#long-haired whippet

[norapotwora]

A commission I had pleasure to create for Emily of her amazing Cricket!

[godidontgaf]

RDR2 characters as dog breeds because they’re two of my special interests rn

Arthur - Kelpie. Always running around and chasing sheep (or in Arthurs case- people) so I think it’s fitting, also the pointy ears just fit Arthurs vibe so well

John - Okay don’t kill me but chihuahua. He’s tiny but he’s so snarky!!!

Dutch - He’s real serious and gets things done, so I’d say doberman. Kinda looks like him too if you squint

Hosea - Weimaraner, they’re sleek and look old. Like Hosea

Micah - Miniature schnauzer. I don’t think I need to explain this one

Kieran - Whippet, they’re super skinny and shake a lot, plus they kinda look like horses so it’s perfect for Kieran

Bill - Saint bernard. Fat, hairy, same face if you look hard enough

Charles - he’s buff as shit so American bully

Javier - Saluki, the long flowy hair on their ears kinda mimics Javiers curtain bangs (can I call them that???)

Sadie - Jack russel. They’re hunting dogs, they’re fast and they both have the same golden hair

Lenny - Golden retriever because he’s our golden boy and he is just so so cute and so happy <3

Karen - German shepherd cause she gets shit done amen

Swanson - Oh god. Irish wolfhound because 1. their hair is equally as messy 2. they’re both surpisingly big (I swear everytime swanson comes up to Arthur he’s the same height WHILE SLOUCHING) and 3. I had one knock me over at a dog park once because it wasn’t walking straight

Tilly - Teacup poodle because she’s insanely adorable and poodles often have that golden colour that reminds me of her dress

Sean - Shiba inu because they both got orange hair, they both have adorable smiles but oh my god the second they open their mouths you’ll never wanna have ears again

Strauss - Borzoi. Elegant but funny looking

Mary-beth - Cocker spaniel, they’re just pretty and have the same hair

Pearson - Pug. He’s ugly and is always breathing down my neck (yes I know we need food SHUT UP)

Trelawny - Maltese, specifically those ones with the insanely long, silky hair. Just so fancy

Eagle - Pharaoh hound? In every photo I see of them they look so serious and heroic. Also described as “elegant but rugged” which I think fits eagle perfectly

[socks10858]

HOW TO TELL THE BEATLES APART AS SOMEONE WHO IS NEW TO LISTENING TO THE BAND!!!

- Bored and saw someone else do this, so I wanted to give it a shot -

NOW, it may seem a bit intimidating, seeing as, at first glance, they all look like four pale, British blobs with bad haircuts wearing identical suits, but I promise you that it gets far easier once you figure out the distinctions between them - OF WHICH THERE ARE MANY.

Firstly, let’s start off with with the least difficult (bc, IMO, he is easily the most distinctive-looking member of the the Beatles):

RINGO STARR!!

If you’ve been in the fandom for any amount of time, you’ll know that this little guy’s most obvious tell is that rather large, Roman-esque nose of his - unless he’s standing next to the others in a full body picture, seeing as he’s a good five inches shorter than the rest of them.

I’m guessing that his height goes hand in hand with him also having a very small face; his jaw is very narrow and triangular, with very little definition (not his fault ofc, I’m sure that mewing was a very foreign concept back then to everyone other than George) and a pointy-ish chin.

His eyes are actually very large, though they don’t come across as big as Paul’s do right away because they’re quite hooded and downturned (very sad-looking/puppyish, as has been quoted by many). His lips are kind of thick and his teeth are a bit crooked, especially his left canine - somewhat similar to George’s, but not as long. This also makes his big ol’ grin SO endearing, he’s absolutely adorable.

Also, if you’re looking at coloured photos of them, his hair is a mousy brown, with (although only every now and then, if you peer close enough and if he hasn’t dyed it) a thin grey streak above one of his ears. Overall, he’s very much a cutie.

(Just look at that smile)

Second of all, and my personal second favourite (although he and Ringo swap places every now and then):

GEORGE HARRISON!!

As the youngest and (once again, IMO) most ‘classically handsome’ Beatle, Georgie is also rather easy to tell apart from the others, as long as the photos are being taken in a dimly lit room to show off those defined features.

He’s as thin as a whippet (which I’ve heard was common for working-class kids at the time, seeing as they were growing up on rations after the war) but gracefully, if a little worryingly, so. He also wasn’t as pale as the others (or didn’t appear so in pictures at least) and his skin had a tendency towards acne/was a little pockmarked.

With a long, lean face, the sharpest jawline KNOWN TO MAN, and cheekbones that put Angelina Jolie to shame, he cuts a very striking figure. His dark brown eyes are clear, with especially long lower lashes, and his lower lip is very full.

One particularly cute trait of his is his long, snaggle-teeth - if you look closely at his grin, you can see how his canines stick out quite clearly, just like fangs, though on one side more than the other. Just like a little vampire.

His hair was also extraordinarily thick - like, quote unquote, “a fookin’ turban” - and appears to be a very rich brown. However, his haircut in the early bowl-cut days is easily the worst of the lot of them (sorry George fans, I love him too, but it’s the truth. The moment he saw the fringe he’d been given, he should have called the police.)

Still doesn’t take away from his beauty ofc 🫶🏻

Now, third of the lot:

PAUL MCCARTNEY!!

IK no one asked for my opinion, but, while I agree that Paul was definitely pretty for a man, especially at the time, I don’t find him as much more remarkably handsome than the others as he’s often described. He was kind of just a different type of good-looking, which may have come off as extraordinary in the 60s - however, I am not saying this to detract from his good looks, he’s a gorgeous man.

As absolutely the most PR-conscious of the four, Paul is usually the one with the most charming/friendly expression in any of the group photos or interviews. He has a pale, pixie-ish face, with a straight, almost upturned nose, a somewhat long chin and chubby cheeks that make him look quite cherubic.

His lips are small and dainty, with an evident cupids bow, and he has pretty cute bunny teeth when he smiles. His hazel eyes are large and droopy, framed by notably dark, curled lashes - you’d be able to see them from miles away, they’re like spider-legs. His brows are also VERY arched and defined.

His hair was black/a very dark brown, and DEFINITELY cut the best, for at least a while there in the early 60s.

Though I may not be as biased towards him, I can definitely see why he was called the Cute Beatle.

And, last but not least, my No. 1 Jealous Guy:

JOHN LENNON!!

This time I am being biased when I say that I find this man INCREDIBLY, oddly attractive. Actually, not even oddly - he is quite conventionally good-looking for the most part, but I have a feeling many people don’t acknowledge that bc he’s been so villainised throughout the media. It was also a very different look than what was considered particularly handsome at the time, which frequently makes me very sad to think ab, but whatever.

John can be a bit easier to mix up with some of the others bc his features may not seem as immediately striking in the black and white photos, aside from maybe his nose. His long face was kind made up of angles - similar to George’s, but softer, not as slim/sharp. His jawline was squarish and defined, but bc of his chubby/fuller features in the earlier days it didn’t always look as such. His skin was pale and apparently very delicate.

His very long, thin nose (an aquiline nose, as Paul has repeatedly called it) is one of his most obvious physical traits- in fact, it’s one of the things he’s most well known for. His lips were very slim and pert, and he had quite a huge, cheesy little smile that showed off a row of kind of small, almost sharp looking teeth.

His eyes were almond-shaped and brown, usually thin/squinted due to the fact that he apparently couldn’t see for shit, framed by long, though pretty feathery lashes. His eyebrows were also very thick.

His hair looked fairly brown in the pictures, if a bit lighter than the other’s, but it was actually described as quite shockingly red in person - and u can see it in a few of the coloured photos that r circulating around the place.

People are pretty unfair about him (for the most part, I’m not excusing him entirely) but I still think he was a VERY handsome young man.

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Something There (Chapter 10)

5.1k words

Roy Kent x Reader

Warnings: Language, fluff, one smutty scene because these two deserve it, lots of flirting, self-indulgent fluff (my chapter 10 tradition at this point!)

A/N: For the full effect, listen to Lavender Haze on repeat while reading because I listened to it almost non-stop while writing 💜

Series Masterlist

The tips of Roy’s fingers tingled as he waited for the door to open. For the last couple of hours, he was convinced he was living in a dream as he got ready for- fuck was it really happening?- their first date.

After their scorching kiss in the rain, Roy had promised to come back at seven to take her out on a real date. One that would involve dinner, drinks, and, hopefully, a return to Roy’s bedroom. He’d rushed home to get himself showered and ready, remembering how anxiously he’d looked at himself in the mirror the night of the gala, wondering about her. This time, however, Roy’s stomach was filled less with anxiety and more with butterflies.

When she opened the door, Roy made no attempt to stop his jaw from dropping. He’d jokingly asked her to wear the little black dress she’d worn at the club all those months ago; apparently, despite her fierce independent streak, she listened well. The dress hugged her curves even better than he’d remembered, she had that perfect model hair that he wanted to touch, and her lips were so red and so kissable. And tonight, Roy got to lean forward and kiss them.

“Hi,” he hummed as he pulled back, leaning in the doorframe casually; even with his heart hammering in his chest, he could at least appear cool.

Apparently it worked, because she gazed up at him with those wide eyes, just as unsure as he felt. “Hey yourself.” She tilted her face to his and stole another kiss, a slow, sweet kiss, one that Roy couldn’t help sighing into. “Ready to go?”

He grabbed her hand and tugged her through the door. “Been ready for a long time.”

The ride to the restaurant was short, filled with hand-holding and easy conversation about their teams. Roy parked in the back, explaining that he’d pulled a couple of strings to get them some privacy. With his hand on the small of her back, he led her through the backdoor, into the kitchen. A hostess was there waiting for them with a bright smile, as though she greeted football legends in the staff parking lot all the time.

“I feel like I’m in Goodfellas,” Buck laughed, gazing up at Roy as they scurried through the kitchen, too wrapped up in each other to notice the smiles of the kitchen staff.

“You ever read the book it's based on?” Roy asked with a grin as they were led out of the kitchen. “It’s fucking great.”

While the hostess led them to a secluded corner, Roy ducked his head, trying not to draw attention. Likewise, Buck nuzzled close to Roy’s chest, turning her smiling face away from the rest of the world. Her smile widened when they entered their little private dining room, with a table set for two and low lighting. He pulled out her chair for her, pressing a kiss to her soft hair before she sat. Her giggle assured him that everything was perfect.

For the first time, the two of them just… talked. They exchanged favorite books and movies. They told childhood stories, especially ones about football. She listened with interest, no pity on her face, when Roy quietly explained his youth in Sunderland. He smiled broadly while she recalled her excitement when she was called up to the US National Women’s Team.

With every word and moment of laughter shared, Roy Kent found himself falling further in love.

~

“Oi, are you the manager of the Richmond Whippets? The new women’s team?”

I smirked up at the man who slid up next to me at the bar, handsome and bearded and smiling. “Why yes, I am,” I hummed over the pulsing club music. “Say, aren’t you the Roy Kent?”

He nodded, lifting his beer. “I am.” His eyes travelled unabashedly down my figure. “How about I buy you a drink? Give you a proper Richmond welcome?”

“That would be nice.”

Roy quickly ordered my drink, his fingers brushing against mine when he handed it to me. “Welcome to Richmond.”

I bit back a snicker and pressed myself close to him. “Wow, you Greyhounds sure are friendly,” I teased, batting my eyelashes at him. “You treat every coach like this?”

He ducked down to purr in my ear. “Only the gorgeous ones.”

It took every ounce of self-control not to attach my lips to his right then and there. But doing so would ruin the game; Roy, in a shockingly adorable display of romance, had brought me to the club where we’d first spoken, claiming he wanted to ‘make up for being the world’s biggest wanker’ the night we met.

So now he stood, gazing down at me with what could only be described as total affection, his fingertips brushing at the small of my back. “You know, Keeley Jones gave us a little report on you,” he murmured, the sparkle in his eye telling me he was enjoying his little performance. “Olympic gold medalist, hmm?”

I rolled my eyes and tucked some hair behind my ear. “Yes,” I giggled. “World Cup champion as well,” I added, giving him my cockiest grin.

“Wow.” He raised his thick eyebrows, giving an exaggerated look of awe. “Fucking impressive. Your boyfriend must be fucking proud of you.”

I sipped my drink coyly. “No boyfriend,” I answered with a wink.

He leaned closer, his hand wandering further down my backside. “Well then. No one would be mad if I asked you for a dance then?”

Fuck, Roy’s little game was getting me hot.

Roy urged me towards the dance floor, sipping his beer as we walked. Deciding to fuel the flirtation, I turned my back to him, pressing my backside against him. The vibration from his soft groan tickled my back; I’d made the right choice. Sipping my drink, I began to move my hips, melting a little when Roy planted his hand firmly on my hip. It had been a while since I’d last danced with a guy like this, flirty and seductive; but with Roy it was so damn easy. When I gave a particularly wicked grind against him, his breath was on my ear.

“You’re fucking mean,” he growled.

I tilted my face back towards him. “Don’t play nice, remember?”

I could feel his smile against my bare shoulder. “I remember.”

Two songs. We lasted two whole songs of drinking and grinding and flirting. When I felt something hard against my backside, I glanced back at Roy, eyebrows raised.

“Are you inviting me over for a drink or what, Kent?”

Sam Cooke on the stereo. Glasses of Scotch on the coffee table. Roy Kent’s mouth on mine.

It felt familiar to me now, and I couldn’t get enough. He had one hand firmly in my hair while the other wandered up and down my bare thigh. Mine gripped his muscular arms, trying to pull him closer. As I trailed kisses down his jaw, leaving a path of red lipstick stains on his skin, he squirmed and let out a soft groan.

“D’you- d’you want me to drive you home?” His voice was soft and timid, as if he was dreading my answer.

I pulled back from where I’d been planting sloppy kisses on his neck and stood, taking his hand in mine. “Come on, Kent,” I hummed. “Let’s see if I remember where your bedroom is.”

My heels came off in the living room. Roy lost his shirt somewhere in the hallway. The zipper on my dress was halfway down by the time he opened his bedroom door. By the time we fell onto his bed, we were both down to just our underwear and a pair of smiles.

“How’d you manage to get more perfect than last time?” Roy breathed as his eyes followed his hand up my tummy. “Fucking gorgeous.”

“You’re not too bad yourself, Kent,” I teased, running my fingers through his soft, curly hair. “Why d’you think I like running with you so much?” I pressed a kiss to his nose. “You without a shirt? Great view.”

He thanked me for my compliment with a deep kiss and a hand on my breast. I arched into his touch, hooking my leg behind his back and bucking my hips up into him. His other hand roamed down my body until reaching my panties; I mentally thanked myself for the recent impulse purchase of this sexy little lace pair. Roy thumbed at the material, groaning when he brushed against the wet spot that had probably begun to form back at the club.

“Can I take these off?” he murmured, grazing his nose against my cheek. “Pretty fucking please?”

Shit. I could probably come just from the tone of his voice, all sugary and affectionate. The only thing I could do was nod desperately as Roy removed the pesky material. His fingers immediately came to my entrance, rubbing gentle circles, smearing the slick that had already gathered.

Roy buried his face in the crook of my neck. “Fucking hell,” came his muffled moan.

“Roy,” I gasped, giving his hair a little tug. “I swear on my life, if you don’t take your fucking boxers off right now-”

He pulled his face away from my neck and gazed at me with a soft smile. “Fucking needy,” he teased, kissing my forehead. “I have been waiting for this since the gala,” he reminded me, his voice far too relaxed for someone who was inching his fingers into my cunt. “Let me enjoy you.”

So I did. I threw my head back with a soft groan, focusing on the sensation of Roy’s two fingers exploring me, pumping in and out with leisurely ease. He watched my face carefully, smirking every time I shuddered or gasped or did something to show I was enjoying myself. When he added his thumb to my clit, the sound of my lewd moan practically echoed throughout the house.

“Dammit, Buck,” he murmured, kissing my mouth. “You were holding back last time. I fucking love the way you sound.”

I opened my eyes and narrowed them playfully. “Don’t call me ‘Bucky’ in bed, remember?” I nipped at his jaw. “That’s only for the pitch, Roy.”

He laughed and followed my mouth, stealing another kiss as he continued his slow strokes. “What should I call you then? Babe? Gorgeous? Darling?”

The giggle that tumbled past my lips was girlish, almost unrecognizable to me. “Darling, huh? Shit, you sound so English saying that.”

“Forgot you Americans love the accent,” he teased. He brought his lips to my ear, sending shivers down my spine as he whispered, “Darling, I fancy you.”

“Fuck,” I laughed. “That should not turn me on that much.” I gripped his arms tightly, grinding harshly into his hand. “And yet…” I raised my eyebrows coyly. “Roy?”

“Yes, darling?”

I buried my groan against his face. “Are you going to fuck me, or what?”

His laughter filled the room and my heart. “See, this is what happens when two managers get together. Fucking bossy.” He nuzzled his nose against mine. “You’re lucky you’re beautiful.” His eyes sparkled mischievously. “Darling.”

“Well since I’m so damn bossy,” I huffed with a chuckle. My fingertips tingled as I reached down and began tugging down his boxers; a soft groan flew out of my mouth when I felt his leaking tip brush against my already sticky inner thigh.

Bringing his mouth back to mine, Roy slowly removed his fingers, swallowing my reflexive whine. He pulled his face away so he could watch me, his bearded face colored with affection, as he slowly inched into me. His lips curved into a smile when my hips lifted off the bed, my body begging him to thrust into me already.

“Fuck,” I whimpered as my eyes screwed shut.

How could anyone ever hate Roy Kent? How could I ever hate Roy Kent?

Roy Kent, with his fingers that dug into my skin and left a burning trail. Roy Kent, with his mouth that swallowed every moan and swear word that he elicited from my mouth. Roy Kent, with his cock that stretched and filled me as if our bodies were made for each other. Roy Kent, with his delicious growl that said my name like a prayer. Roy Kent, with those soft brown eyes that held the one word neither of us quite knew how to say: love.

The rolling of his hips was slow, intentional, languid, as though we had all the time in the world. The heat and urgency from last time was gone, replaced with affection and tenderness. Along with the utter pleasure between my legs, I felt safe, adored, cherished in Roy’s arms. I ran my hands down the warm skin of his back, my nails softly grazing his skin, hoping he felt the same affection from me.

“Want you so bad,” Roy huffed between thrusts, pressing his damp forehead to mine. “Wanted you- wanted you for a while.”

“You’ve got me,” I assured him. “You’ve fucking got me.”

He nodded, his beard scratching my face deliciously. “I- I really want you,” he repeated breathlessly. “Not just tonight. But… I want you.”

Most other guys, most other nights, this would be far too intimate- especially on a first date. But because it was Roy- and he had those eyes- and was kissing me with that mouth- and all we’d been through to get to this moment-

“Roy Kent,” I whispered, knowing this would be the last coherent sentence I’d be able to manage for a while. “I’m fucking yours.”

~

It was the happiest morning Roy had experienced in a long time. Maybe the happiest morning ever.

Bucky’s back was pressed against his chest. She was wearing one of his black shirts, her lipstick was completely fucked, her hair was a mess, her neck was covered in little red marks. And she was the most perfect thing Roy had ever seen. She stirred in her sleep, pressing closer to his body. When she mumbled sleepy nonsense, he swore he heard his name on her lips.

Careful not to wake her, Roy wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. This was what the morning after the gala should have been, he thought to himself. Sleepy bliss as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, smiling when he breathed in that now familiar scent of lavender and vanilla, his new favorite combination. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, just holding her, but he could see the early morning light begin to peek through the window just as she turned her head to glance at him.

Roy tightened his grip around her middle. “Don’t you fucking dare run away this time,” he joked. “I’m making a proper English breakfast for my favorite Yank.”

She shifted onto her back, stroking Roy’s cheek as she gazed up at him. “No running away,” she promised softly. “I’m afraid there’s no getting rid of me now, Roy Kent.”

“That a fucking promise?” Roy heaved himself on top of her, laughing as he gently squashed her. “So? How about some breakfast?”

“Sounds perfect.” She smacked a kiss to his cheek, which he tried to turn into a real kiss. She ducked away. “Nuh-uh, I’ve got morning breath.”

Roy laughed and followed her mouth. “Do I look like I fucking care?” With that, he stole a real kiss, loving the way she gave into him and even let her tongue brush against his lips. Before he could be tempted to escalate things further, Roy rolled out of bed and held out his hand to her. “Coffee?”

Hand in hand, the two ambled to the kitchen, exchanging bashful smiles when they saw their discarded clothes along the way. Once in the kitchen, Roy grabbed her hips and lifted her onto the counter, savoring her surprised little squeak. He got his coffeemaker going and turned his attention to the fridge so he could start pulling out ingredients.

“Want any help?” she asked from her perch as she tried to smooth down her wild hair.

Roy shook his head, pausing to kiss her nose. “Fuck no. I told you I was making you breakfast, so I’m making you breakfast.”

So she sat, smiling softly as she watched him prepare eggs and sausages and beans and all the other things he’d bought just for her. He brought her a mug of coffee, exchanging it for a slow kiss before returning to his cooking.

“Keeley wasn’t fucking kidding,” she murmured.

Roy turned and looked at her with a curious grin. “Fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged. “A while back, just before the gala actually, she was telling me what a great boyfriend you are. Said she could basically write you a letter of recommendation.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” He paused his work to come stand between her thighs, eyebrows raised teasingly.

He loved seeing her blush, all soft and timid compared to her usual toughness. “I mean… you know… we… you’re just…” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, fuck off Kent.” With that, she pressed her mouth to his, as though trying to distract him, or shut him up. Probably both.

Roy laughed against her lips, cupping her face. When he pulled back, he noticed her blush had deepened. “I can be whatever you want,” he murmured softly.

The shyest smile spread across her sleepy face. “How about ‘mine’?” Immediately, her eyes widened and she ducked her head. “Shit,” she laughed awkwardly. “That sounded so… fuck, I’m sorry, is that too…?”

Roy lifted her chin tenderly. “Oi,” he whispered in his softest voice. “I have been fucking waiting to be yours, Buck. For a while now. But if you think things are… are going too fast or if they get too intense or if I…” He cleared his throat. “If I get too clingy… Please fucking tell me.” He brushed his thumb against her bottom lip. “I’m just so fucking happy right now,” he explained. “And I know I can get really fucking intense and clingy and-”

“Roy.” She smiled and brought her hand to his cheek. “I think if any two people have earned the right to be intense and clingy, it’s us, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Roy leaned his forehead to hers as a smile spread across his face. “We’ve fucking earned it.”

~

I spent the entire weekend with Roy. After my full English breakfast and some rather adult activities in the kitchen, Roy drove me home to grab a few things; other than that, we didn’t leave his house at all. We fell into a pattern of sex, and cuddling, and eating, and more sex, all weekend long. I found that I really liked wearing his shirts around his house and eating the food he cooked and laughing at his stories about the Greyhounds and watching the movies he loved- and dammit, I really liked him.

Late Sunday evening, we lounged on his couch, some old black and white movie on the television. I sat back, with my legs thrown over his lap, loving the feeling of his hand roaming up and down my bare legs as he watched the movie. His eyes kept wandering over to me, full of warmth and affection.

My eyes, however, landed on the clock.

“I should head home soon,” I murmured, shifting myself until I was straddling Roy’s lap, facing him. “We should both get some rest after…” I grinned mischievously. “Well, let’s just say it was a very active weekend.”

Roy brushed some loose hair off of my face. “I don’t want rest.” He pressed a slow kiss to my lips. “Fucking want you.”

A low groan escaped my throat as I pressed my forehead to his; fuck, staying in this house forever was tempting. “We’ve got training in the morning, Coach,” I reminded him pointedly, probably reminding myself more.

“Let’s just fucking cancel training then. Tell everyone we’re sick.” The grin he wore told me he was half-joking. Maybe a little less than half.

I ran my fingers through his hair and gently pushed his head back. “Oh yeah, both managers calling in sick,” I scoffed. “That’s not suspicious at all.”

“Fucking spoilsport,” he hummed, pecking my nose. His hand wandered up the black shirt I was borrowing to stroke my bare back. “So, since apparently you’re making me go to work tomorrow, what d’you think about…” He cleared his throat, not quite looking me in the eye. “Tomorrow. At Nelson Road. Are we, I don’t fucking know, telling people? About… this? Us?”

“Oh.” My thumb stroked the crease that had suddenly appeared between his thick eyebrows. “I mean, do you want to?”

Roy sighed. “I don’t fucking know.” He buried his face in my neck, tickling my skin with his beard. “Everything we went through with the fucking pictures… it’d be nice to just keep it to ourselves for a bit, you know? Enjoy ourselves a bit before having everyone’s fucking opinions and comments and questions.” He tapped his nose to mine. “What d’you think?” His brown eyes were full of worry, as if I were about to run away again.

 I slipped my arms around his neck. “I think I’d like to keep things quiet,” I admitted. “Let us get used to being together without the damn press making another mess of things.” I smirked. “Plus, keeping things a secret might be kind of sexy. All that sneaking around we’ll be doing,” I teased.

He laughed and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Have I mentioned yet that you’re fucking perfect?”

“You could mention it again,” I purred, batting my eyelashes at him.

His smile turned mischievous. “One more for the road?” he asked, nodding towards the bedroom.

I scrambled to my feet, pulling him up with me as our now-forgotten movie continued to play. “One more for the road.”

~

Roy should’ve known that Monday was going to be a challenge. But shit, when she walked into her office with her bouncy ponytail and leggings, Roy thought he was going to explode. Sure, they’d spent all of Sunday night texting after he’d dropped her off at home, but after a weekend of having her in his bed (and several other places around his home), the sight of her had Roy biting back the stupidest fucking smile. If Roy wasn’t careful, he’d look just as goofy and lovesick as-

“Mornin’, Coach!”

Ted stood grinning in the doorway, holding a couple of folders. Roy couldn’t help but notice the little pink lipstick mark on Ted’s cheek.

“You see Rebecca this morning?” Roy asked with a smirk, nodding to Ted’s face.

The American’s eyes went wide as he touched his cheek. “Oh. Well, I uh….” He chuckled bashfully. “Aw heck, who’m I kidding? Yeah, I popped up to her office to say good morning and bring her some biscuits.” He let out a content sigh and leaned on the doorframe. “Just can’t believe it took us so long, y’know?” He followed Roy’s distracted gaze to the office next door; Bucky was looking at her computer, clearly trying to keep herself from looking into the Greyhounds office. “Guess maybe you do know,” Ted hummed quietly. He cleared his throat. “You do that ‘grand gesture’ yet?”

Roy cleared his throat and ripped his eyes away from her, choosing instead to narrow them at Ted. “You need something?”

“Oh, here.” Ted strolled over and handed Roy one of the folders. “Got a little scouting report for ya. Some impressive young men I think you’d be interested in.” He nodded towards the Whippets office. “Got a visit to the States next week, there’s a couple college gals I want to check out for her.”

“That’s nice,” Roy mumbled vaguely, pretending not to care, like he wasn’t excited to be talking about her. When Ted just kept staring at him, he cleared his throat. “Anything else?”

Ted wasn’t completely clueless, not really. He could see the shiftiness in Roy’s eyes, the way the manager was clearly fighting the urge to stare through the window, the tiny little tug in the corner of his mouth every time he failed. While Ted didn’t know the extent of what was going on between the two managers, he did know that the look in Roy’s brown eyes was the same look Ted knew he often had around Rebecca.

“Say, I’ve gotta run,” Ted lied. “Think you could slip this on over to the Whippets?” He handed Roy the other folder, one that had the W.F.C. Richmond logo on it. “Thanks, Roy.” Before Roy could say anything, Ted turned and walked out, humming happily to himself.

For a moment, Roy just stared at the folder. He was an adult man; he could manage himself, right? He could be professional. He was Roy fucking Kent, after all. Nodding to himself, he stood and strolled over to the Whippets office, approaching her desk calmly, determined to be the picture of professionalism-

“Good morning, darling,” he hummed in her ear, every coherent thought flying out of his mind when he caught a whiff of vanilla and lavender.

She quickly glanced over his shoulder, checking that no one could hear them. “Subtle, Kent,” she snorted. “What happened to keeping things quiet?” The sparkle in her eye assured him that she didn’t mind, not one bit.

He shrugged, dropping the folder onto her desk and perching himself on its edge. “Do I sound like a total wanker if I said you look way too fucking pretty today?”

“Only a little,” she chuckled. She bit her lip and gazed up at him. “Hi,” she whispered, gently ghosting her hand over his.

He leaned down towards her face. “Hi.”

“Roy? Hey, Roy?”

The sight of Jamie jogging into Roy’s office had the two managers retreating from their almost kiss. Rolling his eyes, Roy cleared his throat to get the striker’s attention. Jamie’s pretty face lit up when he saw the two gaffers in such close proximity.

“Good morning, Coaches,” he greeted in a far-too-sugary voice. “Roy, you feelin’ better?”

Roy frowned. “Fuck are you on about?”

Jamie wore that familiar confused pout. “On Saturday morning, you told me you were sick. Said that’s why we couldn’t train. You said you’d be in bed all weekend.”

Shit. “Oh, yeah, feeling loads better.” His face was burning as Buck held back a snicker. “We’ll train tonight, alright, Tartt?” He narrowed his eyes at the pretty manager. “See you later, Coach.”

She punched his arm playfully, smirking as he hopped off her desk. “Later, Coach.”

~

“Bucky, is your ankle alright?” Lucas gazed at me with concern in his eyes.

I wrinkled my nose and absently kicked at the grass with the toe of my sneaker. “Uh, yeah. I guess. Why?” I kept my gaze on the pitch, mentally working on my lineup for our next match.

He shrugged, his concern giving way to curiosity. “You’ve been limping all morning. Thought maybe you’d gotten hurt or something.”

“Have I?” I asked dumbly.

Damn, I was hoping that the slight stumble in my step wasn’t too noticeable. I knew I’d have a little bit of a hard time today; at some point over the weekend, I’d lost count of what round Roy and I were on. It was almost as if we were trying to make up for all the sex we would’ve been having if we’d just gotten together after the gala instead of dancing around our feelings. I’d woken up Monday feeling sorer than I had since retiring; the feeling had me reaching for my most comfortable shoes and leggings with a sloppy grin. Apparently my inability to walk properly was more obvious than I thought.

“How was your weekend?” he asked slowly, eyebrows raised. “Didn’t hear from you too much.”

I folded my arms. “Fine. Nothing too exciting. Just, you know, relaxed and stuff.”

“Relaxed,” he repeated with a slow nod. “Right.”

His tone was far too suspicious. “Lucas,” I murmured, finally tearing my gaze from our team. “What are you imply-”

“Coach.”

Hopefully Lucas didn’t hear my breath hitch when Roy’s fingers brushed against my back. The manager raised his eyebrows at me, quickly bringing his hand back to his side as the Greyhounds came out onto the pitch, calling out boisterous greetings as they passed us. Some of them looked especially smug when they saw Roy standing next to me. Lucas turned and blew his whistle, calling the Whippets in.

“Need something, Kent?” I did my best to keep my voice even, as though my head wasn’t swimming with the now familiar scent of Roy.

He shrugged as our teams mingled past each other. “Just wanted to check if you still wanted to go running today.” For the briefest moment, his eyes flickered down my figure until returning to my eyes. “New episode of Lust Conquers All is on tonight.” He bobbed his head, appearing significantly more casual than I felt. “Could drop you off after, before I have to meet Tartt.”

“Sounds good,” I managed before taking a step back to follow my team back inside. “Have a good practice, Coach.”

He saluted to me, wearing a smirk that I wanted to feel against my skin. “See you later.”

As Lucas and I followed the Whippets to the weight room, Lucas bumped his hip into mine. “Criminy, just call me the Invisible Man.”

I snorted. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, just that Coach Kent only has eyes for you these days,” he teased, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “I’m sure he’s got more than just eyes for you. He probably has a nice, big-”

“I will kill you,” I growled, shoving my assistant coach’s arm off me. “Seriously. You all spend months begging me and Roy to be friends, we finally are, and now you’re giving me shit about it? Not to mention all the smug looks everyone wears whenever we’re around each other.” My phone vibrated in my pocket. “I swear to God, everyone who works here is insane.”

Lucas laughed good-naturedly as we reached the training room. “Fine, fine. You and Kent are friends, neither of you is shagging the other, all is right with the world.” He nodded towards the door. “You comin’?”

I nodded and pulled my phone out of my pocket, noting the text notification on my screen. “In a sec.”

Want me to come over after training with Tartt? We can get in some more cardio ;)

It was a good thing Lucas was already focusing on training, because my face was on fire when I read Roy’s text. Biting back a grin, I quickly responded with a Sounds good Coach ;) and tucked my phone away.

When I entered the training room, Lucas raised his eyebrows at me. “And who was that?”

I shoved his shoulder with a laugh. “Fuck off.”

Yeah, hiding this whole thing was going to go well. Really fucking well.

At least sneaking around would be fun.

Taglist: @optimisticsandwichgladiator@reading-blogs@callmecasey81@ladygrey03@puckyou-forpuckssake@royalestrellas@shineforever19@rae4725@burnafter-reading@her-fandom-sanctum@infinetlyforgotten@giggling-sewer-ginger@whataloadofmalarkey@agentstarkid@kingleahhh@tortilla-maria1@geekgirl1996@amatswimming@meg-ro@spicyraccoonlordking@spaghetti-dad187@needlesthreadandbuttons@elissaaa@imsoluckyeverythingworksoutforme@reverieisaway@djskakakaksjsj-blog@thatonedogwithablog@allthetroubleiveseen@sunderland-6 @netflix-addict @paranormal-is-my-life@jill2629-blog@itsbuzzfeedbitch@pretzelactivist@amieinghigh@kashee-h@beingalive1@mythicalbinicorn@needyomega@kno-way-home@janalustare@sssatorus@its-a-rich-mans-world@confessionsofatotaldramaslut@hesitant-alien33@katie-sheep-111 @bonesbonesetc @seacactusplant@thebookwormlife @dreamscape22 @rae4725@timelordhunterandmysterysolver@littleesilvia @anonurs @itswhateveripromise @chewymoustachio @gcidrvsh @katdahlali @ohwauwdoritos @lemoonandlestars @perfectwhispersvoid@seatbacksandtraytables@kingleahhh @maackiimoo

[powderblueblood]

In light of the buzzcut, how would lacy react to eddie turning up with the same cut? Personally, I'd take a nice long seat on that face even if there's not much left to grab on to. I think he really pulls it off

this is fun to think about because the original munson buzzcut actually has an place in their story. i wrote about in chapter seven but the tl;dr of it is that lacy and eddie ended up in the wheeler's linen closet together after eddie drew lacy for a game of seven minutes in heaven. this was right after he'd accidentally lit all his hair on fire after seeing johnny storm and thinking (boosted off whippets) i could do that...

(author's note hello, i wrote this before the f4 announcement came out just call me the oracle of delphi lmfao marvel execs i'm in your walls)

so anyway he's got this buzzcut and this bandage on his head. and they almost kiss. but then they don't.

but then eddie shows up like, ten years later, same buzzcut. his whole skull and ears and everything out, for god and everybody to see. lacy doesn't recognize him at first-- and wonders whether she should acknowledge him, yelling up from the street. they are in brooklyn, at ronnie ecker's apartment, and he expects ronnie to throw down the keys.

lacy's not meant to be here, really, but ronnie's gone and ronnie always gives her the spare key and forgets. and lacy forgot something the last time she was here, a book or a coat or an excuse to be anywhere but where she's supposed to be and--

"ecker, i'm trying really hard not to get arrested down here!"

eddie munson is twenty three years old and bald and in for the shock of his life when lacy appears at the window, tossing the keys and praying he doesn't let them fall in the gutter.

"shit," she can hear him murmur, but he catches them anyway.

power forward. cheerleader.

it's been a really, really, really long time since they've seen each other. the space between them is tangible and full of junk, and he can barely ease around it to get in the apartment door.

"i didn't know y-- i'm just gonna--" he drops his bag on the floor and moves to head back out again.

but lacy can't stop herself.

"so what is it?" eddie pivots, fidgeting with the keys in his hand. "witness protection?" she watches his eyes shift, the most prominent feature about him now. "you lose a bet?" eddie's mouth attempts to steel a smile away. "oh, i know. it was lice."

"why don't we do all of the above for two hundred, alex?"

"jesus. indy's a rough town."

slowly, eddie slides the keys into his pocket. his eyes narrow, and his palm rubs across the top of his skull. she gets a sense he's been doing that a lot lately, to remind himself that it's really all gone. no twist of curly tendrils to hide himself behind. her chest pangs. "you don't like it?"

"you look different."

"you don't like it."

"it looks like an emergency."

"you look like an emergency."

"at least i'm not bald."

the real emergency is how either of them are going to look themselves in the eye after eddie ends up with his face between lacy's legs, lacy's fingers finding no purchase against the stubble on his skull as she keens her cunt against his mouth. ronnie's couch. houselights out. to be discovered any second.

but eddie feels just like she remembers, eager and hungry, only this time with an edge of clarity. something to prove. the spikes of his buzzcut give a mean sting as her thighs close around his head and he can barely struggle out, "you sure you don't like it?"

his hips rut against the cushions, squeaking the ancient sofa against the hardwood. she resists the temptation to grab at them, pull him further into her and believes with utmost sincerity that she should be canonized for it.

it'd be easier to pretend he was anyone else was it not for the fact that eddie feels just like she remembers. and she remembers him frequently. it'd be so much easier if he, and his glittering supernova'd pupils and his wet, rosy mouth didn't turn up to her and breathlessly beg, "tell me, lace."

[eftanz]

DOGGY MERCS AND WHY

Solly is a Bull Terrier because although they're kind of super dumb, they are INCREDIBLY loyal dogs, and I think the long face would go perfect with the helmet

Engie iss a Bull dog!! Kind of matching with Solly because of the whole helmet thing, both "bull" dogs, you see what I mean? And his roundish face makes him perfect for the bull doggy shape

Whippets!! Small, incredibly speedy, slinky and capable of squeezing through spaces with their small stature (also, like scout, they begin to shake violently and need medical attention over any minor scratch)

Heavy is a St. Bernard!! Quite big dogs, look like a ball of fluff but they're actually big balls of muscle. They can be intimidating but are known for being sweet nurturing doggies as well

Medic is a Borzoi, tall and unsettling!! Borzoi have a tendency to glare into your soul so I thought this would be perfect? But they're odd little creatures which I think fits

Demo is a short hair Pointer dog, which are like the 2nd best land-mine sniffing dogs!! Also I went in a pub once and they had a pointer as the bar dog, I love you Barney

Sniper is an Australian Kelpie, I feel like short-haired yet fluffy chops fit him nicely. I have no actual reason for choosing this breed 😭😭

Hm

[unheadmusicnotes]

Can't Stay Home

This one is for @that-stoner-alien-thing love ya boo:)

Jake sighed heavily as he came into the lifeguard tower. The man was exhausted, he was on his 4th 13 hour shift this week. His roommate and best friend Max Asyford had fallen ill, leaving him bedridden and unable to work. So to make sure the team wasn't short and to make sure they had enough to cover bills this month Jake was working extra shifts and extra hours. 

“Jakey mate you sweet?” Chappo an older lifeguard turned to the younger man concern written on his face, 

“Yea, Chap, I’m good.” Jake tiredly crocked out, Chappo shared a look with Whippet, who frowned slightly, 

“How's Max?” Whippet asked hoping that Jake would slip up and reveal something about his own haggard state, 

“Awful, I don't think the meds are helping him, he's almost out and the poor bloke hasn't gotten an uninterrupted night of sleep for close to a week now.” Jake said quietly, sitting down in a chair next to Whippet, who shared a look with Chappo both taking a long critical look at the man sitting towards their right. He had bags under his brilliant blue eyes, announcing his lack of sleep. The blue collared lifeguard shirt was button wrong and the boy's hair was slightly deceviled, and a slight tremor through Jake's whole body. Whippet silently turned Jake towards him and reached up to fix his collar, getting a real look at how pale Jake looked, as the rest of the boys clambered into the tower. 

“Jake, you are at backpackers today with Hutz,” The surf was about 6 foot, breaking right after another, the team knew the conditions were dangerous and plenty of rescues would be made. 

Hoppo told his lifeguard team as the boys made their prospective ways to areas of the beach that needed protrolled. 

Jake nodded along to Hutz very energetic mostly one sided conversion, 

“Jakeeeee.” Hutz whined when Jake zoned out for a little too long eyes strained on the water, 

“Yea sorry mate,” Jake said tiredly, moments before screaming, 

“Help! Help!” A girl screamed, going under as waves crashed around her, 

“I'll go!” Jake shouted as he peeled off his blue shirt and threw his sunnies to the ground, grabbing the board and racing to make the 3 kilometer paddle to the girl who was disappearing under the waves quickly. 

Jake was a mere meters from the girl, when a wave broke over his head, pushing him under the waves. Despite his best efforts, the rescue board was ripped from Jakes hands, causing him to be thrown around, 

“God it would not be fun to be a pair of bordies in a wash.” Jake would have laughed at his thought if he wasn't currently underwater fighting for his life. After what felt like forever and a day, Jake broke the surface. Finally above the waves he tried his best to get air, and look for the girl he had been sent out to rescue. Finally he saw a dark shape floating face down, it was the girl. Despite not having rescue equipment he called for a resus and exhaustedly swam to the beach hoping the girl would be okay.

“Jakes calling a resus!” Hutz screamed into the radio as Whippet, Chappo, Jesse and Hoppo raced down defib in hand. By the time the others got there Jake was on his 2nd set of compressions, 

1… 2…3…” Jake did not realize he was shouting as he counted out his compressions. 

“Ambo’s been called! Defib attached, Clear! Jesse shouted making sure nobody was touching the girl. Her small body convulsed with shock as the defib tried to get her heart started again. Seconds after the shock the girl coughed and became sick, 

“On her side!” Jake shouted holding her head as the boys helped him move her, so she didn't choke. Soon her eyes were open and she was transported off to hospital, leaving the boys to pack up the gear across the sand. A bystander came by and handed Jake his shirt and Sunnies, which he took with a shaking hand. 

“You okay mate?” The stranger asked, then jumped back as Jake went to his knees coughing and spewing, the blood rushed in Jake's ears as his body trembled, 

“Jake?” Chappo kelt down beside the younger man, waving for the oxygen mask. Whippet rushed over, as Jake continued to be sick in the sand, 

“How much water did you sallow?” Whippet asked 

“I- don’t- Whip-” Jake breathlessly whispered out, trying to move as Whippet put the oxygen mask on Jake's face. 

“Mate, you need to wear it, you swallowed a lot of water.” Chappo said gently running his hand through the red heads hair checking for abnormalities. He didn't find any but his concern grew as he felt Jake's forehead, the kid was burning up. 

“Whip, he's hot.” Chappo said to the blonde, as Hutz and Maxi drove the rhino towards them. Whippet quietly cursed, Jake still shaking under his hand when the rhino arrived. 

“Jake, we need to get you to the tower buddy,” Whippet said, looking at Chappo when he failed to respond. Chappo stood up, placing a hand on Jake's back and the other under his legs, shocked at how light the boy was. Quickly all four boys made their way up to the tower where a very concerned Hoppo waited. 

“Jake mate, how long have you been sick?” Hoppo asked the redhead

“I’m not sick.” Jake mumbled from underneath blankets as he lay on the medical bed, figuring that it had been several minutes after he was asked that he answered. Hoppo, Whippet and Chappo all looked at him slightly alarmed. 

“Jake, you are sick. And I am sorry I didn't notice how much you had been working.” Hoppo said quietly kneeling down towards the boy, 

“Its okay Hop, I wanted to-” Jake rasped out 

“No, Jake, no, with Max being sick I should have known money would get tight for you guys and you being you would work extra without complaining and eventually get sick. I am sorry I didn't notice before.” 

“It's fine Hop, you're still a good boss.” Jake said before his eyes slid closed, 

“Nope, eyes open Jake.” Hoppo said tapping his cheek earning a groan from Jake, 

“I know, I know.” Hoppo said quietly looking up as Chappo came in, it was close to 7, pack up time for the boys. The reason an ambulance had not been called for Jake was because Whippet and Chappo had insisted on taking him so they could take care of both Jake and Max. 

… 

“Chap?” Whip asked closing Jake's door quietly as Chappo did the same to Maxs door. 

“Max could hardly tell me who I was and he's burning up something fierce, I don’t think the meds are working. How's Jake?” 

“Sleeping, his fever has not spiked at least and I got him to eat a couple mouthfuls of soup.” The blonde said tiredly. Both Chappo and Whippet grabbed blankets and pillows from the spare closet, laying them on the floor making a sort of fort in the middle of Max and Jakes living room. Falling asleep in a short time. 

… 

“Whip? Chap?” A horse voice coughed out, scaring the blonde and brunette awake, being faced with a glassy eyed shivering Max. 

“Oh, Max, hey.” Whippet said softly, getting up and walking over to a still fevered Max. 

“Let's get you back to bed mate.” Whippet said taking Max arm and leading him towards his room, 

“Where's Jake?” Max horsley asked, 

“In his room, he got sick at work yesterday, so Chappo and I came over to help take care of you guys.” Whippet told him as Max layed down eyes already closing, 

“Jake is sick?” Max asked about as panicked as he could, trying to get back out of bed. Whippet placed a comforting hand on Maxs shoulder pinning him to the bed 

“Yeah but he's okay, Chappo is checking on him now, why don’t you go back to sleep mate?” Whippet smiled softly looking at the younger boy laying on the bed, moving some sweaty hair from his face. Despite the flush in his checks Max was very pale, but him getting up this morning ment he was improving.  

A couple hours later Hoppo was knocking on the door, feeling guilty about failing to notice Jake had been working so hard and wanting to check on the four men working under him. 

“How are they holding up?” Hoppo asked 

“Max’s fever finally broke this afternoon and he left his bed for a few minutes so major improvement, and Jake was able to keep down a couple bites of soup this afternoon.” Chappo informed his boss tiredly, 

“And how are you two?” Hoppo would not let his team get hurt or sick again on his watch,

“We are fine Hop.” Chappo said sharing a look with Whippet, 

“Mhm. Get some sleep, I can watch the boys for a few hours and Ill have some food ready when you wake.” Hoppo’s voice left no room for argument, leaving Chappo and Whippet to fall asleep on the still put together blanket fort. 

…

“Hop?” A tired voice asked from the doorway revealing Max small frame, 

“Hi mate, how ya feeling?” Hoppo asked as he watched Max make his way to the couch, around a sleeping Whippet and Chappo. 

“Like death microwaved me twice.” Hoppo let a small smile play across his features. 

“A shower would help.” Hoppo said gently and Max agreed, rising slowly, 

“Don’t tilt your head back, call if you need help and leave the door open.” Hoppo commanded, leaving the young boy no room to argue. 

As Max finished showering Whippet woke up, 

“Whip?” Hoppo asked as the blonde looked around like he couldn't quite place where he was, then understanding dawned on his features as he spotted Max coming out of the bathroom, hair still wet. 

“Better?” Whippet asked Max who jumped at the sudden volume change, 

“Thanks Whip.” Max said turing to go to the kitchen picking up a knife, 

“Max no. The lot of you are on bed rest.” Hoppo said, taking the knife from him, turning so he could finish dinner. Slowly Chappo woke up both to the TV noise and the smells entering the house. 

“Morning sleeping beauty,” Whippet said cheekily. Chappo groaned and rolled over, sitting up startled when he saw Max sitting watching TV. 

“Max!” Chappo shouted a little to loud making everyone else flinch

“Oi, Mate, still sick.” Max mumbled smirking slightly 

“Boys dinner.” Hoppo called smirking 

“Dinner?” A new voice crocked out, Jake was now leaning against the doorframe, eyes a little hazy, while he took a look at his discombobulated living room. His flatmate was there, which checked out, but so were two of his coworkers and his boss.  

“Dinner, Hoppo confirmed.” 

… 

A week later Jake and Max where back on for their first shift in a long time, 

“THERE HERE!!” The lifeguard team cheered and clapped as Jake and Max opened the door to the lifeguard tower. Confetti was thrown and cheers passed around. 

“Alright boys, let's take care of eachother and have a good day out there.” Hoppo clapped, as the boys smiled and got to work. 

From then on the boys in blue took care of each other a little more closely than before. If one wasn't feeling good the others covered his shift and made him go home, coming by after work until the sick man was better. The lifeguards already a close knit bunch become even closer.

THE END

This is my first fanfic! If its awful I am so sorry:)

[grison-in-space]

So I'm not sure if this is one of the dog questions on the list (it's too long for my brain to stick with T_T) but I would like to hear about your first dog that was *yours*. The first one you chose for yourself, rather than just a family dog or a partner's dog or what have you. Rescues you chose to take on/keep count as much as ones you bought!

Oh, that's Tribble, of course. My best girl, who's been with me ten years. My good, good leap of faith. (Questions mentioned from the Dogblr ask meme).

In the spring of 2012, I was finishing my senior year of college, interviewing at graduate school programs and coming to terms with the fact that I would be earning a salary and financially completely independent from my parents for the foreseeable future. I was going to be able to get a dog that I was going to be able to do sports with.

(At the time I was living with my family's dog Oliver, whom I generally described as a Corgi rolled in lint and who had already had one knee replaced. Around that time, he tried to hop up onto a curb and tripped over his own feet and fell on his face. I was not about to subject his knees to high impact exercise.)

I had been yearning to play agility for years and never been able to. I could get whatever dog I wanted, as long as I could find it under 35lbs (the upper weight limit for dogs in most of the apartments I was looking at) and it was within plausible deniability Not A Pit Bull.

I was full of daydreams. I was looking speculatively at Whippets and Manchester Terriers and Rat Terriers and Shelties, but I knew full well that I could identify a pretty good sport prospect from rescue, too... and I was gonna be broke for a While. But I was also keenly aware that I was about to go straight from college to being a first year PhD student halfway across the country, an endeavor of unknowable difficulty and struggle. It was clearly the sort of thing I should ease into slowly. Obviously I shouldn't actually get a new dog until I had moved and been in my program for six months or so.

But I was so, so excited, and dogshopping was a much less intimidating prospect than making decisions about things like what lab I would work in and where in the country I should live. Also I was in the process of shedding most of my local friend group in the wash of dissolving one of those hideously intense weird friendships that are so common for queer college kids, and a big chunk of the rest of my in person social life required facing down what was, in retrospect, a nasty case of PTSD fear response around other openly queer people derived from immersing myself in baaaaaasically all the online asexuality dialogue that existed in 2012.* It's not like I couldn't use the distraction.

So I made myself a bargain. I would make an extremely detailed list of traits I wanted in a dog ranging from the practical (size, height, ability to rent with, trainable, good structure for speed, jumping, and fast turns) to the slightly ridiculous and purely aesthetic (pointy ears; brindle or tri; no curly tails; short hair). I would restrict myself to perusing the website run by volunteers trying to make the local county animal control as low-kill as possible, which was a feat since the county animal control had ten kennels and a guaranteed three-day stray hold, plus a seven-day opening for dogs to get adopted through. I figured that the fast turnover, plus my own innate tendency to dither, would keep me from actually adopting a dog until I was safely installed in my new job and my new life.

This worked very well right up until the Monday of my last finals week, when the shelter website posted a dog named "Pockets" that checked literally all of my boxes, at least from what I could see from a still photo. She was perfect. And she was listed as a cattle dog mix, which was great: I couldn't see any evidence of a drop of cattle dog in that dog, but there was my plausible deniability for landlords. Goddammit. At least, I told myself, someone else would pick her up and everything would be fine; she'd be adopted by someone else and I could tell myself it just wasn't meant to be.

Then on Tuesday the "DANGER: DANGER" alarm went off on her listing. (It later turned out that she'd been brought in after having maybe? unclear? been cornered and perhaps? bitten a child or something? and her rabies hold had eaten all of her grace time.) Fuck. Fuck! It is perhaps worth noting that that shelter's euthanasia date was Wednesday, so if she was out of time, there really wasn't any time to sort things out.

I panicked--this looked like such a great dog--and made the mistake of asking my roommate if she'd mind if we added what was then a third dog to our three-person household for the remainder of the lease. There was a great mad scramble to make sure I could legally take her in and the landlord was okay with it: I decided that even if she wasn't a great fit for me, I could always rehome her myself later. I put in an application in early on Wednesday morning, then showed up first thing on Thursday before my very last final to meet this dog I had theoretically applied to adopt. She was clearly pretty overwhelmed, but her structure was gorgeous, she was friendly and politely interested in the dogs whose kennels we walked by, and she was capable of listening to me and paying attention. So.... fuck it, I thought, and updated my application to confirm the application.

I picked her up from her spay that Saturday--that shelter didn't, at the time, bother to spay or neuter the dogs until it was confirmed someone actually wanted them--and brought her home, where she promptly stretched her legs, looked around, and found herself a quiet place to pee that didn't (to her) seem to be very used. It happened to be where we kept the router, which is how I discovered that she was not house trained. She learned fast, though--that was the last accident I think she ever had that wasn't a matter of illness--and she soaked up all the training I could throw at her with enthusiasm pretty much immediately. You can actually see me posting my excitement with an earlier account when I adopted her.

Fuck, that was a good impulse decision. She's an amazing dog and we've learned so much together. I love her so much.

She's my buddy, and we've been through a lot together. I love her so, so much.

*no one I ever met at my college LGBTQ group was anything less than polite and kind to me, by my standards of the time: I was generally faced with a desire to understand one another well enough to act in solidarity. I'm still very fond of the people I met there and follow the careers of quite a few. But immersing myself into the online reactions took a toll, one that would have me grappling with regular panic attacks for a few years more.

[her-monster-under-the-bed]

Was my first time taking Molly, me an my best friend went to a rave. This was out in the middle nowhere, an took a long time to get there. spent the ride smoking weed, and just listening to EDM looking at the night sky. we really wanted to her fucked up, both our relationships ended an at this point anything was better than being at home.

Once we got there, it was packed an everyone was dancing an just partying. We go by the booth, an dance by the speaker smoking a blunt an finally cracked the jack. Slowly getting cross faded, an dancing all over each other people start asking for shots for a trade. we started getting bumps, an start getting whippets slowly getting more fucked up.

Bottle is pretty much gone, an at this point we are just making out with each other. Then someone comes up grabs my waist, whispers I got mattress an truck bed it you want to bring the jack. I tell my friend, she whispers back fuck it. So we go, we put him the middle to lead the way, he is grabbing my ass an his other hand is on my girls breasts. She is biting her lip, an I know we are about to get fucked.

We get to the truck smiling as he wasn't lying, there was a well made mattress. he helps us up, grabbing our ass to help us up. He gets in with us an plays music with a speaker, he smiles an gets shot glasses an tequila. Smiling an like don't mind if I do, he smile hang on we are going to have fun. Puts the shot glass in between my tits, I'm turned on at this point smiles grab my girls hand tells me to lick it like a good girl. As I do this she bites her lip, an he sprinkles white powder on it an says go. She licks it up, an grabs the shot with her mouth an takes it. Then kisses me hard an fast, an I'm like fuck..... An my hands are all over her. I don't know how long this goes for, but he finally stops us an tells me thought you might like a shot.

So fucking horny at this point, that I'm surprised he stopped us. But he just smiles an points at my girls neck an collar bone meeting point, an tell me to lick an I don't it like a good fucking girl. Licking an a kissing her neck, an getting ramped up again smiling her grabs my hair pulls back not just yet. Biting my lip I stop, good girl as he kisses my lips an I just almost cum. My girl makes a panting sad girl noise, an then she yelps I open my eyes an he is pulling at her nipples. Then he stops kissing, an pulls her nipple then places a shot glass. An again puts powder on her neck fills the shot, an says go an I lick the powder up realize it's not salt I hurry take the shot an then at this point it was natural to kiss her.

As the world starts to become a blur, we make out harder an faster. Our shirts slowly coming off with help, an she turns me around an runs her hands up my stomach to my breasts kissing my neck. At this point I don't care who, but someone is fucking me. Next I know, everything is euphoric I'm so horny an my pants are gone. an she is fucking me with her tongue an fingers I'm screaming an moaning, completely wet looking over as the guy is smiling smoking a blunt watching us fuck with a hard on. That's a good slut, she licks your pussy good doesn't she as I moan harder as she sucks my clit.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Danger Force Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 1

Episode 8: Return Of The Kid

Season 1 Masterlist

Click for vibes

The kids had never seen her move so quick. 

Seriously, (y/n) was like a cheetah. Or whippet. Or rocket. Or anything else that could cross the Man's Nest floor in the blink of an eye, becoming nothing but a blur as she flung herself at Henry Hart. 

The Henry Hart. In the flesh. All fuzzy-haired, slightly scruffy, and lanky, but he was there. He was real--for the first time in weeks. And she squealed right in his ear as she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. 

The poor kid barely had time to react before his arms were pinned and chest crushed, laughing breathlessly as she squeezed his torso. Was it her, or had he gotten taller? Perhaps it was her imagination, but she barely peaked above his shoulders, and he felt skinnier, too. 

Remind her to cook him something good, however long he stayed. 

But, to Henry's happiness and possible regret, she wasn't the only one who wanted to latch on and never let go. Ray lumbered up behind his sweet girl, throwing those humongous tree trunks around her and his old friend to pull both of them against him. 

Okay, now, neither of them could breathe, not that (y/n) cared. Oxygen meant nothing when she had her doofus and her precious baby under one roof. Nothing could ruin her mood, laughing and holding them without ever wanting to leave their little human sandwich. How sweet. 

"My baby!" She cried, reaching up to stroke Henry's cheek as Ray rocked them back and forth. Maybe it was a bit of an overreaction, but they missed him. At least he'd come home in one piece. 

"Ah, welcome back, buddy!" Ray sighed, too, thinking a hug had never felt so good as the boy patted his old boss awkwardly on the back. It was getting harder to breathe. 

"Yeah..." he replied tightly, returning the pets to (y/n) 's head, who at least had stopped deafening him with her screeching. "Kinda tight there, guys..."

"Oh, Hen, we've missed you so much!" The heroine said with a beaming grin, pulling back to cup his cheek, studying his face. Despite his boyish smile, He looked more gaunt and drawn around his cheeks. "You look like you need some cookies! And pie! You said you wanted pie!"

"That was, like, two months ago, (y/n/n)--and oh, I think I heard a rib crack..." the boy groaned when Ray squeezed them again, ignorant of his heroic strength as he nuzzled past her hair to rest his forehead against him. Seriously...five years of friendship, and he'd never been this touchy.

"Oh, my baby..." But at least she was as thoughtful as ever, pulling back to give him a little space, slipping out from between them. Finally, he could breathe a little, flashing his not-sister a thankful smile, only for Ray to close the gap.

While (y/n) merely stood back and sighed at the image he made as one would admire a beautiful, majestic painting, the man refused to let go, hugging him even harder now that he didn't have to worry about smothering his sweet girl. By God, he'd missed this kid...

"It's gonna be more than one by the time I'm done with you!"

"Doofus, remember what we said about personal space?" (y/n) winced when her husband squeezed Henry's waist - kinda like a reverse Heimlich manoeuvre, only he was the reason for the boy's choked gasps. 

Like a snapping turtle, he refused to let go, so she had no choice but to get the others involved, signalling for Danger Force to circle the two. They tried to prise the doofus off, tugging at those beefy arms as the poor kid struggled, but Ray was relentless, even when his beloved wife wrapped her arms around his shoulders and yanked. 

"Do not make me get the crowbar!" Chapa growled as she took the opposite arm to Mika, trying to give Hen a little wiggle room.

"It's so nice to see a dude hug another dude..." 

"Right?! Bring it in, man!" Miles sighed dreamily, and Bose nodded, pulling his friend into a tight hug with a huge grin, patting each other's back amicably. It was sweet and not life-threatening like Ray's, who wouldn't budge despite the girls' best efforts. Their attempts were useless, but luckily, old Kid Danger had a trick up his sleeve. 

"It's okay--it's okay..." he panted, giving his old friends a reassuring smile, even as the hero nuzzled into his chest. "I got this, but you might wanna stand back."

Whilst she was a little confused, (y/n) nodded and guided Mika and Chapa to a safe distance beside the boys, leaving her lanky baby with enough room to push the hero away. The kids cried in amazement when a green force field burst from the young man's body, creating a barrier between him and Ray and sending the idiot flying backwards. 

That was one way to get personal space. 

"Hah! You hate to see it!" Miles cackled when he watched the dazed superhero land on his butt, clearly having forgotten about the gift his old sidekick received from the Omega Weapon. His force fields were the only reason why (y/n) allowed him to wander off to Dystopia alone. 

Still, the kid had the good grace to offer a hand and help his old boss to his feet, holding nothing against him when Ray flashed a nervous smile. 

"Sorry....got a little emotional there," he said awkwardly, straightening his jacket as his pretty girl wandered over and excitedly took his hand. She needed its anchoring weight - anything to remind her this wasn't a dream. 

"Just, you know, you've been gone a long time, and... we've been so alone."

"Speak for yourself, Raymond," Miss Danger retorted dryly, noticing how the children gathered on the couch cleared their throats - a little offended. He was such a drama queen, giving his first sidekick the big goo-goo eyes like he hung the stars in the sky, making Henry chuckle. Oh, how he'd missed the guy's craziness...

"Quiet! We're talking to Henry!" Ray snapped to Danger Force as they coughed, making everyone roll their eyes. 

"You big doofus..." (y/n) shook her head, squeezing his hand lightly before Ray wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Henry could tell that nothing was new there, seeing the same old lovebirds as he used to, only now they were settled into married life. Prepare for the grossness...

"Anyway, what are you doing back in Swellview? Not that we don't want you here, of course! You know you're always welcome!"

"I know, (y/n/n). I know..." Henry replied with a breathy laugh as she ranted hurriedly, glad she hadn't changed in the last few months. "My dad is graduating from Juilliard...dot com."

"No way, your dad's a moron! He couldn't graduate from online Harberd!" Ray scoffed, remembering Mr Hart with disdain and all the times his idiocy caused a disaster. 

"Yeah, dude! He's so dumb!" The boy agreed without hesitation, laughing with the couple like old times before growing serious again. "No, I'm actually here to see you guys!"

That had (y/n) tearing up, Ray smiling fondly when her bottom lip trembled. She clutched at her chest, giving the bashful kid a wobbly smile as she tried not to burst into tears, but he made it so hard. She didn't realise how much she missed him until he stood before her, talking so sweetly. 

"My little baby came right back to The Nest!" She exclaimed, sniffing a little before throwing her arm around his shoulders. "Give Mama Bird a big hug!"

"Just because it's you, (y/n/n)..." he sighed, never one to refuse her innocent requests, and besides, she was much gentler than Ray. He savoured the warm snuggliness, wrapping his long, gangly limbs around her body as she squeezed him softly, knowing he'd missed her, too. 

"Best hugs in Swellview, am I right?" He remarked to Ray and Danger Force, who smiled and nodded gently, knowing he was right. No one could say no to (y/n) 's hugs, not even Chapa, and Ray petted his wife's hair as she relaxed in her dearest friend's arms. 

"So, how's my old job?" He asked the kids, hoping to make small talk while she got the hugs out of her system. "You guys go on any sick missions?"

"Oh, man! Tons of missions!"

"So many!" Chapa and Mika exclaimed, much to the older boy's excitement. He wouldn't lie; he missed the old days, fighting crime without any true responsibility, so he couldn't wait to hear about how they'd continued his legacy. 

"Yeah? Cool! Like what? Anything...dangerous?"

"We once caught a guy who was stealing books from the library!" The girl said happily, but out loud, it sounded lame, not precisely the thrilling, daring adventures Kid Danger had in mind. Like how he fought a bloodthirsty, living virus or went to space--that was cool. 

"Okay, but I was kinda looking for some sick fights, though..."

"Ooh!" Miles gasped, his eyes lighting up like he had a great idea. "We once battled every bad guy in Swellview at the same time!" Now, that was more like it. 

"Noice! What happened?!" Henry asked, liking the sound of an epic brawl between light and dark, much like he'd done when he was younger. Had he ever told them about the train fight debacle? 

"Mika let them all out of prison!" Only when the kid responded was it like a punch to the gut. 

"Wow...I kinda spent my whole childhood locking those guys up, so I can't wait to hear how you all caught 'em," he said nervously, patting (y/n) on the back and when shuffled a little close. She was milking this hug for all she could get, but he was more concerned about the rampaging villains on the loose. 

"We didn't!"

"Sick twist! They're all still out there!" Bose announced happily, ignorant of how his predecessor's eye began twitching, frozen in place, and not because of the woman hugging the living daylights out of him. 

"I imagine that some of them are out there committing crimes right now!" Chapa added, equally joyful at the utter shambles they made of their first mission. 

Ray took that as his cue to jump in, not wanting to revisit that humiliating defeat. (y/n) pulled away from her baby as he brushed past them, smiling sourly at the clamouring children as they nattered away. 

"All right! That ends your visit with Henry--he's ours now!" He said, batting his eyelashes at what he thought couldn't be a better sight - his beautiful girl and precious best friend. 

"I enjoyed our time together!"

"Hey, so, uh, how's Dystopia? Do you need us to come help you?" Ray asked quietly, ignoring Bose's innocent comment, who returned to nibbling on his now-cold Nacho Ball. He was desperate to know, or rather, desperate to be needed, still smarting from how they parted on bittersweet terms. 

"'Cause I will burn this whole thing to the ground, take my wife, and leave right now."

"Raymond!" (y/n) warned lowly as Danger Force loudly cleared their throats again, much to the man's anger. He'd never snap at her so causally, but those little maggots? He had no qualms...

"Keep it down! God, they're always here, it's like--"

"--Like we're their teachers, and they're our students?" His sweet girl butted in with a teasing smile, and this time, she put her arms around his waist in a light embrace. Ray sighed, never staying mad for long when she was in his arms, returning the enamoured look while the kids watched on. 

"Little demons, more like..." Much to their wrinkled noses, the man dropped his head and kissed her gently, holding the back of her neck so it wasn't just a peck. They were goddamn shameless, smiling against each other's lips for at least ten seconds while they all grimaced. 

"Oh, there it is...wondered how long it would take," Henry retorted, eyeing the age-old scene with a judgy stare, knowing it had been hopeless to think they would've found some decency. 

No, they were as touchy as always, and when Ray finally pulled away, he smiled at his precious girl like she was the only one in the world. 

"Can't help it, kid..." he said gently, kissing her briefly and gently a final time as the heroine hugged his lithe waist, her cheeks and ears pleasantly warm. "I'm in love with my wife."

"Gross..." he grumbled, having war flashbacks about all those times as a kid when he saw them canoodling...or worse. Technically, it was his fault; he'd brought them together, but they'd always felt the need to kiss anywhere and everywhere, only saved when a loud, blaring beeping noise and red flashing light filled the Man's Nest. 

"Emergency call!" (y/n) gasped, and suddenly, it was go, go, go. Slipping out of Ray's clutches, much to his disappointment, she dashed over to the supercomputer with Mika and Chapa, eager to see what was going down. 

"Oh, hey, hey, this is perfect!" The hero gasped once he got over the disappointment of losing his sweet girl's warmth, but only because he'd come up with a brilliant idea. "We can go on a mission! Huh?! Let's pop some gum and have some...fum!"

"You know I'm all about that fum, big dog..." his old sidekick replied with a nostalgic chuckle, fondly remembering their old antics in the Man Cave, but something wavered in his eye... "but, you know, everyone thinks Kid Danger is kinda--"

"Hot?"

"Dead?" Bose and Miles suggested, and their ideas were wildly different and alarming in their own unique ways. 

"Exactly!" He nodded at Miles, much to Ray's disappointment. He'd hoped to relive their glory days...

"What's the emergency?" Chapa asked impatiently, as always, peering at the computer monitors as (y/n) tapped on the PearPads for more information. 

"It looks like there's a brawl at the nail salon," she replied once she finally found it, and honestly, it didn't sound too terrible. Merely a light workout for the more experienced crime fighters on the team, and that gave her a bright idea. 

"Oh, Hen, we could go kick some ass and then get our nails done! Just like old times! Remember? I used to take you there all the time when that doofus was busy."

"I didn't mean to..." Ray mumbled shyly, staring at his shoes as Henry laughed nervously. He'd never forget all those hours as they bonded over the smell of acetone and acrylic, laughing until their bellies hurt. 

He recalled how he'd comfort the young woman when her idiotic best friend went on a date with another woman. Still, most of all, he remembered the pain of biting his tongue when she cried, thinking Ray would never love her. It felt like a lifetime ago, and part of him wanted to regain that happiness, but...

"I know, doofus... Tell you what, you can tag along and pick my colour," she replied kindly, fluttering her lashes at her husband before turning to the kid. "What'd you say, Hen?"

"Y-yeah, you know I'd love to watch Ray pick your colour, (y/n/n), but..." he replied, and she frowned at how fervently he shook his head. It was like he'd seen a ghost or the slightest thing would make him jump like a skittish deer. Strange...

"I've been dropping so many fools in Dystopia, I was thinking I could just, you know...kick it here for a while. Maybe eat some of your famous oatmeal-raisin cookies?"

"Yeah--yeah! Coolcoolocoolcoolcool! We'll just kick it here, right, sweet girl? I was thinking the same thing!"

"I guess I'll get baking..." the woman said hesitantly, her Tummy Tingle telling her something wasn't right. She sensed danger, or at the very least, lies...but she couldn't quite pin them yet. 

"That's my girl! Guys, why don't you handle this one yourselves?" Ray suggested, creating an excited buzz throughout the room, but it only deepened (y/n) 's frown. Looking at her students - her fresh-faced babies - she swore they weren't ready to go solo, at least not without some supervision. 

"Yes!"

"Can I pee first?!" Exhibit A from Professor Bose. 

"Doofus, are you sure that's a good idea? They've only been doing this for, like...two months!" She hissed, walking over to chat privately with her husband, not that he was apprehensive. Slinging an arm around her waist, he pulled her close, flashing a confident smile before kissing her temple - like nothing would go wrong at all. 

"It'll be fine, darlin'! Why don't you pee on the way?" Ray grinned before reaching for one of the drool glasses and passing it to the boy as a receptacle. "There you go!"

"Maybe I should go with them..." (y/n) told her doofus nervously, and she moved to follow the team up to the tube. However, when she tried to leave the hero's side, he grabbed her hip and pulled her back into his chest, whining like a puppy to keep his soulmate close. 

"No, don't leave me, sweet girl!" He grumbled, holding her back to his chest as Henry rolled his eyes, wondering how needy one guy could be as Ray rubbed his nose into the spot below her ear. "They know what to do--they'll be fine!"

"But what if they need help?"

"They won't! Death is very unlikely!" Ray exclaimed a little too cheerfully for (y/n) 's liking, but judging from the tight grip on her waist, her fate was sealed. 

She offered a regretful smile to the kids, not that they minded. It was nice to have some freedom and get away from The Love Nest, practically buzzing as they assembled at the platform's top. A nail salon couldn't be that bad, and Ray had complete faith in them...and a burning desire for quality time. 

"Okay, guys... Don't end anybody, and try not to let anybody end you, okay?!"

"Good luck!" The heroine shouted, waving her babies goodbye as they disappeared down the tube - just as Henry's phone pinged. He glanced at the notification, his eyes indiscernibly darkening as he read it. Still, when the lovebirds wandered over, he quickly shoved it in his pocket again. 

"That nail salon's going up in flames!"

"Raymond! Don't say that!" (y/n) scolded her doofus, swearing she felt another tummy tingle at the boy's paling cheeks. Something was off about him...

"Oh, lighten up, sweet girl! Come on, pal! I'll give you a tour of the Man's Nest!" Ray exclaimed, lightly slapping the kid's arm before dragging his wife toward the metal door. She shook her head mirthfully but followed him, knowing she'd have to bake the cookies and prepare their guest room anyway. 

"All right, yeah, cool! I'm right behind you, big dog!" Henry called after them yet stopped to read the slew of messages clogging his PearPhone's notifications. 

All of them were from Charlotte and Jasper, begging to know if he was okay and where he was. One even said he couldn't escape his problems, but the boy ignored it, pressing the delete button without another thought. Out of sight, out of mind, and he really didn't want to ruin his time in Swellview. Not if it was the only time he had left...

"Are you okay?" A voice pulled him from his thoughts, and Henry looked up, surprised and alarmed to see (y/n) staring at him suspiciously. Oh, no; he couldn't escape her omniscient mind, gulping as she watched his every move. 

"I'm fine..." he replied, carefully tucking his phone away before she saw any of the messages. 

"Henry Prudence Hart, don't you lie to me..." she said sternly, stepping closer with one of her sternest gazes because her tummy knew something was off - she just didn't know what. 

"Who says I'm lying, (y/n/n)?" The kid broke their held gazes to glance at the floor before giving her a wonky smile. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he tried to look as relaxed as possible, even if he was oddly defensive with his surrogate big sister. "I'm fine..."

"If you say so..." (y/n) said slowly, folding her arms, dissatisfied with his answer, but she'd work it out eventually. She always did, especially when her tummy tingled like that. Only the investigation would have to wait as she heard clumsy, ground-shaking footsteps coming back up the hall. 

"Just know, I'm watching you, Hart--"

"Dude, don't you want to see my axe-throwing room?!" Ray asked excitedly when he reappeared in the doorway, seeing his precious wife and sidekick chatting quietly - a weird tension between them, not that he picked up on it. 

"Hmm?" The kid hummed, snapping out of the staring contest to see the man's innocently wide-eyed expression. 

"Dude, don't you want to see my axe-throwing room?!"

"Do you even have to axe?" Henry joked, plastering a grin on his face while ignoring how (y/n) planted her hands on her hips. She was onto him, but he played it off well, giggling with his old boss like nothing was wrong. 

"God, I've missed this..." Ray sighed, taking his wife's hand in his, squeezing it from the elation of having the old trio back together. 

"Me too, doof..." she agreed, hugging his arm before giving the kid one last suspicious glance. "You guys go enjoy yourselves. I need to make up the guest room and bake some cookies, apparently."

"You sure you don't want to join in, sweet girl?" Her husband offered, pouting slightly when she reached onto her tiniest toes to kiss his cheek softly. "You love it when I throw axes..."

"No, you love it when you throw axes, so spend some time with Henry, and I'll see you later, doofus."

"Okay--let's go have some fum!" 

She didn't need to tell them twice, wincing through her giggles when those little boys yelled at the top of their voices, slapped each other on the butt, and ran off down the hall. They were as crazy as the other, laughing and screaming the Man's Nest down as she chuckled to herself - only to feel her smile drop when a dark thought crossed her mind. 

Something was wrong - she could just feel it, murmuring to herself when she remembered the look on that boy's face when he got that text. 

"What is up with you, Henry Hart?"

~The next morning~

"Hey, guys. Here's your fourth cookie batch."

Ray and Henry grinned as they watched their beloved Miss Danger enter the main room, a steaming plate of oatmeal-raisin cookies in her hand. She placed them on the table, rolling her eyes since they couldn't get enough of them; it was flattering to know her tried and tested recipe was so well-loved, but she'd barely been out of the kitchen. 

She'd literally been slaving away over a hot stove while they, the chuckle brothers, played, pranked, and paraded to their hearts' content. After checking out every room in the Man's Nest in the evening, Ray and Henry played video games until the early hours and, after grabbing a few winks in between, were back at it at nine am. 

And they demanded cookies for breakfast. 

"Thank you!" They chanted happily as the warm, honeyed smell tickled their noses, knowing they could never get enough. She promised to make them some brownies, too, but first, they needed to beat this level, dancing their feet off on some computer game. 

"Are they still not back yet?" (y/n) muttered after leaving the baked goods to cool, ignoring the annoying music from the holographic computer screens. Whilst they were having fun, crisscrossing their feet to the beat, she was biting her fingernails in worry. 

Twelve hours later, Danger Force still hadn't returned from their mission at the nail salon. Ray told his sweet girl not to worry, arguing that they were probably just taking their time and having fun, but (y/n) wasn't so sure. Maybe she should've gone with them or at least told Ray to get off his butt when he showed the kid their sauna room. 

"Relax, darlin'! This is great!" Ray exclaimed happily, throwing his wife and ex-sidekick a grin as he copied the movements of his giraffe avatar. 

"I love this!" Henry nodded, bopping left and right, ignorant of his worried friend behind him. All he knew was the safety and comfort he'd learned in the Man Cave, and he didn't want to stop. 

"I love you!"

"What?!" He yelled over the music, not quite hearing his old boss as (y/n) raised an eyebrow at their antics. Honestly, it was surprising that she'd not gone insane yet. 

"I said I'd get ready for round two!" The hero quickly replied, saving himself from explaining something embarrassing as the game changed. As they entered the second round, the dance style changed, lowering the lights and switching to a soft, sexy tune as they took a minute to breathe. 

"Round two! Tango! Time to get close!"

"Seriously? You two are gonna tango?" (y/n) asked amusedly as she plonked herself on the computer's chair. She would've thought it was a bit girly for them, something her doofus would've wanted to do with her since it involved shared space, air, and sensuality. 

"Sure are, pretty girl, and if you're lucky, we can practice later, too," Ray told her with a wink, which left his wife to imagine what he meant by that. She hoped it would be a private lesson, but when she glanced back up, his attention had returned to Henry. 

"Shall we?"

"I didn't travel halfway around the world to not beat the tango level on Prance, Prance, Revolution with you," the kid replied confidently, ignoring their flirtation to give his friend a grave stare. He offered Ray his hand, who took it without hesitation before they coupled up into a somewhat intimate embrace.

With both arms around their backs, clasping each others' hands, the boys stepped in time to the Argentine music, navels pressed together with every movement. They weren't bad, creeping along and wiggling their butts as Henry led the dance, meaning Ray had to girlishly flick his leg out before twirling. 

Still, at least (y/n) could admire her doofus, thinking he looked ridiculously hot in his tight red shirt and jeans. His muscles rippled under the thin material with every move, making her sigh dreamily as she propped her chin up on her palm as that thick waist twisted and rolled. And don't get her started on those smooth, exposed biceps...

But suddenly, the tell-tale sound of the tube broke her out of the reverie, drawing her attention as the boys continued dancing. And to her relief, four tired, dirty, and unhappy kids arrived, looking like they'd lost a fight with Bob Geldof. 

"Oh, my God, you guys!" (y/n) exclaimed in horror, hurrying to her feet when her poor students plodded down the stairs, utterly defeated and groaning with every step. 

"How'd it go?" Ray was infinitely more casual, never breaking form as his sweet girl tittered over the children, guiding them to the steps near the front door. The tango was better than seeing if they were okay, despite how they groaned with every step, sticky with nail polish. 

"It went great..."

"We broke up the fight..."

"With our faces!" The kids grumbled. Chapa sounded as grumpy as usual, shuffling to her locker with a huff and glare while Mika tried to keep up her optimism. They'd done as they were asked, and that was great, but Miles just wished it didn't hurt so much. 

"Wasn't all bad. Got my nails did and had time to squeeze in a pedi..." Bose replied, and (y/n) wondered why he was walking so strangely until she looked down. His feet were beautifully smooth with moisturised skin and freshly painted nails, spreading his toes with those little foam dividers. 

Although he was the only one who'd had time to relax - the fight was brutal. 

"Pretty!"

"Nice!" The dancing duo complimented when they waddled closer, dipped, and twirled, admiring the soft blue colour - it matched his uniform, and smudging them would be a crime. It almost made (y/n) jealous that she didn't follow them. 

"That call wrecked me. I'mma go throw up and lay down." Or maybe not. She winced as Chapa shuffled the steps with her friends, appearing utterly worn out as she tried to sit down, only to flop onto the floor instead. 

All they wanted to do was sleep for the next fifty years, feeling like death had punched them in the face, but Ray had news for them - and they weren't going to like it. 

"Nah, nah, nah, another call came in while you were out," he told them to a chorus of groans and furious curse words. "Bunch of firebees are attacking a honey store. Caller said some murder bears are headin' up there, too, so hustle up!"

"We just got our cheese steamed! Can't you and (y/n) settle a honey fight between firebees and murder bears?" Mika complained on behalf of her friend, given that one of them was practically unconscious and the others were bleary-eyed and exhausted. 

She'd never heard of such a ridiculous emergency but gave (y/n) her best puppy eyes, fluttering her eyelashes as the woman bit her lip. 

"Maybe we should take this one, doofus. Let them have a break..." she suggested hopefully, hovering by the boys as their dance continued. If anyone could sway Ray, it was her. 

"Ooh, whaddaya say, partner?" He asked Henry, knowing he couldn't run off to fight crime and leave his old friend in the Man's Nest alone, not when he'd come specially. 

(y/n)'s unease only worsened when her baby shook his head gently and refused, saying some crap about the video game when, really, she knew the old Henry would never shy away from a fight. What was up with him?

"Hard pass, my guy. We got a big lift coming up."

"Oh, my God. This is ridiculous..." the heroine muttered as they separated, teetering on their tiptoes in preparation for their big finale, which apparently was so much more important than saving lives.

"Sorry, kids. Buzz off!" But, with the grouchy hero's order, Danger Force had no choice but to trudge to the tube again, dragging their feet and grumbling as they called on their final energy reserves. They could barely walk, let alone take down bad guys, but that was fine - as long as Ray got to leap toward Henry for the lift. 

He swooped above the boy's head, straightening his legs and spreading his arms like an angel as Henry held his hipbones high above his head with impressive strength. Seriously--how did he lift that much doofus?

"Okay, now that the lift is over, are you sure you guys don't wanna come help us?" Mika questioned as she and the others hovered on the tube pad, hoping with all hope that the man might change his mind. 

Given his look of pure joy at being so far above the ground, it was unlikely, but they could dream. 

"You're superheroes! Quit your bellyaching!" And a dream was all that would remain, Ray's harsh, biting tone making them pout when he refused to come down. 

"This is what you get paid for!" Henry added, thinking he was being helpful. He couldn't count on both hands how many times he was sent to deal with the most dangerous situations, but that was what he'd signed up for. That was the job, and it was worth it for nine dollars an hour. 

"You got paid?!"

"Down the tube!" Ray couldn't shout quick enough, sending his baffled students downstairs before he heard anything about unions and unfair employment tribunals. 

The looks on their faces, knowing they'd been duped when Kid Danger raked in hundreds over the years... That was a problem for another, or at least, a problem for when (y/n) didn't have a migraine. 

"Doofus....how long are you gonna stay up there?" She wondered with an exasperated expression when the kid's arms began to shake from the extortion. Holding a hundred-and-eighty-pound man wasn't easy when he barely had muscles on those chicken wings, yet Ray showed no inkling of wanting to be put down. 

He'd always wanted to be a swan. 

"Long as I can, sweet girl. Long as I can..."

Something told her that Henry's stay would be trouble - and her tummy tingle went again. 

~A few days later~

To say Henry and Ray made the most of their little bro-buddy vacation was an understatement. 

With Danger Force taking every call, emergency, or other predicament, the boys had plenty of time to hang out, relax, and mess about for four very long days. (y/n) loved having Henry home, of course, enjoying the quality time she spent with him for just under a week, but dear God, she felt like she was in Groundhog Day. 

They had cookies for breakfast every morning, followed by some practice on Prance-Prance Revolution. Then, after playing lasted tag with actual lasers, she made them pancakes for lunch, followed by takeout for dinner. And in between, their activities were loud, brash, and guaranteed to nearly shake the house down. Not so good for her poor nerves. 

The bachelor pad life was quickly wearing her and poor Schwoz out, so Ray and Henry promised to try something different, which was well-received--until they found the hero's old band kit. 

"Who gave them the electric guitar again?!" (y/n) shouted to Schwoz as her doofus and precious baby rocked out on their raucous instruments. When she said she wanted to see them break their routine, she didn't mean to shatter her eardrums. 

"WHAT?!" The genius yelled back, hardly hearing her soft voice as the boys created the awful racket. Schwoz was sure they thought they were God's gift to the music world - Bon Jovi rising again - but it made their ears bleed outside their little fantasy. 

"I SAID--WHERE DID THE GUITAR COME FROM?!"

"RAY FOUND IT IN THE GARAGE. IN A LOCKED BOX. UNDER SOME TRASH BAGS," he explained to the heroine as she clamped one hand over her ear whilst the other waved a lighter on his phone. They were part of the illusion, allowing the musical morons to believe they were at some concert playing to millions of adoring fans. But they weren't - just them, alone in the Man's Nest. 

"OH, GOODIE. I THOUGHT HE'D NEVER FIND IT AGAIN." (y/n) winced as her doofus came down the steps from the tube, her fingers clumsily dancing up the fretboard of his guitar - the one she'd carefully stashed away after he deafened them the last time. 

She had to smile through the pain, remembering how he said Captain Man didn't need lessons--he was a naturally gifted player. And, most importantly, all ladies loved a man in a band, waggling his eyebrows at her - the groupie - as he twanged a few notes. 

"YOU SHOULD'VE PUT IT IN THE INCINERATOR!"

"WOULD'VE, COULD'VE, SHOULD'VE, SCHWOZ," she replied at the top of her voice before giving her husband and friend a tentative thumbs-up.

They thought they were rocking out, hearing nothing but a sweet soundtrack, but it was terrible as Henry tapped his cymbals like a little drummer boy. It truly hurt her poor little ears, and that was before Ray prodded his strings, wiggling his tongue like Paul Stanley.

"MY GOD, THIS IS PAINFUL!"

"I GOT THIS!" The small man said before hopping off the back of the sofa, leaving her waving her PearPhone through the air, smiling through the pain. 

(y/n) watched curiously as Schwoz scuttled over to the amp that fed the infernal noise from Ray's guitar. He couldn't do much about the drumkit, but he sure as hell could rip the wire out, killing the music without a second thought. Just like they killed their eardrums.

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" 

"What happened?!" Ray and Henry exclaimed disappointedly, so distracted in their performance that they didn't notice a thing. They just saw Schwoz standing beside the amp innocently and (y/n) batting her eyelashes at her doofus with that sweet girl smile. 

"You must have blown a fuse, doof," the woman told her husband, hoping to capture his attention by crossing her legs and sticking her chest out, and it worked. Like the needy puppy he was, Ray drooled at his pretty girl and her...finer features, smiling and nodding at her every word, no matter how improbable it was. 

"Because you were rocking so hard and looking so hot while doing it."

"You bet I was, sweet girl..." he grumbled lowly, waltzing over to stand between her legs and cup her jaw. He smiled cockily as he pulled her lips to his, his ego definitely stroked and ignorant of how Schwoz twiddled his thumbs innocently. 

Her arms slid around his neck as their friends rolled their eyes, but at least the genius was thankful for the distraction. He didn't care if Ray did make those sounds or where his hands wandered or whatever she whispered in his ear that made him smirk like that, but Henry... He was suspicious. 

"Right, sure..." he muttered, not entirely buying it when (y/n) lifted the guitar over her lover's head so she could hold him closer without damaging it. Not that Ray was interested in music now. 

"Can you believe we've never even practised before?" The doofus said when they finally came up for air, pecking his wife's forehead. His smile shone as he squished her cheeks together and gazed into her eyes, entirely in the palm of her hand, after wowing her with his talent. 

"Don't need to practice when you're already perfect, dude!" Henry retorted, making his old boss glance over his shoulder with a smug expression. That's all they needed - the ego inflation. 

"Wow...I've missed you."

"And I've missed Nacho Ball! Get outta my way." Before Schwoz could even joke about giving the old hero and sidekick their own room, the kid pushed past Ray and made for the couch, where (y/n) had left their fast food while rocking out. 

It would be their fifth in four days, but whatever - he was living la dolce vita. The old man's sentiments didn't matter, not when he had a fried, cheesy ball of goodness waiting to be devoured. Henry hopped over the couch and quickly grabbed his sack, leaving the adults to do whatever they wanted. 

"I do enjoy your little visits..." the woman joked as she went around the couch like a normal person, even if her doofus leapt over the back like a child. 

They bought food, too, even though the thought of more French fries made (y/n) want to die. At least she got to share with her beloved idiot, splitting a jumbo Nacho Ball meal and extra-large soda because it always tasted better when she sipped from his. Weird. 

"Ho-kay, well...if your little concert is over, I'm going to go back to work now," Schwoz told them tentatively once they'd backed away from the instruments of death, but by then, with food in front of their faces, Ray and Henry weren't interested. Not when they hadn't eaten in three hours--and one of them got to feed little snacky things to his sweet girl. 

"Bye-bye, Schwozie!" (y/n) waved sweetly, which was more than the boys did as they immediately buried their noses in their plates. They didn't care what Schwoz did or where he went - a sore relief for the exhausted genius with a pounding headache. 

He wandered off in a foul mood, complaining about their childishness, when Henry's phone pinged in his pocket, distracting him from how Ray snuggled into his wife's side. 

She was interested in a polite, quiet dinner, nibbling a fry. Yet, her doofus laid his arm on the back of the couch, around her shoulders, leaning into her space to nuzzle his nose under her jaw. He whispered sweet nothings into her neck, practically laying in her lap more with every scrap of attention she gave him. 

"Who texted?" (y/n) asked casually while trying to work around her needy husband's advances. 

"Uh--"

"You're so pretty, sweet girl..." Ray muttered in a honey-like voice as his hand slid up her thigh, ignoring the food on the table and whatever Henry wanted to say. "What'd you say me and you take this to go and rendezvous in our bedroom?"

"Ooooh! I did not miss that!" The kid exclaimed when he noticed the hand under the table moving further north. That, and his mentor's smoochy mood, made him freak out, not wanting to know what he planned to do if he dragged her off behind closed doors. 

"Doofus!"

"What?! Can't a man love his wife?" The hero said moodily, loudly kissing his bashful girl's cheeks as the boy shook his head, grimacing. It was enough to put him off his Nacho Ball, watching how the grown man became a simping, crawling, goo-goo-eyed idiot just because (y/n) smiled at his affection. 

"Dude..." he muttered moodily, tapping his phone in exasperation when Ray kissed his wife again, "I'm trying to save these texts to The Cloud."

"Why?" (y/n) asked with a slight frown as she held her doofus in her arms, feeling how he nuzzled into her chest when the boy's phone did something annoying and unexpected. He really needed to turn off dictation, making one of Ray's classic mistakes when his virtual assistant began reading everything he wanted gone. 

"Reading messages out loud."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no---" All the colour drained from Henry's face as the voice dictated his texts, which ranged from weird to downright concerning, catching (y/n) and even Ray's attention amidst their kissing. 

"You can't run from this thing. It will find you--"

"Henry--what the hell are you doing?!" The woman asked gravely, her expression turning from serious and concerned to utterly baffled when the kid jumped up from the couch to stamp on his PearPhone - anything to get the damn thing to shut up. 

But they'd heard enough, even after he'd smashed the device, satisfying her gut in the worst way when it revealed that he'd been keeping secrets, just like she'd suspected. Sometimes, she hated it when her tummy tingle was right. 

"That didn't sound good..." Ray muttered, swallowing a fry as he pulled away from his sweet girl to look at his ex-sidekick blankly. He didn't know what was happening, but he still snuggled up with her, just from how jumpy Henry was...he wasn't that stupid. 

"Right?!" The boy asked nervously, shuffling around the couch on his tiptoes as he looked out of the windows and over his shoulder. "Hey, uh, totally unrelated question, but I'm, like, totally untrackable in the Man's Nest, right?"

"Oh, yeah, dude. Schwoz installed these macro-electron scramblers. Trying to find you here would be like trying to find a grey hair on my head," the man replied confidently, earning himself a whack on the arm from his wife since he could be so dense at times - so full of himself ever since she said he was hot. 

"There's one right there." And Henry knew just how to distract him, being the cunning kid he was. 

"What?! It's not true! Tell me it's not true, sweet girl!"

"Oh, Raymond!" (y/n) grumbled when her husband grabbed her by the shoulders, frantically shaking her shoulders at the thought of growing old. Some said he dyed his hair, others would disagree, but his floof was perfectly chocolatey - not that Ray knew that as he frantically combed his fingers through it. 

"Now, Henry, you better start telling us what the hell is going on--" She turned to Henry with one of the angriest, sternest faces he'd ever seen on her - which could've been infinitely scarier than whatever had him so worried. 

But her threat fell on its face when she was interrupted, dealing with both stressed-out doofus and a gaggle of children shooting up from SWAG in their chairs, and they did not look happy. Welcome to the club. 

"Hey!" Mika shouted, closely followed by Chapa, Bose, and her brother. They'd been doing all the leg work for Captain Man and Miss Danger for days, keenly aware that their golden boy kept them preoccupied with his little visit, and that pissed them off. 

"What? What? I don't have any grey hairs--you're old--what?!" Ray rambled, turning around to peek out from behind his sweet girl, who had just rolled her eyes and looked at Danger Force. 

She wasn't in the mood for more angry, lying children, waiting for one of them to say the wrong thing before she exploded.

"We all have something to say to you!" Mika, the spokeswoman of the quartet, announced, giving her teachers a confident face as her friends rallied behind her. 

"Well, I would sorely love to hear it. Just know that I am not in a cookie-baking mood anymore..." (y/n) smiled sweetly at them, folding her arms as she ignored the lanky, no-good, secretive boy behind her and focused on her other troublemakers. They didn't seem as confident as they were before. 

"Chapa, tell them!" The girl quickly pulled her friend before her, her strength and argument failing under the woman's stern gaze. Chapa would be much better at shouting back, her grumpy frown matching (y/n)'s, although even she was anxious to take her on fully. After all, they were all friends here...

"We've been taking all of the calls for, like, three or four days now!" She started, the others yelling in agreement as the couple glanced at each other. 

"We think you guys should take the next call!"

"Okay..." (y/n) saw nothing wrong with that, shrugging even as the children ganged up on her and Ray. If anything, she was getting cabin fever, hoping to get out into the action with her doofus, and now, she wanted to get Henry out, too. What was that he said about untrackable?

"We also think we should be able to vaporise one person a year for no reason at all!"

"Yeah!--Wait..." The others frowned at the little addition Chapa tagged onto the end of their demands, having not discussed anything about vaporising people when meeting in Mika's bedroom the previous night. They wanted fair treatment and a break, but maiming innocent people? It made the pause and quickly back-track. 

Sure, we'll take the next call..." Ray told them as he looked at his precious wife, who nodded calmly and sipped his--their soda. She was ready to go, but the kid - he looked like he'd seen a ghost. "It's been a half-minute, my fists are getting thirsty, and crime is a tall glass of water."

"Please, don't punch my glass--" Henry asked the hero while the children celebrated their negotiations, but it was too late. Fired up and eager to fight, Ray smacked his thankfully empty glass off the table, happy to see it roll under the table since it meant he got a glimpse of his sweet girl's butt when she had to pick it up. 

"Raymond!"

"What, sweet girl? Next call that comes in is gonna go home in a body bag," he whispered dramatically, clenching his fists before swiftly yanking her into his embrace. She could tell he'd not been outside in a few days, acting all hyper and needy even as everyone's brows flew up at the...overkill. 

"Doofus, what have we said about saying murdery things?" (y/n) murmured in his ear as she patted down his chest. To say he was being so jumpy, his muscles looked good in that shirt. 

"That's how lawyers get involved?" 

"Exactly, so let's remain calm and take the next call."

"Yeah, but I mean, who even knows when the next call is gonna come in?" Henry said nervously, wrinkling his nose when they kissed again, but it was a small price to pay since it distracted them from the whole going-out thing. 

The mere thought made his heart pound, palms growing clammy at the idea of venturing outside the safe Nest walls. But the emergency alert began to sound before the heroine could even give him one of her suspicious stares. Red light and the loud siren filled the room, and if he was scared before, he was practically bricking it now. 

"Oh, would ya look at that?" Chapa said nonchalantly, an evilly sweet smile as she looked at the anxious kid. "An emergency call."

"How convenient..." Ray said poignantly, anything beyond coincidence going over his floofy head as Mika walked to the supercomputer to see what was happening. 

"Exactly. Someone's trying to rob that corner store - How Convenient," the girl told them, making Ray smile at the map on the holographic screen. It was in Downtown Swellview, not too far from their hideout, but definitely in a grungier part of town. Just the sort of place filled with the scum the hero wanted to wipe the floor with. 

"Oh! So, you, me, and my sweet girl are going to Pound Town, buddy!"

"Doesn't look too difficult, but we should get going..." (y/n) noted as she and her doofus pulled out their gum tubes. Admittedly, a little flutter of excitement ran through her veins at the thought of the old team working together - the thrill of being in the trio again, even though she played it cool. 

She was more than ready to become Miss Danger again, but when Henry hesitated, she got that funny feeling again...

"Pound Town is nice this time of year, but, uh, I really just wanna finish my Nacho Ball," the blond boy told them shakily, all but looking like he could bolt at any minute, making the couple frown as they chewed their gum.

Yet, when he returned to the table, hoping for a refried, golden, crispy distraction, he found Bose sitting on the steps with his plate and cheese smeared across his lips - chowing down. Leaving that Nacho Ball unattended was a mistake. 

"Chapa ate it..." he mumbled guiltily, despite being caught cheese-handed. 

"Come on, man. Pop one of those Dystopian gumballs. I wanna see that swet 'stume," Ray excitedly said to his old friend, who undoubtedly fought in something other than his old uniform now. They'd never seen it, leaving him to fight alone with Jasper and Charlotte in the other city. Still, they only got a wobbly smile and lying eyes. 

"Aw, God--I--I didn't bring any."

"Say what now?" (y/n) quirked an eyebrow at him, not buying it for a second when the boy nervously rubbed his hands together, barely able to stand still. She was a skittish person by nature; she knew anxiety when she saw it, especially in a boy who'd tried to blindside her a dozen times in the past. 

"You're telling us that somehow, miraculously, you forgot to bring your gum, even though it's the one thing you keep on you at all times?"

"Yeah, (y/n/n). I must've forgotten to turn on the gum reminder app on my phone." He gulped, seeing the amusement in her eye the second the lie passed through his teeth, hands on her hips, as Ray frowned at both of them. He was dense, but even he sensed something weird was happening. 

"Yeah, well, the BS-detection app on my phone is telling me you're making that up," she replied sternly, holding the gum against her inner cheek as she stepped closer--until she was nearly toe-to-toe with the boy. He said nothing, bravely holding her gaze to deny everything she accused him of, but Miles didn't care. 

He was a guy of action, thrusting his arm in the air and suddenly appearing beside the ex-sidekick because there was something in his pocket... He pinched a tin from Henry's back pocket in a flash of light, hearing the unmistakable rattle of gum inside. Busted. 

"What are these, then?"

"Funny that..." (y/n) said dryly as everyone watched the lanky kid scramble for an answer. Of course, Ray said nothing - he never did to his favourite child; he was just happy that there was gum, even if it came out of thin air. 

"Guess I did bring some! Thanks, buddy." Henry plucked the tin from Miles' hand, smiling tightly at him, his voice strained and almost hoarse with his bubbling anger. 

It didn't deter the younger boy, who mirrored Chapa's infamous saccharine grin as he patted his learned friend on the shoulder, only to have his hand abruptly pushed away. For someone who said he wasn't bothered - chill in the words of the modern youth - Henry looked pissed off. 

"Something wrong, Hen?" (y/n) asked innocently, blinking when her baby looked at him in annoyance, almost crushing the case in his palm. 

"No..."

"Come on! It's right down the street--we'll be back in five minutes," Ray told him, despite having every intention of dragging the fight out for everything it had. Anything to fight side-by-side like they did in the good old days.

"Five minutes?" Kid Danger echoed nervously as he unscrewed his gum, hands shaking as they wore down his resolve. It looked like he didn't have much choice, but the mere thought of stepping outside made him feel sick - five minutes would feel like forever. Five minutes was all it would take. 

"Yeah! Have I ever lied to you?" The man replied brightly, only to get several dry looks in return. 

"You once told me you were born in nineteen-ninety-eight..." Henry recalled, much to the sniggers around the room - even from (y/n). Would that make her a cougar? Dating a guy ten years her junior? 

Everyone giggled at the flustered hero, who immediately snarled at the children as he grabbed her waist and pulled her into his chest. He didn't want her to see his pink cheeks from the minor fibs he told. 

"I was! I was! Ninety-eight! Year of the...fist!"

"Technically, it was the year of the tiger," (y/n) said, giggling as she gently hugged her doofus' waist, hoping he'd stop pouting when she snuggled closer. She didn't care about his age; if anything, it was hot - the hand of experience. "And, you big doofus, if you're secretly twenty-three, I'm the next pope."

"Your holiness..." Ray smiled, glancing down to make the mistake of getting lost in her eyes. She made him feel young - full of butterflies, warmth, and endless energy - enough to quell his current worries. That, and the kiss they shared. 

"All right..." Henry muttered, swearing under his breath from his internal anxiety and their canoodling. He never understood how they could kiss and chew gum simultaneously. Still, Ray made it work, somehow cradling her jaw and patting her ass together, too. "Let's blow and go."

"Finally!" The woman grinned, excitedly rubbing her hands together as she hurriedly pulled away from her doofus, pecking his lips a final time. She stood between him and the moody teen, feeling her husband slip his hand into hers and squeeze, grounding them in a surreal moment. 

At one point, they thought they'd never see Henry again, let alone fight crime with him. But, as they transformed into their super-suits, becoming Captain Man and Miss Danger for the millionth time, they saw a new, grungier side of their old friend. 

His uniform was...different. Kinda like he took everything about the Kid Danger costume and fucked it off. Instead of bright colours and protective equipment, the couple were shocked and concerned to see him wearing dark skinny jeans, a crusty, frayed t-shirt, and a thick, leather jacket shrugged over the top. The only way of safety they saw was his gloves, but even so, there was no padding, no layers, and certainly no mask. 

It was Henry Hart - emo edition. 

"Dude, where's your mask?" Ray asked concernedly. He could look over the dingy, dark outfit, seeing why it might be cool on some people, but nothing protected his identity. That was just stupid. 

"Oh, we don't actually wear masks in Dystopia."

"What?!" (y/n)'s eyes nearly fell out of her head at the revelation. All she heard was that three of her beloved babies were running around the most dangerous city in the world, allowing every villain to know who they were. Were they trying to get themselves pulverised?

"Yeah, I don't know, we're just kinda beyond that," the boy replied coolly--as if it wasn't a big deal. He looked at the adults like they were stupid and boring. Still, even Danger Force could see the perilous risks he took by not wearing one, awkwardly fidgeting around the room. 

"Actually, that's extremely irresponsible."

"Mask-wearing saves lives..."

"(y/n/n), come on. It's fine," Henry said to his strongest ally as the traitors around the room pandered to their teacher. He didn't care what his replacements had to say, defiantly staring at the heroine with pleading eyes, not that she cared. 

"It's not fine, picklehead," (y/n) told him firmly, wandering over to the drawer beside the supercomputer to find something suitable. She was sure they didn't have a mask to hand, but since it was dark, as long as they covered his face, the kid would be okay--if she didn't whip his butt for being so difficult before. 

"While in Swellview, you're gonna put something on your face."

"Nah, nah, nah, nah. You always do this, (y/n)!" He complained, batting away the woman's hands when she tried to put a pair of dark glasses over his eyes. They would just make him look stupid - what idiot wore sunglasses at night?

"No one likes a whiner, Henry. Put them on!" He could try to push her away, but that only made the woman more determined. 

They argued back and forth, shouting over each other as he attempted to dodge the glasses. He didn't win, of course, eventually giving up when she kicked his shin and told him to suck it up. Finally, she shoved them up the bridge of his nose, smiling with satisfaction when he sighed, arms falling to his side. 

"You look great!"

"I look stupid!" The kid grumbled, moodily stomping to the tube as Ray took his sweet girl by the hand. He said it, not her. 

"Well, it's a fight, not a fashion parade, so let's go!" (y/n) hurried after her doofus, waving to Danger Force as they cheerfully yelled their goodbyes, relieved to see the backs of them since it meant they could finally rest. Ray could barely contain himself, excitedly buzzing beside her as they waited on the tube pad, clutching at each other's hands as the hero hit his belt buckle. 

"You wanna call it?" He asked his old friend, smiling at him for old times' sake, and even in his cranky mood with the demon butterflies terrorising his belly, the kid couldn't say no. Not when he felt so nostalgic. 

"Up the tube!" Henry shouted, only for the machine to buzz lowly at him. The lovebirds beside him gasped and cooed, saying something about him being adorable and just a baby because he was still stuck in the Man Cave. A sore spot that tugged on (y/n)'s heartstrings. 

"Oh, baby boy, we go down the tube now..." She said softly, stroking the boy's arm as he stared blankly at his surroundings. She practically whimpered at her doofus, wondering if it had been that long since they lost their own home since this was normal now - them in the Man's Nest. 

"...Down the tube!"

With that, they were off, hurtling toward the garage and whatever new vehicle Ray wanted to show off. Everything was the same but different, which didn't help Henry's nerves as he stepped out from under the protective shield into the big, bad world. 

If the couple knew what danger he was in, would they have let him out? Probably not. This kid couldn't handle danger for all the big talk he used to make. Sometimes, he wished he could return to when things were simpler--when he chased diaper-wearing villains and the criminally stupid. 

But it was a little late for that. By the time they reached the convenience store, it was too late for anything. 

~The How Convenient Store~

"This place is disgusting..."

(y/n) wrinkled her nose as she followed her doofus and Henry along a dark, dirty street at the foot of Mount Swellview. 

She didn't like how all the streetlights seemed blinky, how many trash bags piled up on the curb, or how she swore she heard rats squeaking in the shadows. The smell made her want to retch, sticking close to Ray's side as he confidently strutted to the lonely store covered in a thick layer of grime and graffiti. 

"Oh, come on, sweet girl! It's gonna be fun!" The hero replied cheerfully, practically skipping along the road since he was riding a massive nostalgia wave. 

He had his beautiful wife on his arm, and beside her, Henry traipsed with them. It didn't matter how skittish he seemed - the kid was there, which was enough to make his old boss giddy as a schoolboy. 

"You mean, we're going to need a tetanus shot after this?" (y/n) said sarcastically, glancing at the reticent boy when he didn't snort at her joke. It was strange; he didn't even fake vomit when they kissed and cuddled in the Man Van, and that made her suspicious--more so than she already was. "Right, kid?"

"Huh?--Oh, yeah, ha...ha." The kid's voice was flat and distracted, probably because he constantly glanced over his shoulder, too busy frantically scanning their surroundings through those thick glasses to laugh at anything they said. 

And the strangest thing had to be how he nearly ducked under the heroine's arm when he heard a shout off in the distance, clinging to her uniform's skirt like a terrified child, not a hardened crime fighter. 

"Man, this is like the good old days! Come on! Come on!" Still, Ray hurried them off, quickly crossing the road with his usual arrogance, squeezing his wife's hand as they burst into How Convenient to see a familiar face. 

"Can you pay attention to me, please?"

"You're always in the middle of a game!" The young woman, named Shasta, behind the counter, whined to whoever she was talking to on the phone - her girlfriend or boyfriend at home, (y/n) assumed. 

She didn't give a damn about the fact that her store was being robbed, more concerned about her troublesome relationship than the criminal begging for some attention. It was challenging to rob a place when the staff refused to hand over the goods. Still, even so, Ray grinned when he recognised the scumbag - for the first time in nearly a decade of dealing with him. 

"Part of the reason I rob people is for the connection, and I feel like you're not here with me right now!" The scruffy, greasy, moronic thug whined as he squeezed his weapon of choice - a skunk for some reason, but then again, he always thought he was clever. 

"Oh, God, not him..."

"Hey, look! It's your old pal, Jeff!" Ray nudged Henry as they huddled near the door. (y/n) couldn't say she was thrilled to see that the idiot had returned after the jailbreak, but for once, her doofus wanted to chase his flabby ass. Anything to relive the glory days with the kid. 

"Yeah, yeah, cool. Let's just hurry this up," Henry replied, feeling as jumpy as ever now that they were out in the open, wearing his Dystopian costume - for anyone to see. 

"Aw, man. I'm so excited!"

"You're adorable, doofus..." the woman giggled when her husband squeezed her body against his in a spur-of-the-moment hug. Yet, she gave Henry a knowing, side-eyed glance whilst the hero couldn't see. 

"Well, I don't even know what we are! What does vibing even mean?" The shop assistant ranted to her friend on the phone, making the heroes feel slightly awkward after hearing something they shouldn't. 

"Do we vibe, sweet girl?" Ray asked his sweet girl quietly as Jeff chased after the woman, who disappeared into the break room with the PearPhone glued to her ear. The silly hero looked so confused, not knowing if it was good or bad or if he'd missed that lesson on youth slang. 

"Oh, yeah, we vibe so hard, doof," (y/n) replied with an enamoured smile despite not entirely understanding what it meant. "But we vibe so much better than that girl and her...companion."

"Where are you going? I'm not done crime-ing!" Jeff whined after Shasta, only for Captain Man to clear his throat to catch the moron's attention. The incompetent villain practically jumped out of his skin when he saw the hero, Miss Danger, and that scrawny, emo-y kid standing there, wondering when they got there. 

"Robbing a store with a skunk?" (y/n) asked with an unimpressed, quirked eyebrow. She folded her arms as Ray turned to her with a silly grin. 

"That plan stinks!" He was so happy with the little pun that he patted the boy's chest to join in the fun after he earned an amused smile from his wife. Now you go—you go—you go!"

"Uh..." Henry stuttered, not knowing what to say since he was riddled with nerves, desperately wanting to go home. "What the smell are you doing? Now, come on--you're going to jail..."

With a stony, tight-lipped face, he marched over to the criminal with a hefty sigh. He grabbed him by the elbow and, with no messing around, yanked him toward the exit without any of the usual flare or dramatics. It was baffling to the couple, who frowned and quickly dragged him back to their sides for being so goddamn dull. 

"Hey, hey, man! Take your time!"

"What are you talking about?" Their old sidekick asked tiredly, wondering what childish, ridiculous drivel his ex-boss was yammering about when he just wanted everything over and done with. It wasn't like him, and all Henry could do was avoid the simmering anger and disappointment in (y/n)'s eyes. 

"Let's slow-fight this crime..." The hero answered softly, hoping to drag out every sweet second of his nostalgia trip to make up for how they parted ways. 

"I just wanna get back to my Nacho Ball!"

"Not gonna lie, we left it with BrainStorm. That Nacho Ball will be long gone..." (y/n) replied, seeing straight through the kid's lie, but it was still true. To the boy's disappointment, Bose always stole anyone's takeout if they unwisely left it unguarded. He wouldn't be able to use that excuse now.

"Hey, is this your news sidekick?" Jeff interrupted, staring at Henry with an untypically curious expression as he tried to size him up. Luckily, he couldn't see through his minimal disguise, not seeing Kid Danger at all, but still, they didn't like how he giggled. 

"Maybe..."

"No!" The kid quickly shut down Ray's high hopes, dimming that pearly grin, but that didn't stop her merciless big sister poking his rubs with her elbow - a mischievous glint in her eye. 

"I'd say we're vibing right now," (y/n) joked, giggling with her husband as he wound his arms around her waist and plonked his chin on the top of her head. 

"You guys don't even know what that means!"

"Sure I do," she retorted when the boy gave her that dry, exasperated look, but how could she be truly cranky when she was in her soulmate's arms? 

Resting her weight against Ray, she flashed him a cunning smile, her eyes sparkling, when the besotted hero pecked her temple—much to Jeff's disgust. He'd always thought she was a pretty girl, but why did she have to choose him?

"It means we're, like, together, but not really."

"But we vibe extra hard 'cause we're actually together, right, precious girl?" Ray asked softly, lowering his mouth next to her ear. He squeezed her gently, hoping he hadn't misinterpreted something because he didn't want any of that situationship shit; she was his, and he was hers. 

"Oh, definitely, Captain. I love you..."

"Aw, sweet girl. I love you, too!"

"I can't even talk to you guys..." Henry rolled his eyes as they cooed and fawned over each other, swearing they were doing it just to wind him up. Either way, it pissed Jeff off, given that it was infuriating to see his favourite pin-up, Miss Danger, in the arms of his mortal enemy, Captain Man. 

As the kid rolled his eyes and grimaced, the crook pointed the skunk at them - an odd choice of weapon that had to be a first for the hero in all his crime-fighting years. Glaring at the happy couple and all their lovey-dovey romance, he lifted the creature's tail and pointed it at the trio; such was his genius. 

"Well, spray hello to my little friend!" Cried Jeff, and a jet of stinky skunk spray blasted at the heroes. 

Ray instantly pulled his sweet girl away and out of harm, hating to think that the foul stench would overcome her sweet perfume. Meanwhile, Henry, despite being semi-abandoned, could handle himself, instantly raising his green, glowing force field around himself. The stink ricocheted back to the criminal, hitting the back of his throat so he tasted it.

"Ahhhhh! It burns!" He screamed, seeing nothing but tears as he turned and fled to escape the foul smell. 

"Classic Jeff!" Ray exclaimed with a hearty laugh, untangling himself from his beloved wife once he'd run off. They had no need to annoy him now, and the best part of the night would be the chase, nudging Henry and congratulating him on a job well done. 

"Yeah, all right. We stopped the robbery, so let's get back to the Man's Nest!" But once again, the kid showed no interest in reliving their former fun, smiling weakly as he made for the door. 

"Hey, kid, hang on!" (y/n) called out, getting a funny feeling in her tummy again as her hand zipped out and caught him by the arm. If only he had told her what was so obviously terrifying him, maybe she could have helped... "We've got to go chase after Jeff! You know, put him in jail!"

"No, no, no, no. Let's get back to the Man's Nest," Henry insisted, slowly edging toward the door, even as they ached to run after their enemy, who was quickly gaining ground. 

"Come on, it'll be fun! Like old times! Punchin', quippin', takin' selfies!" Ray added, jabbing and kicking out at thin air to try and inspire a little action in the boy, but he didn't succeed, either. 

"I don't want to take selfies!" 

He glanced at his wife, looking to her for advice, but she was equally frustrated and slowly losing patience with the boy when he took her wrist and tried to yank her back to the Man Van. 

"Ooh, you know what we can do? We can steal some of these bubblegum burner phones and blame it on Jeff!"

"That's just stealing, doofus, and not the point right now!" (y/n) told her husband firmly when he got a little silly and desperate, but her main focus was the stubborn kid still gripping her arm. 

She looked at him with a hand on her hip, trying to work out what was up with him as her tummy tingle worsened, but it was difficult when he anxiously hopped from foot to foot. 

"It's kind of a grey area, darlin'. Who's gonna know?" Ray replied jokingly, not sensing the tension in the store until his wife gave him the look. A stern, cold glance that had him buttoning his lip and looking at his shoes because he wanted to live. Henry, however, might not see another day as he avoided her firm gaze. 

"I will, you big doofus, but come on!" The heroine answered curtly before yanking her hand from Henry, giving him a tired yet serious stare. "Look, kid, will you just tell us what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Henry asked quietly, trying to act all innocent and cute, hoping it would get her to leave him alone. 

He was little Henry Hart, the boy she had known since he was thirteen. He tried to channel that when his big, wide eyes met hers, only to be met with a harsh scoff and incredulous expression. 

"Oh, cut the crap. We both know you've been lying for the last few days!"

"I have not!" he argued fervently, trying to tap Ray's bicep to get him on his side. 

Still, if there was one thing he'd missed during his time in Dystopia, Ray Manchester did not argue with his wife. Hardly ever, and certainly not on stuff like this. She was the boss, and he didn't mess with her—mainly because she was smoking hot when she was girlbossing it. 

"You're lying right now!" The woman snapped, clutching her tummy when the tingle became painful, tugging her toward the back door like something wanted her to flee, but she wasn't done arguing yet. 

"Sweet cheese, Henry, what are you so afraid of?" 

The kid never got a chance to reply, and she didn't know when to run, not when shit hit the fan. 

A flash of blinding light filled the store, and an explosion threw the trio off their feet. They barely had time to react when the cool, nighttime air hit their faces, telling (y/n)'s dazed brain that the door had burst open, but most importantly, they were under attack. 

It couldn't be Jeff; that idiot was long gone and couldn't find his ass in the dark with both hands, so Captain Man wasn't worried about him, just the unknown. He did not know what he was up against with his vision so blurry, but his instincts told him to move--fight--kick--punch--do something to get to his sweet girl. And Henry, of course. 

As their backs hit a cold, hard surface where racks of chips and candy used to hang, the hero tried to move his bulky arms, reaching for the pretty girl beside him, but it was futile. 

"What the..." (y/n) muttered in a daze, but not enough to miss the bizarre contraption fixing her wrists and lower body to the wall. They were like futuristic handcuffs, glowing with powerful, blue energy that snaked around their tummies before locking their hands by their sides. 

"Miss Danger!" Her doofus exclaimed, panicking slightly when he tugged on the weird restraints with his super-strength, but they didn't break. He couldn't get to her. They were side by side, yet so far and completely powerless, and that made them afraid. 

Yet, the feeling of not being able to reach each other was nothing compared to the terror that ran down their spines when a sinister-looking remote-control drone flew toward them, honing in on Henry as the boy slumped against the wall, petrified and panting. 

It scanned Captain Man and did nothing. It scanned Miss Danger and did nothing. They weren't its target, but Henry? It analysed his face and beeped, talking in a monotone, robotic voice that put the fear of God in the kid. 

"Henry Hart located...Sending bounty hunter."

"What the actual fuck?" (y/n) spat, heart pounding and staring wide-eyed at the drone before she and Ray snapped their heads right in their friend's direction. 

"I can explain..." he said slowly, not daring to look them in the eye because he knew he was screwed. It was just a matter of time before they all met horrific, excruciating ends, and it was all his fault. They were gonna die, and that was on him, but he couldn't tell them that...

"Can you?!" His beloved (y/n/n) gasped, frantically glancing between him and the drone as Ray tried to wrench free, but it was useless. "Oh, Henry, what have you done?"

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean for this to happen," the boy whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut, praying it was some sick, twisted nightmare. But no, the drone was still there, and his closest friends...well, they looked ready to throw hands. 

"For what to happen? What's going on?!" Ray gasped, tugging with all his might to bust out. He wasn't the brightest, refusing to give up, but he didn't need to be a genius to realise how much shit they were in - how he couldn't reach his sweet girl to keep her safe, even if he tried.

"We need to get out of here!"

"Yes, thank you for that capital idea, Sherlock," (y/n) retorted dryly, feeling her wrists chafe as she wiggled them. "Don't suppose you have a freaky techno-key for these freakier cuffs, do you?"

"Just--just call Danger Force and tell them to get here ASAP!" Henry told her shakily, whipping his head at every entrance like he was waiting for someone to arrive, and by the looks of it, he was petrified. 

She scoffed at that. She was seriously not in the mood to take orders from him. Also, what made him think they'd want to help? Those poor kids were exhausted, and this was his mess - if only he'd tell them...

"They won't come. It's their time off, Hen," she replied, but that only made the kid's eyes widen more than she thought humanly possible. 

"They have to!"

"Why? Are we gonna die?" Captain Man asked causally, a light, airy, joking edge to his voice as he tried a smile - anything to lighten the situation. But, his stomach dropped when Henry glanced away awkwardly and pulled a nervous face. Did he even want to know?

"Um...no?" He tried, but it was a pretty poor attempt to say he had all those lessons on lying all those years ago in the Man Cave. 

"One more lie from you, Henry Prudence Hart, and I swear to God--" (y/n) snapped, seeing straight through his anxious disposition, mainly because she was the queen of nerves. The Nervous Queen. 

She invented lying through one's teeth, and her raised eyebrow and penetrating glare made Henry feel worse. He hoped the tears in the corners of his eyes helped his case, although judging by how she shook her head, it didn't. 

"Call them!" He begged, using his best puppy dog eyes and shrillest voice before looking at his old boss. They winced at his volume, thinking he'd gone so high-pitched and whiny that only dogs could hear him. "Please!"

"All right, all right. Jeez..." Ray muttered, wishing to put his hands over his wife's precious little ears. He hated how she leaned away from the kid, who had really become a wimp in his time away from them. "No need to yell at my sweet girl."

Shaking his head, the hero gave his ex-sidekick a stern look—as if he hadn't had enough of those. Still, Henry couldn't complain when Ray fumbled for his PearPhone. Thanks to the freaky restraints, he was the only person with room to manoeuvre. 

It took some work, but he managed it, slipping the cell out from his utility belt before calling Danger Force. They'd undoubtedly be in a foul mood when they saw it was him, but to save his sweet girl? He'd do anything. 

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

It was safe to say that Chapa wasn't happy. Her piercing tone shattered their eardrums despite coming through the phone's speaker, and Miles didn't shy away, either. 

"You're interrupting screen time!" he bellowed, which was weird for the kid, who was usually so chill. 

"Oh, my bad, D-Force!" Ray said in his usual lighthearted tone, smirking at his sweet girl and the perturbed kid, "Just, uh, that me, my incredibly hot wife, are in a little jammy jam, but don't worry about it! We'll find another way outta this!"

"No, no, no, no! We need them to help us get out of here ASA-NOW!" Henry argued, sounding even more panicked and jittery than before, earning puzzled looks from the couple. "Please, come help us!"

"Sorry! Captain Man said you guys would handle this call," replied Chapa, who had no plans to leave her snuggly blanket or the sacred sanctuary of Mika's bedroom. 

"She's right, kid. This doofus did promise we'd take this call," (y/n) added, frowning when the boy ignored her soothing voice and tugged frantically on his cuffs. 

"We gotta honour it. Even if it kills you," Ray joked, although he would never let a thing hurt his beloved wife, flashing her a blindingly charming smile. 

"Please, come help us!" the kid pleaded again, feeling like throwing up as he got desperate. He bribed Danger Force with anything he could think of. He was shameless, promising them anything their little hearts desired as the drone's red eye focused solely on him. 

"What--what do you want? Captain Man and Miss Danger will give it to you!"

"What?" The couple murmured, glancing at each other with deeper frowns as the boy shouted into the speaker, giving away privileges he didn't have. 

"You want to fly the Man Copter? You want a bunch of puppies?! We'll give it to you!" He offered, neither of which sounded pleasant to Ray. 

The hero could see it now; his beloved helicopter spiralling to the ground or a bunch of mammals doing their doo-doos all over his Man's Nest, and the latter seemed worse. Of course, he had the best luck, and the children chose puppies - because who doesn't like puppies?

Hell, (y/n) knew which one she would pick, already imagining a little friend for Colin. She could already picture them setting bolt right up, eyes sparkling at the thought of cuddling with adorable doggies - a lovely image only ruined by Henry's snivelling. 

"Just, please, come! Please, come help us!"

"PUPPIES!" The kids cried in pure joy. Despite their morals and grand ideas about screen time, they'd do anything for puppies. 

"We're on our way!" With that, they ended the call, leaving the trio alone to await rescue. 

Henry's tummy was undoubtedly less choppy and churning, but his expression didn't change. He was pale and pasty as his knees shook, his back pressed to the wall in pure terror. He looked like a wimp, and giving away the Man Copter like a pound of tea? That was downright disgraceful. 

"Jeez, kid. What's got your brisket in a basket?" Ray asked frostily, glancing at his old friend as he squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. 

The boy glanced at the man and then at (y/n), whose piercing gaze never left him; she was clearly waiting for an answer, and if anything, Henry was more scared of upsetting her than the monster coming for them. 

But, no matter how deep he was already in, he couldn't lie to her anymore, not when she searched his face and gazed at him with those kind eyes. And when she spoke? He crumbled. 

"Henry? What's wrong?"

"Okay, I gotta level with you guys," he gulped, nervously buzzing in place as Ray casually glanced around the store, ignorant of the situation's severity like usual. 

"Dystopia is really scary, and I kinda messed with some things that are so evil that I can't even explain, including this bounty hunter named Blackout that literally eats people's souls."

"Bounty...hunter?" (y/n) echoed as she felt the blood drain from her face and her heart stop. Now, she partially understood his terror, having thought hunters were legends relegated to old cowboy movies and sci-fi series. What the hell had the boy gotten himself into?

"...And he's hungry for mine, so I came to Swellview because I thought I'd be safe in the Man's Nest, but he clearly found me, and he's gonna eat our souls!"

"...So, you didn't come to Swellview to see us?" Was the first thing Ray asked, his eyebrows pulled upwards to make him look all wounded and pouty. 

Perhaps he missed the mark a little, but he'd never let this asshole suck out his sweet girl's soul - she was too precious for that. So, he wasn't overly worried, but he was undoubtedly hurt that his ex-sidekick ran away from his problems under the cover of a friendly visit. 

"Not really the time or place, doofus," (y/n) told him quietly, still remarkably holding her nerve as she processed everything. 

It was a lot to take in; death, danger, bounty hunters, and soul-sucking, but she silently agreed - it was a kick in the teeth to be an excuse. However, she'd prefer not to be in mortal danger when they were scolding the kid. 

"That's what I'm hearing, sweet girl," answered Ray, giving her a look akin to a kicked puppy, even as Henry tried to smooth everything over. 

"No, no, no, I did! I did!" He argued, trying to make the man-child feel better. "But I also don't want my soul to get eaten! And I needed to do some laundry...and I wanted (y/n)'s cookies..."

"Oh, well, it's nice to be wanted..." the woman retorted dryly, rolling her eyes at being reduced to a bakery and laundromat. Henry gave her a sheepish look, smiling awkwardly as he stared at his feet. 

"Are you mad?" He asked quietly, knowing he'd kept a lot from her, not to mention lying to her face and demanding cookies by the dozen. 

"Oh, I'm not mad, Henry..." (y/n) replied, resting her head against the wall while Ray tapped his foot against hers—he'd get what he could when they couldn't hold hands. She looked tired as her head lolled to look at the kid, firmly believing they could have worked something out to avoid this mess. 

"I'm just disappointed." 

Henry winced at that. He'd heard it a million times from his parents, but coming from his surrogate sister, (y/n) Manchester? It was like death by a thousand cuts to his quivering heart. He could take her being angry as a punishment, but knowing he'd gone down in her eyes? He felt like crying. 

"Ooh, ouch..." Ray muttered, having been there and heard that. He felt for the kid, although perhaps not as seriously as he should've done. 

"I'm sorry..." Henry whispered, not daring to look at her as his gut ached, feeling all low and nervous like he was gonna throw up. He'd never betrayed their trust like this before, and knowing what he did, he knew Ray would never forgive him for putting his wife in harm's way. 

"Don't apologise now, Hen..." said the woman lowly, knowing she'd cry if he cried, and she was trying to be firm. "It's too late."

"I know... I messed up."

"Yeah, you did." She nodded, an exasperated smile as she shook her head. 

Part of her wanted him to feel bad; if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have a peg digging into her spine, but he was as human as her--and she would've been a nervous wreck if she knew he was being hunted. And who hadn't told a lie before to spare someone's worry? 

So, she showed a little leniency. Perhaps she was tender-hearted, but she saw no benefit in chewing him out now, not when Ray had already given him a tough time for not visiting. That could wait for when they weren't about to be murdered. 

"But we've got Danger Force coming to get these things off, and when they do, I'm going slap your silly head for telling lies, young man."

"So, you don't hate me?" the kid asked as he raised his head, giving her the same wobbly smile as when they first met—full of nerves and hope like a little kid. 

"I don't think we could ever hate you, Henry Hart--" Just as (y/n) gave him her warmest smile, everything went black.

The lights fizzled out like there'd been a power cut, and that's when any temporarily good feelings in Henry's tummy vanished. A childish squeak passed through his lips, glancing around their dim surroundings with wide eyes to catch any movement. 

"What?" Ray asked with a slight chuckle, thinking his old sidekick looked ridiculous as he cowered like a frightened little lamb - not the almighty hero he was. 

"It's Blackout, dude!" Henry gasped, suddenly wishing he could run to his mommy as the couple calmly stood beside him. But that was only because ignorance was bliss. 

"Yeah, it looks like someone forgot to pay the power bill. Right, darlin'?" The hero joked, nudging his wife's elbow as she smiled and curiously looked around.

"No, no, no. It always goes dark before Blackout shows up!" The boy explained frantically, looking a bit manic as he tugged on his restraints. 

"Oh, this guy can turn off lights? Oh, I'm so scared!" Ray exclaimed sarcastically - as arrogant and cocksure as usual. 

"Why are you laughing?!"

"What else can he do? Unplug your amp while you're playing guitar?" He scoffed with a bright smile, which only dimmed when his dense brain suddenly realised something, making (y/n) glance away awkwardly. 

"And as I say that, I realise Schwoz might have done that on purpose, that little piece of sh--" 

Ray would have to take up that fight with the genius later and grill him on killing the groove. First, he would have to deal with their interrupting guest, who made his presence very well known when he kicked the door open and stomped into the store. 

A heavy breath left Henry's body as his nemesis stood before him, draped in all-black robes and an imposing steel mask. He looked like Death himself, and the kid would honestly say he was petrified. 

Even (y/n) gulped, not liking how this Blackout guy stood at least head and shoulders taller than her with huge hands that could snap her in two. Still, she tried to be brave, glaring at the villain as Ray confidently snorted at him, thinking he looked like a bug in that stupid helmet. 

"I should never have come here," Henry murmured, a foreboding sense telling him that the fiend would leave no witnesses behind, "I'm sorry for putting you guys in danger."

"Relax, if this guy puts one finger on my sweet girl, I'll kick his ass into next week," Ray replied, puffing his chest out at the bounty hunter as he flashed a cocky grin at his precious wife. 

He didn't look like much, standing there like a lemon--and his muscles weren't as big as his, and he wasn't handsome with that mask. "And this loser doesn't even have a weapon."

As usual, he spoke too soon on that one. With the press of a button on a small doohickey, Blackout summoned one of the bloodiest, craziest, and biggest weapons (y/n) had ever seen. 

It was like an axe from hell, spawning blades and spikes on either end of a long, steel pole, meaning he had double the opportunity to chop heads and limbs off. And she didn't doubt that he'd use it without a spare thought. 

"Okay, I'm taking that home after we're done with this guy!" Ray gasped, thinking it looked as sick as it was sinister. 

"We're gonna die, dude!" But Henry just shook his head, sniffing weakly as he presumed the worst. 

Unlike Ray, who imagined nothing but a sweet victory. Then, he'd move on to adoration and glory, followed by a peaceful retirement with his beloved wife and the family they would undoubtedly have. He definitely had no plans to give that up for something as stupid as dying. 

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm trying to think of an opening quip..."

"Is now really the time, Captain?" Miss Danger asked quietly, eyeing Blackout, who didn't seem as idle as before now that he had his big stick axe thing. 

"Sure, pretty girl. Okay, how about..." he said calmly, channelling his inner wit and doofy humour, "Knock-knock--"

"Doofus, look out!" Her warning came too late, and even if he noticed the bounty hunter owing, there wasn't much Ray could've done.

Blackout charged at him without a second thought, twirling and slamming the butt of his lethal axe into the hero's toned stomach to the sound of (y/n)'s shriek. The impact was so powerful that her doofus blasted through the wall, leaving a colossal hole beside her as Henry gulped, his mouth propped open. 

"Typically, you'd say, who's there?" The hero's weak voice came, strained and squeaky, from the back room where he lay. He'd be okay, of course, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like a bitch. 

"Holy shit..." (y/n) gulped as the hunter ignored his victim's cries. Instead, he expertly twirled his weapon and glanced between her and the kid, seemingly picking between his prey. 

"Look..." Henry said pleadingly, despite knowing it was futile, "I'm the one you want, okay? Eat my soul, do you whatever you want to my body--just don't hurt my friends!"

"Hell, no, if Nightlight or whatever his name is wants a fight, he can have one!" The heroine argued, glowering at the villain, who she thought was such a coward. 

He didn't give his enemies a fighting chance, and she tugged at her cuffs to at least try and get a swipe at him before her doom. Yet, she didn't have the opportunity because, out of nowhere, a herd of children fell from the sky. 

It sounded ridiculous, but that's actually what happened. Before her and Henry's eyes, four bodies tackled Blackout from above, leaving him in a groaning heap. They blinked in surprise as Miles, Mika, Chapa, and Bose lay on the ground, wearing their uniforms, slightly winded but otherwise okay. 

"You guys!" (y/n) grinned, having never been so happy to see them, even if they were slightly grumpy from the rough landing. 

"Too high!" Miles groaned, having misjudged his teleportation, not that it mattered too much. 

"How did you miss the floor, AWOL?" Chapa hissed as she glared and clutched her bruised ribs. 

"At least we're here! We could have been in another country! Ungrateful!" The boy argued indignantly, thinking some people were unbelievably rude. 

Regardless, they marched over to their fellow sidekicks and quickly freed them, ripping away the freaky handcuffs. 

"Oh, my sweet baby boy, Bose!" (y/n) grinned at the boy as he gently freed her. She rubbed at her chafed wrists and hugged him before greeting her other babies, knowing she'd end up baking some thank-you cookies once they made it home. 

"Hey, why are the lights out?" Asked Chapa when she didn't see the warm, snuggly hug coming, which she would never admit to enjoying. The darkness hid her rosy cheeks, but they couldn't fight blindly.

"It's Blackout! He's a bounty hunter from Dystopia--" Henry answered as they worked at uncuffing him, too, only the girl quickly turned her back on him. 

"I've already stopped listening," she murmured, too busy searching for the convenience store's fuse box so she could jump the lights. 

Meanwhile, Ray emerged from the back room, still bolted to the wall he'd been thrown through. He waddled into the front with a massive chunk of plasterboard on his back, looking a little stunned but otherwise okay. 

"Doofus!" (y/n) exclaimed happily when she saw him standing there, his stature slightly shortened by the wall's weight. Still, he was a sight for sore eyes when the light returned, and she didn't hesitate to throw her arms around his neck. 

"Are you okay?"

"Always when I'm with you, darlin'," Ray replied charmingly, wishing he could hold her in his arms and kiss those pretty lips. But he'd have to wait for when he was free, sort of a sitting duck with his wrists restrained as Blackout got back on his feet. 

"Captain Man...what are you doing? Be careful!" The heroine gasped when Ray boldly toddled past her, having to walk on his tiptoes since the plasterboard threatened his balance. 

Still, he wasn't about to have some emo bounty hunter dictate stuff to him or endanger his wife, so he tapped him on the shoulder. Blackout turned around, mildly impressed to see the blue and red moron still alive and glaring at him, but Ray never went down without a fight. 

"Wasn't done with my quip. I said, knock, knock--" That being said, he was still an idiot. 

(y/n) winced when he took another blow to the gut from that spiky axe, stumbling backwards across the room until he fell onto his ass. 

"Stay away from him..." She told the villain coldly as she put herself between him and her vulnerable husband, clearly intending to fight. It was a little reckless, but she didn't care, drawing a quiet chuckle from the otherwise silent hunter. 

"Sweet girl, don't!" Ray called out to her, happy to say that if he were cut down now, the last thing he'd see was her perfect butt in that skirt, but he didn't want to see her hurt. 

In his mind, he wasn't worth it. He shouted at the kids to help her as Henry shook off his bonds, but the latter didn't jump into action. 

"Thanks, I owe you one," the kid said to Bose and Mika with a fleeting grin before running for the door. He really was a wimp...

"What?! Dude!"

"Henry!"

"Where are you going?!" Danger Force and (y/n) shouted after him, shocked to see the formerly fearless sidekick flee. 

Luckily, Chapa, having zapped the fuse box, was stationed near the door and blocked his exit, meaning he could not escape his problems this time. 

"The scary guy's that way, and he's about to peel Miss Danger like a satsuma," Mika told him, pointing at where (y/n) stood with Blackout. She looked a tad overwhelmed.

Maybe it was the fact she foresaw one punch and dodged it, only to receive a sneaky uppercut, or perhaps it was how he then grabbed her by the throat and lifted the woman off her feet that gave it away. Who knows?

"Looks like she's takin' care of him..." Henry gulped, knowing he was lying to himself again when his friend was mercilessly tossed to the side like a ragdoll. 

That gave the villain access to Captain Man, who quickly had to endure an excruciating beating from the axe as Blackout tried to chop him in half. Still, to look at him, Ray looked like he was merely being tickled, taking the swings and making jokes like a champ, albeit through gritted teeth. 

"After I say knock-knock, you say, who's there? And I say, my fist! And then, before you can say, my fist who, that's when I say, ah!"

"Captain Man!" (y/n) exclaimed, staring through woozy eyes as Blackout tried to cleave her husband's chest again, drawing a pained grunt from him. She tried to get to her feet, a little wobbly after her little scuffle, but she was more worried about him. 

"All right, I'll see you guys later. Tell Schwoz he can keep my dirty laundry..." Henry said, giving them a little wave before tiptoeing toward the door - as if he'd ever make a clean getaway. 

He made it about five steps, with Danger Force running after him, before (y/n) spotted him, and her visage darkened. The kid could practically pinpoint the moment her glare pierced him, but her booming voice put the fear of God in him. 

"Henry Prudence Hart! Stay right where you are!" The heroine shouted, and as she commanded, he froze. Henry shakily turned around, flanked by Danger Force's members as they shoved him away from the door and toward their boss. Their real boss - Ray could never be this scary. 

She didn't have to say anything, merely crooking her finger towards herself to beckon him over. Henry's feet moved independently, slapping on the tiled floor with encouragement from Chapa's elbow. He stood before his friend, who stared at him menacingly with her hands on her hips, not knowing where to start. 

"Just where do you think you're going?" she asked sternly, feeling like she'd called a child up for a telling-off in front of the entire school. 

"Home..." Henry replied, barely audible as he mumbled his words. 

"Louder."

"Home," he repeated, clearing his throat so she could hear him. This time, she sighed through her teeth, shaking her head. The disappointment was bitterly wounding. 

"Right..." (y/n) nodded in understanding, and for a quick minute, she seemed remarkably calm. But only for a few seconds. 

In the blink of an eye, she had her hand in the air before bringing it down on the nape of the kid's neck, slapping him on the back of his head as she'd promised. Each hissed word was punctuated with a slap, making him grimace as the sharp smacks rained down. 

"You're. Such. An. Idiot. Henry!"

"Ow!" 

"You better say ow! How could you leave us to fight this guy alone?!" The heroine said sharply, blowing on her fingers to cool them off, and she had no sympathy for his little whines. 

"I don't know! I--" he tripped over his words, nervous from having so many little eyes on him. He didn't need the children's judgment. They had zero idea what it was like, so he stared at his hands, the floor, and even Ray as he received another pummelling. 

"You what?! Huh? What, Henry?" But that merely made (y/n) angrier, and she glared at the boy as he failed to provide a coherent answer. 

"What could be so important that you leave me, Captain Man, and Danger Force here to die? Huh?! 'Cause you said, this guy wouldn't blink twice at murdering us!"

"Dude..." Chapa muttered dryly, giving the older kid a judgy stare as he shook. She despised cowards, especially the ones who knowingly allowed kids to do his dirty work. Still, Henry just ignored her, wrapping his arms around himself like a comforting blanket. 

"I can't, (y/n/n)! I just can't!"

"Why?" The woman demanded to know and stepped close to him until Henry couldn't take it anymore. His hands flew to his hair, tugging it in exasperation as his teary, bloodshot gaze met hers. 

"I'm scared! Okay?! I'm scared to fight Blackout!" He cried, and they all froze. It was an unexpected outburst, and not a word (y/n) often associated with the kid, seeing him as courageous and daring, but he was just a kid. 

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that - he was so young. 

"He's really tough and evil and...I'm just...scared."

"Henry..." (y/n) sighed, placing her hands on his shoulders so he had no choice but to look her in the eye. 

She was mildly surprised when she saw the little boy he used to be staring back at despite being so much taller now; he was still thirteen-year-old Henry Hart, and she knew him. And he knew her. "What's my number one rule?"

"Ooh, ooh! No capes!" Bose piped up, his hand in the air, as if they were back in the classroom. 

"Good, but no..." She smiled at his antics, liking his enthusiasm, but shook her head. She kindly looked at the tall boy, putting her hands on his smooth, boyish cheeks and squishing them together. 

"Even superheroes are allowed to be scared."

"Wow...you're really bringing that one back?" A grin broke out on his face as the simple utterance shot him back in time five years prior. 

He remembered every wobble he and Ray ever had and how she was always the one to soothe their worries with the right words. 

"It's true," she replied, pulling him into a tight hug and whispering... "It's normal to be afraid, but we don't just run away from the problem! So, stay here and help us fight this guy!"

"Yeah! Captain Man says you're the best superhero he's ever seen," Miles interjected, giving his predecessor a reassuring smile and bump on the arm. He was trying to be encouraging, but Henry was ever the pessimist. 

"That does not sound like him," he answered, knowing Ray and his constant ridicule. 

"He also says you have a surprisingly good singing voice," Bose added, making the kid smile coyly. He looked a little sheepish, his ears tinged pink, but if there was one thing his ex-boss loved, it was a sing-song, and Henry had been there for a few.

"I guess I'm all right..." he crooned, just as Blackout took another hit at Ray, slamming the electrified axe into his chest. (y/n) was anxious to go and help, turning to the boy with pleading eyes. 

"Captain Man says that we're garbage, and the four of us will never measure up to one of you."

"I disagree with that, but whatever..." the heroine muttered to herself when Chapa grumbled, staring jealously at Henry because they would never be him. They would never replace Kid Danger or what he meant to the superheroes, but they didn't want to. They just wanted to make it on their own. 

"I'm sure you guys are pretty tough...." replied Henry, thinking they had to have some talent - Ray wouldn't tolerate utter losers. And they had superpowers, right?

"Well, why don't you stay here, and we can show you?" Mika said, challenging the boy with a flash of her determined gaze, backed up by her twin. Even Henry couldn't help but feel fired up, knowing their support was behind him. 

"Yeah, let's take this guy down together." Everyone fell silent for a minute, half-smiling at the nice sentiment and half-cringing at how sappy it was. Chapa had to stop herself from puking, (y/n) gritted her teeth, and the others winced. 

"Was that cheesy? That felt really cheesy..."

"Eh...maybe a bit. Lil' bit of cheese," the woman told him kindly, trying to spare his feelings whilst Chapa didn't hold back. She shivered at the grossness of friends helping friends for the greater good and all that crap. 

But the small jokes and quiet laughs soon died down when the all-too-familiar bang of Blackout's axe coming down cut through the air. 

Everyone glanced back at Ray, who had sweat clinging to his temple as he endured another savage whack, and even the bounty hunter grew tired of the never-ending attack. 

"Why won't you die?" He growled, hunched over to catch his breath. Obviously, the hero hadn't let slip his indestructibility. 

"You ready?" (y/n) murmured to Henry, knowing she'd go for round two with that guy, whether he wanted to fight or not. 

But when he turned to her, the kid had a fiery glint in his eye and a cocksure grin that she knew too well. He nodded at her firmly and rolled his shoulders, loosening everything up to take on his greatest enemy - which he should've done in the first place rather than leaving Charlotte and Jasper in danger. 

"Let's ride on this fool..." Henry told her and the children, who all readied themselves for a fight. 

They lined up, fists clenched and feet firmly planted on the floor; the kid and (y/n) stood hip-to-hip with two kids on either side of them, hoping their powers would actually work for once. 

Immediately, AWOL thrust his fist into the air, disappearing in a flash of warm light before reappearing beside the winded villain. Before Blackout could even look up, he kicked out at his weapon, knocking it from his hand across the floor.

He backed off once he wasn't dangerous, and Volt went in, rolling across the floor as Henry and (y/n) dashed forward. The kid punched him first, and Chapa sneakily blasted him in the face with a bolt of lightning, stunning him long enough for the heroine to land a blow on his face.

"That's for hurting my husband!" (y/n) growled, hoping her rough slug stung like a bitch since he tried to slice her doofus. They went back and forth like that, punching and zapping him until ShoutOut yelled at them...

"All of you, move!" She ordered, giving the three enough time to hit the floor before she super-screamed. 

The violent sound waves knocked the villain to the ground with a grunt. BrainStorm finished him off, using his telekinesis to lift him into the air and drag him across the room into Henry's force field. It was like hitting a brick wall, leaving the bounty hunter firmly incapacitated. 

High-fives, giggles, and fist-bumps passed around the room as the heroes grinned, celebrating a job well done. Why the kid couldn't handle that guy in the first place was beyond them, but they didn't say anything, too proud to feel anything but pure joy. 

At last, Ray broke free of the handcuffs, having used Blackout's repeated assaults to weaken them. With a final tug of his super-strength, they shattered, and he was finally freed from the damn things - including the plasterboard. 

"Dooooooofus!" (y/n) exclaimed, leaving the kids by the door to run into his embrace once the man was on his feet. She threw her arms around his neck, and Ray grinned, easily lifting her up as he pecked her cheek. 

"There's my girl..." he whispered, spinning around before planting her on her feet again. Their lips met gently, earning a few whistles and groans from the kids, but the couple didn't listen.

"You looked so hot when you punched that guy..." Ray muttered into her ear, grinning from ear to ear as he squeezed her waist. 

"Yeah? You were watching?" She replied quietly, knowing the kids would see them whispering and make all those puking noises, but it felt like an age since she'd been in his arms--even though it was only an hour or two. 

She was pleased to have emphasised her hip movements during the fight when he was watching. She could tell which asset had captured her doofus' gaze simply by how he needily nuzzled into her neck. 

"Couldn't help it..." the hero answered, kissing down her neck before glancing at the crumpled villain behind her. Part of him was disappointed in himself that he hadn't protected her--left her to be thrown around by that asshole, and it fuelled his need for revenge. 

"Watch this..." 

(y/n) followed her hulking lover as he plodded toward Blackout, a little unsteady on his feet since he'd endured a few too many hits. Still, he loomed over the pile of black robes, glaring down at the hunter who dared to hurt his precious wife. 

"Hey, Blackout..." he called to him, only to get no reply from the snoozing criminal. "What'd you get when you cross a duck with a Shih Tzu? Blackout?"

"I think he's a bit...unconscious, doof," said his wife, who hovered by his side and grabbed onto his beefy arm, loving how muscly it felt under her hands. But that wasn't good enough for the man-child, who'd missed out on his excellent quip and lost his hilarious joke. 

That made him mad - furious, even - so he did the normal thing. He kicked him in the spine as if it would be a wake-up call. 

"Blackout!" He hissed, booting him again, but he didn't even squeak in pain. There wasn't even a flicker of life in the guy, making (y/n) look at the kids with a panicked expression. 

"You don't think he's...do you?" she asked, looking at them wide-eyed before turning to Ray. He blew out his cheeks at her, just knowing that he'd have to be the one to scrape him up off the floor and dump the body...somewhere. 

"Okay, that's your one for the year," he told Danger Force, who pouted that they'd lost their privilege so quickly - and Chapa didn't even get to savour it.

Ray got his weird, spiky, axey thing, which he quickly retrieved from Blackout's fingertips. Why couldn't she mildly maim a guy?

~The Man's Nest~

The following day was a sad one. 

With his fears about Blackout and instant death, Henry's brief but glorious visit to his surrogate parents was over, even if he didn't want it to be. Despite everything - the lies, secrecy and trickery - he enjoyed seeing them again, bonding with Ray like old times and eating too much of (y/n)'s food. 

He felt safe, loved, and wanted again, but with age came responsibility, and that was in Dystopia - he knew that now. He knew skipping town because of a few butterflies wasn't right, so it was time to put it right. And that would undoubtedly break the old man's heart. 

"Ho-kay, laundry all done," Schwoz said as he finished folding the last of the kid's freshly washed and pressed clothing. He'd nearly killed himself trying to clean the small mountain, but it was worth seeing that cheeky smile again, putting it all into a big sack for the journey home. 

"Thanks, Schwoz," Henry replied, tucking his PearPhone into his back pocket after finally responding to Charlotte. She'd give him hell when he returned, but he deserved it--and she was much scarier than Blackout. 

"I left a little present in the pocket of one of your pairs of jeans."

"Aw, thanks..." the kid grinned, a faint blush painting his cheeks since he wasn't used to such affection. "What is it? Like, a little piece of candy?"

"All I can say is...it's alive," said the genius, making the boy pause and give him a suspicious, concerned look. Typical Shwoz...

"What? Seriously?!"

"It was nice to see you! I love your wig!" The bald weirdo exclaimed before scurrying off, greeting Ray and (y/n) as they passed through the metal door. 

The kid frowned at what he said, touching his very real hair, but he ignored it, smiling sadly at them. He hauled the laundry bag over his shoulder and tried not to appear gloomy, knowing he'd never make it to the tube if the woman cried. 

"Don't forget your Nacho Ball!" Ray told him as he handed over a sack full of greasy deliciousness. Anyone could see he was smiling bravely, showing the kid his most charming smile as (y/n) reassuringly squeezed his hand. 

"Whoever sits next to me on the plane is gonna hate me..." the kid joked - anything to try and lighten the mood. 

"Because of the farts?" Ray sniggered, giggling with his old sidekick like children as (y/n) shook her head and sniffed. She promised herself she wouldn't cry...

"I keep telling you not to eat dairy," she scolded him, clutching the Tupperware box in her free hand like a lifeline, which she needed when an awkward silence fell over them. 

Over six years together, and she couldn't remember a time when no one had something to say...

"Oh, I made you some oatmeal-raisin cookies...for the flight," she said, quickly giving him the box, and her arms fell by her sides again, watching the kid try to juggle everything. "I would say save some for Charlotte and Jasper, but I doubt they'll last that long."

"No way..." Henry laughed, tucking the precious baked goods into his bag so he could nibble on them after the Nacho Ball. A final, familiar taste of home... "Thanks, (y/n/n)."

"Y'know...you don't have to go back to Dystopia," Ray told him slowly, hoping his last-ditch attempt would change the boy's mind. 

It was almost impossible and a little late to stop now, but he could at least try as he curled his arm around his wife's waist and tucked his hand into her back pocket. He needed an old, squishy friend to pat to settle his nerves. 

"No, I do..." Henry replied, glancing at the floor before giving his old friend a sad half-smile, "Running to Swellview just put you guys in danger."

"Yeah, but they took care of it, right?" The hero sniffed, gesturing to the children across the room, who barely knew what day it was, thanks to the adorable distractions he'd organised. 

(y/n) was unbelievably jealous. She stared longingly at the four puppies nestled in each kid's arms and wished he'd let her have one. She helped save the day...why couldn't she cuddle one?

"They sure did, dude. That's a tough group of kids you guys have there."

"It always surprises us how much grit and determination each of them has," the heroine replied, trying not to sound all babyish and pouty as she fondly watched Danger Force by their lockers. 

"Right, sweet girl..." Ray muttered, wiggling his fingers in the pocket against her butt, earning a light smack on the arm before his mischievous grin fell. "...Oh my God, they're baby-talking the puppies..."

"This was so worth it!" They overheard Miles exclaim as he petted his little French Bulldog, and the heroes couldn't help but smile. 

"Later, Dangers!" The kid called out to them, and Miles, Mika, Chapa, and Bose looked up from the cute creatures and grinned. 

"A-buh-bye, Henwy!"

"Byeeeee!"

"Have a safe trip!" They exclaimed in silly, squeaky voices, and to Ray's exasperation, they used the puppies' paws to wave goodbye, acting as if they were talking.

So, at last, the moment had come. Henry's flight was scheduled to leave a couple of hours, and he'd stretched his time in the Nest until the last second. Now, he had to go, turning to his tearful friends with a bittersweet smile. 

"Wanna hug it out?" He offered, knowing (y/n/n) wouldn't let him go without one. 

"Nah..." Ray shook his head stubbornly, hating the aching feeling in his chest like someone had clawed it out. He didn't want anyone to see him cry - especially Chapa - but his sweet girl didn't care, stepping forward and pulling the boy toward her in the blink of an eye. 

"Well, I do!" She cried, tightly looping her arms around the kid's waist and burying her face into his chest. "My baby's not leaving without his goodbye hug..."

"Best hugs in Swellview..." Henry whispered, savouring the warm snuggliness for a few seconds as she clung to him, nuzzling his plaid shirt. 

Glancing up, he saw the moody hero staring at them, a twinkle of jealousy in his blue eyes. When Henry beckoned him with two fingers, knowing he knew more about the woman's hugs than most, it wasn't surprising that Ray's stubbornness melted. 

"...Maybe just one hug." He conceded and quickly joined his wife, wrapping his arms around her and the kid so she was sandwiched between them. 

Henry patted the man's back as best he could, feeling the weight of both of them leaning on his body, and whilst it was immense, he wasn't mad. If anything, he savoured it, knowing he wouldn't have it again for many months; on the other side of the world where no one cared about him the way they did. 

"I'll call you when I get home," he muttered to the heroine, grunting slightly when Ray's arms tightened - keeping his two favourite people in the world right where he wanted them. 

"Don't forget..." (y/n) said in a joking, warning tone, having never felt so content in a hug before, running her hands up and down the boy's back. "And when you get home, you make sure to tell Charlotte and Jasper that I'm thinking about them..."

"I will..." he nodded, imagining his friends' grins when they received her love - even if he'd undoubtedly have eaten the cookies.

"And keep yourself safe," she added, stretching the moment for every it was worth. "And if you need anything, don't hesitate to call us. Not for a second..."

"Okay, (y/n/n). Don't worry..."

"I will worry..." She sniffed, feeling the tears pricking at her eyes, even as her husband's huge chest curled around her body. "I'll always worry when my babies aren't at home."

"I'll call..." Henry promised, squeezing her and Ray one final time before when his phone dinged. "Oh--that's my Goober."

"Yeah..." He was a bit stuck, trapped by her hug and Ray's immovable, muscly arms, and even though she loosened up, the man had no intention of letting go. 

"I gotta go, guys..."

"Okay..." (y/n) said quietly, trying to save her sobs for once he'd gone, but even after her arms released him, Ray remained. He was lost in the moment, his hand locked on his wrist as the kid tried to push him away. 

"Ray, I gotta go!"

"Doofus!" The woman groaned, feeling his hug grow a little tighter to the point where she felt like she was being steam-rolled. "Doofus, I can't breathe..."

"Ray, I gotta go!" 

Henry took drastic measures when he didn't respond again, pushing the couple away with a small, light force field. It wasn't too strong, knowing he wouldn't live another day if he hurt her, but it broke the guy out of his daydream, leaving them all tangled up. 

"Yeah, yeah..." Ray mumbled, draping himself over his pretty girl as Henry shook his head mirthfully. "Get outta here! Protect that Goober rating!"

"Yeah..." He nodded sadly, looking over his shoulder one last time as his PearPhone pinged - the sign of an irate taxi driver. 

The air was heavy and stagnant as he shuffled to the tube, feeling like he'd hardly been in Nest for two seconds, and now, he was leaving. But, there was one little surprise left...

"Ow!" 

To his horror, when he reached into his back pocket for his phone, something bit his fingertip, latching on and not letting go. When he pulled it out, he discovered Schwoz's little present—a delightfully tiny snapping turtle, much to everyone's confusion. 

"Gotcha!" An evil chuckle came across the room when the metal door rose to reveal the genius lurking behind them, kneeling on the floor in his stupid pinafore. 

"Schwoz!" Ray exclaimed angrily, but the little weirdo disappeared again, giggling manically as the kid flicked the little critter away and rubbed his sore finger. 

"That really hurt..." he muttered, stepping onto the tube pad with all his baggage as the hero stared at him longingly, wishing 

Who knew when his next visit would be? 

"Wait!" 

[original-character-championship]

Bracket D Round 1

Poll 10

Pier Lombardi (@raybotonline) vs. Gil (@lektricfergus)

211. Pier Lombardi (@raybotonline)

he/him

Me and my friends have literally gone insane over this man multiple times. He is like my very own tumblr sexyman. He has been a fountain of memes since early 2020 and one of my friends has a jackbox tee-ko t shirt with him on it. In terms of character though he is the most guy of all time, hes divorced, he tried to make himself into a robot, he is like a small wet hamster in terms of personality, he has memory loss problems along with 50 other mental illnesses and he is 6'7''

Hes a tall white man wearing glasses with a scar over his eye, long black hair, and patchy stubble, hes wearing a salmon coloured turtleneck under a white lab coat and blue jeans, and he has a robotic arm and robotic leg.

212. Gil - Gilberta Maravilla Reyes Carillo (@lektricfergus)

she/her

it’s either Gil or Gilberta Maravilla Reyes Carillo and there is no in between. milf! long-haired butch woman! kinda sleazy! literally full of ghosts! chainsmokes in the desert!

has a whippet-greyhound-coyote-unidentifiable-canine mix named pez, because she had one (1) pez candy stuck to her fur when gil found her

 is very religious not in the sense that she is super committed to one religion but in the sense that she is kind of into all of them as a Ghost Treatment thing (she attracts ghosts and they possess her). played for laughs (she has a ton of religious symbol necklaces that are actually sorta sentimental value)

lanky and awkward and very laid-back! fun to be around if you don’t mind the smell of cigarette smoke. may steal your wallet if you look like you can spare it. altogether pretty swag and she’s in my brain a lot

latina. 6 feet tall even and skinny to the point of slight boniness. sandy skin weathered dark by years in the sun. dark brown eyes. a somewhat scraggly dark brown mullet reaching to her shoulders. wrinkles consistent with being in your fifties. likes to wear short sleeve button-down shirts tucked into jeans, as well as cowboy boots and her many religious necklaces.

(art by biracy)

[final-bae-stination]

A Whole World Away (Bondi Rescue)

Pairing: Chase Hardaker X Girlfriend! Fem! OC

Tags: Falling In Love; Crushing; Long-Distance Relationship; Reuniting Together; Coming Home.

Requested: No.

Third Person POV

Chase had liked her from the start, and for a while, she liked him, too, but pretended not to. She was a surfer, so she was always in the water, catching waves. She was from Brazil, and she was fluent in English, Portuguese, and French. She could also say at least five swear words in Russian, which often made Chase laugh.

He met her on the surf. It was six in the morning, and he was scheduled at eight, so he figured he’d catch some waves first. She’d come paddling up beside him and smiled. “Pretty, isn’t it?” She asked, sitting on her board and watching the sunrise. “Yeah. I’m Chase,” He smiled. “Aline.” She smiled. “Nice to meet you.” “You as well.”

They kept talking, and Chase found himself doing sunrise/sunset surfing with her, just to spend more time with her. She was due to leave in a week, and it made him sad. She was beautiful, but lived a whole world away. They went to different parts of Sydney, Chase playing tour guide.

Now, the lifeguards saw this, clearly. They saw Chase mooning over this girl, totally infatuated with her, and her with him, after a while. At first, she thought it was cute that he liked her like that, but then she started falling as well. But they knew how easily Chase fell, and how easily he was hurt, and were a little worried, considering she was from Brazil. But they trusted Chase, because he was a kid. He was learning about heartbreak, and though it hurt to see, they knew it was a part of growing up. And then she’d left. 

Chase went to the airport with her, seeing her off. He’d been hanging out at the beach with the guys in the Tower, joking around and laughing, when Aline showed up, bags at her side, and Chase knew. “You’re leaving.” He said, and she nodded, not looking at him. The lifeguards shared looks, and Deano touched his arm. “Go see your girl off,” He said, and Chase went. Will and Luke Faddy went as support.

“I’m gonna miss you,” She whispered, standing in front of the gate. Chase smiled sadly. “Nah, I think I’ll miss you more, you know?” She laughed, and he pushed her hair behind her ear. “Chase?” She asked softly as her plane was called. “Yeah?” “Can I kiss you?” “Yeah.” And she did. They kissed for a long moment, and then she was gone with one final look. He didn’t go back to the beach after her plane had left. Will and Luke dropped him off, feeling sad, watching Chase slump inside before returning to work.

The others found him, after work, at his house, sitting on his couch. “Stupid, isn’t it?” He said when they walked in. “That I’m so depressed for a girl?” He shook his head. “No.” Jake said. “Your only problem is falling too hard too fast, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” “You love her, that’s understandable.” Whippet put in.

He was distant at work, Aline always on his mind, but never once failed at a rescue or a job, determined to not be so mopey over her. They still called each other.

She’d even asked if they could try being together, so they were dating, but long-distance. It was hard. They couldn’t see each other but over video chat, and he missed her terribly, because the only time he could really call her was his few days off and after work, at night, when she’d be. 

He didn’t expect her to come back, because she was still in college. But he was at work one day when Will came in amid the team, hiding a shit-eating grin. “I have something for you,” Will said to Chase, making everyone stare. And then Aline poked her head in. “Hi, Chase!” Chase leapt from his seat, nearly knocking it over, and hugged her, hearing her laugh. “What the hell are you doing here?!” He asked, bewildered. She shrugged. “I’m an official Aussie.” She grinned. “I figured I could finish my schooling here, because…because you were here.” She added softly. Chase blinked. “Really? That’s awesome!” He smiled, and caught a glimpse of Whippet grinning fondly at them. “Um…do you want to meet the others?” He asked softly, and she nodded, “I’d love to.” The team was pleased to meet her, and her and Lachie had become friends almost instantly because of their shared humor. But Chase was just glad his girlfriend was home. When the sun set, he turned to her. “Hey.” She turned, eyes curious. “We haven’t gone out there in a while.” She looked at the ocean, colored red from the sunset. She smiled. “C’mon.” They grabbed their boards, heading to the water, and just sat there, watching the sun sink. 

In the Tower, the team smiled, watching them.

“Hey.” Aline said. Chase turned, and she kissed him. It was perfect.

[x-authorship-x]

hi Torship 💛

How tall is everyone in your hope au? Like you mentioned a few times that shisui and inocihi are the same height so how tall is everyone else? Have a good day/night 💛

Hey Anon!

Sorry for leaving this in my inbox for so long but I have Reasons behind everyone's heights lol so I'm sorry if you wanted just a quick list of numbers but I've no chill 🤣

So most Shinobi are Athletes in my mind (the performance of the body is a tool as well as a lifestyle) and I don't mean bodybuilder 5% fat etc etc I mean high performance and high usability.

The Uchiha go one of three ways:

Mikoto is slight at 5'6 ish, Shunsuke was about the same height and so was Kagami, Itachi won't get much taller than this because he takes almost completely after his mother. Hikaku from the Warring Clans era was also like this etc, it's the most common body type in the Clan (gotta love that inbreeding, eh). Think pilates, flexibility over brute strength. Izuna was about 5'6, lean to match his katana.

Fugaku is a little broader, starting to hit that slight softening of fitness because he's got a steady in-Village job and he's doing desk work as well as hitting forty BUT he's also keeping busy and he trains hard on Saturdays. Sasuke gets to be a little taller than him but lean, think 'tennis player'. Flexible and strong but mainly limber. They're both around the 5'8 mark, which they shared with Madara and Tajima etc.

Shisui and his mother Kana are the third type, which is "I didn't know Uchiha got that tall" 🤣 Kana was a taijutsu mistress so think "heavy AND strong" and she was about 6'1, which is how Shisui reaches about 6'1-2.

Shisui was a whippet of a kid, he was one of those high metabolism teenagers and lingered around 5'6 (giving Itachi false hope that they'd be about the same height and making Mikoto nostalgic for Shunsuke and Kagami) until he hit 17 and fucking exploded upwards another 3-4 inches lmao. Coupled with the fact he was a Rookie ANBU at that age, so at the peak of his training, and with a crazy appetite... The gains also hit. He has an ass, I'm so proud :')

So... Why did I make Shisui that tall?

The simple answer is because Inoichi is.

There are big wordy cinematic parallels between Shisui and Inoichi somehow ending up at exactly the same height and size, of them being parallel and equal and exactly at eye height. It makes them look more alike, more uncanny when they move in sync or copy mannerisms, and it makes Inoichi appear like a third parent in Shisui's genetics lmao.

But, to be honest, it was just a huge vibe.

Shisui in canon was this little slip of a kid, same as Itachi, and it always hurt to be reminded that he never got the chance to actually come out the other side of puberty. That's also why Inoichi in No Tomorrow/HOPE AU has those moments of realising how grown up Shisui is, because we're supposed to remember that this is someone who never reached full adulthood.

Note: I do generally age Shisui up. Canon/Fanon has him around 14-16 at the time of his death and I usually aim for around 19/20.

I also enjoy the imagery of Shisui, who is known for his speed, not being built like a whippet marathon runner but being more like Usain Bolt (who is a whopping 6'5 with muscles to spare) and a decent head taller than most of his Clan. So 🤣 you end up with a whole yowling pack of Uchihas, like serious feline energy, and then Itachi hopping around like a little blackbird... And then Shisui as this huge fucking corvid bird in the middle 🤣.

Squad Two

Kakashi is about 5'11. The hair makes him taller as much as his posture makes him smaller. Sakumo was a strong man with strong shoulders and Kakashi is a little finer, a hit that Gai would barely feel would make Kakashi stagger, which is why he's so crafty and brutally efficient. Frankly, Kakashi is lucky to get this tall; weighing up the cons of a kid who doesnt care about himself being the only source of meals and nutrition for himself from four years old (Kushina's ramen doesn't count) VS Kakashi being training obsessed and having a protein meal plan??? He has very little extra weight on him, Kakashi is the one who looks like a marathon runner/cyclist.

Genma: 5'7. He's average height, average built, he has a slinkiness that the others lack because he's an assassin and that means endurance and flexibility. He is silent, can squeeze through tiny gaps, and he definitely has damaged tendons from dislocating his thumbs etc too often. Think Ballerina (Ballerino have heckin strong thighs, which Genma doesn't much), pilates, contortionist.

Raidou: 5'9, just another dude. Raidou is an all rounder so he's got functional strength and endurance. A decent amount of body weight, soft muscle definition and a fuck tonne of callouses to go with that scar tissue. He was also raised by civilians who own a spice shop so he always ate very well and his parents often give him extra food because they worry about his health. I like to think Raidou is the only one with an ass-ass.

Tenzo: at this moment in HOPE AU, Tenzo is still a teen and he's still slight. He's currently 5'8 but he will reach 5'10, and he's only just begun to show signs of those amazing Canon shoulders. As someone with a LOT of nature chakra, his muscle buildup is quite dense. He'll be the most muscular of the Squad by the time he's thirty. Right now? He's still coltish and sweet.

Shisui: see above^

Other Characters

Inoichi: 6'1, see above^

Sora: 5'5, soft but strong, lots of freckles and callouses and stretch marks because she isn't a Shinobi (the body is a tool, blah blah) so she just exists and enjoys ❤️

Ino: bby. She'll be 6ft one day tho, the tallest girl in her year by a lot~

Kushina/Mito/Uzumaki: poppet rockets. Max 5'2, if that. Change my mind (syke, you can't). Kushina was like a little ball of anger, Mito was like a perfect doll, Naruto is gonna be so so angry that Sasuke is so much taller 🤣🤣🤣. This doesn't help that theyre chakra dense so grow quick and build muscle, where the Uchiha have excess yin chakra (as do the Hyuuga and Nara), so they have much later growth spurts... so Naruto was the same height as everyone else in the Academy and the rage and disbelief will kick in when they all get taller but he stays the same lmao. They are small and strong and from a distance their chakra is monstrous so you think you're dealing with a giant and then this little petit figure with chakra like a goddamn sun yeets you into space for calling them 'squirt'.

Minato: 5'8, svelte muscles. Average height for a man but did that stop Kushina from being annoyed? No ❤️

Anko: 5'4, curvy as fuck and with thighs that can crush watermelons amen

Gai: BEEFCAKE 6FT. A beautiful youthful Bear. Look up Strong Man Challenge and then also think about woodsmen with huge arms and shoulders and matching thighs. No ripped abs, because that's erring into dehydration etc etc. Gai 🤝 Kronk = Amazing Shoulders, Arms and Back, never skips leg day

Konan: 5'8, Ballerina (but impacted by malnutrition :/)

Jiraiya: 6'4, built like a fucking Ox, the hair is like a cloak and then you hit him and it's like a brick wall. Lots of strength, big belly as well as decades of muscle compaction, I feel like one step would snap a spine yk yk

Tsunade: 5'6, she has those Poppet Rocket Uzumaki genes but Hashirama (he was 6'4, Senju average at around 6ft-6'5, Tobirama was 6'2) was a literal tree so it balanced out a bit more. She has the Most Beautiful Biceps in the world. The definition of Girlbossing the weight room with a manicure and stilettos.

Orochimaru: okay but I love the idea that he's like 6'3 with a ridiculous shoulder to waist ratio and these long, slightly ghoulish, limbs. Like he has these long, dramatic features and big hands, long fingers, boney and sinewy and just very pale and very otherworldly. Beautiful in a disconcerting way, a little too much the serpent.

Tiger: She's a Yamanaka, so she's minimum 5'9, think volleyball. Same with Fū.

Kisame: you KNOW i gotta explain Kisame in full, it's deserved. He is canonically huge. He is Heckin. However.... We gotta have some moderation (stop booing in the back row) because otherwise I have some Concerns about Kisame's more human ancestors and logistics 🤣. So I've got Kisame pinned at around 6'7 ✨. He's bulked up like Gai but not quite, think more male Gymnast (especially the hanging ring demonstrations) crossed with a woodcutter. Lots of shoulder, back and arm strength. He's in the three way hand shake (or arm grip a la Schwarzenegger gif) with Gai and Kronk, he also respects leg day. Like Gai, he has great glutes too.

Non-human sizes:

Note: Japanese Crows are usually either 'jungle crows' or 'carrion crows' but both generally grow to 50cm/19inches in length with a wingspan that's max. 100-130cm/40-60inches. This is for proportional reference. ....who am I kidding, I'm just gonna fuck around.

Akira: he's the size of a big housecat, a decent armful (30 inches approx, 2'6ft) with a wingspan that's around 70 inches.... Which is taller than Itachi 🤣 omfg

Arakan: he's about the size of a common black bird (11 inches long, wingspan around 28inches, so about Akira's length)

Kana: she is WOW. I compared her to an ox cart and a nightmare, so the imagery is great but it didn't do her justice. A Moose (😈) is about 6ft at the shoulder but upwards of 7ft including antlers so... If that's her length... that puts Kana's wingspan at 14ft across. Stunning 👏 Toad Summons have a collective fear 👏

This answer took me several hours and I've made this far too complicated but 🤷 enjoy!

Have a great day, anon ☺️

[worrior-studios]

Alfred’s playhouse characters info for my series:

Alfred alfer: Alfred is a weak brown and white dog that is scared constantly and has been abused his whole life. He lets others take advantage of him often and seemingly cannot stand up for himself. Sometimes when he gets into a bad situation his mind mentally resorts to his “playhouse” And another alter takes over. His alters can talk to him inside his mind and can appear in his dream and hurt him.

Alfred alter 1: Dictator Pickles: Dictator Pickles is a horrible, crude dog that’s strong and commanding. He looks like Alfred but with a military uniform. He doesn’t let anybody hurt him and he often hurts others. He manipulates Alfred into causing acts of violence and his main goal is to always be in control and have power. Formed after Alfred got abused a lot. He made Alfred kill his father.

Alfred Alter 2: Alfem: Alfem is The female version of Alfred Alfer. She is a carefree girl that doesn't have to experience any of the pain that Alfred Alfer does. She has red hair and is usually seen wearing white thigh-high socks or a school girl outfit. She is happy and often cares for Alfred like a mother figure. She does molest him a bit too. But Alfred prefers it over everybody else. considering it not as bad. Formed when his father used to call him a "little girl" when he rapes him. Also formed because of his mother's drug abuse and his urge for a mother.

Labby: Big black dog with red eyes. He's a demon and he forces kids and weak minded people (Like Alfred) to do horrible things. He does horrible things and makes Alfred do horrible things. There kind of dating. Not really. But Alfred considers they are. Labby assaults Alfred a lot.

ocs (Just for my Alfred's playhouse series) Biscuit:

Breed: Pittbull

Apperance: Tiny, black, brown and white pitbull with green eyes and many scars.

Alfred's younger brother. five years younger then Alfred. Got along with his brother well and Alfred tried his best to protect him from the abuse. But he died after his father killed him.

Amoral:

Breed: Irish wolfhound Appearance: Nasty unkept gray and almost dark-green Irish wolfhound. Covered in scars, tall, long and slightly overweight. Twice the size of Alfred.

Alfred Alfer's father. He abused him basically his whole life and he sexually assaulted him multiple times. He left him abandoned in stores before as well. He died after Dictator Pickles took over and killed him. Once that happened Alfred Alfer ended up running away.

Linda:

Breed: Whippet

Apperance: Tiny (Tiny bit bigger then Alfred) light cream with darker cream fur. Kind of looks like Alfred but more muted and she has a diamond necklace around her neck and she wears makeup a lot. She always has a souless, methhead look in her eyes.

Alfred Alfer's mother. She was addicted to heroin and several other drugs. Took them while she was pregnant. Never wanted a child. Much younger then Amoral. Most likely got pregnant because he raped her and she couldn't leave. Had two puppies. Alfred and then biscuit two years later. She died from a drug overdose after that. It's unknown whether it was intentional or not. But Alfred believes that it was a suicide. Once his mother died his father started to abuse Alfred more.

[bas-rouge]

Yesterday recap? I didn't take a single photo (except of 2 irrelevant items), so none of those - sorry!

Usually when I go to an AKC event I recognise at least a fourth, maybe a third, of the people there - not the case this time! I hardly recognised anybody. But my friend with German Shepherds was helping run the event, so I did get to nab her and ask her some questions about German Shepherd conformation (and got some free information on lines, history, etc). Very cool.

I need to read the Whippet standard. I swear one of the adult Whippets was the size of an Iggy.

Learned a lot about Belgian conformation and was even able to play with a puppy which is always a plus.

Helped socialise a Chihuahua. First long hair I've met.

Walked my friend's GSD around and gave him some treats. He is a very good boy and I like him.

Ummmmmm yeah! The Greyhound went best in match while we were talking about how much we liked it outside the ring. Seriously beautiful dog.

Saw a Bull Terrier doing obedience. He was so good. Then I helped pick up and was starving because I had been there 8 hours without food when I had planned for 4-5. Lol

[wolftattoo]

btw that werewolf art i reblogged, morgan is like the 1st one. more hair and more canine in body w a long face. the hair is more like a greyhound or a whippet or even a lil close to a sphynx cat, super short and smooth. the tail is closer to a shorter nub like just a little longer than a docked length .