amongst the junk.

"Your loyalty will be rewarded when I am king. I shall consider you as queen consort," The knight pointed his stolen sword at Jasper and bowed his head at (y/n). His reply was shocking but also kinda...satisfying as he turned and stomped through the door with the same pomp that he'd entered with, leaving Ray to silently clench his jaw at how he'd mentioned taking his sweet girl as his queen. He'd quickly that she was already his queen, his love and next he'd find a boot up his ass if he dared to steal her away. Still, he was gone, nothing to worry about...story time?

"Nice!"  "No, not nice!" For Jasper, the idea of a reward sounded quite nice, but (y/n) felt a shiver run down her spine. Queen? She didn't want to be queen, not with someone like that, the worst example of a future king she'd ever seen. She wanted to be a sweet girl to a superhero doofus, nothing more, and so, she labelled the retreating weirdo as a madman.

"Dude, I think we have a bit of a situation here we need to deal with," Henry turned to his boss, deeply perturbed by what had just transpired in the small junk shop. First, he hadn't been filled with confidence by the hoarders of screaming people, then there was the man on fire and now, the storm in a teacup that was the knight was just the cherry on top of a rather worrying cake. Definitely a situation, one that needed three superheroes to swoop in and save the day. Hint-hint, wink-wink. 

"You want to talk about a situation, try driving up a mountain with your cousin, your aunt, a clown, a kangaroo—" "Hey, Ray!" and the story would have to wait yet again. As Ray tried to get it going again, y'know, inspire a bit of enthusiasm in the teens or even his sweet girl who were no longer interested, but it was useless, especially when Schwoz came barrelling onto the shop floor. He rarely came up this far, preferring to hide down in the Man Cave with his gadgets, tools and projects like Gollum, but this looked like an emergency. Why else would he be holding the emergency phone line that was weirdly stretching a hell of a long way? How did he do that?

"What?! What?! What?! Schwoz, I'm trying to tell a story here!" The hero exclaimed, frustration coating his every word. This story was meant to be a cover-up for what had occurred in the storeroom and now it was turning into a nightmare, but one he was going to finish even if it killed him. His sweet girl would listen, right? He listened to all of his stories, even if she'd heard them before and sometimes, even when it wasn't for her benefit—the benefit of being her beloved idiot.

"Emergency call from Bill Evil," Schwoz explained and held the phone out with his hand covering the receiver. Lord forbid that the most irresponsible scientist in Swellview heard someone's name or a scrap of revealing information. However, it had been so long since the portal to another dimension incident that Jasper had forgotten about it completely, including the man responsible for kidnapping Piper, and the trouble his boss and his friends had gone to save her from a really nice alien monster man.

"Who?" "Bill Evil!" "Oh, right, he's the Chairman of Evil Science Corp," (y/n) recalled the stress they'd gone through to find Piper after thinking she was being murdered. She also remembered the purple goo that she'd been covered in after going through the portal and how it made her hair smell like candy floss and boot polish for two weeks. And finally, she shivered when the memory of how Ray intimidated the man into confessing everything, using his tall stature and deepest growling voice to make a mouse out of him so he'd cop to being a massive idiot. Come on, who names their company "Evil Science Corp" and not expect to be found out?

"He opened the door to another dimension on Halloween..." Charlotte added, jogging the boy's memory. Right, that's what he split his lip open and talked funny. Fun times. But, more seriously, if the guy was calling, it had to be important, right? No bad guy phoned unless something really bad was happening. Ever. 

"I think we should take the call, dude," said Henry, who thought that they should do the sensible thing and at least hear the guy out.

"Fine! We'll take it in the Man Cave," Ray conceded, hearing their arguments and deciding that yes, it might be a good idea to take the emergency call. Something about promising his girl that he'd be a little less selfish and a little more self-aware. But, he did use his head for once though, in the form of agreeing to answer the call but only when he was in his headquarters and his uniform. That way at least, no one would see or hear anything that wasn't meant for them, even if Schwoz had gone to the trouble of coming half a mile up.

"But I brought the phone all the way up here with this hilarious long phone cord," the genius pouted, having thought that his idea was courteous, funny and cool. When was he gonna get another chance to use the mile-long cord again? Probably never.

"I said we'll take it in the Man Cave!!" One snap from Ray and he clammed up. 

"You know it's best not to argue with him Schwoz, it makes him moody. Let's go, Hen," (y/n) sighed, throwing the repairman a sympathetic look as she followed after her man-child so she, Miss Danger, could see what Bill had to say. Henry was quick to follow too, looking at his friends one last time before they disappeared through the beaded curtain and into the storeroom. Hopefully, the kid wouldn't pick up on any "vibes".

"Yeah, coming, (y/n/n)—All right, see ya! That guy's still on fire," Henry waved to Jasper and Charlotte, knowing that the time to socialise was over and that he had to do some actual hero work. And so could they if they were feeling humane, after all, the same guy from before came running into the ship with his arm still flaming and smouldering. 

Hopefully, they'd find where (y/n) kept the fire extinguisher, something Jasper should've known, because, at the end of the day, they all took an oath to help the citizens of Swellview, even if the action did seem far away sometimes. 

~Downstairs~

Having put Bill Evil on hold for a few minutes, Ray, Henry and (y/n) quickly blew their bubbles and changed into their uniforms. They preferred speaking to the man on the computer's monitor rather than crawling on top of each other to hear through one itty-bitty phone; this way, they could read his facial expressions and ensure that he wasn't bullshitting them.

So, as Schwoz sat on the floor with his legs spread out like a teddy bear, reeling in metres upon metres of red cord that had carried across the tiles, up the elevator shaft and into Junk-N-Stuff, they were content to get on with it. After all, no one could see or would pay attention to a little weirdo sitting on his lonesome.

"Okay, Bill, let's make this fast. You kinda caught me in the middle of a story and I got a lot of people who wanna hear the end, including my incredibly hot fiancée," Ray started as he meant to go on - sharp, snappy and to the point. He hadn't let the story idea go, not yet anyway, and neither did he love the idea of talking to this dick when he could be enjoying the company of his lover without the need to act professionally.

"I thought that was the end," Henry frowned, wondering how his tale could still be going when it was already so long and complex and...odd. Far-fetched is how he'd described it, certainly not one of his boss' best stories and honestly, he knew that even (y/n) had struggled to pay attention when he got onto the bit about his aunt. Where did that leave him on the boredom spectrum?

"No! Why would you think that's the end?" "Probably because you were talking for ages, doo—" the woman tried to comfort him quietly as he gave Henry a semi-betrayed look as if he couldn't believe that he'd just said that. Okay, she knew that it wasn't over but she understood why the boy was reluctant to hear anymore. 

She loved Ray, more than anything and she'd pull the stars from the sky if he asked her to, but dear god in heaven, she didn't want to hear any more about his weird cousin whom she'd been introduced to at a family wedding. The guy had suspiciously clammy hands when she went to exchange a handshake but was goofy just like Ray, so it was no wonder that they were like two peas in a pod whoever they were together.

"I just have a question..." Bill piped up, not wanting to interrupt the little domestic they had going on here because it wasn't his place to come between hero and sidekick, man and lover, but he had called for a reason. It would be nice if he got to share that reason.

"What?!" "If a scientist—not me, but a totally different scientist—were to open an inter-dimensional portal..." he started, his tone cautious as if he could predict their rightly outraged reactions. It was obvious that he was referring to himself, no other scientist would be so reckless, and the fact that he hadn't learnt his lesson from last time got their blood boiling, especially (y/n)'s, given her keen interest in the area. Bad things happen when people stick their noses where they don't belong, why didn't he understand that?

"Aw, come on, Bill! What is wrong with you?! Why?!" Ray growled as Henry and (y/n) pinched their eyes and noses in agitation. The poor computer chair took the brunt of his anger as he pulled and pushed it, back and forth, until it started creaking and then, he finally let go to snarl at the idiotic CEO. This was his life and sometimes, he loved it, but other times, he hated it; someone made a mess, he cleaned it up—all well and good—but then, not five minutes later, it was back to being ruined. 

"...And a scary-looking knight with a face tattoo jumped out and punched the scientist right in the face, and then, the scary-looking knight ran off into Swellview..." Evil carried on, sounding more like he was confessing to a massive fuck-up than asking the heroes' advice. Now that they looked closer, they could see that the entirety of his right eye was bruised quite badly, nasty violet patches swelling up to make tender skin painful. Scary-looking knight—what had he done now?

"What's your question, Bill? Enough messing around..." (y/n) asked tightly, trying to keep her calm as he danced around spilling the beans. Ray's hand slipped into hers and squeezed, the gesture small yet reassuring enough to cause her to take a deep breath and let go of the emotions bottled up inside of her.

"Would that scientist be in trouble?"

"Yes!" "No shit, Sherlock. Of course, you would be!" The sidekicks replied immediately, seeing through his bullshit despite his rubbish attempts to make his question hypothetical and light. His attempts to reflect the blame on himself were poor; they knew that he'd done something, it was obvious, just like it had been obvious on Halloween that his company was evil because it was literally in their job name and description.

"Yes, just like you were in trouble the last time you opened an inter-dimensional portal!" Ray scolded him, a stern finger pointing at the monitor to try and make the man feel bad, but for some reason, he didn't look intimidated by the hero. Maybe it was because they were separated by a virtual barrier and he wasn't in danger of getting beaten up this time, or maybe it was because he didn't fear any repercussions at all.

"Actually, I didn't get in trouble. You three just walked away, covered in goo, Captain Man flirted with Miss Danger, and left me alone, unpunished and free to open up as many portals as I want," the scientist replied nonchalantly and for once, the trio didn't have a smart answer. 

Right... After the whole Piper, monster, kidnapping thing, they'd just sort of gone home straight away and left Bill to continue his tricks—having forgotten to punish him for what he'd done because they were tired, fed up and in need of a good shower. 

Plus, once Captain Man started flirting with Miss Danger and vice versa, it was hard to get them to focus on anything else anyway, particularly when Henry was distracted and throwing up at their mushy words and kisses. 

"He's right, we did that," Henry whispered to the adults, who had gone quiet when they thought about the past and realised that he was right. Their bad.

"Yeah, well, we flirt all of the time! It doesn't mean that he should be opening portals willy-nilly! Come on, Evil, man up, take responsibility!"

"Yeah! Dang it, Bill, why do you keep opening inter-dimensional doors?" Ray agreed with his sweet girl, thinking that whilst it had been their duty to bring him to justice, and fair enough, they'd slipped up on that one, the man still should've taken responsibility to not let another disaster happen. Surely, he should've learnt his lesson after the first incident, y'know, shut the program down and locked the technology away forever.

"It's just so much fun!" Or not. Turns out, Bill Evil was a bigger kid than he was and didn't care what happened to the world as long as he got to play god with the fabric of time and reality. 

"You never know who's gonna jump out!"

"Well, starting now, you're not allowed you're not allowed to open any more portals!" Kid Danger told him firmly like he was laying down the law for an unruly child.

"Yeah!"

"What if it's my birthday?" Bill pouted, accepting the general rule, but he also wanted to see if he could push his luck just a little bit. Captain Man was a pushover with Miss Danger, maybe he could tweak the same nerve, not that he was anything like the well-loved heroine.

"Well, I mean, if it's your birthday—"

"No, doofus, no! No more portals, no more messing with stuff that doesn't concern him! Nothing!" (y/n) quickly interrupted her fiancé as he began to debate whether Bill could have birthday privileges, which couldn't be tolerated. 

"Yeah! No more portals, Bill!" That was more like it.

"Fiiine," Bill Evil rolled his eyes at their refusal to budge and ended the call a disappointed and morose man. Well, that told him, no more causing unnecessary problems, Captain Man already had enough to deal with and perhaps, next time he wouldn't be around to save the day when an alien what tearing its way through the factory. But, all in all, that went well and the trio turned away from the screen feeling relaxed and good about what they'd just achieved.

"Pfft—that guy..."

"Pffft, yeah...let's go," Henry jerked his head from his boss to the tubes. He hadn't missed the memo in Evil's story about the scary-looking knight, which he had no doubt was the asshole who'd stormed into Junk-N-Stuff earlier, so he figured that they were about to head out to catch the guy and find out why he was terrorising the city. But to his shock—well, not shock, not at this point—Ray wasn't interested, he was too busy trying to touch the back of (y/n)'s throat with his tongue. Jeez, man, they'd been off the video call for, like, three seconds.

"Hmmm? To where?" The hero pulled away from his sweet girl, who pouted at losing contact with his lips so soon. His tongue in her throat was a bit extreme and an overstatement, she wished that they'd had enough time and privacy to go that far but as always, there was an interruption and because they'd been so preoccupied, neither recalled what Bill had said, just the taste of honey clashing with bubblegum.

To stop the scary-looking knight guy, who Jasper and (y/n) just sent to Burger Castle."

"Oh, right. Him," (y/n) didn't need telling twice, getting her head back in the game as soon as Henry looked at her with raised eyebrows and said her name. 

"What scary-looking knight guy?" He asked, head titled and arms holding her tight to his chest as he looked between sidekicks. Who were they on about?

"What? The—the face tattoo? That just came into Junk-N-Stuff?" Henry said, not believing that his boss couldn't remember the events of the past hour.

"Was this today?"

"He interrupted your story...and said he'd consider making (y/n) his queen for her loyalty." Dirty tactics were never Henry's favourite method of getting a rise out of his boss, but he felt that on this occasion, they were necessary.

"Oh, that guy! I hate that guy!" Ray's hissed instantly, his arms tensing into his biceps that were rock-solid and his fists were clenched, ready to punch the guy like he was in front of his face.

"Let's go punch his interrupting, fiancée-stealing face right off his face!"

"Yeah, love the energy, doofus, but let's take it down a notch. I wasn't going to accept his offer anyway!" She winced at the snarl lodged in his throat; it was lovely that he was protective, it made her feel safe and warm on the inside when he took care of her and made sure she had everything she wanted, of which violence wasn't present. 

Without hesitation, and even if she was offered the world and all its riches, she'd decline his proposal and the knight would never win her hand. It was already promised to someone else; a grumpy, childlike idiot, whose emotions had a habit of running away from him. 

"You wouldn't?" Ray murmured questioningly as she and Henry bounced up to the tube pads where he stood, him having crossed the room in record time thanks to his angry stomping. A quick slap of Henry's belt and the tubes fell around them as he didn't want to waste any time when that psycho could be burning the Burger Castle to the ground, and for a brief moment, the world was silent before the rush. 

"I mean, he did offer you the chance to be a real-life queen...y'know, jewels, treasure, castles. You'd be marrying a king, sweetheart."

"Raymond, I know you think that what makes a king is gold, a palace and diamond rings, but I don't want any of that. I just want you. Only you," (y/n) whispered to him as her arms slid around his neck and they pressed against each other as the suction pulled them up and out of the building.

She knew he had some ever-lasting doubts floating around in that silly, old head of his but the truth of the matter was that all the kings in the world couldn't give her what she'd been looking for all these years. She wasn't one for people who tried to rule others, after landing with someone like that she'd played her cards close to her foolproof vest, only to find true love with a joker — her beloved doofus.

~The Burger Castle~

This place hadn't changed.

(y/n) had fond memories of Burger Castles, not specifically that one, but the one in her hometown. 

Every kid had their birthday party at the fake castles at least once during their childhood; they got to be the king or queen and sit at the head of the table with all of their friends as they ate their food and played with the little free plastic toys that broke two seconds later. 

Then, when everything was coming to a close, they got a crown and everyone sang happy birthday to their "ruler" as a bored employee brought out the cheapest, shittiest sheet cake in the world. Ah, good times.

But, this time, there was no cake. No laughter. No room for fun as the three heroes stepped out of the Man Van, much to the awe of the odd passerby on the street, and marched towards the restaurant with taut frowns on their faces. They meant business and that meant using their angry faces, especially when they approached the automatic doors and looked through the glass and saw their culprit borderline threatening the poor people trying to eat. 

Hell, even Piper and her dad were in there, although the former looked rather embarrassed to be out with a man who still looked for the crappy toys in the kid's meals. But they were shaking after the knight unsheathed his sword and started brandishing it about the place, demanding that they all kneel before him like the puny peasants they were.

"Okay, tin man, you're coming with us," Captain Man announced in a deep growl as he strode through the door to the thankful applause of the crowd, ignoring how his tummy rumbled when met with the heavenly scent of fried food. No, focus, he had to look tough, he had his sidekicks with him, walking like they had potatoes under their arms, acting like him as they faced the knight. Sure, he had a sword, but they had lasers. Who was gonna win?

"Thanks. Thanks, everybody," he nodded to the wide-eyed citizens, who seemed shocked at their sudden appearance, but the three assumed that it was because they were surprised that they'd swooped in so promptly to save the day. 

"I didn't know you guys were part of the show!" Piper exclaimed, standing up from the table she'd plonked at after getting fed up with her humiliating excuse for a father. Her brother and the adults accompanying him gave her a few funny looks, wondering what she was going on about because they weren't there for anyone's entertainment and neither was the psycho with the razor-sharp weapon. 

"I'm sorry, let's start again. What show?" (y/n) smiled at her kindly since in her civilian life, she got on with the girl so well. But as she looked from them to the knight, there wasn't a trace of fear on her face, rather, she seemed in wonder about what was going to happen next, something she may have inherited from her dad.

"Piper, be quiet! Let them say their lines," Mr Hart scolded his daughter, childlike excitement in his eyes as he watched the tension rise between the competing sides. Like his daughter, he thought that this was just some medieval-meets-modern-era performance, good vs evil, maybe even a promo for the heroes so they could appeal to the public. After all, there was a knight at a Burger castle, how on-brand could you get?

"Who dares challenge King Ryder?" The knight asked in a booming voice that entertained the crowd to no end.

He looked at the heroes—or intruders—with fury ripped across his harsh features and he clearly didn't understand that a king was made by the opinion of his subjects—not that any Swellviewian was his subject.

"Seriously, what is going on here?" Henry asked (y/n) and Ray quietly, the woman giving him a shrug since she was none the wiser and just as confused as him. However, her doofus didn't look perplexed, instead, all of the fighting talk seemed to excite him and he looked ready to step up to the plate because Ray Manchester could never ignore a challenge, not one that felt like the WWE moment he'd been dreaming of all of his life. And it would give him the chance to superman-punch and clothesline the guy who disrespected him and hit on his girl. Win-win.

"I'll tell you what's going on here, Kid Danger..."

"Oh, dear god..." (y/n) rubbed her temples, massaging away in advance the migraine she knew she was going to have by the end of this as she watched her doofus strut around the room like a peacock ready to brawl. Two egos, locking heads, what could go wrong?

"This guy's comin' onto our turf, trying to take on the undefeated champions of Swellview!" Ray exclaimed, his voice blending into a stereotypical wrestler's tone, and "Ryker" looked around in confusion when the crowd applauded the puny man. Baffled, he looked at their pleased expressions and wondered why they were excited by the man, who was muscular but still smaller than him, and why he felt the need to climb onto a chair.

"Actually, we got defeated last month? Remember, doof? The kid lost his powers?" (y/n) contradicted him, unable to hold her tongue since it was the truth.

"You're goin' down, brother!" Ray declared, patting her hand a few times before she dropped it in defeat. Nothing she said would tempt him away unless she wore a see-through shirt and nothing else, so if he wanted a fight, she'd stand back until he needed back up. It could be fun, to watch him in action and see the way his body used its power so carefully and with such accuracy. Yeah, fun...The crowd certainly thought so.

"I will destroy you!" Ryker bit back, looking down his nose at the hero, which drew many boos from the crowd. Okay, scratch what (y/n) previously thought, she'd take him herself if she had to, this guy was too cocky. Ray didn't seem phased, though, he was loving the fight-talk, sticking his thumbs downwards to taunt his opponent as his people backed him up. Yeah, that's right, his people.

The knight responded in turn and he must've been from out of town because had he been aware that Captain Man was indestructible, y'know, the thing that everyone knew because that was his power, he probably wouldn't have been so calm. Arrogance was thick in the air as Ryker sliced his sword through the air like a madman in danger of taking someone's eye out or cutting a limb off, but it wasn't particularly scary, more like all bark and no bite. A show that impressed the spectators but bored the heroes who didn't flinch at theatrics.

"Yawn." "Okay, bored now," Henry and (y/n) muttered and rather than engaging with the man and risk losing a few fingers or a head, they simply whipped the laser controllers from their belts and fired two green lasers into his face since it was the only patch of skin not covered by iron. He might have thought he was a tough guy, acting all big with his mean words, weapon and affinity for domination, but like any other man, he stumbled back and clutched his nose in pain as the laser stung just enough to make him drop the steel and teach him a lesson.

If that pleased the crowd then they'd love part two; in perfect synch with his sidekicks, Ray kicked out at the knight, striking him in the chest so he hit the ground like a sack of spuds with a clanging screech. The following applause was breathtaking and the trio were happy to soak it up as the nutter stayed down, although Ray was still weary for his next move and ensured that his precious girl and ward stayed behind him as he approached to place his heavy boot on the metal chest piece. The legendary alpha had retained his throne and the loyalty of his followers.

"M'lord!... Oh, and m'lady!" Mr Hart said rather embarrassingly as he appeared in front of the heroic couple when Ray took up (y/n)'s hand to press a rather sweet kiss to her knuckles, and they blushed awkwardly when he dropped to his knee in a very respectful but unnecessary courtesy. The man was just trying to bring his lover into his victory because if he fought for anyone, it was for her, there was no need to express any devotion to him, hers was enough. And (y/n) didn't agree with towering above someone else, it made her feel...icky.

"I am so sorry about him," Piper interjected shakily, swooping in quickly to drag her father away when she spotted the slightest hint of discomfort on her idols' faces. Talk about an embarrassment; she'd seen him pull some stunts in her lifetime but nothing felt this mortifying, she couldn't believe that he'd done that when Captain Man was having a moment with Miss Danger. Now, all the papers would be talking about was how some weirdo, identified as Jake Hart, was the biggest loser about, not their cute interaction, so now, the poor girl just felt awful.

"Oh, it's fine, no worries. I know what it's like to care for a man-child," (y/n) told the tween kindly, giving her the warmest smile she could before turning to Ray with her most teasing. He was looking at her with raised eyebrows, a faux-offended expression on his face as if he'd taken her joking to heart. A giggle left her lips, finding herself funny more than him and it broke through his annoyed façade, leaving Ray powerless to stop his next actions. 

His head dipped and their lips pressed together as the world disappeared around them until nothing but the kiss existed. The crowd cooed, Henry shuffled awkwardly on his feet to mask how he too was silently shipping them and everyone agreed on one thing. 

The papers would have something to write about and the photo snapped of them as they smiled and smooched would without a doubt make the front page.

~

There was one thing to say about this Ryker guy; he was a damn difficult man to haul onto a chair.

The Burger Castle goers had calmed down eventually and returned to their tables and food to gossip about how Captain Man seemed to follow Miss Danger around like a lovesick puppy, how Miss Danger was the luckiest girl in the world, and how Kid Danger was so adorably awkward around the two when they teased him for his aversion to PDA. Well, some of them gossiped, and some man-children argued about who had the best toys in the toy box, which was especially difficult for their children trying to maintain control.

With no eyes on them, the heroes were left to sort the situation out without hindrance; the staff didn't care, they were just teenagers who were longing to sneak five minutes of their PearPhones anyway. So since the knight was still dopey from the effects of the laser, Ray, (y/n) and Henry wasted no time in stripping him of his protective armour, starting with the helmet and then working on removing the shoulder plates and chest piece so he wasn't so invincible. 

Now, it would be easier for them to take him down should he get rowdy again but interestingly, he seemed placid now, non-threatening, kinda like he knew he'd been placed on the naughty step and needed to think about what he'd done.

"Get up, you weirdo. Let's go, come on. Easy."

"Haul ass, knight-man."

"There you go..." The heroes' pulled Ryker to his feet after removing the last of his armour, tossing the shin plates to the side as he staggered due to the laser's effects. He was just a man now, no metal and no threat, with just his leather under-armour left and that wouldn't protect him that much. 

Still, regardless of his weaker state, they were wary of him, well aware that he was still a large, powerful man with the stature and muscle to hurt them or someone else should he want to. Never trust a bad guy, they'd learnt that the hard way, but strangely, he was so...polite now.

"Thank you for helping me—You fools!" Or not. After taking a few steps, the knight spun around and bared his teeth at them as he raised his open palm at them, his hand high-fiving the air whilst Ray instinctively put an arm in front of (y/n), ready to shield her from danger should he need to, but the danger never came. Ryker screwed his face up with the effort of whatever his hand was supposed to do, but he did nothing more than confuse the three, who wondered what the hell he was doing.

"Is something supposed to happen?" (y/n) asked in a mocking tone that showed no trace of fear. He'd expected something awful to happen but had fallen at the last hurdle so he was as harmless as ever, lacking both his offence and defence. It was rather amusing since he'd tried to trick them, playing dead only to attack again and upon realising he was powerless, the knight deflated in defeat, downhearted at being a laughingstock in front of the lady.

"Yes, fair maiden. Usually, smoke comes out of my hand and then, you bear the Mark of Ryker and I can control your mind!" He replied, looking genuinely frustrated at his lack of power, which was probably used to having. Henry turned to Ray, who seemed a tad grumpier at the man's mention of (y/n) as a fair maiden because yes, she was fair, the fairest of them all, but he didn't like how he seemed to notice that.

"Is he controlling your mind, dude?"

"Nah, I'm thinkin' about cheese fries...and Miss Danger," he replied truthfully, looking wistfully into the distance as he daydreamed about food and his sweet girl. Or, better still, sitting in the Man Cave with his sweet girl as they watched a crappy movie and fed each other fried potatoes loaded with mozzarella. Yeah, that sounded nice.

"Now, I'm thinkin' about cheese fries...but not Miss Danger," Henry replied, liking the sound of getting a small snack after they were done here. The only thing he didn't imagine was (y/n) in any capacity similar to what his boss was thinking of. That was just...ew.

"Whoa! I'm controlling your mind!" "Whaaaat?" "You two are so weird..." (y/n) rolled her mind as they bantered back and forth about nothing special at all. It was kinda cute, though, the rapport that they had and breaking the tension was nice after being so serious - seriousness didn't come naturally to Ray, not at all.

"The cheese fries in your mind are now covered in chilli!" "Now, they are!"

"You mock me..." Ryker stated, a melancholy tone in his voice as he recognised that they were taking the piss. Where he came from, no man, woman or boy dared to make fun of him, so it was a blow to see them having fun when they should've been bowing at his feet and begging for mercy. God, he was up his own butt...

"Yeah, we definitely mock you," (y/n) nodded, shrugging nonchalantly since he seemed to get so touchy about people disrespecting him. She'd met plenty of assholes in her time and he was one of them, so she wasn't going to be intimidated because it was clear that too many people had been frightened and it had inflated his ego until he deemed himself a god amongst men. However, her bluntness was not welcome and his fury returned when she dared to speak so freely in his presence.

"Then, taste my steel, wench!" The knight shouted and plucked his sword from the ground in preparation for a second bout against the heroes. But, as before, the lasers were mightier than the sword and within a blink of an eye, Henry and Ray had pulled their controllers from their belts again and blasted him in the face for raising the weapon against Miss Danger when she'd done nothing wrong. 

A cry left his mouth as the sting bloomed across his eyes and nose, the sword clattering to the floor when his knees crumpled under the strain. Ray's eyes worriedly scanned (y/n)'s face, looking for any sign that she was scared or upset from the failed attack and he let a breath go that he didn't know he was holding.

"He said taste my steel, doofus. He's a bigger doofus than you!" The heroine giggled, melting his worry since she wasn't threatened at all, more like amused that he thought she'd cower in fear when facing a sword. It was funny; she was standing next to the biggest lump of power and punches she'd ever met and that lump would lay down his life to keep her safe—Ray had never given her a reason to fear for her life and Ryker hadn't changed that one bit. 

But, even though she was okay and laughing, a kiss placed between her eyebrows, he was still angry, furious even, because no one, not future kings or the lowest man in the land, got to terrify her.

"Hey, what's your dill, pickle? Why're you so mad?" Ray growled with a pointed stare.

"You'd be mad too if someone stole your kingdom," Ryker replied with a sadness in his eyes that disarmed the heroes, who weren't expecting an answer like that. They were still cautious, highly aware that he'd tricked them before and could do it again just as easily, but they still showed a sliver of concern. Losing an entire kingdom sounded so tragic, like something out of a fantasy film where the burning down of the village is the hero's character-defining moment. It sounded like he'd lost everything and the trio couldn't help but feel a tad sorry for him.

"Huh?" "How do you lose an entire kingdom?" "What's up, big dog?"

"I am the rightful ruler of Astoria. But my throne was taken away from me," the knight explained, eyes downcast and staring solemnly at the floor. Well, that tugged at their heartstrings; if it was his right to rule, then it must've been hard to watch the fair land, "Astoria", be lost. Maybe they'd judged him too quickly, maybe his scary look was just that—a look—and he was just a stranded soul in an unfamiliar place.

"Aw, buddy..." "That's actually pretty sad..." "That's not goooood." They gave him some very sympathetic looks and Ray pushed away his old anger so he could place a comforting hand on the man's shoulder since he looked like he was on the verge of tears. He'd hate it if he lost his home, followers and lover, he wouldn't know what to do, so as a fellow leader, he kind of empathised with what the man was going through.

"I almost got it back, but I was defeated by a squad of knights. And a wizard banished me from my realm, and suddenly, I was, well, here..." he went on, illustrating a picture and narrative in their heads that were almost heartbreaking. Who were these asshole knights who'd hurt such a...gentle man? He wasn't so bad now that he'd calmed down and although (y/n) was still a bit skittish, which was understandable given that he was, like, double her size, the boys connected with him. 

"Ah, I get it. He's not a bad guy, he's just scared." "Yeah, he's just a lost lil' puppy from another dimension...right, precious girl?" Ray nudged his fiancée as he and the kid softened their looks, but (y/n) was still unsure. Puppy wasn't the term she'd used; Ray was a puppy, adorable and goofy, clumsy and soft but this guy, looked mean and vicious, tough and bitey.

"Yeah...with a very sharp sword, scary face tattoos and a Jackanory story that has me crying my eyes out," she whispered, angling her body so half of it was hidden behind Ray. Could that be classed as cowering? Perhaps. She didn't like to look so weak, not against her possible enemies but she felt nervous and naturally when feeling nervous, she got mouthy to ward off predators.

"You are right to fear me, fair maiden. I am a stranger in your land, but I swear, I mean you nor your companions no harm," Ryker bowed his head and curled his fist to her chest in a respectful gesture and made her slouch slightly, but there was still the feeling that she was the lamb looking at a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

"Are we supposed to take your word for that? You tried to cut my head off."

"And I apologise most deeply, to you and the one who came to your defence so valiantly. He must be very fond of you," he also bowed his head towards Ray, who practically purred at the respect he was being shown, going from the snarling alpha to a pacified leader in one sentence since his target was now toeing the line perfectly, acknowledging their connection and keeping his distance. Damn right, he was fond of her, more than that.

"Well, pal, she is my beautiful fiancée," Ray replied, looked at the woman dreamily and slung his arm around her shoulders, causing (y/n) to blush since they were still in public. The contact was heavenly and being able to smell his cologne made her feel safe, especially since the display showed the knight who he'd be messing with if he tried something—the prancing hero in his red and blue spandex. 

"She is your betrothed? Then you, sir, are a lucky man indeed," it was almost as if Ryker knew every method for stroking his ego, pandering to Ray's every love; being admired for his prowess and being able to bask in the knowledge that he had the most gorgeous woman in the world as his future wife. There was no doubt in his mind now that this knight was a stand-up guy and he needed to get back to his kingdom so he could reclaim his throne, something they could certainly help him with. It was the least they could do.

"We'll get you home, little fella," he smiled and put his arm around his shoulders so they could escort him to the Man Van. Henry looked at (y/n), (y/n) looked at Henry and neither knew why his tune had changed so dramatically but the woman went along with it when the kid gave her a reassuring smile. She had nerve flare-ups sometimes, they came and went with the full moon or something, so she wrote off the uneasiness in her stomach as inter-dimensional waves or particles or something like that. It would be fine, right?

"I'm bigger than you are." "Sure you are, little buddy!" Ray laughed at the man's analysis, not realising that he was telling the truth. Ryker stood a couple of inches above Ray and whilst the hero could probably take him in a fight, there was no getting away from the fact that on this rare occasion, he wasn't the giant in the room. Well, he still had the biggest head.

"You know...in a way, I'm kinda the king in this town and I suppose that kinda makes Miss Danger my queen..." "Oh, god..." Henry groaned when the cringiest sentence he'd ever heard came from his boss's lips. Bigheaded, much?  No, he was not the king, he was just the guy who donated all of his time to save the city, he did not rule the place, no matter how much he liked to think that. But in one respect, he was right about something; (y/n) was his queen and he was the lowly joker, basking in her majesty.

~The Man Cave~

It was difficult explaining to a man from an ancient world was technology was. The most advanced kit he knew was a spell book and catapults, so seeing him freak out in the Man Van was an odd experience until they realised that the "metal horse" was frightening him. Of course, they'd never thought about it like that but eventually, he sat comfortably, listening to Ray bragging about their many adventures, which meant they had a plethora of weapons that he could borrow in his bid to regain the throne - it was no biggie, an honour, in fact. 

Maybe he'd even reward them for their service once he was crowned king.

"Help meeeeeeeee!" Ryker screamed as he went down a tube, which was a bit embarrassing for him since he was supposed to be this big, strong, emotionally unmovable knight. But the weightless feeling made his tummy flutter like it always did on the first trip and he squeezed his eyes shut, prayed for it to be over and cursed the couple in the next tube who said it would be fun. Filthy liars.

"Hey, man, it's just the tubes." "Yeah, you don't have to be so scared, they're very safe," Ray and (y/n) comforted him, quickly untangling themselves from each other's arms since he was having a mini breakdown. Whilst they understood why he was scared, it was necessary since Schwoz maintained the tubes like nothing else and if he couldn't handle them, he wasn't going to find his bravery against these enemy knights. Where was his courage?

"I wasn't scared! That was, um...brave screaming," the knight lied, trying to save face as the brave superheroes mollycoddled him. Yeah, because he looked so brave when he was near tears refusing to step into the tube opening and here came Henry, ready to pull that lie apart.

"Dude, you were so scared! I could hear you screaming the whole way down!" The boy laughed, teasing the man for how he'd betrayed his tough-guy persona so utterly. He could lie all he wanted, it was plain that he was shitting himself down and there was no shame in that; it happened to everyone when they first experienced the zero-gravity effect, although, the resident couple were certain that they'd never seen anyone react like that before.

"That was brave screaming!" "Yeah, I also scream help me when I'm being brave..." Henry rolled his eyes and brushed off the pathetic excuse, shaking his head at the banter. He didn't mean it, it was just some harmful teasing, but either way, Ryker wasn't in the Man Cave to have fun. Get the weapons, get home, get the throne, that was his plan, among friends with these people in court jester's clothes were not.

"I would like to go home now and fight for my throne!"

"Yeah, sure, braveheart, where are we on that, Schwoz?" (y/n) was best pleased with his curt tone but turned to the genius who'd been working away like a busy little bee for the past hour, trying to locate an inter-dimensional chatter on this Astoria place that Ryker was from. 

As per Ray's instructions, Charlotte, Jasper and he had gone to Evil Science Corp to confiscate the machine that Bill Evil and his team used to play with portals, so he was using that technology to listen between worlds...freaky. The hat and headphones helmet he'd created was weird but so far, he'd been able to find a few signals, just not the ones he was looking for. 

"I'm still working on it," he replied, flicking switches and adjusting his knobs so the search could continue. Now, Schwoz was a wonderful man, very kind, very gentle, very helpful and his family loved him, but none of them could deny that he was weird—both in looks and personality. So, it was no surprise that when the knight took notice of him, he thought he was a creature from his world - an odd, little, scurrying, pitiful slave with a piggy face and smooth head.

"Oh...nice troll slave. How much do you want for him?" "What?! I'm not a troll!" Schwoz protested, taking great offence that someone would deem him a slimy, grunting, tucked animal that lived under bridges or scratched a living slaving in a grubby kitchen. He was a person, he deserved some respect, which Ray sometimes forgot and took advantage of his skills.

"Quiet down, troll!" "Ra—Captain Man! Naughty!" (y/n) thumped her lover's shoulder lightly for being so mean to a key member of their team and the hero gave her a slight pout and a small yet genuinely remorseful look as she admonished him. But as he thought about his actions, a brilliant idea came to mind. "Hey, hey, hey!"

"What, what, what?!" "Let's give this dude some of our sweet weapons to take home with him so he can get his kingdom back!" Ray suggested, pulling his sidekicks close so they could huddle up and whisper, but as ever, Ray's whispering was more like shouting and Ryker perked up when he heard everything. 

For Ray, it made sense; Schwoz was forever inventing and discarding older prototypes of blasters and bombs in the Man Cave, so they had plenty to spare and this guy needed some help. Look at his little face, he was giving them puppy-dog eyes and it felt cruel to send him off into the unknown to fend for himself.

"I love that idea and I would like to do that right now," Henry stated seriously, agreeing with everything his boss said because he viewed the knight in the same way - a lost soul in need of guidance onto the right path again. 

"I don't know, guys, is this really a good idea? I mean, some of the weapons we have are kinda dangerous and we hardly know this guy," (y/n) argued uneasily, not wanting to be mean or a stick in the mud, but rationality won with her as always. 

A part of her wanted to give Ryker the benefit of the doubt and admit that she'd made a judgement of his character but also, there was a tugging on her heart, one that said that giving him proton blasters, molecular shifters or flamethrowers was foolish. This wasn't the first time she and Ray had butted heads on a problem, one thinking against the other but they always worked it out, so this time, she'd trust his judgment...and pray it wasn't misplaced.

"You have weapons here?" Ryker questioned and stepped in, butting in before the couple could debate the suggestion.

"So many weapons!" "Yeah." "Maybe..." the heroes replied, ranging from enthusiastic to a little reluctant to divulge what they kept in storage. Henry was excited, Ray was proud and (y/n), well, she was trying to stay on the fence. That way, she could see what was growing in both gardens.

"What, like swords and axes?" He asked, assuming that they'd have weapons like he was used to, basics that cut and chopped rather than blasted and burnt. That drew a few smiles because swords and the like were so five centuries ago, practically Neanderthal to the modern fighter and it was cute how he thought combat was still so brutish.

"Yeah, yeah, swords!" "Yeah, we got axes!" Ray and Henry laughed, causing (y/n) to roll her eyes as Ryker gave them a confused look. He didn't know what was so funny but Ray was about to wipe that expression clean off and replace it with wonder. Curling an arm around his shoulders, he turned the man towards the tube pads and the rooms that lay beyond them, where they kept some of the older weapons that were no longer regularly used.

"Hey, uh, let me tell you called a thermonuclear hand cannon. And after that, I'm gonna tell you a hilarious story about my cousin, a kangaroo..."

"Doofus, don't touch or give away anything before I look at it! Are you even listening to me?" And off they went. Ray was determined to find a friend in the knight, and so was Henry, whilst he was more interested in this fancy cannon thing they spoke of. That's what worried (y/n), did she need to explain how dangerous they were? Sure, Schwoz had built better things since but that didn't make it deadly, so she stormed after the giggling pack as they stumbled away, leaving the genius to scan the multiverse for an answer that came sooner than expected.

"I found it! I found someone saying Astoria!" Schwoz cried in delight as his boomerang-shaped scanner picked up a frequency of voices. Astoria, Astoria, Astoria...they kept repeating over and over, and he knew that he'd discovered what he was looking for. Sadly, it was a massive shame that there was no one around to pat him on the back for it. "I found someone saying Astori—ahhhh, I'm talking to myself!"

He sighed and continued listening to the distorted voices. A boy and a girl he was sure, they sounded quite nice, not at all evil like he'd been predicting and he figured that he'd just have to report his findings to his boss or (y/n) once the scary man was kitted out with some hand-me-downs. 

But, as he stood there, minding his own business, reality seemed to bend and before his very eyes, a blazing portal opened in front of him, revealing two people whose voices were the ones he'd been hearing through the signal. They were in a halo of swirling amber and electric pink, seemingly lost in their conversation until the door closed on their old world and left them in the new one—the Man Cave to be exact.

"Stromboli, Stromboli, strombo—oh my god, where are we?" A tall, blond, good-looking boy screamed as Schwoz turned the machine off, deeming its purpose fulfilled now that he'd found someone to take their guest home. They were an odd-looking pair, that was for certain, although he could say much about that. The boy was wearing what looked like spares from Robin Hood's wardrobe and was accompanied by a pretty, young girl with bouncy curls and a Middle Ages-themed blouse. She had a sword on her hip and Schwoz knew that he'd have to be delicate with the situation, after all, they were bound to be like cornered animals now that he'd pulled them from Astoria.

"Welcome to the Man Cave!" He greeted them warmly, throwing his arms out to show that he carried no weapons and was trying to be non-threatening but of course, most heads-of-house are normally easy on the eye. Schwoz's funny looks did him no favours as the unknown teens took him in with shock in their eyes and as Ryker had, they didn't see that he was a human like them, more like a stubby, mythical slave that was a spawn of evil.

"Oh, it's an evil troll!" The boy exclaimed, looking like he was ready for a fight in his leather armour and fighting stance, no matter how innocent and placid the genius tried to appear.

"I am Schwoz..." "It's an evil troll named Schwoz!" The girl cried, clearly panicking as Schwoz shuffled closer and her fingers twitched to draw her sword. Anything to save herself and her friend from his filthy, clawed clutches. 

"Okay, why don't you just relax and let me explain how—oh, good, you have weapons!" The small man gulped when they took their swords by the ears and yanked them from their sheaths, which meant that quickly, he was facing down two very pointy ends. His heart was hammering in his ears as they charged forward, causing him to back up quickly to avoid being skewered since any time he tried to reason with them led to him taking another step back. And another. And another until he couldn't go any further and found his back pressed to the secret door in between the auto-snacker and supercomputer. 

"Let us out of this cave!" "Why did you bring us here?!" "You best send us home right now!" They snapped at him and Schwoz found himself losing his grip on his nerve as the metal wavered under his nose. He couldn't answer them all at once but he figured that even if he could, they'd probably cut out his tongue for some misunderstanding because trying to talk with them was futile. They thought he was evil and they were the ones with razor-sharp, folded steel, it was best not to provoke them.

"This is my personal space!" He hissed back, unable to control himself any longer because there was no escape for him. He wanted them to back off or at least drop the swords and for a moment, he thought he'd gotten through to them as the boy's frown cracked, only for him to say something ridiculous.

"Wait! I'm pretty sure that if you tickle trolls, they puke gold," he smirked at the girl, whose eyes lit up at the thought of getting rich quick. Her friend was a bit far-fetched at times, but the troll was right there and it couldn't hurt to try, so she was all up for it, whether the creature agreed or not.

"No, we don't—I mean, no, they don't!" Schwoz tried to brush over his slip of the tongue, wanting to disassociate himself from any connotations of being a troll because it was so damn demeaning. And ridiculous. Very ridiculous, not that the mischievous teens seemed to care; they were willing to try anything once.

"I'll grab him." "I'll get the treasure. I am great at tickling!" Partners in crime was how Schwoz would describe them and whilst they were smirking at each other, he saw his chance and made a break for it. He didn't like tickling at the best of times, he certainly didn't want it done by two teen strangers with that cunning twinkle in their eyes. Their swords were abandoned to the tiles as they chased after him and predictably, their agility and speed far outshone his, meaning he was their prisoner, not a second later, trapped in the girl's arms as the boy got to dancing his fingers along his ribs.

His laughs filled the room as Ray sauntered back into the main room with (y/n) hot on his heels, totally unaware of what had been going down whilst they and Henry had been enjoying a little weapon fashion show with their new friend—well, his and Henry's friend. It had been great; he now had ample gear to take back his kingdom, including blasters, the cannon, grenades, electrocuting prods, the works and he looked very happy with himself, so it was time to send the knight on his merry way.

"Don't go there, dude. Don't go there!" "Anyway, my sweet girl designed these and they're sick! You pull the pin, you throw it at your enemy...boom!" Ray explained to Ryker with a huge smile on his face, failing to see what was happening to Schwoz since they were having a great conversation about how a problem could be solved with no more than a classic grenade. One that (y/n) thought up when she was still but an employee with a lot of long, lonely nights and a curious mind. That meant Ray was very fond of them and not shy to show them off to the knight, who was now armed to the teeth with guns strapped to his back and bombs pinned to his chest, all courtesy of Captain Man and Co.

"Yes, doofus, they're great but be careful how you use them. I can't tell you how many walls we've had to hose down because of splattered—what the actual fuck?!" The woman bashfully advised the man, flustered by the praise but also concerned that a grenade used in the wrong place could leave an unfortunate mess. And Ryker seemed to be taking her worries on board, listening carefully until she just so happened to look across the room after hearing a peculiar noise, only to see Schwoz being attacked by two strangers that he knew very well indeed.

"Hey!" "Whoa!" "Who are you?! What are you doing with my troll?!" If Henry and (y/n) were shocked, then Ray was infuriated, demanding to know who these strangers in his hideout were. 

Nothing happened in those four walls that he didn't know about and the fact that they'd managed to sneak in troubled him deeply, especially since these two looked like Camelot rejects. Well, one of them also bore a striking resemblance to Henry with his fair hair and fine features but that wasn't important. What was essential was finding out why they were in his home and tickling his repairman, torture that only he was allowed to inflict when Schwoz annoyed him. 

"Nugget-head, we've been through this. Schwoz is not a troll!" (y/n) snapped her head to her lovable idiot and gave him a pointed stare as his remained on the kids, who looked rather pale-faced as they looked over to see not only some strangers in funny outfits but also, the cruellest, evilest, most brutal man their land had ever known; Ryker, enemy of Astoria. The one who'd laid waste to the kingdom once before and had been trying to do so again for years—looks like he'd found a new land to purge, new people to terrorise and force into his army.

"Arc!" "Ryker! "Ciara!" They addressed each other, seemingly shocked to see each other, which was then replaced with a determined fury to claw at each other's throats. 

"Schwoz?" "Hi!" Okay, this was getting a bit weird for Ray, (y/n) and Henry, who found themselves in the middle of a standoff that they didn't understand, merely that Schwoz seemed to be okay now that he had been left alone and that if these kids, Arc and Ciara, were enemies of Ryker, then they had to be their enemies too. Because they were friends now, right?

"And Captain Man as the hero, set to save his pretty girl from the clutches of ev..." Ray joked, turning to (y/n) with a smouldering smirk on his face like he was trying out for the lead role in an action film where a sweaty, muscly underdog defies all the odds to save the sweet chick from a gang of ruffians, only to ride off on his motorcycle into the sunset together. Y'know, that kind of movie. But, as she rolled her eyes and cupped his cheek to accept the kiss he so desperately wanted to share with her, things got heated rather quickly. 

Ryker drew the blasters they'd given him and not just any old blasters, some of the most powerful, heavy-duty ones they had, which had been retired due to their tendency to work a little too well. The kids stood steadfast against him, trying not to look afraid and helpless as he pointed the weapons they'd never seen before straight at them. Hang on a second, there seemed to be a little history here and whatever had gone off, it had left some real beef.

"Hang on a second, do you know these guys?" Henry asked, eyeing the boy and the...surprisingly hot girl with a curious eye. Surely, someone as pretty as her couldn't be bad, she looked like perfect girlfriend material—not that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. Yuck, she was bad. He'd had enough date disasters. Ew. Not that he thought she was pretty in the first place, no way. 

"Yes! They took my kingdom from me!" Ryker replied and took a few steps towards the unarmed teens and something felt off to (y/n). Their swords were on the ground, not that they'd help against the modern tech, but still, they had no way of defending themselves...and her heart lurched when she looked at the boy. For a second, she could swear that it was her Henry standing there petrified.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't sound very nice but let's not be hasty. Come on, Ryker, let's put the blasters down and—"

"How dare you do that to this sweet man?!" Ray dragged her away from the children, worried about what filthy tricks were up their sleeves because if they could hurt his new friend like that, what could they do to his sweet girl? It wasn't her fault that she was the kindest, gentlest, sweetest soul on Earth and a little too trusting of young faces, those qualities endeared her to him, but so help him god, he was going to teach these punks a lesson. Anything for the man who'd laughed at the story he'd told him like it was the funniest thing in the world, which was more than Henry did.

"Sweet? He enslaved everyone in the kingdom!' 'Then, he used mind control to turn my own sister against me," Arc and Ciara argued, painting Ryker as an awful character, one that (y/n) suddenly found herself backing away from. She knew that he was more than he said he was and despite not knowing anything about them, she found herself siding with the teens, who knew more about this man than they did. Judging by their outfits, they came from the sale oldy-worldy land, so they had to know something and whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"They're making you sound pretty baaaad, dude," Henry whispered in the knight's ear, thinking, or rather, praying that what they were saying wasn't true because he'd been such a nice guy whilst he'd been with them. Kind, courteous, a little blunt after the bad start but capable of great banter as they showed him their stuff. The hot girl and her...friend that was a boy had to be lying, they just had to be.

"Oh, I am bad." "Ooooh...wait, what?" The heroes recoiled from him slightly, not liking how cool he was with that admission. It was like it didn't phase him at all and (y/n) looked at Ray with fear in her eyes for what they'd done to help this evil man. But he wasn't giving up hope yet and reasoned that maybe Ryker was just a bad boy, kinda like he was a baaaad boy when he pinched her butt when no one was looking.

"Wait, hold on. Bad, like bad bad? Or bad like I'm a bad mamma-jamma?"

"Whatever bad means evil," Ryker, the villainous coward shrugged and instantly, the trio gasped in horror and took a step back. Brutus, is that you? Why didn't he just stab in the heart as well as the back? Ray hoped (y/n) behind him and shared a wide-eyed, disgusted look with Henry as they gave the knight an appalled glare because what the hell? They'd given him their weapons, their time, their help, their everything and now, he was a bad guy. Talk about not knowing a guy.

"What?!" "You're evil?! "I told you so, doofus! I told you so! I said to be careful and you ignore my tummy again!" (y/n) facepalmed, practically shaking Ray by the shoulders as he tried to sound out a desperate apology to her but all he could do was open and close his mouth like a goldfish - his shock had stolen his voice. Whatever, she'd deal with him and his too-trusting nature later, right now she had a villain in her home, one that had more weapons than her.

"Oh, yeah...wait, aren't you guys evil? I mean, I thought the girl was a bit soft and flowery but you guys..." Ryker frowned, making them scoff at such a rude presumption. First of all, (y/n) wasn't some dainty mascot that they brought along for the fun, she was a fighter and a good one at that. And secondly, they were as pure as they came, fighting for the light or whatever and it was offensive that he thought otherwise. Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger bad? He should've washed his mouth out with soap.

"No!" "We're good guys!" "I'm not soft, okay?! And why would you think we're evil?"

"Uh, 'cause you've got this underground lair, tons of weapons, a troll slave and he threatens to break the arm of any man who disrespects his queen?" "I am not a troll!" The villain did make a fair point, some things did look a little shady in the wrong light but that was just semantics and didn't mean that they were plotting the enslavement of humanity. Ray had dedicated his entire life to the city of Swellview and its people, and so had his future wife and if he was overprotective of her then that was that, it didn't make him evil. And neither did Schwoz's coconut head make him a troll, not that anyone was listening.

"...I see what happened here. Classic misunderstanding," Ray chuckled dryly and put his arm around Ryker just as he'd done earlier as he tried to mop up his mistakes, "Sooooo...gonna need those weapons back real quick." He grabbed the end of one blaster as Henry and (y/n) took the other, and together, they pulled with all their might, only to discover that the man's grip was like iron; relentless and unbreakable. He refused to return the weapons because they'd given him a chance of stealing back the kingdom that had managed to slip the reigns of his tyranny once and he sure as hell wasn't going to let this chance go—or those blasters.

"Pretty firm grip, dude," Henry nodded to Ray, who gestured for them to relinquish the guns. Time for a change of tactics.

"Tell you what, on the count of three, you're just gonna let go and give those—" Ray smiled at his former acquaintance, doing the decent thing and giving him a chance to give up the blaster before things turned ugly. But, unlike the adored Captain Man, Ryker wasn't known as a decent or kindhearted man, hell, even his mercy was as icy as his frozen heart. So he didn't bat an eyelid when he squeezed the trigger as Miss Danger had demonstrated, sending Ray flying backwards onto the floor with burning pain in his chest, much to his sidekicks' horror. Thank god for his indestructibility.

"Shit, shit—back, everybody, back!" (y/n) shouted to Schwoz, Henry and the two kids from Astoria the moment the plasma was released from the chamber, fearful of what might happen should one of them get hit. She'd be fine, they wouldn't and since Ray was now officially preoccupied, she got to pull rank and make the decisions. So, they took covered behind the couch, ducking so the foam would take the blasts and not their bodies, but when they were safe, she made another decision, one that was rather reckless.

"That means you too, (y/n)!" Henry hissed when she dashed to run to her fiancé's side, thinking that she'd be able to help him in some way, even though no ideas were springing to mind. His harm seized her forearm, keeping her by his side, kneeling on the ground and not charging off into the fray when she'd get blown to bits. If she got squashed into jelly, would her super-regeneration be able to de-jellify itself? Now there was a question, one he didn't want to find the answer to.

"But Ray needs help! I can't just leave him with—with him!" She cried, feeling her heart break as her doofus clawed at the ground whilst fighting through the pain. And to make matters worse, the look on Ryker's face was murderous as if he enjoyed the pain he'd inflicted on his opponent, who might not have splattered on the walls like he'd been told, but then again, he had always enjoyed toying with his prey before the killing blow. 

That alone made her want to rip his head off or at the very least rush to soothe any of her doofus' hurts and it was only because Henry refused to let her go that she wasn't facing the mouth of the gun herself.

"He'll be fine, you know that! Look at him, he can take Ryker!" The boy reassured her, aware of how worried she became when her lover was in danger because on countless occasions they'd both made no secret of the fact that they couldn't live without the other. But Ray had super density on his side and that would protect him no matter what that bastard threw his way, so it was safer and wiser for her to stay leading the group. After all, the man was already getting to his feet, looking for round two.

"Get ready to suffer," Ray spat, standing to his full height so he and Ryker could begin to circle. Those blasters didn't scare him, he'd faced much, much, much darker forces and won, so this would be like a light workout, an opportunity to beat this guy up for tricking him so well.

"How? You gonna finish telling me that boring story about your mom and that clown she was dating?"  "It was my aunt and I'm not sure if they were dating!" Oooh, now that was a low blow, one that had Henry and (y/n)'s jaws on the floor because they didn't know how their boss was gonna react. He loved that story and he'd loved how much Ryker had seemed to enjoy it, which was now just another lie, one that fuelled his rage enough for him to pull the laser controller from his belt. 

However, the traitorous knight was quicker and before the hero could fire, it was shot from his hand and a piece of melted garbage before it even hit the floor. Then, there was another blast, which this time hit his arm...and another and another, so he had no choice but to duck, weave and roll his way across the Man Cave as Ryker became a madman, intent on destroying this man or causing him agony at the very least. 

Most shots missed since his aim wasn't good with the newfangled tech but occasionally, Ray took one to the back or leg and had to limp away the pain just to stay on his feet. This fight wasn't fair and it showed.

"What are you doing? We should help him!" Ciara bent down to address the boy and woman as Ray hid behind an electricity pillar, but they seemed to be reluctant to help their companion. She didn't understand, wasn't the older man his master and her lover? Why would they not want to help? If he was her friend, she wouldn't hesitate to swoop in to save him from the enemy and yet they were buying their time.

"Uh, trust me, sweetie, he insulted Captain Man's story. Now it's personal," (y/n) soothed her concerns, understanding that it looked a bit mean and mutinous to not step in but it was like Henry had said. Ray could take care of himself, as per his reputation as the greatest fighter ever and the fury fuelling his movements—she knew that better than anyone. She knew him.

So, they settled down to watch the fight, rooting for Ray since she spoke so highly of him. However, all of the prowess in the world wouldn't help Ray right now; he was seriously outgunned and unable to get even a single punch as he worked more on his defence than an offence. Another plasma bolt to the back had him yelling in pain, enough to make the spectators cringe as he started to slow down, no doubt a side effect of his body trying to recover from the excessive amounts of pain.

"So, uh, you and your boyfriend go into different dimensions a lot, or...?" Henry asked the pretty girl and the annoyingly handsome guy next to her, thinking that despite the drama going on, he could at least make some small talk and perhaps, maybe, possibly get cosy with this girl. Given that she wasn't already taken, of course, and it didn't take long for (y/n) to see what he was doing. She'd given him all the training she could give in terms of wooing girls, it was time for the student to become the master, but boy, was he bad at it.

"Uh, we're not—" "He's not my boyfriend," the girl laughed off his assumption and the boy crawled off to go and talk to Schwoz or something. Great, now he was alone with her and single which meant he was free to turn up the charm, even though he was setting himself up for heartbreak since she was from another dimension and everything.

"Nice," he whispered and made a mental note for his later flirting when (y/n) jerked her head towards the fight and gave him a knowing smirk. Right, pay attention, Hart. Ray was doing better; he'd managed to land a kick on Ryker's chest, although it was merely a way of getting him to back off for a moment to allow him to retreat and the firing didn't stop. A well-executed shot landed square on his back, causing the hero to stumble mid-leap as he hopped from the back of the room to the couch. Okay, this wasn't going so well.

"I don't know if they have music in your dimension, but I'm in a band." "Bullshit," (y/n) coughed into her hand to hide the cackle that threaten to break through her lips when she heard the outrageous lie. Rule number one when flirting; be yourself and don't make stuff up. She'd taught him that and yet he was saying ridiculous things to get some girl he'd know for five minutes to fancy him, even when Ray was getting his ass handed to him. And then, he had the gall to give her a sharp glare. Ugh, teenagers.

"You know your friend's husband is getting beat up pretty bad, right?" Ciara asked, wondering why he was acting calm enough to flirt at a time like this, and why the lady's cheeks seemed to match her satin skirt when she said that. This dimension was weird.

"Oh, uh, they're not married—not yet, and they get touchy when people mention it. And you got me, I'm not in a band—but I'm thinking about joining one...as the star," the boy deflected her question, picking out bits that he felt comfortable talking about and leaving the part about Ray sucking against Ryker. (y/n) had her eye on him, it was fine, even if she did look like she was having a breakdown every time he got hit. He was trying to impress the hot girl and those were few and far between in his life. A few fibs couldn't hurt...

"Hey..." Arc whispered, crawling back to their huddle after interacting with Schwoz. And that wasn't the only thing he'd been doing. " Check it out! I just stole the troll's wallet!" He grinned and held up the leather item that Schwoz angrily snatched back when he saw that it was missing. He had no idea how he'd been able to steal it from under his nose but he wasn't going to let those sticky fingers near him again. Jerk. 

"Arc, can you stop stealing for one second?" His friend asked tiredly. Obviously, this kinda thing happened a lot with him.

"I can't help it. It's my thing!" He replied, giving the curious sidekicks a small smirk. That was his skill set, a lowly thief training to be a knight, although he was pretty damn good at the first. But, the joking mood turned sour as Ryker tired of his puny, pathetic blasters, which had probably overheated after so much use, so he switched to the handheld cannons that had been strapped to his back. Oh, god, if Ray thought the old ones hurt, he was in for a nasty shock, one that could take him down if he wasn't careful.

"Getting tired?" The villain taunted. "I'm just getting started," he replied, staggering to his feet like a drunkard and raising his shaking fists to his chest. He wasn't fooling anyone, the man was on his last legs, barely able to stand up, let alone fight but being the most stubborn on Earth, Ray didn't surrender, merely carried on lamely dodging when Ryker ploughed on. Oh, he did love it when they fought to the bitter, bitter end.

"Uh-oh...he always says I'm just getting started right before he's about to collapse, the silly doofus!" (y/n) murmured, knowing that hardheaded comment from anywhere, as well as the sway in his step and the slur in his speech. He'd be no good to them if he fainted or strained himself and what would they do once Ryker turned on them? Henry would be squished, Arc and Ciara would be squashed and Schwoz really would be taken a troll slave, perhaps even Ryker would make good on his word and steal (y/n) to be his evil queen. 

"We have to go!" Henry told his fellow teens and nodded at (y/n) so they could charge in together. Teamwork was the only way they'd managed to get to this guy if they distracted him whilst one of them hit him.

"Let us help!" "Yeah, we're knights!...in training." However, they weren't gonna have to do it alone. Ciara and Arc offered because they knew Ryker better than anyone and were certain that they could help take him down. After all, that was in their future job descriptions and even though, the hero man was able to land one punch on the villain's face, he looked like he needed all the help he could get. Three were on-target shots as he ran away and he was back on the floor, ready to give up as his body felt numb from soothing pain only for it to rush in again. He hadn't had a beating like this in ages, so his sidekicks scrambled for an idea.

"You're a thief, right?" Henry asked his double, a plan forming in his head that might just work if they were sneaky, clever and very, very lucky.

"Okay, you got me. I stole your wallet too..." Arc confessed, holding up the Man Cave-issued wallet that Henry had for whatever Kid Danger needed to purchase on the company card. Ray and (y/n) trusted him with it, how did that guy manage to take it? Why? Was it because he flirted with the girl? She said she was single...

"What?! No!" "Oh..." "Yeah, no, give me back my wallet. Never steal from me again," Henry said sharply, snatching back his wallet quickly since he was well aware that they didn't have time to stand around chatting when Ray needed help. (y/n) was the verge of charging in headfirst and then all hell would break loose, right before he got to divulge his plan.

"I just told you, it's kinda my thing—" "Listen, I got an idea!" He cut him off, pulling everyone in close so he could whisper about what they were gonna do. Meanwhile, Ray truly was on the verge of collapsing, having resorted to pulling a drawer from a cabinet to use a shield, anything to slow the onslaught of plasma coming his way. He saved himself from a few, but lifting the heavy metal was difficult for his exhausted muscles, which begged for him to put it back down the second he pulled it over his face. He couldn't go on...

"Wait...wait, did you just say time out? I mean, I don't need one myself but if you want to take five, I'll let ya," he panted, staring at the bad guy with blurry vision, praying that he took the bait. Of course, Ryker was still at one hundred per cent, ready to finish the fight and claim victory but the small conversation had been enough to distract him from the group hiding behind the couch and Ray couldn't believe his eyes. 

Henry and those strangers had climbed onto the sofa and were diving onto Ryker, piling on him together so he fell to the floor from their combined weight and velocity. That gave (y/n) the opportunity to slide across the floor and kneel by his side, her arms rushing to wrap around and support him when he practically fell into her. Her embrace had never been softer, her words had never been gentler and her kiss had never been sweeter to his tired soul as he bathed in her care, leaving the kids to resume the fighting for him.

"Oh, wait, wait! I don't need help!" He slurred, his stubbornness rearing its ugly head again since he saw this as his responsibility, his problem, his fight, therefore, he should've been the one to finish it. His body was screaming yes, let them get on with it so he could lay and regain his strength with his sweet girl but his head was ordering him to suck it up and fight like a man. He couldn't choose, both sounded like the better option so when he moved to stand up, someone else decided for him.

"Yes, you do, Raymond. Let us help you," (y/n) whispered hotly in his ear, dragging her lips over the shell and that made his mind up then and there. He slumped into her hold again, arms loosely around her waist so he could get closer and he accepted that they knew what they were doing. Fighting would be good, but the medicine she dished out was better.

"Well, if you want to help me, darlin' I'll let ya..." he murmured back and for a moment, she thought that he was going to try and doze on her shoulder - Lord knows he needed the rest. But, in true Ray fashion, as his head dipped, it turned to the right and his lips found their place against hers, the honey taste invigorating him more than sleep ever could. It was brief, too brief to be satisfying but he still wanted to watch the fight and just having her holding him was enough.

Henry groaned as he was tossed from Ryker's back with one throw, landing awkwardly as Arc and Ciara had but he hoped that the brief pileup had been enough for the boy to work his magic in the chaos. He owed him his life too; as Ryker went to blast his new ally, Arc moved quicker and kicked the cannon from his head, meaning Henry was free to wriggle away as man and boy engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He blocked whatever punched came his way and managed to triumph against his opponent, holding back his arm as he sucker-punched him in the nose. 

Ryker stumbled backwards, towards Henry, and the kid was able to react in time to try and kick him, but not fast enough to stop him from grabbing his foot. As he was hit down, Ciara came from behind, ducking when the evil man tried to swipe at her and kicked him from the chin harshly. In a flurry of punches, she pushed toward Arc and Henry once more, who was able to land a blow on his face and then a swipe to the back of his legs, meaning he fell to the floor when she dealt the final kick.

"Schwoz, get the elevator button!" Henry cried to the genius, who scurried out from his hiding place near the controls for the portal machine as Ray found it in himself to finish the fight. Peeling himself from his sweet girl's arms, he took up his drawer again and glared at Ryker woozily, striking him on the fore hump with a satisfying thump. He was down, for now, disoriented from their attacks and they were ready to shove him in the elevator as per Henry's plan but poor Charlotte and Jasper had made an innocent trip down, unaware of the carnage.

"Oh my god!" Jasper shouted, looking at the scene with fear and confusion. Wasn't that the scary knight who'd promised to reward him? And who were these people? Why did one look exactly like his best friend? Why were they fighting? No one questioned by they were wearing the Task Bunny uniform, all pink and cute and fluffy, it was adamant that they remove the self from the danger before they seriously hurt themselves.

"Get out of the elevator, you two!" (y/n) yelled, beckoning the kids into the room as Ryker stood up like a newborn foal, wobbly and unsure. They scattered, diving to the side as Henry and Ciara came charging forward, kicking the villain hard in the chest so he stumbled backwards into the open elevator.

"Did you get the pin?" Henry asked Arc, hoping that his part of his idea had gone smoothly. Ryker was covered in so many grenades, all it would take was one to defeat him. Not necessarily blow him up, god, they weren't sick, and the teen knights promised him that his armour would keep him alive so that he'd just feel the immense pain of the blast. Hopefully, that would then be enough to subdue him, if not, they were all out of ideas.

"Oh, I got all ten!" Arc replied cheerfully and held up his fingers so they could all see that he had a small key of metal hanging off every finger. Okay, ten grenades going off at once would be a bit of an overkill but whatever. It paid to be thorough.

"I said just get one!" "No, I know, I really hate Ryker. Plus, it looks neat with one on each finger," he smiled at Henry's concern for the asshole who'd attacked his home and jingled the pins a little bit. It was less than he deserved, only a fraction of the pain he'd caused to others, so Ryker had it coming and the boy was not one bit sorry.

"Hey, Ryker..." Ray suddenly piped up, having fallen silent and back into (y/n)'s arm after smacking the villain on the head. He was exhausted, lounging in her lap but dear god, he was the king of having the last word and he wasn't going to let this fool burn without saying something cool to round off the fight. Or something stupid, his head wasn't in the best place right now. "Your story's boring!"

'What? I wasn't telling a story," he replied with a perplexed look on his face because this weirdo was talking nonsense. Charlotte closed the elevator door, which was blast-resistant so it would contain the explosion from all of those flickering grenades going off and now that he was safe in the knowledge that he'd said something vaguely witty, Ray was free to drop his head onto his girl's shoulder. She giggled at her dumb he was, but said well done all the same and rewarded him with a kiss on his damp forehead, which had him smiling more dopily than any comeback could.

And as Ray let himself be carried off into relaxation, Ryker's time was up. The explosion rocked the Man Cave but still, the elevator held up, releasing nothing but vibrations and a little smoke as ten bombs went off all at once. Some did cringe at the agony the guy was no doubt feeling, it was hard not to and the minute the dust settled, Charlotte tentatively pressed the button again, eager to see if she needed to get the hosepipe for this intimidating man.

They gathered around, seeing nothing through the thick smoke, only hearing the coughs and splutters of Ryker as (y/n) helped Ray to his feet and slung one of his arms around her shoulder. Preferably, he'd be sat down right now as she got him a hot drink and a snack but he was insistent, eager to see what had become of his enemy, even if he couldn't see properly.

"Ohhhhh..." "Yeah...." "That does not look right." "Burned mamma jamma," they winced at how crispy the man looked and boy, were they glad that that was not them. But for Ray, it was a job well done, after all, there was no way he'd have ever been able to take him down himself, so he was thankful to his fiancée for taking care of him and proud of his sidekick for saving the day. However, a slight problem came about when he stood next to Arc and patted him on the shoulder instead because both boys looked identical through a sober man's eyes, let alone ones that had been beaten up. 

"Nice job, Henry..." "Doofus, what are you tal—oh, no, no, no!—Too late..." (y/n) flinched as he smiled at the wrong kid and then felt his body slump next to hers. She was holding him up, sure, but her small frame could never hold up his six-foot body unaided, so she had no choice but to let go and regretfully watch him fall, lest he drag her down and hurt her too. He'd be fine, a little nap would probably do him good and besides, it's not like face planting the floor could ruin his perfect face.

"Who's Henry?" All's well that ends well, but the thing was, it wasn't over yet.

~

Half an hour later and Ray was back to his normal self in every sense. He'd been a little too handsy and kissy with (y/n) as per usual, which led to some awkward explanations to Arc and Ciara, he'd been as bigheaded as ever, bragging about the fight and now, with his sweet girl curled into his side, he was retelling his lame story to Schwoz. 

No one cared, no one wanted to listen to something with a non-existent plot line, so the genius just nodded and smiled occasionally as he scanned the multiverse to send the knights home, leaving (y/n) to make her doofus feel like he wasn't talking to a brick wall. She'd rather talk about something else, but as ever, she listened patiently like it was the most interesting tale in the world.

"So, now I'm in the truck with the clown, my aunt, the kangaroo and my cousin!" He exclaimed happily to the confused group. His team were used to it but the Astorians were wondering what the hell was wrong with this man as he kept rambling. Ryker had been peeled from the elevator wall too, just so he could sit and be tortured by the hero and his sucky story and his neck brace and head wrap for the burns didn't do much in blocking out the racket.

"And we're on our way back to the bowling alley when we realise—" "The portal's about to open!" Schwoz suddenly exclaimed, interrupting the story, much to everyone's relief.

"Yes!"  "Oh, thank god...." For Arc and Ciara, it was time to say goodbye and whilst the new world had been fun and slightly terrifying, they couldn't wait to get home...and away from the man who wouldn't shut up. The same violet and pink portal opened as before, showing the gateway back to Astoria and they quickly rushed towards it. It could close again at any moment and they weren't going to live the rest of their lives here, although one of them was...

"Wait, aren't you taking this guy with you?" Jasper called after them and pointed at Ryker, who they'd naughtily left behind as they strode towards the inter-dimensional door. Hang on, they didn't want to have him living with them but to the knights, it made sense that the villain stayed with them.

"Uh, no." "No way!" They chuckled, knowing that if Ryker returned to their kingdom then he'd regain his powers and try to invade again. No, it was much safer that he stay here, in the realm of twinkling lights and shiny screens and they didn't care what happened to him, not one bit as long as he stayed away from Astoria.

"Well, what should we do with him?" Charlotte asked, shocked that they were having some evil guy dumped on them by two mischievous knights.

"Anything." "Don't care. Your dimension is weird!" Arc replied, thinking that he much preferred the simple life he had back home, where normal things happened like magic and sword fights. He understood that stuff, not the strange weapons and clothes they had here, so he was more than happy to leave Ryker where he was in over his head. He was their problem now, he was glad to say.

"Good luck with your band!" Ciara, however, said kindly to Henry. She wasn't sure exactly why he'd been so weird but he was quite cute at the end of the day. Not cute enough for her to want to stay behind, no way, and cross-dimensional relationships weren't her thing but a parting smile couldn't hurt anything...except for Henry's lonely heart.

"Hey! I never got your number!" Henry jumped up from the couch and stared longingly at Ciara, hoping by some miracle that Schwoz could create a phone strong enough to send signals to her world. But, there was one small issue; Astoria was a medieval world and in olden times, people didn't use phones, so it made sense that the pretty girl had no idea what he was talking about.

"Uh, four?" She offered, thinking that he was after her lucky number or something. And just like that, before he could explain or find an answer, the portal closed forever, leaving Henry loveless once again as he would never see Ciara or Arc ever again. Passing faces in his life and for a moment, he allowed himself to be sad at the thought of another girl who'd gotten away, but as ever, he had his wingman to boost his confidence.

"That number does not help me!" "Still got it, though," Jasper commented, causing Henry to smirk and high-five him. Yeah, it was a small success on his part and he didn't let it trouble him, well aware that there were plenty more girls out there and they wouldn't be from a different dimension. They'd be perfect.

"So! I was in high school, yeah?" Ray clapped his hands, smiling that all-too-familiar smile and instantly, the teens knew that he was back on story patrol. Right, yeah, they wanted no part of that and even though it seemed cruel to leave (y/n) with him to listen to it alone, they figured that she secretly enjoyed it. After all, she got to spend time with her doofus, her most favourite thing in the world, what was not for her to love?

"Hey, you guys want to go upstairs and do anything else?" "Yes!" "Absolutely!" "Yeah, I love anything else!" Charlotte, Jasper and Schwoz quickly agreed with him and they speedily walked towards the elevator, intent on going up to Junk-N-Stuff to "work" and gossip about what had happened that day. That caused (y/n) to give them a raised-eyebrow look, but her telling smile told them that it was fine for them to go off and have fun, no matter how offended Ray looked. She got it, no one else could listen to his stories as she could and that was okay, it just left her with more time to admire everything about him.

"Hey! Who's gonna hear my story?!" Ray asked with a pout, not liking how everyone, bar his sweet girl, was walking out on him.

"Uhhhh, (y/n), obviously, she always listens to your stories, anddddd...him! Byeeeeeee!" Henry smiled happily, a glint of cunning in his eye when he saw how Ryker tensed at the thought of being alone with the loved-up couple. He'd seen how they acted, they were handsy and sickeningly cute to the point where he wanted to vomit. No, no, no, they couldn't leave him like this, it was inhumane and god, that story. That story would end him, but for Ray and (y/n), it was a perfect idea. 

So, slowly, the hero guided his lover over to the couch, slightly unsure of where to start since the villain had already said he hated it earlier. The best place to start was probably getting comfortable, so Ray sat on the end of the cushion and brought (y/n) into his lap, allowing her to snuggle in for the very long haul. She sat with her legs thrown across his, her arms around his neck with one of his around her back as she rubbed her nose into his neck and relaxed. Ryker was tugging at his chains for dear life, wishing that he'd taken a better path in life as the story/torture began.

"So, I was in high school, right? And my aunt, she met this clown. Now, I don't know if they were dating or not, I didn't ask questions. But something was definitely going on 'cause they had...a connection—" Ray started, remembering how weirdly his auntie used to look at this clown and now, that he looked back, it was pretty similar to how he looked at his beloved girl. She was drawing circles on his neck, enjoying his voice in her ears more than what he was saying, but for the dark knight, he didn't enjoy any of it. He flopped backwards in frustration and prayed for it to end soon, even though they were only getting started.

"You mean like how we have a connection, doofus?" (y/n) asked teasingly, her fingers sliding up Ray's neck, leaving shivers where they went as they moved over his jaw. She was being deliberately annoying and flirtatious, having a little fun since she saw how much their enemy hated anything fun or loving, plus, it had been a long day and Ray seemed to feed off of her smirk to fuel his own steadily growing, internal blaze.

"Yeah, sweet girl, just like that..." the man smiled and Ryker felt like puking as he saw their lips connect for the fiftieth time that day out of the corner of his eye. The ensuing smacking noises made his stomach feel queasy and he wondered how their friends put up with their constant need for affection. 

Seriously, he didn't know what was worse, the lame-ass story or this joker and his queen.

[correctrvbquotes]

The Red soldier is brought to a room with several large view screens with various displays on them, the Counselor's face appears on the screen in the center of them.

Counselor: Thank you gentlemen, would you please excuse us?

The two soldiers walk away, leaving the Red soldier in the room.

Counselor: You are Private Walter Henderson, correct?

Henderson: Yes, sir!

Couselor: You can dispense with the formalities, Walter. Please feel comfortable to speak as candidly as you wish. Can you tell us what happened at your outpost, Walter?

Henderson: Yes, sir-ah, yes. I had been there about six months. Everything was pretty much like normal and one day this... ship... crashed.

Counselor: I see. Is this the ship to which you are referring?

A holographic representation of the downed transport ship appears.

Henderson: Yeah. Yeah that's it.

Counselor: Please, tell me what was on the ship, Walter.

Henderson: I don't know. The Blues got there first. They fought us off while they cleared it out. Took the stuff back to Base. By the time we got a hold of it, it just seemed like a regular old transport. Our engineer said some of the wiring had been messed with but he didn't seem, you know, worried about it or nothing like that.

Counselor: I see. Thank you for that.

Henderson: But whatever was on the ship, must have been what started the whole thing.

Counselor: Please, Walter, define "thing."

Henderson: The infection. The Blues just stopped fighting us. Some of them set up camp outside their base and trapped the rest of their team inside; blew up their comm tower for some reason. Their own comm tower... Then they blew up ours. That's why we couldn't radio for help, we couldn't figure out why they would do that. After that, nothing. No word from them at all. The CO sent a squad over... all the Blues were dead. They had killed each other.

Counselor: Why do you think they did that?

Henderson: I don't know. They had torn the radios out of their helmets and dismantled their computers. The CO said they were trying to build something... but I saw all the stuff, no way! They were trying to break it. And there was another body in there too. Not a Blue, somebody else. Actually, she looked like him.

Henderson looks over to a grey clad soldier standing in the corner.

Counselor: Don't worry about him for now, Walter. Please, continue.

Henderson: We brought all the equipment back to base and brought it online. And that's when the infection started for us.

Counselor: The soldiers became... sick?

Henderson: No. They just... they were different. Off. We would catch guys getting into areas they shouldn't get into. But the weird thing was, a guy would go crazy, act up, and then we would throw him in a cell, and he would be fine. Then another guy would go nuts, disobey orders. Like trying to bring the comm tower back online even though we were told to leave it be. Maybe they knew it was coming.

Councilor: They knew what was coming?

Henderson: At first we thought it was help. It ransacked Blue Base, searched all the bodies... then it came after us. Seemed focused on the guys that were infected. Eventually, it just started killing everything.

Counselor: Could you describe it for us, Walter?

Henderson: Not really. It moved fast, when we first saw it, and after Blue Base it was... it was different.

Counselor: In what way, different?

Henderson: It looked... like it wasn't there. I don't know how to explain it.

Counselor: That's alright. I know this has been difficult for you Walter. We're going to do everything we can to help you.

Two soldiers in grey walk up behind Henderson

Counselor: Please, follow these men to your new quarters. You'll be with us as long as absolutely necessary. You have my word.

Henderson follows them out of the room

[dizzycloudzzz]

what about

what about that Christmas movie cliché

you know, "someone receives a visit from three ghosts – of the past, present and future – who will make they reflect on their life"

I'm seriously thinking about Hunter (news? nope) on this, like he thinking that he doesn't "deserved" to spend Christmas with anyone (then he runs away ☠️), since it was something that everyone spent with their family and "family" for him is a very complicated subject...

THEN BELOS APPEARS (Hunter got scared thinking he was alive again) AS THE GHOST OF THE PAST

"did you come to spend Christmas with me or something like that?! how does this even work?!"

"definitely no. why would I do that?"

"'cause we're fffff- oh, I think I just learned a lesson."

and in a strange way he teaches that family is not just blood ties or who created you and stuff, so Hunter wonders if he could spend Christmas with Darius, or Camila, or Eda... but he thinks no one would accept him, for some reason, like "the party is already packed, get out"

AND THEN CALEB APPEARS AS THE GHOST OF THE PRESENT, takes Hunter to see each person who Hunter was thinking about, and everyone is like "oh boy, Hunter, yeah... that's a guy of my own heart"

At Gus' house, he was happy to have receive as a gift a pair of walkie-talkies, but then he gets sad because he doesn't have someone else to answer the other walkie-talkie and pretend they weren't next to each other talking through communicators just cause it's much cooler

Willow, the purest angel existing, being charitable and generous and helping everyone and shouting "MERRY CHRISTMAS" even to Boscha, plus trying to occupy her mind from thinking that the person she most wanted to help was isolating himself from everyone and she couldn't do anything about it cause he is also isolating himself from her, I like to think that she sang a very emotional song (like "Where's Gary?", sad SpongeBob vibe) and Hunter cried while watching cause he has a soft spot for musicals and for Willow

cute fact: Luz and Amity were spending Christmas together at the Noceda house, both also worried about Hunter

"... it would be so much cooler if Hunter was here, so I wouldn't have the ugliest sweater..."

["HEY, I SEW IT MYSELF-"

"no one can hear you now, silly"]

"... I know, sweet potato. I wish he were here too... I even bought him a book since he likes science fiction... I just don't know how to give it to him now"

["even Amity misses me? but... I thought no one would remember me... sigh, she'll probably give the gift to Gus instead, it doesn't make any difference"

"you are missing the point. all these people care about you, you are important to them... enjoy their company while you can, the present is just one, go back to them"

"you have no idea how strange it is for me to receive advice from you, but thanks"

"currently, I even have an idea. but you are welcome"

"and now, I... see the ghost of the future or..?"

"yes, go for it"]

Then comes pregnant Evelyn (cause babies are the future and to complete the trio), ghost from the future, predictable

"oh, hey, uh, mrs. Clawthorne..? I... I really don't know what to call you"

"well, not necessarily 'miss', and not necessarily 'Clawthorne'"

THEN

The ghost of the future begins to change shape into several people: Eberwolf, Steve, Chief O'Bailey, King, EVEN FLAPJACK

And then becomes at various stages of Hunter's life, like he as a child or as Golden freaking Guard

The ghost stop changing forms after turning into Hunter, the current and unique Hunter, as if they were a mirror of each other

Now Hunter (ghost) is staring Hunter (grimwalker)

And Hunter (grimwalker) has a click, almost letting out a "good one!!!" when he understood

"ooooh... I think I understand the metaphor... cause 'the future can be whatever I want even if the past was not'?"

"yup"

"depending on my choices, right?"

"yup"

"so I should... go back and stay with everyone I love and love me either?"

"if u are ready, don't waste time. btw, your words, not mine... and not cause I'm just a fruit of your subconscious, but cause it was literally you who said that"

and Hunter rushes to live his happy life, attending each Christmas parties before reuniting everyone for a MUSICAL FINALE

why not

the end 💛

[maythevoidnotscreamback]

My outrage given voice: Zelda did not go back to 10,000 years ago!!

She just didn't!

Yes, she went back in time, I'm not arguing about that for obvious reasons, but no, it wasn't to that recent an era! And, yes, I say 'recent' because I'm of the opinion that she went even further back than that. By at least a few hundred years, if not thousands more.

Zelda's time-traveled all the way back to the supposed founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule. (Though, IMO, I think it's more a re-founding after the previous Kingdom had been lost in one way or another in parallel to the Adult timeline where Hyrule, and the Master Sword/Fi alongside it, in the end was drowned under the Great Sea in Wind Waker and Tetra re-founded Hyrule as New Hyrule elsewhere as one can surmise from Spirit Tracks. Because we all should know that Link and Zelda from Skyward Sword are the original founders of Hyrule after Hylia sent her favored mortals into the sky. Not a Zonai man named Rauru and his Hylian wife Sonia who'd since been crowned King and Queen.) A time in which has the last two members of the Zonai race, their technology and Secret Stones. A time in which Calamity Ganon isn't even a concept, the one from whom it manifests not Sealed under the land the castle would be built upon yet, let alone something to worry about. So, it would be strange that the King or his sister would want to use the Sheikah Tech when they've got, arguably better, Tech of their own.

Hell, if anything, it's that Mineru (before she passed) or Zelda (acting as the Sage of Time and/or interim Ruler in Sonia and Rauru's stead until a council or something similar {only in the event the Orphaned Child of Rauru and Sonia, Zelda's Ancestor, was too young to lead and/or be coronated at the time} could take over the Kingdom's operations and what-not before Zelda made Her Choice) left orders behind to either bury or lift the Zonai Tech so deep or so high that no one could or would find it unless bid by some form of Higher Providence. Because, you gotta remember, the Sheikah Shrines and Towers, unless they'd opened into some form of Other Dimension via the Monks who'd given their lives to be mummified to pass on their Spirit Orbs in which case the point would be moot, had never reached into the Depths; not even the Shrine of Resurrection though I'm sure that one got the 'close-but-no-cigar' badge for effort.

Hell, the way I see it, what tech was left behind, and probably not much if any at all, not to mention nothing of how to power it, when the last of the Zonai died and the Sage of Time was long since considered Gone and The Orders carried out had been the basis the Ancient Sheikah used to create their own versions. It could even be that there wasn't any Zonai Tech left to be found, simply notes and diagrams and drawings and what-have-you that had been left behind that survived the ages, maybe even hidden, by Mineru and Zelda that had eventually been uncovered by one of Rauru's and Sonia's descendants who then commissioned the Sheikah to find out if it were possible to recreate anything found within the notes, and they went off from there.

As such, depending on how long it took for the Sheikah to create their Tech - and you've gotta remember that they'd have to create or find or trade for the ore(s) and any other stuff that made the material and other components their Tech were made of and in the amounts needed to make it all, find out how to process it and then shape it, how to put it all together {this is in regards to the Beasts and their size, not to mention the logistics regarding the various Shrines} and how it worked together (and that's after all they must've gone through before and when deciding to use it for their tech in the first place!), not to mention all the trial and error that would go into finding out what they could and couldn't do with their tech, how to power it, how to control it in the case of the Beasts and Guardians and how they came to such decisions regarding either, if it would even work or how, even how well it should/would work {Shrine of Resurrection} and all that other stuff like justifying why they created it in the first place or why it might be needed or how to make them work in regards to the Runes on the Slate - to which might've needed several generations of Sheikah building and bouncing ideas off each other when a roadblock was hit for all we know, it would've been a while after Rauru had Sealed Ganondorf beneath the castle. Hell, in BotW, Impa was mentioned to say that Calamity had been fought against and defeated more than once before they used the Sheikah tech against him 10,000 years ago and was the reason it had been meant to be used again when the prophecy made mention of what was "Dormant beneath the ground".

ANYWAY!! TL;DR - Zelda traveled even further than 10,000 years into the past so please stop making mention about that being the number of years she's found herself waiting and wandering through, I feel it's a helluva lot more, when she or Link goes back in your fics dear authors. I'm getting real sick and tired of that because it just doesn't make sense if you actually think about it for a minute or two.

[hetrosjistin]

I was very, very, very lucky growing up.

My mother is a retired law clerk, any time she ran into something she didn't like or worried her she'd do research on it, because it's what she had trained basically her entire professional life to do, when the internet became A BIG THING (tm) and we finally got a home computer for everyone (this was like, early 2000s mind), I was still pretty young, but this story begins before that point. It begins when research and medical information even online was pretty uncommon and my mother was too busy being a full time law clerk and a mom to support us because dad's law practice took him all over the tristate area.

Up until 7th grade, my mother fought tooth and nail at two things:

1) to avoid me getting simply binned as unintelligent or stupid or 'special needs' because I didn't fit into the neat little boxes my public school teachers wished me to fit into (the example she would bring up that epitomized this was how when I was in kindergarten my teacher said she was worried about me because I couldn't color inside the lines, I very obviously just lazily filled in the stuff and often in the wrong colors. My mother flipped the page over with barely a glance at it to show off all the various drawings, much neater and more coherent, put onto the back of it and challenged the teacher to explain it then)

2) and to keep me actually -doing- school work and studying.

Every year she would get called in and then the teachers would suggest getting me medicated and she would fight it because she didn't think the right response to a young child was to drug them into submission just because they were bored in class.

It wasn't until early 7th grade, after I had spent a year at a private college prep school and once again, she was called in, this time by the head of the middle school, and he asked something very different. "Have you thought about getting your son tested for ADD?" (back then ADD and ADHD were considered different things).

My Mother had no idea this was a thing you could test for up until that point, no one, not one person, had ever suggested it was a part and parcel of this process and she'd seen too often among other parents that kids just were put on the stuff willynilly (this wasn't quite as bad as it was made out to be but a lot of adhd meds got pushed into type 3 controlled substances around the 2000s I think for a reason <<; I will admit I don't know the history on this part too well).

It was a game changer for me to be able to actually -do- shit with the extended release adderal, to actually experiment with it and see the effects.

In my entire life not once did my mother ever express the sense of 'no this isn't real' or 'you're just lazy' or any of that, she never tried to make me feel like the struggle to study and do homework and other boring shit was somehow my fault, and she was willing to open up and find a solution when it was presented as not just 'stuff the calming pills down the 10 year old's throat already!'

[vitani-carnis]

Finally it's time to talk about...

Jill Sprouse...

Or rather, Vitani's teenage years and early adulthood before they went to Atlanta. This is an extra long post since it covers 9 jam-packed years. Honestly I should write out some detailed memories and junk too... MASSIVE TW for character death (not described but Jill is basically the wife that got fridged in some superhero/action story fr. But obviously not V's wife, just their caregiver whom V worshiped basically) and A SUPER DUPER BIG ONE for attempted sui stuff. V is very sad here and only stops for the dumbest reason (but not really, I'll explain it later). Also it's implied that V has seen the XBD that Jill was in firsthand (only for a little bit to get info on a guy who they gotta kill), so that's unpleasant. I really tormented this baby with this arc and made them relive it with Evie.

Jillian Sprouse was a nineteen-year-old doll that V met when they were crying on their stoop over their family straight up dropping them. Jill, who already had her problems (not that V ever knew), took them in. There was little chance Vitani would've survived long without her either, they were exceptionally easy prey as a homeless "girl"; Jill wasn't sure she could turn them away, despite everything telling her to do so.

Within six months, Jill was their legal guardian (I imagine it'd be way too easy to adopt a kid in this universe, laissez-faire capitalism and all that, probably just really expensive.) She couldn't find a trace of this kid's parents anywhere, and it didn't help that it took a good month before they gave her a last name to do so. Vitani told her, "I don't have a last name anymore. They aren't my family."

Every time it made Jill give a groaning sigh. This was going to be *way* harder than she thought.

And oh boy, it was. For Jill, at least. V had never felt so loved and understood and taken care of. It was exactly how they imagined it would feel, but even better. As for Jill's time? It was exactly how she imagined having a little sibling and a child, rolled into one. V was annoying, weirdly obsessed with a terrorist (seriously, did they ever take that Samurai jacket off?), and generally just vaguely off-putting.

It took Jill almost a year to start liking V. Despite how off they were and how having them around chewed through her wallet, they weren't... that bad...

She'd realized, that V was probably one of the better kids to get stuck with. They stayed clean, got good grades in everything but math, and didn't ask for much. They even stopped constantly talking about some sixty-year-old band so much. Even if she had to take more life-draining shifts at the dollhouse, it was almost worth it.

To V, it wasn't. They hated the fact that Jill was a doll. Not because she hated dolls either not anymore, at least (they weren't *all* like her mom). They didn't like it because Jill didn't like it, but when they mentioned getting a new job, all she did was shake her head and say, "I'm a little too in deep, don't worry though, it's adult stuff."

Jill was only five years older than V, how did she even know what 'adult stuff' was? They were fifteen! Practically an adult already...

If they knew anything about adults (and V liked to think they did), the problem was money. That was always the problem, at least for their parents. They just needed to make money... somehow...

V started by hacking various machines around town. It started with small stuff, mostly old arcade machines that no one would care about to learn how things worked, they spent months trying to figure out bigger things; vending machines, newer gen arcades, electronic pachinko machines. Things hopefully no one would kill them over. Miraculously, they never got caught either (of course it helped when you threw rocks at the cameras). It wasn't much, but it was something.

At sixteen, V learned how to box. They thought it'd be more lucrative to start street fighting with the other non-chromed kids in Heywood. Quickly, they realized that most kids did not fight fair, and often in their first fights they froze. For a moment, every single opponent reminded them of their parents. After ten fights of getting their ass beat and losing whatever cash they had been scrounging for months, they finally won.

They didn't remember how it happened, just that one moment, they were getting a jab to the face and the next they were on top of their opponent and squeezing the life out of them... It almost reminded them of their brother. That was the moment they let go. The fight had been won, V took the money home, a grim look on their face so no one would steal it... Then they cried.

Most nights, both V and Jill came home crying. Both were bruised, both mildly disgusted. V would try to have some meal plated for her and a bath ready. They had a plan, a dream even; to get the hell out of Night City and never look back.

In a few months, the sound of bombs was the only thing you could hear in Night City.

Luckily for V and Jill, most of them dropped in Pacifica, near where the NUSA were taking land for themself. Either way, it was business as usual for the proles of the city. All V did was listen back on some old albums about how shitty war was, to remind themself that joining was not an option, even if the pay was good. Oh, that and more fighting, everyone watching always keeping an ear and eye on the sky.

It was over quickly; if you can call a year of war 'quick'. To everyone who lost something or someone, it felt like an eternity of hearing that whistle of bombs, and the sirens letting people know about them. They'd lost a part of Pacifica to some douche named Kurt Hansen and got fucked by letting Arasaka resume business as usual. Things would only go downhill from here. All the more reason to delta in V's opinion.

Yet there was never enough money, always more fights to barely win, always more "I can't V, you know we can't just up and leave..."

It was always questions without answers with Jill. They guessed it didn't matter. She had her reasons. It didn't mean she didn't do her best. After all, Jill was perfect. Perfectly beautiful, perfectly just, always right... It would just be a little longer, a little more money. In the meantime, they could sit in the park, watch movies, whatever. It never mattered where they were to V, so long as they were together.

That meant following Jill to her job, to the store, to hang out with her more Mox-aligned friends. V was certain it drove her crazy but... there was something on the horizon, they could feel it. Something would happen and Jill would leave...

It took about two whole years for V to be proven right.

At twenty-two, almost twenty-three, V didn't follow Jill for one night. That was all it took. She was gone for a week when one of her friends stopped by, in tears. All that registered was...

Jill. Dead. XBD

There was no way this was happening. V could not be alone, again... This wasn't real.

They found out for themself that it was.

V felt like a snake's fang; lethal and hollow, they spent a day stewing in the misery before making a call.

Wakako, that old vulture, V knew her fairly well, at least as well as most others did. Some old fixer they'd bumped into on Jig Jig street and stopped by to win it big at Pachinko ever since (not that V spent much on it, of course). They almost every enny they had and practically begged her for some help. All she had to do was find him, V swore they'd do the rest.

Truthfully, they knew whoever that guy in that accursed BD wasn't the real root of evil. He was a pawn, maybe paid a fraction of what that BD made on the black market. They weren't sure if she'd even find him, all V really saw was that he had a tattoo.

For weeks they rotted in the apartment. Rent was almost due, and they weren't sure they could get rid of anything to pay it. With the very last of their savings, they had bought a gun. Killing that *monster* would be the last thing they ever did.

Really, they never should've doubted Wakako, she was one of the best for a reason. She found him, found out when he'd be alone... It was all V needed to do, then everything would be over.

It was about four in the morning, early November, and the moon was full. That was what they remembered. He didn't have a face to V, didn't have a voice even as he screamed. They had bought the gun but... No. He didn't deserve anything quick. It was too easy, too merciful. They just used the cheap pistol to empty a few shots into each leg, just so that he couldn't escape. There was a pipe, like some miracle, just lying there and they couldn't help but smile and-

It took ten minutes in total. V couldn't stop smiling the whole time and they wondered if that was how death should feel. To have their heart beat so fast, on the verge of some frenzy. It was almost like a regular fight, just better. The problem was solved.

No.

No. No.

No.

V was a monster for this, not even just killing him, but for liking it. Ten minutes of hearing a guy gurgle and choke on his own blood and they had enjoyed every second.

Jill would've hated them for this...

The walk back home was surprisingly short. Crawling back into the darkened apartment they contemplated the inevitable. They had one bullet left. That was all it would take.

V's hands shook. Despite knowing that this was all they could possibly do now, the idea of there being nothing still scared them. Maybe they could delay it by adding a Columbarium marker for them both beforehand, but they weren't even sure what they'd put. No words that they could think of could ever really say everything they needed to. Nothing they said would ever be perfect...

Like in most times of need, a certain someone was always there for them. It felt so... stupid. Unbelievably cheesy, even; but when the Morro rock station started playing Never Fade Away, they just couldn't do it. The muzzle had been pressed to their temple, they had been so ready and...

With a sigh, they dropped it, and they were lucky it didn't go off.

The marker made was simple, at the back of the stony cemetery.

A gift to all who knew her. May I never change, and you never fade away.

She might've hated the reference, though, V guessed it was more for themself than her. They'd always been rather selfish. If they ever came back, they would have this as a reminder. To never change. To never forget.

And that's when V fucked off to Atlanta, yes I have many thoughts on how all this relates to SilverV somehow (like how Johnny's first words to V is "kill urself" essentially and how a Samurai song literally made them not do that). I will be giving my thoughts on this junk specifically. I know this was long and probably won't be as seen, but if you read this to the end, omg ty!

Luv ya! Bye!!

[phenomenalgirl9]

Idol! Bangchan x Reader: LTNS

A/n: ah... This one took a lot of time.. no reasons, just I have been a bit down anyways. FLUFF AND a little bit of SMUT in the end. Hope you enjoy it.

Summary: Yn Ln is Hannah Bahng's best friend since forever, even their mums were close. She knew Bangchan well until he flew away to South Korea to pursue his dream. When he returns home after and sees her for the first time after all these years.

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"Hannah! Are you wearing make up?" You watched Chan ask on Vlive and smiled as you waited for your friend to come out of her house.

Within a few minutes you heard footsteps and a hug as a voice was heard "Why don't you just go upstairs and meet him?" Hannah said.

"Nah. I'm fine from watching from afar. You know I am awkward" you said smiling.

"Whatever lets go, I have lots of things to buy actually lets go" Hannah said pulling you to the car behind her. And as expected the two of you had a blast shopping for various food and also including snacks and stuff. Actually, Mrs. Bang sent Hannah for shopping for dinner that night and Hannah asked you to tag along.

On your way back the two of you grabbed some coffee and by the time you both went back to the Bang house it was evening.

"Y/n, you're staying for dinner" Mrs. Bang said and you went in panic mode.

"No. Mrs. Bang actually I have this thing to do at home and Nana doesn't know-"

"Don't worry I've spoken to her. It's fine" she said.

"C'mon, Y/n what are you so afraid of?” Hannah asked.

"I'm not afraid I just don't want your brother to think I am weird or something" You said.

"He won't, That's Chris, he's plenty weird himself" Hannah said as you two entered her room and Berry came jumping to greet you.

"Hi Berry. Hi Berry" you said petting her and hoping for the best. 

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You were helping Mrs. Bang set the table when you heard Hannah voice, "Can't you wear some more clothes Y/n's here" and then retreating foot steps were heard and a sighing Hannah was seen to enter the room. To say you were nervous was an understatement. Of course you've seen and met and even spent time with Bangchan before but that was in childhood. And you never spoke to him after he shifted to South Korea. You've only seen him on screen and on stage. Besides, being a Stay doesn't help, you're not just meeting your bestfriend's brother, but also your idol.

"Hey Y/n!" Suddenly a chirpy voice echoed through the room and broke your train of thoughts

"Chris!" You said not being able to hold your happiness.

"You've grown up so much! Your so tall now" he said.

"You're embarrassing yourself" Hannah mumbled

"You've grown to Chris" you said laughing as Mrs. Bang ushered all of you to sit down.

You and Hannah have always been really good friends, since childhood. You both basically lived with each other generally at each other's houses, so this was very common for you when both of you are home. However, it's been ages since Chris was present here too.

Conversation flowed and one thing led to another and you were talking about age somehow.

"Yeah You guys have grown up, but you all are still so young"

"Yeah Chan you're half 52" you suddenly said and immediately regretted saying that.

"What did you say? And what did you call me?" He asked smiling

"Chris?" You said.

You saw Hannah and Lucas laugh in your peripheral vision.

"Y/n your a stay" Chan cooed.

And you couldn't take it, you hid your face in your palms, cheeks red in a blush.

"Don't tease her, yes she's a stay" Mrs. Bang confirmed. "She's also my informer on what's going on, with you and your members"

"So that's how you always know everything" Chan said and her mother nodded. You ate with the huge blush on your face. What you didn't see was Chan noticed it and found it really adorable. Chan had so many questions that he asked after he knew that you’re a stay like:

“Whose your Bias?” “Whose your Bias wrecker?” “Favourite m/v?” “Favourite song?” at a point he smirked and asked “Favourite ship?” and Hannah was done as said “Mom please shut Chris” to which he just laughed adorably, but you answered all of the questions truthfully, well almost all of them.

“Changbin” 

“Definitely, Felix” to which Hannah noticed Chan to have a momentary frown.

“(your favourite m/v)”

“(Your favourite song)”

“Minsung and Chanjin” the moment the second ship name came to your mouth Chan just choked on his food. But, Mrs. Bang saved you from any further questions by bringing in the dessert. 

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"Chris! Can you take Berry for a walk?" His mom asked Chan, who was simply sitting and working in his Lucas' room.

"Sure mum" he said and wore a black hoodie and sweats. He remembers to wear a mask before wearing his shoes and attaching Berry to a leash.

"Let's go Berry! Let's go!" He said and exited his house. He walked towards the park as Berry loved barking at ducks (a/n: idk I made that up) and as soon as he entered the park a Call startled him. He smiled wide at the contact number and received the call.

"Oi Felix!" He said

His deep voice was heard from the other side of the phone. And the two started chatting and planning a lunch together when suddenly Berry slipped out of Chan's hand and ran in a different direction. Leaving a shocked Chan who excused himself with a promise to call back and ran after Berry.

You were sitting in the park with your sketch book and listening to music but suddenly you hear a familiar bark and pull your headphones off and go into shock "Berry?"

She comes running right into your arms and licks your face. And you giggle, when you noticed Chan running towards you and cursed under your breath.

"Oh my god Berry! You can't run off like that" he said "Hi" he mumbled

And you said hello back. He simply sits down beside you.

"How are you? I haven't been able to talk to you with you keeping on running away and avoiding me" he said. And you burst out in giggles, no this was not strange for Chan and you. You just felt awkward to meet him as you really haven’t in so long. But, he did always spend time with you and took extra care of you just like he cared for Hannah, specially because you stayed with your grandma and he knew you rarely saw your parents. 

“I’m not avoiding you Chris. I just feel awkward after so many years” you said adding a few more details to your drawing. 

“Is that the reason you didn’t text me or let Hannah tell me when you went to South Korea all alone for your school program” he asked and finally grabbed your pencil and said “Look at me Y/n. We’re talking”

And you finally looked up at him, into those lovely eyes of his and almost had yourself drowning in them. The look itself was enough to bring on an apocalypse, No make up, curly hair and that smile. 

“I know you’re busy so I didn’t wanna bother you” you said with a tight smile

“Y/n no matter how busy I am I would always have time for family and you are in it” he said

“Sorry Chris, if it makes you feel better, then I should tell you I'll be going there again” you said shyly “And You’re the first person I am telling” 

“Really?” He asked and you nodded “Not even Hannah?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes

“Well she knows I got the offer, but she doesn’t know I said yes” You said and found Chan cheering. By that time Berry was fast asleep on your lap and the two of you chatted, and caught up. It seemed so easy to talk to each other that the fact that he moved away when you were very young didn’t really matter.

And thus, meeting Chan at the park every evening became a thing between the two of you that only Hannah knew, cause she saw the two of you one day. On the third day Chan suddenly said “Do you wanna grab lunch tomorrow?”

You were taken aback at the question, as blood rushed to your cheek, but before you could say anything, he said “Hanna and I are going to meet Felix and his sisters, I think you should come too, it will be fun” 

You kicked yourself mentally for even thinking- you nodded a yes and stood up and said “Isn’t that a things you guys always do? Even though I have hung out with Olivia but-”

“I want you there and even Felix has wanted to meet you” he said

“Fine! Fine!” I’ll come with you guys. 

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And you found yourself surrounded with a bunch of famous people but also ones you love.

"Seriously Y/n made all of us promise to not tell our brothers. Like girl, what if you needed help!" Olivia said laughing

"Yeah, Y/n its really reckless. Tell you what, put in your number I'll ping you. You can always talk to me" Felix said pointing at his phone and you laughed

"Hey. Why not me?" Chan whinned

"I'll tell both of you okay!" You said

"But, me first" Chan gave you a cheeky smile and said.

"I swear these two never grew up" Hannah sighed and everyone laughed.

"Why are you always so done with me?!" You asked with a fake cry and heard felix mumble "Kiyowo" and you immediately asked "What?"

"Nothing" he said with a cute smile.

"But you had heard it, undoubtedly" you just looked at him and then at Hannah and then smiled, what you didn't know was that it was actually directed towards you.

And that's how a great friendship between Felix and you has started. So naturally when Felix got to know that you'll be moving to South Korea soon, (much to Hannah's dismay though) he was really happy. And this continued even after they went back. But this time, even Chris had your number and you'd text every once in a while.

One day you were just sitting in your room and doing some work when you recieved a video call invitation from Felix, which you joined and found 4 pair of eyes staring at you.

"OH. MY. GOD!!!!" You shreaked

"Hello, Beautiful!" You heard Han say and you instantly hid your face in your palm.

"Hi Jisung" you said in a muffled tone.

"Look Y/n! We brought your bias!!!" They said, as you took a deep breath and looked towards the screen and said in fluent Korean "Hello everyone, I'm Y/n L/n. I am so happy to meet you guys"

"You know Korean?!" Changbin asked visibly impressed.

"Ah. Yes yes, I learnt it ages ago before I went for the first time" you said smiling

"I can already tell we're gonna be the best of friends." Han said cheering

"Try telling that to Hannah she'll have your head" you said laughing "She actually threatened me that I better not dare replace her, which actually is impossible for me."

"That sounds very much like Hannah" Chan said.

"You know they said so many things about you and specially that you're a stay that's so cool" Changbin said and you blushed and said "I've stanned you ever since before you guys debuted actually. I watched the survival show with Mrs. Bang." You said.

"That was something" Felix said shaking his head.

"So, what are 3racha and Felix doing?" You said

"Oh we were recording, do you wanna-" but you interrupted Chan

"NOO! NO SPOILERS!" you said and the four boys burst out laughing. They chatted and teased each other a bit more after they dropped the call.

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"Nervous? Why are you nervous?!" Felix's deep voice flowed through the phone into your ears.

"Because it all gets real the moment I step here. And it's been a while since I've been here. Last time, I didn't call Chan, actually I broke all ties with him since I reali-"

"That you were in love with him?" He completed your sentence. "It'll all be okay"

You sighed and asked "Are you guys there yet?" You asked.

"Yeah. At the gate, now pick it up buttercup" he said in a deep voice, that almost hit your brain at the wrong corner, (keyword: almost).

You picked up your baggage from the designated baggage belt and went towards the exit, there you found a super excited Felix and Han and you pulled the trolly and put it at a stop to rush and hug Felix who already had arms open for you. And then you opened your arms for Jisung to join you two and he gladly did.

"It's so good to finally meet you in person Y/n-ah!" Han said

"It is so good to see both of you too" you said.

"Okay lets move before we get spotted or worse scandaled into a throuple" Felix said.

"You're coming with us, Lee Know hyung cooked some great food as your welcome dinner" Han said opening the trunk of the car.

"I told Chan to ask you guys not to do these stuff, you rarely get off days, why get busy doing these?" You asked.

"That is because these small things are part of our ralaxing and keeps us sane" Felix said as he entered the passenger seat and Han and you entered the back seat.

The three of you enjoyed the ride to the dorm blasting Twice and BTS songs, through the car speaker. You actually noticed the driver sigh, the moment the music was turned off when you reached your destination.

Meeting the members was a delight that you could not believe that these guys you always see on the screen are actually in front of you. The fact that they are so warm and welcoming to you is something else. All were there except Hyunjin and I.n who already had stuff planned with their families. But this was okay and was already too huge of a dream for you. The boys kept on with playful banter and quarrels and you couldn't help but laugh. You were certainly having the time of your life. Bangchan asked you so many questions about your new place and how he'd help if you needed some muscles.

"I don't think you should stay alone for the first night though" Felix told you as you were getting into the van that would take you to your house.

"Lets do this then, Felix join Y/n and stay the night, I'll go too, we'll help Y/n settle and get all the necessary and then we'll see" Chan said

"I wanna come!" Seungmin said

"I am going home tomorrow morning so I'll visit" Minho said and you face palmed

"Guys this is not necessary!" You protested

"It is" Chan said "and it is non-negotiable its either that or you spent night here, and we take you to your apartment tomorrow" Chan said with a smirk and he knew he had you right where he wanted you.

You sighed and you knew very well what he was doing, he used this smart persuasion method even when you were little. You nodded your head and climbed in as Seungmin, Felix and Chan piled in, it was the same driver from earlier. The drive to Gimpo was just the 4 of you talking about childhood, the various memories you have. It was really good to have people you know and can talk to this time round, last time you came, the first few days were a torture.

"How were you planning on managing to do so much alone!?" It was the first thing Seungmin said as they entered the apartment.

"Well, I was going to do it one at a time, they have the tool kit" you said sheepishly.

"Good thing Chan Hyung insisted" Felix said.

You all settled in and looked around, the balcony being the main attraction to you. Your floor was quite high and the night lights looked so beautiful with the cool breeze blowing. You stood there and clicked a few pictures to send them to Hannah. You didn't know how long you were out when Chan came in with two chairs and said "These seem to be quite fitting here?"

"Yeah it would be great to sit here" you said and sat on one of the chair and patted on the other.

He sat down and a moment of silence prevailed before you said "Thank you for re-adopting me. I don't know what I'd do without you"

"I've told you, you are family." He said putting a hand on head and within a second you felt blood rush to your cheeks but you managed to nod. That was before Seungmin's voice was heard saying that the bed has been set, and after a huge debate you 4 decide to spend the rest of the time chatting or playing and then restart assembling furniture in the morning, and later will go grocery shopping with Minho.

The rest of the night (which was barely 4 hours) was spent sharing embarrassing stories about each other.

As soon as the sun rose, you 4 got to work, the first goal was to set up the couch and coffee table.

Within 2 hours a knock was heard and Bangchan went to open the door, only to welcome a very excited Han.

"I asked Lee Know hyung to drop me on the way to his way to his home and I brought Coffee and breakfast" he said and Felix ran to hug him, as he was a saviour. Yes, He brought juice for Felix.

The rest of the day was very productive as the furniture was set, the kitchen was put up and your cupboard was set up, yes Chan had exceptional leading skills and without them you would just be swimming in a pile of wood. Thank heavens they helped, hence after a nice take out dinner, the 5 dispersed in 2 cars and you closed the door and ran to your bedroom and plopped on the bed. Damn, staying with Bangchan so much was making your heart go heyware.

You still had 2 more days and decided to go exploring the next 2 days. Because it will be work and work then onwards. You looked up at the ceiling and remembered the various moments shared between you and Chan. How he comforts you, assures you, you just can't help falling more and more for him.

Suddenly, your phone started to ring and you saw your best friend's name flashing, you smiled and picked up, it was a a video call and as soon as you recieved you saw your Grandmother's face along with Hannah's.

"How are you, little girl?" Hannah said. Yes she visited and stayed over with your Nana often when you were away so that the old woman didn't feel lonely.

"I am settled, still nervous but better than last time" you said

"Did Chris help you with your things?" Nana asked

"Yes, Nana, he and his friends helped me set up my furniture and kitchen, let me give you both a tour" and you ended up giving a tour and telling them various funny stories that happened earlier that day. You guys chatted for sometime and then Hannah went to your room to talk to you.

"So, how was your time with my brother?" She asked

"Nothing, he just helped, well and I am in deep love. Damn" you confessed.

"You are down bad" she concluded.

"I am a simp for your brother" You owned up and the two of you burst in laughter. But, it was true, you've had this huge crush on Chris since you were kids, you were so hurt when he moved away. But, the more you grew up and watched him from afar, the more you fell for him. As a result of you being in love with this said human.

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Your workplace was very close to your apartment and thus you left the house every morning and picked a croissant and a vanilla latte from this little cafe you found on your exploration day. You have also been there with Chan as the cafe is generally empty during the time you return home when Chan generally visits, which is now almost once a week. Your days have been somewhat peaceful, these past few months since you moved, apart from the growing crush you had and it really hurt you physically to talk to Chan and not be able to hug him or kiss that beautiful face of his. And again you did something drastic, yes you stopped talking to Chan, yet again.

"This is a very stupid idea" Seungmin said as soon as you recieved his call.

"What?" You ask shocked and slightly taken aback. What was he talking about?

"You can't just ignore a person because you have a crush on them. You need to tell Chan hyung, either he reciprocates and you date or he doesn't and you move on!" He said.

He knew? How?. "What? How did you even- Felix told you?!" You exclaimed.

"I'm not blind Y/n" he told you and you sighed

"I don't know what else to do, Seungmin!" You whinned.

"Well, you wouldn't have to, because he's going straight to yours and he's determined to know why you are avoiding him" He said and you felt like hitting you head on a wall.

He hung up after some more encouraging words, and you felt the energy drain out of you. Thinking of a way to handle this situation when there's a knock on the door and you know who it was, you walked to the door and opened the door to come face to face with a super tensed Chan.

"Don't even say no, why are you avoiding me? Did I do or say something wrong? Did I make you uncomfortable?" He asked "Please tell me, talk to me please!"

"No-no, I just had my reasons" you said not being able to look at him

"And what are they. You've said this before, but you can't always just say that. Why don't you tell me?!" He said. For someone who's so patient Chan strangely seemed to have lost it and you couldn't take it anymore. He wanted the reason so he'll get them and you said it

"Cause, I am stupidly in love with you! Yes, I have had a huge crush on you since childhood, that only grew and grew as we grew up. And that was also the reason why I stopped and dropped all contact with you as I thought that it would go away, but it didn't. And now again, I just can't look at you without just wanting you. You can call me selfish if you want but that is how it is and thus I pulled away." You said, but Chan's shocked expression broke your heart.

"I know it's too much and you probably dont feel the same so dont worry" you added

"Yeah-Yeah I-I want I need, I'll need to unpack that. I am sorry" he said and with that he ran out of the apartment. And you made a decision, you will move on.

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5 days later, Skz dorm

Lee know and Felix are seen to have burst in through the door they looked straight and asked "What did you do? She's planning on going back."

"What? What are you saying?" Chan asked visibly confused.

"What happened between you and Y/n? She just stopped talking to us all of a sudden. Please tell us hyung! She's searching for someone to replace her so she can fly back" Felix said

"Something happened between you too right?" Minho asked.

"She confessed didn't she?" Seungmin said looking away from his phone

"Oh no! You rejected her?" Felix asked in awe

"She's Hannah's age Felix, she's like a sister to me" Chan said in a serious voice.

"But, you don't speak so much about Hannah as you speak about Y/n, hyung. Even Lee Know Hyung doesn't speak about his cats as much as you speak about Y/n or go to visit her" Hyunjin pointed out.

"You were even glaring at Inie when he was just being friendly." Seungmin added

"Inie was flirting with her" Chan said.

"So? He flirted with Hannah too, you didn't even mind that" Lee Know said.

"I-I. What are you even insinuating?! She's to me, as Hannah is. Okay!" Chan said now under pressure.

"Hannah is your sibling please keep her out of this conversation" Hyunjin said.

"Okay then, she's the same to me as Inie okay!" He said.

"But would you kiss Inie?" Hyunjin asked

"No. No I wouldn't Hyunjin!" Chan said

"Would you kiss Y/n?" Seungmin asked and Chan's eyes went wide "No I- I-" and he went quiet.

Who is he kidding of course he has stared at your lips numerous times when you speak. He remembers how his heart picks up pace whenever you're in a close proximity. Besides Lee Know was right, you did glare at Inie but it wasn't because he was flirting, or not only just because of that, he might have also been a bit jealous. Not to add how crazy he missed you when you started to distance him and how his heart almost summersaulted in his chest when you confessed to him, how did he ignore all these stuff. Oh God! He likes You! His realisation threw him into a state of shock.

"But she's my sister's best friend. She's Hannah's age" Chan whishpered

"She's just A FEW YEARS, younger. She's not A FEW years old" Seungmin said and Chan looked back at him.

As if on cue, Chan grabbed his phone and almost rushed out.

He took his car keys and drove off, destination: Y/n's apartment.

He tried to look back and think, when and what changed in his mind to make him feel this way about you. That was when he realised, he has always felt this towards you. Yes, he was always in love with you.

You were busy watching a Kdrama on your bed in your comfiest outfit, fuzzy socks and glasses on. You were really tired, finding a replacement is a really difficult job and so far the only 2 candidates you found were all rejected by the company, they insist on you staying, but you really can't keep on doing that. You- your thoughts were interrupted by a knock. You thought it was the delivery man with your Bibbimbap. But gosh were you wrong, as soon as you opened the door you were met with a red faced, out of breath Chan, who immediately hugged you.

"Please, please, don't go! Please don't leave me" and a string of many more incoherent things that you couldn't quite make out.

"Chan! Chan! What's wrong?" you asked hugging him back and patting his head.

"Please don't leave. I would be so lost without you. I'm sorry I didn't understand what you mean to me. I never realised this, but I-" he paused and took a deep breath, I have always been in love with you, Ple-" Chan was interrupted by a clearing of throat.

"Y/n L/n?" A man said from behind him

"Yes?" You said as Chan pulled away to look behind him.

"He-here's your order" the man handed you the package and looked suspiciously at Chan "Is he disturbing you, madam?" He asked, still looking at Chan.

"Uh? No, no. Thank you so much" you bowed to the man and he bowed back and walked away.

You kept the package on the counter near your door step and looked back and Chan. He looked so soft, and vulnerable. And as soon as he felt your eyes on him he held you hands in his and looked deep into your eyes.

"Please, be mine? I will do anything and take care of everything as long as you're by my side" he said.

"I thought you'd never ask" you said, trying your best to not tear up, and within a blink of an eye you found yourself pushed in the house, door closed and you pinned to it, trapped between two of his strong muscular arms.

"What are you doing" you said almost in a whisper

"Something that I have done a long time ago" he said and slammed his lips to yours.

You were shocked, his lips were so soft and you froze. "Show me you want this too" he said in a voice that sent chills down your spine and heat waves to your core. And you wasted no moment to kiss him back and this was better than what you had always imagined. Chan replaced his arms, one on your waist pulling you even closer and the other to cup your cheek. You moved your hands to his hair to fist his soft brown curls. Damn you've always imagined what that would feel like.

He soon pulled away and attacked your neck, earning a moan in return and you had a plan. So you pulled his head back up by his hair as he groaned and attached your lips to his and pushed him back, until his knees collided and he crashed on the couch. As soon as he did, you stranddled his lap, threw away your glasses and kissed him, this time with more frevour, want and passion.

His hands had already gone to your butt to squeeze it as soon as you moaned he took his chance to enter your mouth. Your tongues are fighting for dominance. All these times of missing each other and the pent up want and sexual tension was finally released.

Your lips left his and you attacked his neck, and he groaned "Y/n~". Damn, you loved the way your name rolled off his tongue, it was almost like your favourite melody.

Suddenly you felt his strong arms grip your waist as he picked you up and pushed you down on the couch and got on top of you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was about to kiss you when you said "Chan, the food's getting cold"

"Oh, I think we can warm it back up later" he said and dived in to kiss you again.

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