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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 9 months ago

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

Episode 13: Secret Room

~The Man Cave~

Oh, Ray was gonna kill him for this. That is, if (y/n) didn't get to him first.

The trio of heroes were out on a mission—what was new? Nothing much. Arson Boy had gotten trigger-happy with his flamethrower again and the Swellview Police were scared of fire, so as usual, Captain Man and his sidekicks had to go and stop him from burning the city down. Which was fine, a little dangerous for Henry since he could be toasted, but it was nothing they couldn't handle, just a little time-consuming perhaps.

That's where Schwoz and his master plan came in.

The minute the call had come in and the terrified citizen said "Arson Boy", he'd waved Ray, (y/n) and Henry off quicker than ever before because he needed them out of the way for the big idea that had taken months in the planning, that was nearly impossible to sneak in, that he would be throttled for if his boss found out prematurely. You wouldn't think his family coming to visit would be a bad thing but oh god, it was.

There was Larry, the sweaty cousin, his four kids, and of course, Winnie—lovely, lovely Winnie. Winnie, the woman who looked like she'd win first prize in a dressage event...and not as the rider. With them gone, Schwoz had managed to get them in and settled in record time, with a little help from Jasper and Charlotte who wasn't particularly fussed about the utter chaos that then ensued. It made the place lively, even if Schwoz helping his sister jump over hurdles like a horse was a little weird.

He would get it eventually, though. It was inevitable that the leader and his sweet girl would return and see the utter shambles that was now the Man Cave; laundry drying across a washing line hung from the equipment, food and candy strewn across the floor, children running riot, luggage dumped wherever, a board game on the go at the couch table and the blatant weirdness of a horsewoman trying to live out her horsey ways.

It was pure bedlam, as they were about to see. Cue the tube dropping.

"That's why kids shouldn't play with flamethrowers."

"Correct, doofus."

"You're telling me, dude—hey! Hey!" Upon re-entering their home, the heroes were engaged in friendly chat, chipper despite being singed all over from a few close brushes with Arson Boy's fire.

They smelled like a bonfire and were eager to get clean and changed before any real relaxing began but as they walked down the steps, they were so distracted by their light banter that they were clotheslined by the laundry. What the hell was going on?

"Hey, guys!"

"Glad you're alive..." Jasper and Charlotte greeted them, which would've been a nice gesture had it been said with any interest. They couldn't tear their eyes away from the Western-themed game they were playing, so it just came out as dry and uninterested—a formality that they had to put up with. But Ray and (y/n) weren't too bothered about that, the thing that was screaming out to them was that in the few hours they'd been gone, their home had turned into a delinquent's den.

"Schwoz, what the hell is this?" (y/n) asked angrily with confusion written across her face when Winnie...whinnied in it. Henry tripped over the discarded suitcases that had been carelessly left in front of the stairs as Ray lifted the pesky clothesline for his girl to step under, lest she got twanged by it. Together, they looked across the room, then at each other, and then across the room again, taking in the mess, plus the uninvited guests, some of which were playing with the computer as if it didn't have access to some of the most important systems in the city.

"Who are all these weird-looking freaks?" Ray asked, not wanting to be mean but they did look very weird. Come on, even Schowz had admitted in the past that his sister was a freak, what with her cravings for sugar cubes and tendency to sleep standing up.

"They're my family!" The small man replied and carried on guiding his sister around their mini circuit, praising her when she jumped the small hurdle like a goddamn pony. Right, Schwoz's family...the couple didn't want to be rude but they were a nightmare to board.

"That kid has a beard!" Henry pointed at the small kid, having gotten up from his tango with the luggage. The trio looked to see that he was right, the kid, who was pretend sword-fighting, had grown a beard that could rival that of a middle-aged man, not that his family thought it was wrong in any way.

"Yah, so cute! Zed's baby beard hasn't fallen out yet," Schwoz smiled fondly at the child, earning him some highly disturbed looks from his friends, "but when it does, the beard fairy will come and—"

"Gonna stop you right there, Schwoz."

"Thank you..." (y/n) looked up appreciatively at her doofus, glad that she didn't have to listen to any more details about babies having beards.

She hated kicking people out, after all, the genius rarely got to see his family just like she did but their beds were on the floor, crumbs everywhere and she hadn't forgotten about how much of a cockblock Winnie could be. Their "love-nest", as Henry called it, was not a crèche or a hotel.

"You know, as much as we love family your family here, I hate it, soooo....everybody out!" Ray said tentatively, hesitantly before deciding to forgo saving face and just telling Schwoz how it was. He did have the decency of keeping his sweet girl out of the kicking-out process, knowing that she'd feel bad if anyone else felt bad but secretly, he knew that she wanted them out too. They were making a mess of her nice, clean floors and he didn't doubt that Winnie would sleep-trot into their bedroom later that night and break up any activities. He hated that woman—horse.

"But I asked you if they could come visit for a week and you said, yeah, sure, whatever, Schwoz!" The handyman argued, imitating his boss's American accent in a moment that was strangely psychedelic given how he never normally strayed from the usual Schwozonian drawl. Still, what he said was news to (y/n), who snapped her head to look at her fiancé, who'd decided to ask her opinion.

"What?! Ray, is this true? Why on Earth would you say that?" She asked and the man pouted at landing in hot water when he'd done nothing wrong.

"I didn't!" He protested his innocence, not liking how his sweet girl was analysing him with her hands on her hips, but Schwoz begged to differ. Although, when he'd obtained permission, it had been done very slyly and during a moment when Ray could never agree properly.

"Yah, you did!" "When?" Ray demanded to know.

"I asked you three months ago when you were in the middle of kissing (y/n), because you can't think that far ahead and you don't like being interrupted, so you just say yes to anything!" He exclaimed, causing Ray to screw up his face in belligerence as (y/n) pinched the bridge of her nose.

Of course, he'd used her lover's two biggest weaknesses to his advantage; her and his inability to care about things far ahead. If Ray didn't care about it, he'd just mumbled yes and move on, especially if he was doing something more worth his attention—like remapping the inner territories of his sweet girl.

"That is so not true!" Still, he thought he could argue that he wasn't dumb, even if (y/n) was giving him the soft smile that she only wore when he was being dumb and adorable. He thought he could prove everyone wrong...until Charlotte overheard the entire conversation and decided to use this newfound information to her advantage.

"Hey, can Jasper and I get raises in three months?" She asked, assuming that Ray blindly agree since he lacked the brain power to process such a thought properly and he was too busy melting under his darling lover's gaze. It was the perfect time to strike.

"What? Yeah, sure, whatever, that's like a million years away and I'm busy..." he muttered with a slight chuckle and slowly moved closer to (y/n), hoping to sneak himself a kiss for his troubles—the only time he ever had tact and grace in his movements.

"You're such a doofus," the heroine grinned, shaking her head at how he'd ruined his argument for one kiss but she didn't deny him it. His head craned towards her as she wounded her arms around his neck and closed the gap, thinking that he'd earned it just for being cute, much to Henry's distaste. There were children in the room but that didn't stop them and neither did Schwoz, who was smirking to himself at how right and deviant he was; Ray Manchester could never tear his focus away from his sweet girl, not for anything.

"Look, guys, hello? Breathe!" The boy slapped their shoulders and grumpily, the couple pulled apart, muttering something about how they were making up for time lost when they could've kissed as best friends and never did. Party pooper, they were enjoying that smooch, even if there was the taste of charcoal intruding on the honey, mint and bubblegum.

"Look, let's just get some churros."

"Right, 'cause churros fix everything," Ray nodded and took his girl's hand so he could drag her away to the auto-snacker for a quick, sweet snack and leave Schwoz to talk to his strange, bearded cousin. He wanted deep-fried , sugary, cinnamony goodness with hot chocolate sauce on the side, which was perfect for sharing with his lover and no one would stop him from doing that.

"God, I want a churro..."

"Mm-hmm, that's what I need too, baby. Two churros—"

"Three churros, please!" Henry corrected his boss as he watched him fawn over (y/n), rolling his eyes at how no one else existed when he was with her. If the world vanished with one look, then it was no wonder why he couldn't think of the future—well, nothing in the future except the day when he finally got to marry her. The man couldn't stop dreaming about that, whenever it would be.

"No churros available." The auto-snacker said in its monotone voice, causing Henry to snap out of his trance as he watched the greatest love story of the century unfold in front of him and stare at the screen that his hand touched. How could it run out? He thought that was physically impossible.

"What did you say?" Ray too was outraged and pulled away from rubbing noses with his fiancée to glare at the machine that had just turned his mood from slightly sour to thunderous.

"Did I stutter? No churros available." It said, making them shrink back a little at its snappy sarcasm. That was a new feature, maybe Schwoz had upgraded it but whatever, (y/n) didn't care about what the interface was like, she just wanted to know why the machine that snatched food from thin air had nothing left for them, the ones who'd been working hard all night.

"Hey, hello? People?! How come the auto-snacker is out of churros?!"

"Oh, Larry's kids ordered a ton of them," Jasper replied and pointed to a massive pile of churros that had been left on the floor. What a waste, no one knew if they were gonna eat them or not but the heroes couldn't have them now that they'd been somewhere so icky. And seeing them discarded in such a meaningless way caused some real anger to bubble to the surface because they could've at least had the decency to leave some for other people, or y'know, Larry could've controlled his unruly offspring.

"What?! Ah, come on! Man, we just—we just got back from saving the city from Arson Boy—FROM ARSON BOY! We can't even get a churro! Can't even get a churro!—OW!" Henry grumbled, thinking that it was damn near unacceptable that they'd been out and risked their lives for the greater good, only to come back to base to find that some little punks had stolen their churros just to make a mound.

It wasn't fair and he wanted to step on them like little bugs, especially when the baby-bearded shit came up behind him and whacked him stupidly hard with his fake sword. Punk.

"Okay! Okay!" He growled, reaching for the kid so he could snap him like a twig and it was openly because of Ray and (y/n) holding him back that the beard wasn't falling out prematurely.

"No, no, no! No bad words, bury it down! Bury it down deep, kid!"

"He's a jerk! He's a jerk, man!" (y/n) nodded sympathetically as Henry stiffened in her arms but stopped trying to lunge for the children, who were asking for it as they raised their hands to their forehands in the shape of an L. She wanted to kick them too for making a mess in her home when they weren't even meant to be there but they were superheroes, they were professionals, they were responsible; hurting kids wasn't what they did, unfortunately.

"I know, I know...count to ten and let it go..."

"Hurt my butt..."

"I know, it's all right—hey, hey, hey! We're better than them, knock it off!" She scolded him lightly when he tried struggling against her hold one last time, anything to try and get that mocking laughter to stop. But eventually, he calmed down and stayed still, albeit with a glare still etched into his face, prompting Ray to think of something genius. His youngest sidekick needed him and he was gonna blow his mind.

"Hey, hey, hey..." he gently placed his hands over his sweet girl's as they rested on his shoulders and brought his lips down to Henry's ear as (y/n) looked at him weirdly, "come with me."

"Where?" Henry whispered, making the heroine separate from them and give them her raised eyebrow look that told them she knew they were conspiring. As sneaky as Ray liked to think he was, she knew nearly all of his plans and could read him like an open book, especially when he was planning something. He always looked odd when he was thinking.

"Just follow my lead," the man replied huskily as if it lessened the boy's confusion. If Schwoz's family were staying, that was fine, a little undermining for his authority, but fine. He had the perfect solution--as long as the kid trusted him.

"Okay."

"Uh....so...uhhh...Kid Danger and I are gonna go, uhhhh...use the bathroom together!" Ray announced, not that anyone cared. (y/n) stood puzzled where they'd left her as they slowly backed away and her head tilted, watching as Ray blew her a kiss and waggled his fingers to say goodbye. Did he think a lie like that would work?

"Nope!" Henry was not willing to try that, not for all the money in the world. Even if it was a lie, he didn't want people thinking that he and Ray had gone off to do god knows what together in the toilet, so he started to walk off, not that his boss would let him.

"Yep, so, uh...don't come looking for us for a long time!"

"What? Dude, I'm not gonna use the bathroom with you! Do I look like (y/n)?!" the boy questioned dramatically as Ray shoved him through the secret door whilst giving Schwoz, the freaks, Charlotte and Jasper a nervous smile. He gave his sweet girl a genuine one before they disappeared but (y/n) wasn't stupid. There was no way she wasn't following them.

Once through the secret door, Henry followed Ray, who was mysteriously silent whenever the boy asked a question. He just kept saying "you'll see" or "patience makes every surprise better" and those weren't very helpful. Rather, it just made the kid more curious as they walked down a few corridors, took a few left turns, then a right, before coming to a lost, lonely room that had "raw sewage" printed on the front.

That made him suspicious, especially when the man looked back at him with a strangely excited smile as he unlocked the door. Henry didn't know why he was so excited about a room that processed the Man Cave's sewage but he humoured him as Ray pushed the door open and stepped inside--into nothing but darkness.

"It's kinda dark in here, dude," the teen said, peering past the door to see if he could make out any shapes or colours but he really couldn't make heads or tails of anything. What was so good about this that meant he'd been dragged this far into the Man Cave?

Ray clapped his hands twice with a smug smirk on his face as his actions caused the lights to come on--something that was only for people who enjoyed being dramatic and showing off.

The room illuminated, finally showing what he'd been hiding in his little nook; there was an old, leather reclining chair, plus a shitty camping one, a crusty rug, a few string lights, a poster with...Ray's face? An old TV, a weird metallic suitcase, a small snack rack and what looked like a water cooler. It was a hole, but not just any hole...Ray's hole, one that he was extremely proud of.

"Welcome to the Mannex."

"Wow!" Henry breathed out as he took into the mancave of the Man Cave, Ray's little spot, his one place of privacy in his home that often felt very crowded. No one knew about it, not even (y/n), or at least he thought she didn't because having a quiet place for himself was good and refreshing sometimes. Particularly useful when he needed somewhere to cool off after a fight before they could become all mushy again.

"What's the Mannex?" the kid asked, not fully understanding what the room was since it was full of grungy, old furniture that all looked like it came from a yard sale, and not sewage as the label said.

The only thing Henry could see that wasn't grotty or old or second-hand was a photo frame that had been left on the rack, which was facing away from him but not completely, meaning he could still see the image of (y/n) smiling brightly into the camera, looking like Ray had called her name mid-laughter and caught her unawares.

He could swear that it used to be placed on a dresser in their bedroom, on one of the rare occasions he'd braved to venture in there. Ray must've swiped it and this was his little den where he could sit and look at it and smile to himself without being teased or sit and sulk and get all teary when they'd fought and he remembered what he was forsaking.

"It's a secret room where I hang out when everyone's buggin' me," Ray explained, briefly picking up the frame to look and admire the happy girl in it--and that small gesture was enough to make him melt and go all gooey and soft, as tough as he was trying to make himself seem. "Y'know, Jasper, Charlotte, Schwoz, up until today...you.

"Fair," Henry shrugged, knowing that he could be annoying at times like anyone could. Well, not anyone, there was one exception, "so...I notice (y/n) isn't on that list but I guess she doesn't annoy you. Ever."

"No, no...she's perfect," Ray replied dreamily as he sank into his worn chair and invited the boy to sit in the guest one, "but we, y'know, fight sometimes and when we do, I come here."

"Does she know you come here?"

"Nah...she doesn't even know this place exists," the hero told his sidekick, who nodded slowly as he took his word for it. It seemed impossible that something could happen in the Man Cave and (y/n) not know about it but he didn't dwell on it for long, not when his boss unleashed his ultimate weapon.

"So..." Ray said casually, wanting to move on from the depressing moments he'd experienced in the room when his relationship had hit a temporary low, so he leaned forward and delicately unlocked the metal case, revealing that it was a stash of chicken wings with a side of carrot and celery sticks, plus some dip on the side. He had to be kidding him. "What do you think?"

"I love this place and I never wanna leave," Henry said in a deadly serious voice, fingers glued together in a prayer-like press as if he was begging for this to not be a dream. Just two friends, hanging out with chicken wings, chips and a crappy TV - he was in heaven.

"This whole place is secret, dude. Secret chair, secret wings, secret sauce. Nobody knows it's here," the large man smiled and for a glorious yet brief second, they allowed themselves to relax in the silence, gloating to themselves that they had this awesome room and no one else to share it with. A special room for only them because--

"Well, I wouldn't quite put it like that, doofus. I'd say that most people don't know it's here," The boys almost jumped out of their seats at the unexpected voice and they stared at the open doorway where (y/n) was leaning against the frame with her arms folded and a soft, amused smile on her face.

The way they looked at her like they'd seen a ghost doing cartwheels whilst on fire, was hilarious to her, especially Ray. The only other instance he looked like that was when she told him she loved him for the first time.

"What?--Wh-wha--what are you doing here, sweet girl? How--how--"

"How did I know you were in here?" she completed the question for him, knowing it would make things easier and quicker since Ray was seemingly incapable of human speech at the sight of his fianceé in his super secret room that he'd never told her about. All he could manage was a weak nod.

"Ray, we've known each other for eleven years, we've been dating for nearly three of those eleven, and we're getting married. I know where you go when we fight, I mean, you're not exactly subtle about it," he relaxed a little at the laughter streaking through her words and the way she giggled at his tense body. It was a relief that she wasn't mad, secrets weren't a thing between them but for some reason, she was quite calm about it.

"And you aren't mad? I-I never told you and--" he stammered, bracing himself for an impact that wasn't coming as Henry sat frozen. Where was he meant to go when the fight started in his hiding place?

"I don't care that you never told me, sweetheart. I hide in my old bedroom, you hide in your little man...hole...room," (y/n) replied warmly, finding it adorable that he'd be worried about making space. "And besides, it's not hard to find this place, not when you talk so loud you can still hear you in the main room talking about your "special room". Honestly, when I first met you, I thought you had some bondage dungeon or something..."

"Okay! Thanks, (y/n/n), there is something known as too much information and I don't want to know what you two get up to in your free t--" Henry chuckled nervously, skin prickling at her casual conversation that had taken a U-turn into a topic he didn't want to hear about.

But, as he shut her up, another figure came up from behind her, one that wasn't such a welcome sight for the hero who wanted his secret to stay hidden. He could cope with her knowledge, but not this new intruder.

"Oh, there you guys are!"

"Nooooo!" Ray groaned as his favourite person peeked over the shoulder of his real favourite person; Jasper. The boy had an unsuspecting smile on his face and wide eyes as he took in the cool room that he'd never seen before and the irritation from the invasion was so bad that the man leaned forward in his chair too much and ended up tipping the damn thing over, thus landing himself on the floor.

"Whoa, what is this room?" Jasper asked, wandering in as (y/n) cleared the doorway to help her doofus up, which he greatly appreciated. Now that he thought about it, having her sit in his lap, in his special chair, feeding her junk food as they watched a crappy action movie didn't sound so bad, but he figured that it would defeat the point of the secret room if he gave into something he could and did do anywhere.

"Jasper, what are you doing here?!" Henry questioned as Ray righted the recliner and pecked his girl on the cheek for helping him.

"What? Zed's baby beard just fell out! You guys wanna touch it?" the boy exclaimed and then held out the frankly disgusting wad of hair that he'd swiped from the joyous boy.

"No, I don't wanna touch it. That's gross!"

"You see why I followed you in here?" (y/n) looked up at Ray as he and Henry recoiled from the beard, his arms circling her body to pull her away as if the hair had a disease or lice. The woman had legged it from the main room when the odd little boy had run up to Schwoz and his dad to show them his smooth, beardless cheeks, which was a little too weird for her. And obviously, Jasper had followed her...and others.

"Jasper! Schwoz says that Zed has to put the beard under his pillow or the beard fairy won't come!"

"Well, I was just showing Ray, (y/n) and Henry!" the boy replied to the booming voice in the hallway that just happened to be Charlotte's. And low and behold, despite their best efforts, she appeared at the door, discovering the room and everything in it before the boys had a chance to shut her out.

"What is this room?" the girl asked the same question and marvelled in the same way as her friends had done, meaning Ray's grip on his girl's waist became incredibly tight.

"Just get out of here and stop asking questions!" The boss snapped at her harshly, growing flustered and stroppy from how many people were now sniffing around his private space, staring at all of his favourite things, honing in on his gradually getting colder wings. Not even (y/n) could keep him calm because technically, as much as he adored her, she was part of the problem.

"I have a question..." And here came Schwoz. Perfect. Just what he needed. "Is it cool if my cousin, Larry, borrows your toothbrush?" the small man asked, holding out Ry'a blue and white brush that had previously resided in his and (y/n)'s shared bathroom.

"No!" And of course, Ray refused.

"Too late." Not that Schwoz or Larry cared. Talk about being rude as guests, this just took the biscuit and the couple shared a disproving glance before turning back to the repairman. But like the others, it didn't take him long to forget about the soiled toothbrush and instead focus on the Mannex, which he had no idea about either. He'd always just assumed it truly was a plumbing room.

"Hey, what is this room?"

"N-n-n-n-nah, it's a secret room! And it's ours!" the hero snapped, almost childishly but he had always been known to be quite possessive over what little he had in his personal life. The room was an extension of the serenity he could hardly afford as the city's busiest hero, so now that it resembled Piccadily Circus made him mad and moody, something that was so typical of him that no one batted an eyelash at the "ours" part.

"Well, I want a secret room!"

"Me too!" Jasper and Charlotte exclaimed, feeling a bit jealous that the heroes, who already took all the fame and glory of the operation they had going on, got to have some secret bunker in the middle of the Man Cave, which was busier than ever. It was so cool and there were hundreds of rooms. Why couldn't they have one? Or, y'know, share the Mannex?

"With wings!"

"And a chair!"

"Yeah!"

"And a poster of fighter pilots with a picture of my face taped over one of them!"

"Ehhh..." When they listed off all of the cool things inside the little hidey-hole, that just made their desire to share the space stronger, even if the girl did think that the whole poster thing was a little self-absorbed. But Ray being Ray, and Henry being his slightly cocky self, they didn't want to share, not when it was their only chance to spend time together as buds.

"Then, go make your own room! This room is for--" the man stopped himself before he could say something he'd later regret but as usual, he couldn't hold his tongue, "this room is for crimefighters only!"

That earned him a few shocked, offended gasps from around the room and a rather stern glare from his sweet girl, who didn't like what he was implying. If he didn't want them there, he should've just said--he didn't have to start throwing titles and ranks around.

"So, doofus, let me get this straight. You don't think that they help us fight crime?" she looked at Ray with a challenging look on her face, her arms folded as if she was daring him to say something because if he did, she'd have him.

What would they do without Schwoz's tech? Or Charlotte on the computer? Or Jasper keeping an eye on Junk-N-Stuff? Probably crash and burn.

"Of, course, they help," Henry replied in an unsure voice that provided little to no comfort to his friends, "y'know, but we're out there fighting Arson Boy."

"That's right!" Ray wholeheartedly agreed with his young sidekick, singlehandedly eliminating his helpers from his room simply because they were the metaphorical "guy in the chair". But a stationary, on-base position didn't make them any less important, or at least (y/n) didn't think so.

"So, unless you got torched by a twelve-year-old with a flamethrower, uh--"

"Get out!" Hero and sidekick said together, pointing their thumbs to the door, much to the fury of the others.

"I am not leaving," Jasper stated, folding his arms in a flat-out, defiant refusal to budge from the room that he knew he had a right to be in. Sure, he couldn't kick or punch or take someone down but he still helped.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Get out!" But despite his protest, Ray and Henry were as adamant as they were. Ignoring a lot of screams and shouts from Schwoz and the two teens, the boys hauled them out of the Mannex by the scruffs of their necks or the sleeves of their clothes - any way that would give them peace once again. Charlotte could dig her heels in all she wanted, but she was still deposited outside the door like the others. Well, Schwoz did push his luck a bit.

"All of you out...some people just don't know their place," he said with a small smile as he deviously shut the door and kept himself on the inside, turning around with a small hope that he'd be allowed to stay. However, when he saw the heroes' unimpressed faces and (y/n) braced for the fallout, he knew he'd fucked up.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ray seized Schwoz but his odd jacket as Henry yanked open the door. Despite (y/n) holding onto his arm and telling him to calm down and be reasonable, the hero didn't waste a moment in swinging the small man back and forth a few times to build momentum before slinging him out like a drunk at the bar, slamming the door with a firm hand and muttering about staying put.

"Raymond!" The woman shouted as she watched Schwoz slumped against the wall for a brief second before the door shut. That looked pretty painful but the boys didn't seem to care, not one bit; Henry had gone back to his camping chair and Ray was smiling at her brightly, arms circling her waist to bring her in close. Yet another room was spoiled by their grossness.

"What, darlin'?

"Don't you darlin' me! How could you throw them out like that?" (y/n) asked indignantly, placing her hands on top of his and shucking them from her waist, not loving that they were the same hands that had just been so cruel to their friends. It was hard to see Ray's face fall and Henry quickly became uncomfortable with the sudden tension, like any kid when mom and dad fought, but even so, they couldn't see the big deal.

"This is our room, (y/n)! For superheroes, y'know, the ones who do the actual work--fighting, punching--kicking! That sort of thing," he said in an explanatory voice that carried a tight edge, which was highlighted by the sharp punch of her real name. He never used her real name, ever, it was always some mushy pet name that reflected how utterly in love with her he was, so it just showed how serious the air had become.

"Oh, yeah, because they're gainfully employed doing nothing. I say we let them come in here, let them have a few wings and then, they'll go and it'll just be our room again," the heroine said succinctly, thinking it was as simple as ABC since the other three would only stomach a few snacks and the smell of mothballs for so long before wandering off again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...it's our room...not your room too," Henry piped up, which was a grave mistake. (y/n)'s jaw hit the ground when he nonchalantly uttered those awful words and shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn't painful for her to be excluded--too many bad memories of her nerdy younger self being too slow in gym class and always being picked last for teams or finding out later on that there was a party and chemistry geeks couldn't attend.

And yet when she went to snap back and assert her authority, her doofus was inclined to agree...with Henry.

"Now, wait just a minute, you're getting a bit above yourself, Hen--"

"Actually, he kinda has a point, sweetheart," the man's soft voice was enough for her eyes to bug out of her head and she jerked her head to look at her lover with an incredulous face. His gaze was soft but his words were cutting and it took a good few seconds of stammering and a wobbly lip for her mind to reboot and the right words to form on her tongue.

"Wha--he--huh? Raymond! He does not have a point! What the hell do you mean by that?!" she asked furiously, hands resting furiously on her hips as she looked up at him with knitted eyebrows and pursed lips. Henry backstabbing her was enough but her doofus too? The room must've been a pretty good price to pay.

"Well, you know..."

"No, I don't know. Spit it out." The man flinched at her curtness and struggled to put it into a sentence that wouldn't offend her. God, he didn't want to do that, he loved and respected her with every he had, but for once, they'd found something they disagreed on.

"It's just...this is a room for boy superheroes...just Kid Danger and Captain Man. Not Miss Danger," he explained, wringing his gloved hands together as he punched out each syllable, watching her face go from confused to dark to sad to...laughing?

He hated himself for it and any other room she'd gladly be welcome, everyone knew that but in this case, he just wanted a bit of space for him and Henry, the OG crimefighters, the original duo. Not that his sweet girl wasn't part of the team--she was--but he just felt that Henry would always be the primary sidekick just because that was his solitary job description, something (y/n) found laughable.

"Oh, yeah? Just the two of you? The crimefighters?" (y/n) pointed between them with a crooked eyebrow, not believing the sanctimonious, medieval horseshit that was coming out of his mouth. Boy superheroes, right, 'cause every time she'd saved their butts they'd never mentioned the segregation before.

"You know, it's funny 'cause I fight crime too. Y'see this? The fire damage on my skirt? That's from when Arson Boy decided to make me a human candle and it's also why I smell like an arsonist. Boy superheroes, what a load of shit..."

"Sweet girl, you know I love Miss Danger and I know you help us--more than the others do--but this is just for me and the kid. It's nothing personal..." Ray told her gently, waiting a few moments to let her rant dissipate before going in with his holier-than-thou statement.

She looked at him with cold, stern eyes as if she was pondering her next move, or possibly letting her rationality seep back in. He was so delicate, so tender with his voice, and even softer with his touch as he carefully picked up her hand and waited for her reply. It took a while, one where Henry swore he didn't breathe once, and (y/n) thought about one thing - one thing he said.

"...Nothing personal?" she asked in a small voice, feeling a little silly after such a rare outburst but she wasn't happy. It was never nice to be told that you weren't in the cool boys' club simply because you were a girl. Honestly, it really was like she was five again.

But annoyingly, it wasn't malicious. It wasn't because she was a sissy or because she had cooties or because she made them look girly, it was simply because a man wanted to spend some time with the kid who he saw like a brother, away from any outside interference. And she was classed as that. It would be wrong to intrude on such bonding, after all, she and Ray bonded all of the time, perhaps a little too much and it would also be unfair.

"Never," Ray promised and slowly raised her hand to his lips so he could place a chivalrous kiss on her lips--his way of saying that he truly didn't want to shove her away, this was just a gentle nudge out of the door.

"...Okay..." the woman said quietly as she thought about it and screwed up her nose to try and stop the heat from getting to her cheeks. She could do that, accept that this wasn't necessarily where she wasn't welcome, it was just where she wasn't needed. Nothing malicious about that.

"Okay?" Ray still wasn't convinced, though, and still felt like he was walking on eggshells until she went on.

"Yeah. I mean, as long as this isn't some sort of coup or testosterone cesspit, I'm cool with... y'know, wings-poster-comfy chair. I'll, uh, go see what the others are doing--probably sulking, knowing them," (y/n) gave the boy and her lover one of her warm smiles, which they returned when she scuffed her boot against the concrete.

It was a relief that she wasn't mad and Henry couldn't find it in himself to gag when the gooeyness returned before her departure. Some things never changed.

"Thanks, sweetheart. You know where to find me if you need anything," Ray mumbled and leaned down to peck at her lips a few times as they said their goodbyes before the gentle nudge.

His touch was feather light and she seemed skittish like a kitten, nervous energy running between them that made them breathless and that was before they got over themselves and descended into a deeper, more passionate battle.

"I am a fountain of vomit right now..." Henry muttered and his voice was enough to bring them from the lapse into a makeout session, the couple pulling apart with slightly swollen lips, dilated pupils and cheesy grins. Some things never changed.

"I love you, doofus..." (y/n) said sweetly, sparing him a glance as she quickly moved to ruffle Henry's hair for his especially helpful comment, something that earned her a grizzly, toothy smile from the miffed boy. Wanting to leave them in peace, she strode quickly, opening the door and waving to the duo with wiggling fingers before closing it behind her with a soft click.

"God...I love her," Ray mumbled to himself, soaking up every ounce of warmth he felt from the last mirthful smirk she sent his way when there was but a crack left from the closing door. She'd never hear it from through the metal and besides, he could hear her click-clacking boots speeding away down the corridor, so it was very much an admission for him and him alone...well, nearly.

"Yeah... I got that from this," Henry giggled, which turned into a shriek for mercy when Ray turned around and saw him lounging like a Cheshire cat. In his hand was the photograph, the candid of (y/n) smiling as naturally as ever, the one Ray loved to stroke and admire, and Henry was twirling it around in the man's face.

He knew why it was there. He knew where it had come from. And Ray's threats to cut his salary if he didn't put it down were futile. His sweet girl was allowed in, she just couldn't stay long enough to give his ears a reason to burn.

~An hour later~

What secret room would be complete without a karaoke machine? Henry wasn't sure and yet here he was, dragging a huge set down to the Man Cave at Ray's request because that's what he'd argued.

After stroking (y/n)'s picture for twenty minutes and giggling about how pretty she was, the boy had drawn the line and stated that they needed to do something other than watching the crappy TV and eat chicken wings...and stare at (y/n)'s face. That's when the hero suggested karaoke and that sounded great to the kid, who automatically assumed that he had a machine and was about to unveil it--yet another brilliant feature of the Mannex.

But no. Ray didn't have one, or so he said, and when Henry opened his stupid mouth and said that his dad had a dusty one tucked away in their attic, well, his fate was sealed. That's how he ended up jogging up the road and hauling the heavy thing back to the Man Cave, leaving whatever drama that was going on in his home so they could jam out to some awesome songs.

"Henry, can you help me? Winnie stepped on a mysterious key that we think leads to--" Larry asked him as he stepped out of the elevator with the karaoke machine tilted on its wheels. The main room was still in chaos and Schwoz's family were still as weird and whacky but if there was one thing the kid couldn't do at that moment, it was helping someone else. He was on the verge of a hernia as it was.

"Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah... I'm just trying to get this karaoke machine to the secret room, okay?" he told him, not wanting to know any details because then, he'd be involved and everything would be a mess. He was tired and wanted to sit down, he didn't care what they were up to, not when Ray was probably getting impatient.

"Yeah, but we think that the key opens a magic chest full of treasure!" Larry tried to tell him, thinking that he and his family had stumbled onto some kind of epic quest but even that wasn't tempting enough.

"If I listen, I'll end up involved and I do not want that."

"But it could lead to an adventure!" the fat man shouted after the sidekick as he dragged the machine through the secret door, hoping for one more pair of hands to help them find this so-called treasure chest, but Henry was already gone. The door shut behind him as he yelled over Larry's objections until he was well away from them and headed towards the Mannex, where Ray was having a little party of his own.

"Perfect tan, and glorious hair! He protects all Swellview, man and womannnn--kind! With Miss Danger by his side!" Henry walked in on his boss singing to the poster of their faces and when he finally hit the last note, he turned to him and smirked, expecting applause or praise that wasn't coming.

Henry didn't care about the stupid, egocentric song, how it didn't mention him, or how the party had started without him. All he cared about was that Ray had somehow, miraculously acquired himself a karaoke machine in the time he'd been gone, meaning his trip had been for nothing.

"Hey!" Ray exclaimed indignantly when his sidekick reached over to yank out the power cord on his machine, and just when he was getting to the good bit of the song, the one that had been revised to drop all of the nonsense about him loving hot moms so it could be replaced with a gushing verse about Miss Danger. One that made (y/n)'s ear burns whenever she heard it.

"Dude, why would you have me go all the way home to get my dad's karaoke machine when you already have one right here?" Henry asked sharply.

"Great question..." Ray replied slowly, trailing a finger over (y/n)'s pictured face as he tried to think of a good excuse but his brain never did work properly when he was admiring her smile, "so, uh...turn your machine off so I can go back to singing. I'm nearly at the part where I sing about how hot (y/n) is when she's fighting."

"It's not on," Henry replied, wondering what the hell he was talking about but now that he was listening closely, he could understand why his boss might think that. Faintly, very, very quietly, as if it was some way away, there was the sound of dance music and vibrations under their feet like someone was having a rave not too far away.

"Well, where's that music coming from?" Ray asked. He hadn't noticed it before but now it was blatantly obvious that someone else was having fun and he wanted to know, who, where and why. "Schwoz's family?"

"Nahhh, it's definitely not them. They found this magic key or something--"

"Nah, nah, nah, nah, don't tell me, I don't want to get involved," Ray stopped the kid there, his affirmation that they weren't the culprits being enough for him. Like Henry, Ray didn't want to be dragged into an adventure when they were trying to relax.

"Smart. Come on, let's follow that tune," the boy grinned and walked out the door with his boss following closely. If it wasn't Schwoz's family, who could it be? They were gonna find out, even if it killed them; all they had to do was go where their feet told them, in the direction of the beat and the strength of the vibrations, where the urge to dance was strongest.

They snaked their way through the corridors, delving deeper into the Man Cave until they were in a part that Henry could swear he'd never been in before. The music was getting louder and the bass beat was rattling the walls something fierce yet Ray pressed on, storming through his lair until they were close to the source.

They took a left turn, onto a corridor that couldn't have been properly used in years but one of the rooms seemed to have light pooling in the crack beneath the door, which was clattering from the power of the beat. It was a pretty good bet that they'd found what they were looking for and without any delay, Ray stormed forward and entered, only to be greeted with a horrifying sight.

Inside the room that was humorously labelled "cooked sewage" was a hideout that put his Mannex to shame, and it was all because of his rebellious helpers.

Schwoz was on the turntables, acting as DJ to make the music just right and so loud that it could be heard through many walls of stone and steel. He was bopping to the music and adding some flair in the form of sound effects and scratching to the rave that was thoroughly being enjoyed by (y/n).

The room was amazing, much better and nicer than Ray and Henry's, from the decor to the entertainment, it was superior and they couldn't help but feel a flair of jealousy as they took everything in, including a poster that had all of their faces taped on, even if Jasper wasn't particularly happy with being the nose of the fighter jet.

In front of the DJ's table was enough room for her private dancefloor, where she was tearing it up without a care in the world. Her hips swayed and she raised her arms above her head in a manner that she would never attempt in a real club but amongst her friends, she was losing herself in the music.

And it's not like the others cared, this was a place for them to enjoy since other places were out of bounds. Jasper was living his best life on the punchball game, the kind you'd see at a funfair to test if you're Mike Tyson or not. Meanwhile, Charlotte was enjoying the VR headset and go-kart game that was installed next to it, racing like her life depended on it as she turned the wheel one way and then another.

"Ladies love Schwoz!" A deep voice echoed from the speakers as Schwoz toyed with the audio, much to Ray's anger. He couldn't help but admire the way his sweet girl was dancing as if there was no one else in the room and he hated how he'd sent her away to enjoy someone else's music. And that someone being Schwoz only served to cut deeper.

"They do not!"

"This one does! DJ Schwoz's tunes are bangin'!" (y/n) replied absentmindedly, not noticing her doofus since her eyes were closed and she was just doing what the music told her. When she didn't even acknowledge him and then, proceeded to compliment Schwoz of all people and imply that he was better in some way, Ray felt his patience snap and rather childishly, he bent over to pull the power from the machine powering the games and the music equipment.

"Hey!"

"Why'd the music stop? I was enjoying that..."

"What happened?" The resounding complaints from the quartet came quickly and they snapped out of their trances and looked away from their entertainment. They weren't particularly happy that everything had come to a stop but a power cut they could understand, Ray and Henry standing there looking angry they could not.

"I happened!"

"I also happened," the hero and sidekick stated grumpily, facing the four frowns with equally stern faces. Ray's eyes met (y/n)'s and she cocked an eyebrow, confused as to why he'd turned up in the hangout room that Schwoz, Charlotte and Jasper had put together and invited her into. She'd thought he'd be hanging with Henry for at least a few more hours.

"Doofus! What gives? Why are you here?" she asked worriedly, thinking something was wrong but all of that was quashed when he brought her in for what was meant to be their normal "we're together again at last" kiss yet Ray made it a little too passionate for it to be just a quick hello smooch.

"Sweet girl--"

"Uhhhh, what are you doing in our secret room?" Schwoz rudely interrupted his boss, not caring that he'd crossed a line by rudely separating the lovers or that Ray was glaring at him fiercely.

This was his domain, the room he'd helped set up and as such, he wanted a little more authority than he was permitted elsewhere in the Man Cave, so he had no problem with pulling (y/n) away by her arm and gently pushing her in the direction of Charlotte now that she was out of the go-kart. It was a dangerous game to play, especially when the woman was gravitating towards her doofus in that stupidly hot shirt that was too small for him and he was leaning towards her in that cute little skirt.

"Uhhh, why do you have a secret room and why can't I hug (y/n)?! I haven't seen her in...like, a whole hour!" Ray snapped back, ensuring that he mocked Schwoz's accent for being so insubordinate and annoying. He was damn lucky he didn't crack that coconut head for pulling his darling girl away when he wasn't even done kissing her.

"'Cause, that's what you told us to do when you kicked us out of your secret room, remember? Go make your own room, this room is for crimefighters only! And you kicked (y/n) out of your room, that's why she's with us and why you don't deserve her hugs!" Charlotte explained angrily, reminding the boys of exactly what they said, although her version wasn't entirely correct.

"Dude, I don't talk like this. Why would you do that?"

"No, you do that!" she insisted, hoping that her dumb voice would wind him up after the way he'd behaved. Sure, their room was awesome but it was still offensive that they'd been deemed inadequate and she certainly didn't like that (y/n), although a "crimefighter", hadn't been allowed to join their clique either.

"I don't do that, Charlotte! And I didn't kick (y/n) out, she left willingly! It's a room for me and Henry and she's okay with that!"

"To be fair, he didn't kick me out...he's too sweet for that," (y/n) piped up, pinching her doofus' cheek and smiling up at him with dreamy eyes. She hadn't had the chance to tell him how good he looked in his shirt since they'd changed out of their smokey uniforms and she was practically drooling, much to Charlotte's exasperation.

There went part of her argument.

"You're the sweet one, sweet girl--" Ray remarked and held her chin between his forefinger and thumb so he could tilt her mouth up towards him. He'd set the stage for the perfect kiss, one that he'd been rudely denied by Schwoz but just when he was dropping his lips towards hers, Henry's gaze raked across the room and saw something much sweeter. Debatable.

"Is that..." he muttered and tapped on his boss's bicep most annoyingly until he sighed deeply and looked at what he was looking at, leaving (y/n) to whine and drop her forehead on Ray's chest. She'd get a kiss at some point but not now, not when Ray saw what had been hiding in plain sight by the snack area.

"Is that a party-sized churro?"

"Dios Mio!" Ray breathed out when Henry pointed to the gigantic churro that had been ordered to the room specially--to piss them off. (y/n) was forgotten as the two walked over to the mystical object, causing her to huff slightly as Ray began to salivate over it and not her, but she didn't need to worry. Jasper was on hand to act as security.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah! This is a fiesta-sized churro and you guys can't have any."

"This room is for non-crimefighters only...and (y/n) since she's got killer dance moves," Charlotte explained as Jasper shoved them away from the jumbo churro and her words were enough to wound the heroes deeply. But it was only what they'd done earlier and now, they were getting a taste of their own medicine.

"Yeah, yeah, so you need to get your butts outta here!" she added, which was enough to set off a massive argument between the non-supes and the supers.

"Don't you tell me where to put my butt, Charlotte! (y/n), tell her!"

"I'm not getting involved. I prefer to sit on the fence. That way, you see what's growing in both gardens," the woman replied with an unbothered shrug when her doofus asked her to join his side.

She was placed in a difficult position; on one hand, she loved him dearly and he had her unending devotion but on the other, it had been Charlotte, Jasper and Schwox who'd welcomed her into their room even though she was technically an enemy. So, she decided not to choose and instead, wanted to work with Jasper to calm everyone down.

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" the boy tried to shout above the noise and he had her full support--until Ray whipped out his laser controller and threatened him.

Jasper was off like a shot, running for cover when Ray made a warning blast above Charlotte and Schwoz's heads. The girl screamed and (y/n) ducked in front of her swiftly, shielding them since Ray would never try to hurt her, as Henry pushed his boss away and wrestled for the weapon.

"He's wearing my colours and hugging my girl, man!" the hero yelled and pointed at Jasper as Henry's eyes searched him for an explanation. Glancing over his shoulder, the kid noticed that his best friend was being comforted by (y/n) with a quick hug after nearly being zapped and he was incidentally wearing a grey, red and blue hoodie. Ray must've been feeling territorial.

"Geez..." he muttered as Ray took a breath and calmed down, soothed by the worried expression written on his fiancee's face and his sudden desire to wipe it clean and put a smile there instead. "Look, let's make a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Jasper asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously.

"You guys get to keep your room all to yourselves..."

"Love it."

"Hate it!" There were mixed opinions about the first part of Henry's deal. Ray wanted to enjoy the fancy room with all of its games and sweet girls but equally, the owners of said room wanted their privacy back after he threw them out, but they hadn't heard all of the conditions yet.

"Okay, I'm not--I'm not done. I'm not done. Me and Ray, we get to keep our room all to ourselves--"

"Still love it!"

"Our room is lame!" They all said again, Ray making it clear that he felt that his Mannex, which had started as the second best place in the Man Cave for him, was now relegated to third. Their room was way better and it was where (y/n) was boogieing to her heart's content, what with her wiggling hips and bouncing ti--things. Why would the boy ever want them to go back to that icky, old hole?

"But--but! Ray and I take the fiesta-sized churro with us."

"Yes!--Yes. We, uh, we get the churro..." the amendment made Ray scream like a child and his voice squeaked when the excitement of having the huge churro all to themselves got to him. Still, he steeled himself and acted as though he wasn't thrilled by the negotiation, merely casually interested.

"Deal."

"Deal," Charlotte and Jasper nodded, having exchanged glances before deciding that they could sacrifice the churro if it meant those two so-called heroes left their epic room and them in peace. Henry and Ray fist-pumped to themselves and looked like they were in pain as they growled victoriously.

Schwoz wandered over to the churro, causing everyone to think that he was going to hand it to them and get everything over and done with, but oh, no. He had a hidden agenda.

"Yeah...you can take the churro," he said to the boys, picking up his precious snack like a newborn babe and his face was kind and gracious, not a hint of malice in sight as they grinned,"...when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!"

"What?" the group looked at the genius in confusion as his face turned into a snarl and he raised the churro above his head. Ray and Henry were powerless to stop him as Schwoz cruelly broke the churro in half and began stamping on it, ensuring that it was in tiny crumbs so they couldn't have it. It was a killer for the diplomacy of Henry and Charlotte, (y/n) and Jasper were gutted with how their companion was acting, but not half as gutted as Ray.

"Schwoz!"

"What are you doing?"

"Noooooooo!"

"Never work for the United Nations, you maniac!" they all shouted as Ray sank to his knees, mourning the dessert he'd never get to enjoy as his repairman smashed and squashed every piece he could get his little hands on.

Eventually, he stopped, only when the churro was utterly destroyed and smushed into the dirty floor with no hopes of a single piece being fit to eat. He stood up and smugly looked down on his boss, who was near tears as he looked upon the carnage.

"Enjoy your churro!" Schwoz taunted him and the final blow was the way he cleared his throat and spat on the remnants, much to the disgust of the teens and woman, who knew that there was no need for that. Ray had a fragile tolerance for low blows like that and as he took in the chaos of what used to be his beloved fiesta-sized churro, he chose dirty tactics too.

"Okay...okay..." he swallowed and caught his breath as he stood up, leaving the others nervous since he was eerily calm and unresponsive when (y/n) delicately placed her hand on his arm, "...I'm gonna blow up the Man Cave!"

The teens, Schwoz and (y/n) were left in stunned silence with nervous tummies as they watched Ray storm off to do...that. That thing that he said. That terrible, terrible thing that had to be a joke because he surely wasn't gonna...was he?

"Oh, god, not again... Raymond, keep your fingers to yourself or I will kill you!" (y/n) sighed and offered the other three an apologetic look as she hurried after her lover, disappearing out the door and running after him as quickly as he walked off. Everyone else was lost by what had just happened, by Ray's words, by (y/n)'s and the threat looming over them.

"Should I follow them, or...?" Henry asked, wondering if (y/n) needed a hand since Ray had threatened a lot of things in the past, but never anything as big as blowing up the Man Cave. With that kind of level, he felt like she needed backup, but Charlotte felt like she needed the cavalry.

"We all should follow him," she replied dryly, not wanting to panic but...she was panicking. They all were and no sooner than she'd said that, Henry, then Jasper, then, her and finally, then Schwoz legged it out of the door. Well, Schwoz took some churro pieces with him for the road.

Talk about priorities.

In the main room, Ray speedily stomped through the secret door, a deep frown cemented on his face as he walked the warpath. Nothing could stop him, he was determined, if a little irrational and emotional, so nothing, not even Larry and his family's miraculous find could distract him from what he was set to do.

"Ray! The magic key unlocked a chest full of gold coins and treasures--"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't want to get involved!" He ignored the man's happy cries, barely sparing the gold and jewels a second glance as he tapped at the supercomputer's controllers. He pressed a button and from the middle of the floor rose a large, red, flashing button on a podium that was supposed to be used in dire emergencies only.

"But we just want to share the treasure with everybody!"

"What did I just say, Larry? Huh?! What did I just say?" Ray snapped at the joyous guy, who had pearls and diamond necklaces dripping from his neck. Larry shrugged, not caring for his sharp tone, so he left him to do whatever he was doing and went back to his reward.

"Keep your hands away from that button, I mean it, Ray!" (y/n)'s shouts suddenly echoed down the hall until she briskly walked into the room, her finger pointed directly at her doofus. He shrank slightly under her sharp gaze but he instantly shook it off, determined to make a point to that little shit, Schwoz.

He was crouched by the blowup button, inspecting it as if he was genuinely considering pushing it, and when she got close enough, they locked horns, him filled by rage and her fuelled by a desperate need to get through to him.

"I mean it too, sweet girl! I'm seriously gonna blow up the Man Cave!" He growled, looming over the button with his fingers itching to feel the cool plastic but those kinds of threats didn't work on her, not when she knew him and saw through his bluff.

"Oh, really? If you love me at all, Ray Manchester, you will move away from--the--damn--button!--God, why are you so strong?!" (y/n) hissed and put her hands on his pecs to try and push him away from the pillar, only for her own feet to slide on the floor when his heavy frame didn't budge. She couldn't get any friction and so she was just shuffling on the tiles as he smirked down at her and her flattering words.

When she put it like that, he wouldn't push the button because he loved her more than anything. Honestly, he could've been convinced with a few flutters of her eyelashes and maybe a kiss or two, just her telling him to calm down, but then, Henry came in, having followed (y/n), and suddenly, it became important to be all macho and deadly serious again.

"Ray, (y/n)...what is that thing?" the kid breathed out as he zipped through the door and saw the glowing button in the messy room. It took his breath away and when he saw how the power he had after having none at all, Ray stepped away from his lover and turned to the button.

"It's the Man Cave self-destruct button," he replied, adrenaline coating his every word as Larry, Winnie and the kids looked up nervously at the mention of something so dangerous. "In the case of dire emergency, or if I need to prove a point, I press this thing and it starts a countdown clock. And when that clock says zero, the Man Cave says boom!"

That definitely got their attention.

"Ray, darling, do not blow up the Man Cave!" (y/n) pleaded with her doofus. She knew that he was being stupid but the proximity to the button made her itchy and sweaty and she just wanted everyone to back away and chill. She did not fancy dealing with the fallout of a blown-to-bits hideout, not for something as stupid as a squabble over a room.

"Oh, I won't have to, sweetheart. They're gonna back down. This is how the big boys negotiate, trust me!" The man replied and trailed a finger down her cheek as his forehead became clammy. He didn't like it either but he had to make a point somehow and he knew that she knew what had happened before. Unlike Henry.

"I do not trust you," the teen said, thinking his boss was crazy. Everything they had was here, the tech, weapons, and personal items, not to mention the possibility of them dying in the process. Was he willing to risk his future wife and family getting hurt for something so trivial?

"Well, you better trust me, Henry, or I will blow up the Man Cave!" Ray suddenly yelled and hovered his hand over the self-destruct button. (y/n) and Henry jumped back at the sight and the prospect of him coming down on it and as the woman trembled, Henry made the obvious choice out of sheer desperation.

"Okay, I trust you!" he shouted back, stepping away from the button with utter terror on his face, much like (y/n)'s. That's what Ray wanted, not his sweet girl being scared, but that kind of reaction.

"See? That's how it works," Ray grinned and pulled back from the button, happy that he had the kid's unyielding loyalty and all because he made one little threat. An arm was slung over (y/n)'s shoulders and a sloppy kiss pressed to her cheek as she glared at him and held back a heart attack.

He had control, which he had no doubt would also work against the others, who were running down the corridor as Henry groaned and pinched his eyes.

"Ray, no!"

"Don't blow up the Man Cave!" Jasper and Charlotte screamed as they came bounding into the main room, their faces pale and clammy. Unlike (y/n), they weren't sure if Ray was bluffing or not and they figured that it was better to grovel and bow to his ego than risk the consequences.

"You can have our room!" the boy offered. It was a tall price to pay and he wasn't over the moon with having to give his punchball machine up but it didn't matter. There would be other rooms but only if the Man Cave stayed intact.

"No, he can't!" Schwoz argued, sliding across the tiles as he came up behind them, outraged that the teen would even suggest that. Just because the man was having a hissy fit didn't mean they were all gonna die--that's just what he wanted them to think and as such, his objection caused a row.

"Calm down! Ray, Schwoz--calm down!" (y/n) yelled as she got between the quarrelling men, hoping to get them to walk away and cool off but it was useless. Schwoz's family were the worried onlookers as Ray's hand stayed hovering over the button and they kept yelling, their opinions getting lost in the adlib.

"Hey! Listen to me!" Ray suddenly barked, silencing the others as he bared his teeth and scowled. They had to listen, they had no choice; his hand was dangerously close to causing a disaster so they buttoned it as he started spitting venom again.

"I am a shallow, impulsive, immature man-child--"

"Truer words have never been spoken but you do have your upsides..." (y/n) muttered as he stated everything everyone was thinking. He was all of those things and it was a wonder why (y/n) fell in love with him in the first place but then again, no one ever saw him the way she did.

"So, you will apologise to both of us and make us a fiesta-sized churro or I will blow this whole thing sky-high!" He threatened and repositioned his palm over the glowing red surface. (y/n)'s fingers were tentatively grazing his bicep hoping to get him to drop it and kiss her or something, to save them all from doom. However, Schwoz wasn't gonna be bullied, not when he was wearing his favourite jeans-shirt combo.

"Well, I will hit this button myself before I apologise to you!" he hissed and stacked his hand on top of Ray's, causing a symphony of gasps around the room. Things were getting too handsy and Larry and Winnie had their hands on the children in case they needed to run.

"Well, I will blow up the Man Cave if we don't all stop fighting! We're friends, if we can't get along, then we don't deserve a Man Cave!" Charlotte butted in, trying to diffuse their anger with a firm hand that was added to the pile above the button, but it made it worse. Henry, Jasper and (y/n) were particularly dry-mouthed as they saw them all unconsciously lower their hands, not realising how stupid they were all being until they couldn't take it.

"Yeah, well, I don't think that anybody should blow up the Man Cave, ever, for any reason because I live here and I'd quite like to keep it that way!" (y/n) said shakily and slip her hand under Ray's as if she was going to be able to hold them back. She could feel Ray's warmth seeping into her skin but it wasn't calming, not even when she felt his huge body press against hers from behind.

"Yeah, and I actually think we should all just take our hands away from the button, okay?" Henry was next to join in, echoing (y/n)'s argument as he put his hand underneath hers so the stack now resembled pancakes and was getting scarily crowded. And they weren't even done yet.

"Well, I am feeling left out!" Jasper snarled too, although he wasn't mean. He just wanted to be in with the gang and so, his hand became the final pancake on top as they started arguing again.

Schwoz was taunting Ray, Charlotte was taunting both of them, (y/n) was begging Ray to step away, Henry was begging Schwoz to reconsider and Jasper was just throwing in the odd comment as their hands twitched and jostled, the weight increasing the more they sat on top of each other. The muscles in their arms were beginning to ache as Larry and his family watched on with sweating foreheads until it became a mad tangle of hands...and someone slipped.

They didn't know who did the deed, it was too hard to tell and no one would ever admit to it, but someone, in the chaos, some nitwit, pressed the button. The arguing stopped as the button immediately started descending and they looked down at their mistake with blank faces.

"Man Cave self-destruct activated." An automated, feminine voice said and a countdown began on one of the computer's monitors, showing precisely two minutes as Ray had said. It was going down fast and their stomachs dropped at the sight.

"Who touched the button?!" Ray asked in a small, squeaky voice. He knew more than anyone what was about to happen and in the corner of his eye, he could see the torrent of emotion taking over his fianceé. She was almost crying from anger, terror, sadness; so many feelings because she knew what they had set in motion and there was no turning back.

" I didn't!"

"I think you did it!" There were many excuses and refusals to admit the truth but none were more aggravating than Schwoz's, who insisted on blaming his boss since he'd been the drama queen in the first place.

"I was never going to hit it! I was only bluffing!" Ray hissed with blown-out eyes as he confessed his master plan. He'd never willing blow up the Man Cave, he wasn't a maniac, it was his home, the one he shared with his wif--sweet girl. He'd never blow his entire world up like that but neither would Schwoz, who was more at home in the hideout than he was anywhere else.

"You couldn't have been bluffing! I was bluffing!"

"This is all your fault!" Ray exclaimed furiously, sticking his finger in Schwoz's face, which resulted in another shouting match between them, not that they had time for that. A whole fifteen seconds had passed since they'd pressed the damn thing and they hadn't even started running, something the cowering family behind them was keen to do.

"HEYYYYYY!" Larry screamed above their noise, not caring if the hero, his sidekicks and helpers were yelling at each other. He had to look out for his own and he had questions that needed answering, which was more important than whoever had started the impending explosion.

"Is this place really gonna self-destruct?" he asked, looking at Schwoz, the genius.

"Um...yes," he answered nervously, eyes darting from one person to another as he revealed that the button was no joke. It was a real thing, not some gimmick to frighten people, more like a last resort in case a bad guy ever took control and Captain Man had no other options.

"And you really can't stop it?" Charlotte asked, feeling her heart stop at the thought of losing her job, maybe her life and her friends. Poor Ray and (y/n), even if the guy was an annoying jerk, they were gonna lose their home and their livelihood. Maybe Swellview was about to lose its crimefighters and for a petty squabble of all things.

"Um...no," Schwoz said in a quiet voice and gulped, his lips trying to kid themselves into a reassuring smile but who was he kidding? They weren't stupid and if he couldn't stop the explosion, then no one could.

"Oh my god!"

"Arggghhhhh!" Henry screeched as the others wailed and all of a sudden, there was a mad scramble to get to the lift.

In the chaos, Larry, Winnie and the kids filled their pockets as much as they could with the treasure they couldn't carry as well as the horsewoman's saddle and legged it to the elevator. Schwoz guided them inside as Ray counted each teenager under his supervision and ushered them in, thinking that (y/n) was by his side like she always was.

However, when he turned to yank her inside before he could escape too, he saw her going in the opposite direction. His mouth went dry and his eyes went wide, his feet refusing to move because he couldn't leave without her, self-destruct countdown be damned.

"SWEET GIRL? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" His voice boomed across the room, making everyone else watch the frantic woman with worried eyes since she looked terrified but also determined.

Perhaps the stress of the situation was too much for her nervous personality or she wanted to grab a few mementoes in the last few seconds before they burned but no. This was far more important and as tempting as his outstretched hand was, she couldn't leave yet.

"I have to get Colin!" She cried and bravely ran through the secret door with the pipping of the countdown timer thumping in her brain. It wasn't far, one of the first rooms in the first corridors since she liked having him close but unlike every other visit she paid him, this wasn't time for pets and cuddles.

Leaping across the floor, she practically ripped the door of the hutch open and saw him huddled in the corner as if he knew that the flashing red lights meant his world was ending. Gently but hurriedly, she scooped him up, trying to not hurt him or trip as she pinned him to her chest and spun around, leaving the room as quickly as she entered.

In the main room, Ray was holding the elevator door open, waiting for her return as everyone else itched to get moving. As shameful as it was, Larry and Winnie weren't particularly bothered for one woman's life, not when they had the kids to think about and a part of them was thinking mutinously as an agonisingly long minute ticked by.

"LET ME IN, LET ME IN, LET ME IN!"

But, thankfully, (y/n) reappeared through the door, her pace delayed by the precious cargo she was carrying yet she made it. Ray's outstretched arms were waiting for her and Schwoz spammed the button as he yanked her inside and held her tight. He could feel Colin wriggling between them but he couldn't bring himself to let go, not just yet.

In the squeeze of the elevator, no one had room to breathe but he could after that. He'd had a mini heart attack in those seconds that she wasn't in sight, him thinking that she'd tripped or gotten stuck and would never get out. Super-regeneration wouldn't work if she got ripped apart, not like that and he damn near chased after her, so having her somewhat safe was a balm from his aching heart.

"Don't scare me like that again, darlin'," he mumbled into her hair, feeling her breathing slow as it heated a solitary patch on his shirt. Colin was settling and had the heartache not been tangible in the air, he would've felt quite content. But that was impossible.

His heart was restless and his mind in a frenzy as he felt the droplets of water sting the shockingly red material and her body shake. So much sorrow for something so meaningless.

They could all swear that the elevator ride had never taken that long before or maybe Schwoz had built in a special device into the self-destruct timer that slowed down time, who knows. The moment the elevator opened, they piled out; Ray ensured that (y/n) was the first, her becoming priority since it was every man and his sweet girl for themselves at that point.

The others followed suit but she made a point of standing by the beaded curtain to count everyone who came out to see if everyone was present. Schwoz, Winnie, Charlotte, four children, Henry Jasper, her doofus and one bunny, everyone was okay, freaking out, but okay.

The genius' family ran out of the store, assuming that it was safest to be outside where no ceilings could collapse on them, but before the Man Cave team could do the same, Henry held them back.

"What?" Ray questioned, thinking something was seriously wrong with his sidekick if it was bad enough to put them all in danger like that.

"I left my dad's karaoke machine inside!" Henry exclaimed, making them all roll their eyes since the machine was not worth their lives, not when the precious seconds they had were running out, "do you think there's still time--" Too late.

A colossal explosion rocked Junk-N-Stuff before Henry could finish his sentence. The group were thrown in all directions by the waves of energy that were powerful enough to rock the entirety of Swellview, stretching from Swellview High to Burger Castle to Henry's house to Evil Science Corp to the desert and even another dimension, something which KLVY News couldn't explain.

They couldn't stay on their feet and despite his best efforts, Ray had enough work trying to keep himself okay, let alone protecting his fiancée or workers. She was fine, though, wobbling everywhere and in a permanent state of having tears in her eyes but fine as she prayed that Colin would break free from her arms in panic as the implosion seemingly changed the rotation of the Earth it was that strong.

But eventually, the shockwaves dissipated, turning into trembles that gradually petered off into nothing, leaving them nauseous and breathless but otherwise unharmed. Henry was on the floor, Jasper got up from the crusty, old couch, and Ray dragged (y/n) into his arms with his hand on her cheek as he asked if she was okay. His finger stroked the behind of Colin's ear as he pecked at her forehead and held her tightly--which she needed just to keep everything together.

As the dust settled, everything else did too. The shock peaked and began to seep into their bones to solidify into reality, telling them that this wasn't a dream, the Man Cave that they knew and loved truly was gone. Everything they were was gone and they were all at fault.

"I can't believe it," Charlotte muttered in a quiet voice, her body stiff since she couldn't fathom what had just happened.

"We blew up the Man Cave..." Jasper echoed the same sentiment and he daren't look his boss--former boss in the eye. Their workplace was gone, a pile of rubble so he assumed that this was the end of them as a team, their story was over, though he never imagined it ending like this.

He always pictured an epic fight for the sake of Swellview and everyone living in it, a bitter struggle filled with pain and loss and joy and hope. This was nothing in comparison, the worst kind of ending.

"Yeah..."

"We did..." Ray and (y/n) breathed out, clinging to each other not because they couldn't get enough of each other, but because they couldn't let go. The shock was fresh for them too because they never thought the Man Cave would be lost along with all of their worldly possessions and they were still catching up with reality.

No one was hurt, thank god, and their treasured photos and memories were all backed up on a remote server but still. Everything else was gone.

"You maniacs!" Henry cried as she kneeled on the floor, rocking slightly next to a damaged cardboard cut-out of the Statue of Liberty.

"You blew it up! Oh, dang you! Gosh, dang you all as well!" He was upset by the loss of the centre of his childhood, some might say he was even referencing something, as Ray shuffled on his feet, hugged his sniffling lover and watched his youngest sidekick sob and groan on the floor.

There was only one thing they could do. Go and check it out.

It would be tough and Henry was reluctant to peel himself from the floor but his curiosity was unyielding. They had to see what had become of the Man Cave, so off they went.

No one said a word as they trudged back to the elevator single-file. As ever, the trip down was rough and the familiarity was slightly comforting, even if (y/n) had no choice but to bodyslam Charlotte to save her rabbit from becoming a pancake. Ray helped by sliding his arms under hers and pulling her up as the others groaned and steadied themselves.

"Maybe it's not as bad as we think," Charlotte commented optimistically as they braced themselves for what they were about to see. As long as the main structure was sound, it wouldn't be too bad, they could rebuild and buy new furniture, which was wishful thinking.

The bell dinged and the door slid open, revealing that her hopes couldn't be further from the truth. They gasped and grimaced as they were faced with an ugly contortion of metal from the sprocket, chunks of the stone walls that were now superheated rubble and sparking cables that had been torn and shredded. It was a mess and utterly uninhabitable.

"Or maybe it's worse..." Charlotte corrected herself with a hoarse voice that had become gravelly from the intense, thick smoke that flooded the elevator. They had to shrink back from the rogue electricity that threatened to bite at their skin and the message was clear--there was nothing left.

"She's right..." Ray lamented, his heart twisting at the thought of what could've been if they hadn't been so quick. His bunny or his sweet girl could've been in there and that scared him half to death but he, (y/n) and Schwoz had known worse. "This is worse than the other ones."

"Yes, Raymond. You've truly outdone yourself this time, and I thought you couldn't after the second time..." (y/n) replied coldly, glancing back at him with her lips set in a firm, unimpressed line. Her words were news to the teens, who baulked at what she was implying because they could've been dreaming, but it sure sounded like Ray had done this sort of thing before.

"Your daddy is such a doofus, Colin. It's a wonder that mommy hasn't had a coronary yet..." she went on, absentmindedly muttering to her bunny, who did nothing more than twitch his nose. Ray was pouting and drooping like a scolded puppy, eager to earn her affection and approval again but even he had to admit that she had every right to be mad at him right now. This was particularly bad.

"What other ones?" Jasper asked. Even he could sense the history in the air and the annoyed look (y/n) gave her lover, and he was known for being dense with those things.

"Oh, the other Man Caves we've blown up," Ray replied casually as if it was no big deal at all. They stopped at that, drawing attention to several things in that utterance that didn't add up. Other Man Caves? As in more than one? Huh? And what was that about blowing them up too?

"No, no, no, other Man Caves that you've blown up! As in, you and him, nothing to do with me!" (y/n) scoffed and she appeared almost outraged that he dared to drag her in on his and apparently Schwoz's schemes. He had some bare-faced cheek to say that she was a culprit too.

"Okay, okay, sweet girl, other Man Caves we've blown up. Schwoz built, like...ten of 'em?" Ray corrected himself and then looked down at his handyman, who looked sheepish and nonchalant at the same time. As if none of this was a big deal like it was for the stunned teens.

"Yeah..."

"...I'm terribly sorry, what?" Henry was the first to ask since the others were incapable of speaking what with the stuck questions in their mouths and quivering lips. How could they have never heard this tall tale?

"I didn't just build one Man Cave," Schwoz said like it was obvious as he turned to them with a small smirk tugging at his lips. He'd known Ray for many years before he'd built the Man Cave, he'd known who he was dealing with even back then.

"Yeah, this idiot is very irresponsible," (y/n) added with an eye roll, although she did soften when he draped himself over her and wrapped his arms around her waist in a warm hug that was definitely not him crawling for forgiveness.

"It's true," the man wholeheartedly agreed with a humourous chuckle that tickled her ear and she had to remind him that she was holding their fur baby. He kissed her cheek several times, though, drawing at a stifled squeal that had his heart singing as the perturbed teens watched on. It didn't feel like a time for joking or laughing or kissing or hugging, but when had that ever bothered them before?

"So, I built one Man Cave and nine spare Man Caves, each one below the other," he explained simply, letting them imagine how far he must've dug into the Earth just to accommodate so many rooms. It wasn't hard for him, the genius, all that was different between each version was how the elevator journey got longer by a second.

"Let's see, we started with ten Man Caves, we've blown up five so far, which leaves..." Ray thought out loud, recalling all of his previous dwellings, the good memories he'd made in them and the times they'd been lost. It had been hard to start again but after a week the same old Man Cave feel set in and it became like a new-old home.

"Hey! Hey!" Henry suddenly piped up and grasped at his boss's arm to grab his attention, which was half used on doing a very hard math problem and half spent on showing his grumpy girl some love. "What do you mean you've blown up five Man Caves so far?"

"Well, the first one was an accident, granted..." Ray chuckled nervously, thinking back to how his much younger self had accidentally pressed the button thinking that it was something cute and innocent. Oh, how wrong he'd been, but in his defence, he was only just starting as a superhero and didn't have the same supervision he would have later.

"Yeah, that was before my time--before we met," (y/n) commented. She didn't know precisely what had gone down but she had a pretty good picture in her mind since she knew young Ray and how cocky he used to be. God knows what he was like when he was twenty-one and without her there to say it was a bad idea.

"The dark days, sweetheart..." Ray mumbled and dropped a kiss on her head before continuing his amble down memory lane, "the second one was a prank gone very wrong."

"Ah, yes...I was there for that one and yet you still ignored me when I told you that pigs and fire don't mix," the heroine in his embrace smiled at the nostalgia and how he stiffened at the recollection.

Oh, the panic he'd caused her that day when she thought they were all gonna die...and the panic he had after when she refused to talk to him for two weeks as punishment for scaring her. Those truly were dark days, back when he was still nurturing the fledgling love he had for her yet felt terrified by; he thought he'd screwed everything up until she came to him crying and sniffing for being so mean and so the cycle of total enamour and shame started again.

"Yeah, um...the third one got invaded by Mole People," he swiftly moved on to the next Man Cave, which they'd had no choice but to destruct after those irritating little miscreants invaded the place.

"Ugh, I hate Mole People!"

"Oh my god, they are the worst! I swear one pooped in my bed!" Schwoz and (y/n) groaned at the mention of the tiny, mole-like sand scurriers that only existed in Swellview folklore. They were in children's stories and funny tales, so no one believed they were real, well, except for those who knew the truth.

"Wait, Mole People are real?!" Jasper asked incredulously, having heard about them as a kid but he'd grown out of that nonsense...or so he kept telling himself.

"Yes, and they are impossible to get rid of!" (y/n) nodded, remembering how the infestation had gotten so bad that they'd had an emergency meeting and agreed to flush them out in the only way they could think of. The poop in her bed was the final straw, not that the kids could believe that.

"Uhhh, oh--the fourth one!"

"Oh god, how our friendship survived the fourth one, I don't know..." they just knew from the exasperation in the woman's voice that this was gonna be a good one and Ray's pale face only cemented it.

"I saw this spider, right? I went to get a tissue and turned around, couldn't find it for the life of me, so, obviously..." Ray chuckled as Schwoz imitated an explosion and (y/n) sighed. They could imagine the fury of the woman as they imagined Ray blowing up an entire Man Cave simply because there had been a spider lurking somewhere. It was something he'd do.

"You can laugh but if Schwoz hadn't taken the blame for you, I would've quit there and then, no matter how much I was in love with you," (y/n) uttered as she swirled a finger through Colin's fur.

It would only be several months later that she'd find out that Ray had been the coward afraid of a tiny arachnid and by then, she'd mellowed enough to simply smack his chest, shout in his face and ignore him for a few days.

Ray had never felt guiltier but the fallout was better than what it could've been and he'd rather take her silence and refusals to sneak into his bed at night than no sweet girl at all, even if he was limited to friendship and nothing more.

"I said I was sorry..." he mumbled and only moved on when she leaned back into him to show that she didn't hold six-year-old grades, "Uh... the fifth one got blown up over a churro--oh, you guys were there for that one!" And that brought them up to the present day.

"Whoaaaa, whoa, whoa..." Charlotte stopped him before he could get distracted and move on because if she didn't set this straight, her head might've imploded, "so, you're saying that there's more Man Caves right below this one?"

"Yeah."

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" (y/n) offered her an understanding if slightly cynical smile as Ray and Schwoz stared at her blankly. It was the Man Cave, they were superheroes, they fought crime, monsters and bad guys. Why were they surprised by this sort of thing anymore?

"I wouldn't risk blowing up our only Man Cave over a churro. That would be crazy!" the hero grinned and slowly, the truth sank in for the teens, who'd just learned at this point to just roll their eyes, massage away any oncoming headaches and accept his ridiculous shenanigans. He was a hard man to work for, an ever harder man to love, but he was Ray. That's what he was like.

"Who wants to see the new Man Cave?" Schwoz asked excitedly and rubbed his hands together. Honestly, Ray was the only one who was excited; (y/n) was tired and only looking forward to getting Colin settled in a new location, whilst the teens were still getting over the man-child that was their boss. Still, every cloud...

Schwoz turned around with a huge grin on his face as Ray buzzed behind his sweet girl and clung to her to keep himself still.

Looking at the control panel for the lift, the genius saw the up button, the down button and the small, circular, silver disk that was between them, just like it had always been. To the teen's amazement, he pushed that disk to the side, sliding it up and around to reveal another hidden button with a question mark on it and when he pressed it, a secret panel was revealed.

An entirely new set of buttons were revealed as the metal wall opened up and they could see that the first four buttons were grey and dead because they were connected to the old Man Caves. The fifth was illuminated green to signify the one they'd just lost and the others were shining a bluish-white as if they were still pure and untainted by Ray and his antics.

He pressed the sixth button, rendering the fifth grey like the others before he pressed the question mark button again to seal the panel once more. All that was left was to press the down button as he and Ray rubbed their hands together in anticipation, (y/n) braced herself for the drop and the teens stood there baffled by what they'd seen for years and thought nothing about.

One mad descent later and the elevator crashed as it always did before opening its doors...to reveal something magical. Henry had the privilege of being the first to step out into a brand new Man Cave--he couldn't believe his eyes.

Everything was spotless and unblemished with the furniture covered by shimmering silver tarps, which made it look a little impersonal but it was the Man Cave. Not as they knew it but that wouldn't take much to change.

"Whoa..." Jasper gasped as he took everything in from the same computers to the familiar tubes to the identical couch, it was all here. It was home and Ray was happy to lead his sweet girl into it like he'd done before, his hand in the small of her back.

"It's got that new Man Cave smell. What do you think, sweet girl?" he mentioned, skimming across the room and inhaling the scent of polish and squeaky clean furniture. He looked down at (y/n) to gauge her reaction and observed her silently, watching as she looked at everything. It was different, of course, not the hole in the ground that they'd made a home but she'd get used to it. Home was wherever her doofus went.

"I think...you better buy me an entire new wardrobe, doofus but... I like it," she smiled and angled her head upwards so they could share a gentle kiss--the first of many they hoped for in their new quarters. They'd never been able to do that before on all of the other unfortunate occasions, no matter how much they wanted to and it was heartwarming to think about how much had changed.

"This is amazing," Henry said as he finished looking and around and looked back at them, his smile growing when he saw how tender the man could be when his world revolved around her and no one else. He knew why she loved him and why no one else ever would--because he never showed himself like that to anyone else, she got the best of him.

"It looks exactly the same..." Jasper added too, too enthralled by the uncanny resemblance to notice what Henry did and by the time he peeled his eyes away, Ray was already walking again with (y/n) by his side like always.

"Sure does."

"Yeah, it's the Man Cave...again!" they agreed and Schwoz took a moment to gloat silently before Ray got down to business to deal with the elephant in the room. The self-destruct button was still out in this version since the protocol hadn't been cancelled yet.

"Okay, first things first. Let's put that self-destruct button away before someone accidentally hits it again," he said, stripping the shroud from the computer so he could sit down and enter the password but of course, things were never that simple.

To their shock, before his index finger could even hit the first key, the tarp on the couch was pulled back and a snarling, vicious creature with dirty, brown fur, knee britches, a pointed snout, grubby bare feet, pale skin and long sharp claws came charging towards them.

The horrified teens jumped back with (y/n) as their human shield as she instantly recognised the foul beast and growled back at it, trying to stand her ground and keep Colin away from its toothy snarl at the same time.

"What's that?" Charlotte asked, looking at the peculiar thing with intrigue that came from her scientist's heart but also fear as it looked like it had rabies.

"It's a Mole Person!"

"Get it out before it craps somewhere!" (y/n) hissed as Schwoz identified the creature without hesitation. He knew those claws and that snout anywhere but the poop thing was the least of their problems, especially since this Mole Person was particularly vengeful towards humans.

"Mole People never die!" it declared defiantly and before anyone could tackle him, the mole ran forward and pressed the button, scampering through the secret door now that its mischief was over. They'd probably dug another tug and got in that way, not that they could do anything about now as that oh-so-familiar voice said the magic words again.

"Man Cave self-destruct activated." Said the computer and so, the countdown started again. Damn Mole People always running Ray's Man Caves. With the two minutes counting down, any hopes the team had of reestablishing themselves were dashed and they all knew what came next.

"Back in the elevator, people..." Ray sighed and this time as they all diverted to escape with their lives, there was no mad rush or panic or pandemonium. Rather, tiredness made their feet drag a little as they piled in, (y/n) still clutching Colin and Ray as protective as ever despite them knowing the routine by now.

The elevator went up as predicted and the boredom was plain on their faces as they waited for the rumbling to start again. Hell, Ray even timed it on his watch, waiting for the hand to strike thirty-two minutes past as (y/n) looked at his wrist to know when to brace. The tremors came on time and now that they were used to it, no one fell over or cried or worried.

Ray was able to steady his sweet girl and even took hold of Colin to give her a break as Charlotte checked her TwitFlash to see everyone talking about the mysterious double earthquake. Henry, Jasper and Schwoz weren't that bothered either and simply chatted as the displays untidied themselves around the store.

"We're gonna have to use the seventh Man Cave, aren't we?" (y/n) yelled to Ray as they used each other to stay balanced. She didn't need to ask the question, the answer was already clear but she just wanted to hear it out loud so she could let it sink in.

Number seven; jeez, Schwoz better get his chisel out and start digging a few spares, just in case.

"Yeah, sweet girl, we are."

"Fabulous..." Ray heard her sarcastic mumble and could see how deeply she sighed at the news of them moving again. Once was enough but two in one day was a record, one that even tired him out so he could only imagine what her nerves were doing right now. She was strong but change always unsettled her, something that made him feel doubly bad until he thought of a great way to cheer her up.

"Don't look so sad, sweetheart, moving Man Cave isn't so bad," he shouted above the noise and no one paid attention since it was just the same old Ray and (y/n) having a discussion, nothing new there.

She looked up at him with empty eyes because she wanted to trust him, she did but a whole new Man Cave sounded so daunting. It was nicer that morning when she knew every nook, cranny, wrinkle and imperfection about the home that held so many memories. The home she thought would see them through to retirement; four walls that had witnessed their friendship and the beginning of their love as a proper couple.

"Yeah, doof? What's that?" the heroine asked in a quiet voice, quiet enough that no one else could hear it above the rumbling but loud enough for it to reach his ears. It took him a moment to reply simply because she nearly fell flat on her face and he had to juggle Colin and grab her before she hit the floor but they got there.

"Because we have the opportunity to christen every surface all over again," his voice was low and his mouth was pressed directly against her ear, so the reason was a secret lost to everyone else but to (y/n)? It inspired her with a new spark to live and rebuild their lives in the Man Cave with a stronger foundation than ever before.

Oh, he was a little devil but she wasn't exactly an angel either, not since she fell for him.

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i-used-to-wear-the-fedora · 2 years ago

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Can I request a fluffy Eddie X Chrissy fic where Chrissy wakes up and hears laughter and finds Eddie in the living room playing with their toddler daughter and Chrissy melts at the sight of her little family and how great of a father Eddie is and Chrissy thinks about how lucky she is and how she never would have thought she would ever end up falling in love, being married and having a child with Eddie Munson? Also, their daughter looks just like Eddie?

"-higher, higher!"

"Hey, easy there Arwen. Daddy's not an actual horse." Chrissy woke to the familiar sound of giggling. The redhead sitting up in her bed and glancing over at the bedside table's alarm clock to see it was nine in the morning. Her husband's side of the bed was empty when she got up and wondered down the hall towards the source of the noise in the living room.

"Oh my." The woman giggled at the sight. Her husband was bent over with his arms behind him supporting their their three year old as she excitedly waved her arms around.

"Onwards Brego!" The child demanded, her plastic sword hitting Eddie on the side of the head. The brunette turning to his wife with a pleading look.

"Little help here?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to interrupt your fun." Arwen looked over when Chrissy spoke and quickly jumped off Eddie's back to rush over to her.

"Morning mommy!" The little girl clung to her leg, showing off her large gap toothed grin.

"Morning sweetheart." Chrissy picked her up and noticed that in Arwen's dark mess of girl curls, twigs and other small debris were stuck in her hair.

"Me and daddy played Hide and Seek and I won!" The girl proudly boasted. "Now daddy has to play horsey cause he lost!"

"Well you can play horsey later. We need to get you ready for daycare."

"Awww..." The toddler huffed but allowed the woman to pick her up.

"I'll get breakfast started." Eddie placed a quick kiss on his wife's cheek. "Chocolate chip pancakes sound good?"

"That sounds great Eddie." The woman smiled as she watched her husband disappear into the kitchen of their small trailer. They'd bought it when they found out that they were expecting with the help is Eddie's uncle. Her parents had been...less than excited when they found out about her relationship with Eddie. Then they got married. She hadn't seen her mother or father since but she didn't care. Chrissy was happy. She had a living daughter and a beautiful child. Arwen was almost four now and she looked almost exactly like Eddie. Save the smattering of freckles that covered her face, Arwen was very obviously her father's child.

People in town gave them looks and whispered behind their backs.

'Isn't that the Munson boy?'

'I thought he went to prison just like his daddy.'

'She only married him after she got knocked up.'

'That poor child.'

But Chrissy didn't pay them any mind. The woman stopped caring what anyone else thought a long time ago, and she couldn't possibly love her family anymore than she did at that moment.

#arwen's middle name is amalthea #eddissy #hellcheer #eddie x chrissy #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #fanfiction #hellcheer au #chrissy lives au #wayne munson #fuck Chrissy's parents #arwen munson

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blossom-adventures · 2 years ago

Note

3 or 16 from the prompt list!

Just got back from work so I’ll type these up before I go to bed

3. A snippet from their childhood

It was hard to take the Jarl of Whiterun seriously when there was a 3 year old girl tugging at his long cloak, he looked down, finally her hard work had paid off, she had his attention

“Up! Up Balwoof!” Jaina shouted as she held up her arms

“Again little one?” Balgruuf chucked as he lifted his cousin’s daughter off the floor “where is your little horse? I saw you with it earlier” she looked around as if her prized wooden horse would appear before her

“Oh… where horsey?” He knew that she would start crying if her favourite toy wasn’t in her grip within a few minutes

“We need to find it, at once” as Balgruuf carried Jaina away from the throne she pointed towards one of the large wooden banquet tables

“Found it!” Balgruuf winced as she had shouted right next to his ear. Sure enough the small wooden horse was lay on its side under the table, he picked it up and handed it to her

“You really like this toy don’t you?” Jaina nodded “good, I’m happy I had it made for you then”

“Fank you Balwoof” she said before kissing him on the cheek

16. Lost in a snowstorm, followed by strange noises

“Gods won’t this snowstorm subside?” Jaina huffed as she trudged through the knee high snow, she was somewhere in The Pale… hopefully close to Dawnstar. “Sure, kill the dragon, why not… didn’t take into account the fact that it’s winter… stupid idea…as soon as I get back to Delphine… I’m going to ring her smug, Breton neck!”

A noice caught her attention, the Beast Blood had heightened her senses… she could hear something nearby

“Oh wonderful, something’s following me” she turned to look behind her, even with her keen eye sight all she could see was the thick blizzard

She continued on walking, grumbling to herself as she went, before an odd thought came to her. Before I joined the Companions I would have been terrified of those types of noises… now they’re just irritating. She laughed to herself at the thought and she finally started to see the faint lights of Dawnstar.

#skyrim #skyrim fanfiction #dragonborn #tesv #blossom answers #blossom's prompts #oc: jaina #blossom's oc

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dancingazaleas · 4 years ago

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erejean | pretty

RIVALS TO LOVERS SUPREMACY

i’m so sorry i just love erejean and i could go on about why i think they actually have a beautiful friendship in canon

edit: i wrote this while half asleep so i’m sorry

warnings/notes: cursing, college au!, eren’s personality doesn’t change too much, hopeless pining, this is short, this is messy, internalized homophobia, coming out, gay awakening

eren and jean have been rivals ever since they could remember. no one really knows how it started, but the only thing they did know it that one out of the two of them were acting a little weird.

unlike usual, he was oddly silent towards one another and often faced each other with flushing faces. he gave the other longing looks when he wasn’t looking.

eren genuinely didn’t know what was happening. for the past two to three years, jean’s always irritated the hell out of eren. eren’s even the one who came up with the ridiculous nickname of ‘horse face’.

but now, he thinks jean’s pretty... and handsome. eren doesn’t exactly know what happened, he just knows that ever since the end of senior year that his annoyance for jean has decreased almost into nothing.

okay, eren is kind of lying to himself.

eren still is annoyed by jean, but it isn’t like before. eren never used to be annoyed at how jean’s eyelashes were long and pretty. he never had been annoyed about how his hands were bigger in comparison to his own, he’d never want to hold them. he’d never been annoyed about how jean’s body wasn’t against his, encasing eren with his odd ember fire.

he hated how jean looks so pretty whenever he thinks to himself, he hates how jean looks so stupidly beautiful whenever he’s drawing. he hates how pretty jean looks whenever he laughs, and he hates that he wants that smile to stay there forever.

but what eren hates the most is that he isn’t even gay.

eren’s never really found men attractive growing up, but that didn’t exactly mean that he found girls attractive. eren had only ever dated one girl, who was now a lesbian with a girlfriend and also his close friend.

the only boy eren ever thought was cute was armin. but eren always brushed it off since the two of them were childhood friends. usually childhood friends find each other cute right? and cuddly? and... y’know what, nevermind.

eren sits in his room beside his bed, crying into the palms of his hands from confusion. he’s tried so hard to feel something for girls, any girl that would throw herself at him, but it didn’t work. eren can’t even get hard if he thinks about girls in a sexual manner, but finds himself doing so when thinking of men.

he’s so confused. he’s never been so confused in his entire life.

“eren, do you want anything from... are you okay,” eren looks up to see armin’s face bunched up with concern.

eren wipes away his tears even though it’s pointless because the tears keep flooding over. he can’t help but sob now, too embarrassed at how he’s feeling. armin’s on the floor beside eren within seconds, arms wrapping around eren’s broad shoulders and pulling him into his chest.

eren’s hands weave themselves into the loose fabric of armin’s forest green turtleneck, finally letting everything he’d been holding in out.

eren hates how he confused he is. armin’s shushing him while tracing circles into the fabric of his hoodie, and eren knows that armin is anxious. before eren can try and calm himself down, there’s a gasp from his doorway and the sound of footsteps coming closer. he assumes that mikasa is home, to which he’s correct.

“eren, what’s wrong,” she asks gently, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

he chokes out a sob, digging his head further into armin’s shirt.

“just wait until he’s calmed down to ask,” armin advises, continuing to trace patterns into his back.

it takes a few minutes for eren to be able to speak, and even then it’s difficult.

“eren, what’s wrong,” armin pulls his knees to his chest, ignoring the dampness on his shirt.

“i’m... i’m confused,” he sighs after a sniffle, hand wiping away a tear.

“about what,” mikasa questions with an eyebrow raised.

“fuck,” he hisses from frustration, “i don’t know what i like.”

“like? do you mean hobbies?”

“no.”

“things? stuff like books or cheese?”

“no.”

“food?”

“no!”

“people?”

eren stays silent, now pulling his own knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. mikasa and armin give eren a sympathetic look, they both had gone through this as well.

“you think you like men,” mikasa treads carefully, not wanting to upset eren even more than he already is.

“yea,” his voice shakes along with his hands.

“what boy?” armin tilts his head back to lean against eren’s mattress.

“jean,” eren sighs, already feeling himself start to tear back up.

mikasa hums in confirmation, “i see.”

eren’s crying again, absolutely ashamed of himself.

“he just... i hate him ‘cause he’s so pretty and caring. whenever i’m angry, he tries not to make it worse. he pays attention to the stupidest little details, like how i like the crunchier parts of the bread on chicken. he’s so warm, it’s like he’s constantly on fire and i just.. i wanna be surrounded by it. he’s actually really thoughtful whenever he’s not trying to be a douche, and i hate it,” eren cries while he puts his head on mikasa’s muscular shoulder.

“and there’s nothing wrong with being gay, i mean literally nothing. i just hate that i’m confused. what does this mean? i haven’t felt like this towards him before, so why now,” he sniffles, “fuckin’ stupid.”

“y’know... armin and i once felt like this before,” mikasa says, a small and comforting smile coming up onto her face.

“about marco and annie,” he asks, and shifts his gaze to armin.

“yes. whenever i first realized in sophomore year, i was so confused and upset. annie was so pretty, and boys weren’t. at the time, it all felt so wrong, like it wasn’t meant to be that way,” mikasa explains with hesitance, “i told armin i like girls, and he told me he liked boys and that he felt the same way during freshman year. we hated how confused we were, and we hated that we liked the same sex.”

“but all it takes is acceptance from yourself,” armin smiles, “it’s okay to be confused, eren. you’re still 19, you’ve got so much time to figure out who you even are. also, even if you say there’s nothing wrong with being gay, there’s a chance you’ll have internalized homophobia towards yourself. it’s okay to be a gay man named eren yeager. and it’s okay to be confused. you don’t need to rush it, set your own pace.”

“armin’s right. eren, we love you no matter what. you mean the world to the both of us, even if you’re confused with your identity. it’s okay to explore those feelings, and it’s okay to be wrong about them. either way, we love you so much, eren,” mikasa wipes a tear from his eye with her thumb.

eren wants to cry again just from how loving the two of his friends are.

“thanks you guys, i love you too,” he chuckles as they’re all pulled into a group hug.

————

two months later, eren’s telling all of his friends. they accept him with open arms, which isn’t too surprising, but it makes him happy nonetheless.

another month, he’s telling his superiors at his work. they’re the closest eren has to parents since his mom and dad died, and they accepted him happily. he wasn’t too surprised, but even so it made him cry. knowing that he was loved no matter what made him emotional.

another month later, he’s telling one of the most important people in his life. his brother, who raised him and mikasa since his parents died. he’s once again accepted with open arms, and is even reminded that zeke has brought home boys whenever they both were younger. he’s so lucky.

but even after all this, he’s still crushing on jean. only now, he’s more accepting of how he wants jean to kiss him.

eren also thinks jean is an idiot.

eren has made multiple moves on the muffin top, but he hasn’t even realized. eren’s linked pinkies with jean while his face reddens, he’s fed jean, he’s even resorted to telling him horrible pickup lines.

what makes it worse is that jean thinks this is a rivalry thing again, god knows how.

what’s even more annoying is the fact that jean so obviously likes eren back, but eren is also too stupid to notice. eren, somehow, doesn’t notice how his face shows up in jean’s sketchbook more than it should. he doesn’t notice the flirty innuendos that jean tells him.

and it’s so annoying.

everyone feels this is even more annoying then whenever the two were at each other’s throats 24/7.

jean yawns while he stretches his arms towards the sky, pencil falling from his fingers and onto the paper of his sketchbook. he’s been outside drawing for two hours now, practicing landscapes and drawing under a short amount of time.

eren’s sleeping beside him on the grass, head resting on jean’s book bag while his arms hold his hoodie to his chest. some of eren’s hair is falling out of the bun it’s in, swishing silently as the wind begins to blow softly against their bodies.

jean thinks eren looks so pretty. with a cautious hand, he tucks a strand behind eren’s pierced ear. eren’s skin his warm against jean’s hand, even though the wind has been blowing gently on eren’s snoozing face.

jean brushes eren’s baby hairs out of his face, softly smiling at eren’s serenity. and before he can stop himself, his cheek is in the palm of jean’s large hand.

jean’s thumb strokes his cheekbone while the rest of his fingers get tangled into eren’s hair.

“pretty,” jean mumbles while he smiles.

for some reason, jean doesn’t pull his hand away. even when eren eyes start to flutter open and look at him. even whenever eren’s cheeks darken.

“you’re pretty, y’know,” jean says, ignoring how the setting sun was starting to get in his eyes.

“you’re not too bad yourself, horsey,” eren snickers while jean rolls his eyes and scoffs.

they’re left in a comfortable silence as jean finally pulls away and turns back to the sketchbook in his lap.

it showed no progress of landscapes and random people, only a drawing of eren sleeping.

————

eren and jean find themselves looking at the stars while standing in the lake a month later. it’s hot during june, even during the late nights where the sun has been put to rest.

which is why they came up with the bright idea to go swimming in a lake at 12 in the morning. the idea wasn’t even planned, eren decided on a whim and just decided to drag jean along.

jean points up towards the stars, “the big dipper.”

eren follows his finger, a huge smile spreading across his face at jean’s correct assumption.

“there’s the constellation of gemini,” eren says while pointing.

“makes sense since it’s june.”

eren nods, looking towards jean.

he looks so pretty in the moonlight.

“hey jean.”

“yeah, what do you wan—!”

eren interrupts jean by splashing him with water, hearty laughs echoing through the terrain as goes on.

“not cool,” jean tries to say angrily, but ends up laughing.

he splashes eren back and then retreats deeper into the lake. eren follows behind, tackling jean under the water. they both laugh once they come to the surface, pointing out how the water now reached their thighs.

“that’s why we’re here, jean. to get wet,” he raises an eyebrow while putting his hands on jean’s shoulders.

“yeah, heads up!” jean shouts while he dunks eren under the water while on top of him.

they’re once again laughing when they resurface, both trying to catch the breath that had been taken out of them.

“you’re hair looks good wet,” eren says while gesturing to jean.

“i always look good,” jean jokes, eren snorting obnoxiously afterwards.

“whatever helps you sleep at night, man,” eren shrugs.

the two goof around for a few minutes longer, laughs echoing against the trees and back into their ears.

neither of them want this to end.

eren has an arm wrapped around jean as he holds himself up, laughing stupidly at god knows what. jean laughs as well, heart fluttering sweetly at the sight of eren’s pretty smile.

and jean doesn’t know how to think.

so, he pulls eren straight up, grabs ahold of his plump and warm cheeks and gives him a sweet kiss.

the sweetest kiss eren’s ever had.

eren reciprocates shyly, pushing his lips back against jean’s. he grabs at jean’s bicep, wanting to ground himself just to make sure that he isn’t dreaming.

jean pulls away whenever they need air, resting his forehead against eren’s.

“i love you,” he whispers to him breathily, moving his hands to hold onto eren’s.

“i love you too,” eren chuckles and stares into jean’s eyes, “even if you’re an idiot that looks like a horse.”

jean rolls his eyes, and instead of replying to eren, he gives eren another kiss. he’ll tell eren that he’s pretty after.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction #snk eren #eren aot #attack on titan eren #eren yaegar #eren x jean #erejean #jean kirstein #jean kirschstein #jean aot #snk jean #aot jean

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oddsnendsfanfics · 4 years ago

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Love, Uncle Sy

Genre: Fan Fiction (Sand Castle) Pairing: N/A Warnings: It’s so fluffy! Rating: G Length: Drabble Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.

A/N: I had fun with Sy and Willow, making Christmas cookies, so I brought them back for some adorable birthday fluff.

Henry Cavill Master List

Saturday morning, sun barely above the horizon and Sy was wide awake. As usual, his morning began in the kitchen, a pot of coffee perfuming the room while accompanied by the humid scent of dishwasher and frying bacon. He'd woke this morning, tossing and turning, a cold sweat cresting his brow. Nothing a shower and a soothing meditation tape wouldn't temporarily fix. Had he not been woke by the nightmares, Sy would have planned to sleep in – or his version of sleeping in, at least.

Waking from a nightmare on your birthday, should be criminal. Never the less, he had work to do once breakfast was over. In a few hours, he had to pack his truck with a few party favours and drive over to the local horse farm where his niece took lessons every Saturday morning. While Sy was turning older than he cared to remember, today was his niece's seventh birthday.

The grizzled Army vet loved all of his nieces and nephews, but Willow was certainly his favourite. She was his mini-me. His tiny partner in crime. His shadow, and the light of his life. From the moment Sy had held his birthday twin, he'd been in love. His heart was melting and there was nothing that he wouldn't do for that child.

Calling the dog back inside, he gave a scratch behind the ears. Plating his bacon and a piece of toast, saving a few pieces to cool as a treat for the faithful canine. Checking his watch, Sy frowned, 6AM was a little too early to call his birthday girl. He'd have to wait until he saw her later this morning, when he would also be presenting her with the most perfect present in the world.

Around 10AM Sy's truck was packed with a few birthday banners, balloons, cupcakes, and a giant pink sparkly bow. Willow's lesson ended at 11:30, if he wanted to get there and allow his sister time to set up then he had to hurry. Sy couldn't wait to see his niece's face, when he presented her with the present that he'd bought her. He could picture it now, her eyes shining and that adorable smile, ear to ear, squealing in pure delight.

Arriving while Willow was busy cleaning her tack, Sy managed to get somewhat set up. A kind parent helping to set up made it easier on Sy. One last thing to get from the truck and they were set. Sy shut the door, the case of cupcakes in his arm. Walking back to the surprise location, the last thing he'd expected when he stepped inside the barn was Willow running towards him, tears streaming down her face, sniffling and trying to contain the sobs of anguish. Stopping in his tracks, Sy removed his sunglasses, intercepting the little girl rushing towards him at the speed of light.

“Uncle Sy,” Willow rushed her uncle, tears in her eyes. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she sniffled.

“Hey Wispy, what's wrong Bub?” Sy stroked the back of her head, the braided pig tails messed from their time under her helmet.

“Oh Uncle Sy.” She wailed, bottom lip trembling. A child crying on their birthday was never a good sign. Squatting down to be the same height as his niece, Sy wiped her eyes. “Checkers.”

“What about him?”

“He's,” hiccup, “he...” she sobbed. “He's sold.”

Biting his bottom lip, Sy felt for the little girl. He wished they could have told her before now, but that would have ruined the entire birthday surprise. Of course her favourite pony had sold, the second Sy had heard that the striking spotted pony had a price tag, he called and negotiated the sale. Checkers had sold nearly two weeks ago, his new owner none the wiser that the pony even belonged to her – at her Uncle's request.

Aimee and Mike had been discussing buying their daughter her own pony, though funds and the right pony were never aligned. When Sy heard that the favourite lesson pony was going to be sold, he discussed it with his sister and knew what he had to do.

Seeing Willow sobbing uncontrollably was going to make the reveal that much sweeter. Even so, knowing something his niece did not, seeing her in such a state broke Sy's heart.

“Oh Wispy,” Sy soothed her, bringing her in for a tight hug. “I know it hurts now, but just think, Checkers is going to have a little girl of his very own. Don't ponies deserve a good home and all the love?”

“Yeah, but I'm going to miss him. I wish I could have him. I would love him forever, Uncle Sy.”

“I know bub, I know.” Gently giving her a squeeze, Sy let her go rubbing the tears away from her cheeks. “How 'bout you go finish putting your things away, then come find me and we can give Checkers some treats and tell him what a good pony he is?”

“Okay.” Willow nodded, hiccupping through a new batch of silent tears.

Close one. Sy stood, blowing out a heavy breath.

He had to hurry, if he wanted to be set up by the time Willow came back. He picked up the case of cupcakes. Delicately arranged in the shape of a pony, of course. Sy had worked hard baking, decorating, and creating the perfect birthday treat. Walking through the aisle of the small riding facility, Sy smiled seeing his sister and nephew waiting at the party site.

They had arranged to meet up after Willow's lesson, catching a few of her horsey friends before they left. Parents happy to wait for an extra hour to help the little girl celebrate her birthday. Sending Willow to the car to put her things away had been the only way Sy could get her far enough away to make their plan work.

“Sy, Happy birthday.” Aimee hugged her brother tightly. Careful not to squish the container of cupcakes that he held.

“Thank ya.” He kissed her cheek, smiling wide. Nodding to Ben, who would rather be anywhere else right now. “Wispy was pretty upset,” he commented glancing over at the pony who was standing in a holding paddock near by. “I nearly broke, Aim.”

“Oh god,” Aimee rolled her eyes, “who knew all it took to break the soldier was a crying child.”

“She's gutted,” He frowned, setting the cupcakes down on a small table decorated with a pink birthday sign, matching plates, and cups.

“Won't be for long,” Ben shrugged.

“Sure you and Mike are okay with this?” Eyeing his sister, Sy smirked adjusting his cap.

“Well, we kind of need to be. It's not like we've a choice.”

“Course you do, if you don't want the pony, I am sure Checkers and I would get on fine.” laughing, Sy took a good look at the pony who was content to eat the hay he'd been given. The big sparkly pink bow around his neck didn't seem to hinder him any. “He's a good looking boy.”

“I'd like to see you on that pony.” Her laughing intensified, Aimee snorted slapping Sy in the arm.

Her giant of a brother would look insane on the pony, even if Checkers was on the bigger end of being a pony. Hell, the last time she'd seen Sy ride he was maybe twelve, before girls and other interests had taken over his attention. Back then he would have loved to have his own pony. Their parents had allowed Aimee to begin taking lessons, when Sy had tagged along, insisting that he be allowed to ride too. Fearless, the six year old climbed onto the horse assigned to him and didn't bother to look back. For a few years everyone had began to assume that he'd eventually end up in high school rodeo, after that he'd find a woman and settle down on a farm somewhere.

Heh. What a life that would have been. A wife and kids were evidently not in the cards for this Syverson. He loved his nieces and nephews, but the scars his life bore, it would be unfair to condemn a child to a father who was broken and haunted by war. Clouds settling in his mind, Sy cleared his throat bringing himself back to the present matter at hand. Tormenting his sister.

“I happen to be a fine rider.” Winking at Ben; Sy nudged his sister. “I remember being a much better rider than some others that I know.”

“Shut up, I was a good rider.” Defending herself, Aimee stuck her tongue out at him.

“I know you were, but I was better that's all.” grinning from ear to ear, Sy ruffled his sister's hair, checking his watch. Willow was still missing, unlike her. “Should I go find Wispy? Bring her over?”

“Uh, yeah. If you don't mind.” Aimee nodded, checking her watch. The car had been unlocked, there was no obvious reason for her daughter to be held up.

Walking to the parking area, Sy laid his sights on the suv belonging to his sister. The doors were all shut and no sign of Willow. His truck, parked beside it was also vacant. In the back of the suv, Willow's stuff was tossed in. It looked like she had thrown it and ran.

“Wispy?” his heart began to thump when the car was clear. Logically, Sy knew that she couldn't have gone far. The soldier in him told Sy that there was no need to panic. The uncle side tried to take over his wildest imagination. No, sir he was not allowing those thoughts in. Listening for a moment, he took a deep breath steadying his heart and calming the pounding in his veins. “Willow?”

Behind him, he could hear a rustling in the grass. All the dogs were around the back and this was too big to be a barn cat. Following the noise around the corner of the shed, Sy's heartbeat returned to normal finding Willow sitting in the grass. Knees to her chin, her face stained with tears, her jeans dirty, boots covered in dust.

“You coming, birthday girl?”

“Uncle Sy?” Willow sighed, rubbing her hands against her eyes.

“Yeah?”

“My heart hurts. Is this what it's like when you have a broken heart?”

“Wispy, bub.” Sinking down to sit beside her on the grass, Sy felt his chest tighten. Wishing that Aimee had never mentioned the sale.

“I miss him already.”

“I know, but for now he's still here and he wants those carrots that I brought.” Trying his best to encourage his tiny shadow, Sy smiled. “If we go see him now, it means we get to spend more time enjoying Checkers than worrying. We can't predict tomorrow.”

Leaning into her uncle, Willow sighed. “But why did he have to sell? I love him, I don't want him going to a new home and on my birthday.”

“Oh Wispy,” Sy kissed the top of her head. He wanted to tell her, reassure her that Checkers wasn't going anywhere, but he didn't want to ruin the surprise just yet. “Honestly, bub, I don't know what to tell you. What I can tell you is that it won't always hurt.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Now, your ma is waiting for us. Some of your friends have stayed, too. There are cupcakes.”

“Really? But I thought we were going to feed Checkers.”

“We are, after. I wasn't supposed to tell you about the cupcakes, but I even made them myself for you. Come on, let's go enjoy the day. It's our birthday! No tears on our birthday.” Standing, Sy held his hand out to Willow.

Grasping her Uncle's hand, she squeaked when he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder. Laughing hysterically, Willow flopped around on his back, bracing herself with her elbows as he walked through the yard.

Seeing Sy with Willow over his shoulder, Aimee instructed Ben to grab Checkers and have him ready for his sister. Whatever. Ben crawled through the wooden fence, clipping a pink lead line onto the pony and coaxing him away from he hay. His sister was about to lose her mind. Straightening the bow, Ben smiled fondly at the thought of how happy his little sister would be.

“Happy Birthday, Wispy!” Sy announced setting her down, back to Checkers.

“Is this all mine?” Willow's eyes were wide as she stared up at her uncle.

“Sure is.” Nodding, Sy smiled with pride.

A few of the kids who had stayed were giddy with anticipation. Wishing their friend a happy birthday, waiting for the big moment. Turning to look at her mom, Willow spotted her brother with the pony. More tears in her eyes, she began to loudly sob. Her body shaking, words escaping her. Kneeling down beside his niece, Sy sniffed back his own tears.

“Happy birthday, Willow. He's all yours.”

“M-mine?”

“Yeah sweetheart, Checkers is all yours. If you want him.”

“I do. I really do, I love him so much.” Willow rushed the gate, fumbling to undo the latch. Frustrated she darted under the fence, throwing her arms around the pony's neck, hugging him tightly. “My own pony,” She whispered, causing Ben to smile. Handing his sister the lead line, Ben took a step back allowing his mom to take photo of the moment.

“Send me a copy, will ya Aims.” Sy wiped his hand across his eyes, putting his sunglasses on to hide the tears.

“You big softie.” Aimee nudged him. “Go on, get in the photo with them.” She urged her brother.

Stepping into the small paddock, unlatching the gate – unlike his niece and nephew there was no way in hell Sy was darting through the fence boards. He stood next to Willow for a moment, stroking the spotted neck of the content pony. Whispering softly to Checkers about what a good sport he'd been.

“I can't believe it.” whispering, Willow looked up at her uncle. “He's all mine.”

“He sure is, bub.” Holding out his arms Sy smiled when Willow rushed into them. Hugging her uncle tightly. Scooping her up, Sy took the lead line from her, holding Checkers beside them while Aimee took some photos. “Happy birthday, Wispy.” Sy smiled kissing her cheek.

“Happy birthday, Uncle Sy. Sorry that I didn't get you a pony.” Willow kissed his cheek, hugging her arms around his neck.

#captain syverson #captain syverson fanfic #henry cavill #captain syverson imagine

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding High

Ch1:Jodhpurs And Jeans

Chapter Summary: After a passing comment from his well-meaning neighbour, land-lady and friend, Frank decides that before he enrols her into school Mary needs to learn some social skills and pick up a hobby to help her interact with kids her own age.

Mary decides she wants to learn how to ride…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: So yeah, this one’s been buzzing in my head for AGES now. As you all know, I’m a Brit so I’m REALLY sorry if too much British horsey lingo slips into this…ASK away if you don’t understand. As means of an explanation in the UK we have 3 main types of stables. We have Riding Schools (which focus solely on providing riding lessons), Livery Yards (which are places where owners board their horses) and Equestrian Centres (which do both). After a bit of research it seems that EC also translates across the pond and means the same thing so…just bear with me on this and run with it!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

August 2017

“I’m holding you solely responsible for this.” Frank shot Roberta a glare as Mary bounced over to the truck, her blonde hair swinging slightly as she skipped.

“All I said was that it might be useful to have her interact with kids her own age before you throw her into a school, which for the record, I still think is a dumbass idea Frank.” “Input noted and duly ignored…” Frank rolled his eyes “She needs to go to school. Have some kind of variant on a normal childhood.”

Roberta took a deep breath and simply shrugged “On your head be it.”

“Come on Frank!” Mary shouted, standing up on the ledge of the truck “we’re gonna be late!”

“It’s 20 minutes tops to Pinellas Park…” Frank looked at her “We got half an hour, chill out Stack”

“My name’s Mary not Short Stack…” she sing songed back.

“Don’t I know it…” Frank said, looking at her before he turned back to Roberta “I’ll see you later.”

“Hmmm” she nodded, and with that he rolled his eyes again and headed to the truck.

“You know you’re not actually gonna get to ride anything today right?” he asked, turning to his niece.

“No, but I’m still gonna see the ponies.” she said, smiling. “Why can’t we bring Fred?”

“Because a horse might step on him.” Frank shrugged, before he paused. “Actually, shall we take him?” Mary narrowed her eyes at him “That’s mean.” He chuckled, ruffled her hair and started up the truck. **** “Ok, now soften your outside hand…” Fliss called out across the paddock, as the woman riding the tall, black warmblood circled her “Yeah, you feel that. He’s taking the contact now, not leaning against your hand. So when you feel that softening, that’s when you need to push with your inside leg…and if is he isn’t listening a soft tap up with the stick…” She watched again from behind her Oakley wraparounds, smiling as the horse extended nicely down the long side of the school.

“Yeah, there you go!” she shouted encouragingly, “Now bring him round again and this time at the corner, pop him into canter…” She took a quick glance at her watch. She was running slightly behind, but what else was new? She would never leave a lesson, regardless, until her client had achieved something, even if it was what they dubbed a small victory. End on a high was her motto, and this was no different. Ever since Lucy had brought Captain out of his stable, Fliss could see the horse was in one of his awkward moods so she’d had to switch out her plan a little. It had worked and he’d settled after about 15 minutes of being an obstinate shit and he was working quite nicely.

“Good!” She shouted, pacing slightly “Now let’s see if we can extend this a little…” Lucy sat up tall, pushed through her legs and the horse bounded down the side. Fliss grinned, less than 6 months ago Lucy hadn’t even been able to keep the horse in a trot, now here she was producing an extended canter. Moments like this made her job so worthwhile…

“Ok, bring him back down…” she said, “And into trot…and walk…”

Fliss headed over to her client and smiled as she walked alongside her “That was really good Luce…you happy?” “I’m over the moon!” The teenager grinned “I can’t believe it…he went so well!”

“Yeah because you rode him well.” Fliss smiled “You know, I seriously think you should consider a Dressage Competition.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I do. I know you don’t have a horse of your own but you can borrow Cap if you want…have a think about it.” “I will, thanks Fliss.”

Fliss smiled, gave the horse a pat and headed back to the gate.

“Joanne?” she called, and one of her grooms appeared. “Can you just supervise Lucy cooling him off. I’ve got someone bringing their daughter in at 11 am that should be here any time soon.”

“Sure.” Joanne nodded “Oh, they back barn has been mucked out but I’ve not had chance to scrub the water buckets out.” “It’s ok, you can do it after lunch” Fliss nodded. “the automatics are getting installed in a month or so which should make it a little easier.”

She patted Joanne on the shoulder and made her way into the office. Reaching for a file she dug out a Registration Form and a Liability Waiver and set them on the desk before she took a quick glance in the mirror. Satisfied that her auburn hair was tamed and there was no hay stick in it she nodded to herself and walked back on the yard, just in time to see a tall, well build dark haired man desperately trying to control a blonde haired girl who was looking around in glee and pointing.

“Hi…” she walked over, momentarily stuck by how damned good looking this guy was. He was dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt which perfectly accentuated his tone upper body. His chiselled jawline which was covered in a short, stubbled beard, soft spikey dark hair, and he flashed her a smile that made the corners of his aviator covered eyes crinkle. A smile that made her clear her throat. “I’m Fliss, you must be Mr Adler.”

Frank looked at the woman in front of him, glad that his glasses hid the fact he was blatantly eyeing her up and down. Dressed in a pair of long riding boots, tight navy blue jodhpurs with a white belt around the top, and a tight pink polo shirt he could see every curve she possessed. But it was the smile she flashed him that made him feel like some kind of teenage school kid again. “Frank, please.” “Nice to meet you Frank.” Fliss smiled, noting how deep his voice sounded, it was much more gravelly than on the phone and there was a Boston twang to his accent. She shook his hand, his palm and fingertips slightly calloused against her skin, and then turned to Mary “And what can I call you Miss?” “Mary.” the little girl infomed her, looking up “Are all these horses yours?”

Fliss chuckled. “No not all of them. Eight belong to me. Two are my personal ones, then I have 6 that work in the riding school and the other six are boarders.” “Oh.” Mary pondered, looking around. “So which one can I ride?” “Mary…” Frank chastised her softly as he looked down at her, before glancing back at Fliss “Sorry, she’s excited.” Fliss laughed and shook her head “It’s fine, I love to see it.”

She turned to Mary and then in an exaggerated whisper so that Frank could here said “I’ll let you into a secret, I always put the new kids on Monty because he’s awesome and looks after everyone and he especially likes girls. He’s a ladies man. You wanna meet him?” Mary nodded eagerly and Fliss looked up at Frank, seeking his permission. He nodded and gestured with his head and she straightened up before leading Mary across the yard to the barn on the opposite side.

Frank stayed where he was for a moment, watching her ass as she walked before he mentally slapped himself and followed.

Fliss led them both into the airy barn, pushing up her sunglasses and down to 2 of the smaller stables at the far end. She stopped at one that contained a small, grey pony who gave a little nicker and stuck his head over the door.

“Monty, meet Mary.” she said with a smile as Mary gently reached up to stroke the pony’s soft nose.

“He’s really pretty.” Mary nodded, appraisingly.

“Yeah he’s awesome.” Fliss smiled, “And he’s a good boy too.” “Can I go in the stable?” Mary asked.

“Erm… if your dad says it’s ok?” Fliss looked at Frank who was tucking his sunglasses down the front of his shirt.

“I’m not her dad.” Frank shook his head “I’m her uncle.” “Oh, sorry.” Fliss frowned “I just assumed.”

“I get it a lot.” he waved her apology away “But I am her legal guardian so…”

Fliss nodded, studying him for a moment. There was clearly a bit more to that story but it wasn’t her business to pry.

“Can I?” Mary looked at him and he nodded.

“Ok so, Monty is really good and nothing scares him but with all horses you should always be quiet and not jump or shout.” Fliss instructed and Frank had to smile as Mary nodded seriously. He hadn’t seen her this engrossed in anything other than books for a long time. Maybe Roberta had been right.

Fliss unbolted the stable door and walked in, leading Mary in after her. She showed her where he liked to be scratched and Mary giggled as she rubbed at the spot on the pony’s withers and he began to tilt his head to the side, lips moving against Fliss’s arm as he nuzzled into her.

“What’s he doing?” Mary asked.

“It’s called grooming.” Fliss explained “So he is mimicking what you’re doing to him by doing it to me, see? It’s how they show affection in the wild. Sometimes they can get a bit carried away and they nip but they don’t mean to be nasty or bite.”

She looked over to Frank, keeping one eye on the small girl who was engrossed in petting Monty and looked at him “So, are you just after her learning to ride then or…” Frank nodded “It’s a long story but, she needs a hobby and this was the only thing that seemed to get her excited. Of course it would be the one that will milk me dry.” he raised his voice a little.

“Spend less money on beer when you go out tonight” she shot back, and Fliss gave a loud bark of a laugh as Frank, shook his head.

“See what I gotta put up with?” he snorted.

“You should talk to my dad about it.” She grinned. “I bled him dry due to horses as a kid, especially when I was up and down the UK competing!” “I was gonna say your accent isn’t local.” He said, smiling.

“Neither is yours.” she shot back “Boston, am I right?” He cocked his head, momentarily surprised. He didn’t think his accent was that strong considering.

“Yeah.” he nodded, “But I aint lived there in a while.” “I lived in Concorde” she explained, noticing his puzzled glance

“Huh, no kidding.” he smiled “Cambridge.” “Nice city.” Fliss smiled “I loved it.”

“What made you end up here?”

Fliss hesitated for a while. “Erm..” “Sorry, you don’t need to explain, I was just a little curious.” “No, it’s fine, just a long and complicated story.” Fliss scratched her temple “The abridged version is my marriage broke down and my mum and dad retired out here so I joined them.” She was avoiding his eyes slightly. Frank was smart enough to realise there was slightly more to it than that but he was tactful enough not to press. Besides, it was really none of his business.

“How about you? What you running from?” “What makes you think I’m running from anything?” he looked at her.

“Aren’t we all?” she looked at him, her deep brown eyes locked onto his.

He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged “Again, a long and complicated story but I wanted to give Mary a life away from hassle. And there was a lot of that in Boston.” He held her gaze and she simply nodded, before turning back to Mary.

“Ok Mary, how about we head into the office, get some forms signed and we can see about booking you in for your first lesson?” Frank watched as Fliss explained the importance of the kick-bolt on the bottom of the stable and showed her how to lock it before they three of them headed back onto the yard.

“Fliss, sorry to interrupt but do you want Cap and Bolt turned out?” a young girl with blonde hair approached them.

“Yeah, they’re not working today.” Fliss said, “But take them one at a time. Bolt’s taking to being a bit bargey. If he starts wrap the lead-rope round his nose.” “Will do.” “Thanks Jo.” she smiled, and the continued.

“What’s bargey?” Mary asked.

“Pushy.” Frank looked at her “Bossy.” “Like you?” Frank shot her a look and saw Fliss smiling to herself as she overheard.

“Or it could mean pain in the ass like you.” he shrugged. “Rude.” Mary shot back as Fliss opened the door to the office. Frank leaned over to hold it open.

“Thanks.” she looked at him smiling. He stepped in after Mary and they both stood, looking around taking it all in.

There was a large photo on the wall to the left, of someone, he presumed Fliss, on a horse jumping an obscenely high fence. On the wall at the back was a number of shelves, one containing files and the others a few more framed photos, one taken outside the gates to the yard of Fliss and a few others, he assumed her staff, and the other contained a number of trophies and a…

“Woah!” Mary said, scooting over “Is that yours?” “Sure is.” Fliss beamed, reaching up to retrieve the box frame. She led it flat on the desk and Mary scrambled up onto the chair to take a closer look.

The frame was split into two. On the right hand side was a photo of Fliss dressed in competition gear, navy jacket, red piping, white jodhs and a navy hat. She had a smile on her face that was literally ear to ear and round her neck sat the gold medal which was displayed in the left of the frame.

“London 2012…” Mary read the small plaque at the bottom “Frank, look…” “I can see.” he nodded, surprise evident in his tone. He looked at the woman “You were in the Olympics?” “Yeah.” she smiled “Only one though. Trained for years to get there…”

“Why only one?” Mary looked at her.

“Mary.” Frank groaned “Stop being nosey.” “It’s ok.” Fliss chuckled “A few months later at the World Championships later that year I had a nasty accident. I damaged my back and it took me nearly six months to recover. Sadly I lost my place on the team.” “Oh, that’s sad.” Mary looked at her.

“It’s a dog eat dog world kid.” Fliss shrugged “Not all bad though, I got into the training side of things which was great. Just my professional career didn’t work out.” There was a moments pause and Fliss replaced the photo and turned to Frank “Can I get you anything to drink?” “No, I’m good thanks.” he smiled.

“Ok, so…” Fliss said, “Mary I’m gonna need my seat back sweetie.” Mary obligingly jumped back down and Fliss took her vacated place, gesturing to the chair by the desk. Frank sat in it and Mary immediately jumped into his lap, her bare legs brushing slightly as she swung them to and fro.

“I have a few forms that you need to fill in and sign.” she said, apologetically “Legal stuff, contact details, waivers, that kind of thing. Safety is paramount at Sandybrook but, accidents to happen. Horse riding can be a dangerous sport…falls happen… as I know only too well.” Frank smiled and nodded.

“But I can give you those to take home, you can bring them with you when you come back.” Fliss reached into her desk drawer. She pulled out a glossy leaflet and opened it. “Our price list is here. I’m not a huge outfit, I don’t have more than 3 kids on a lesson at a time. Mainly because I don’t have the horses but I prefer to focus on the students, not the profit. I try to keep overheads down as much as I can to keep the costs low…”

She bit her lip, she hated this part of the job, the sales patter as her dad called it. “So it really depends on what you want to do as to how expensive it is. Group lessons are $20 for forty five minutes and individual lessons are $30 for thirty. I do always insist on an individual lesson first, but that’s discounted to $20 for the first one.” Frank nodded, it wasn’t cheap but they’d manage. He’d already explained to Mary that she wouldn’t be able to do it every week, but he could certainly stretch to once a fortnight.

“That’s reasonable.” he said after a pause.

Fliss smiled “I’ve only been open a year or so now, but I’m planning on starting up a few Own a Pony days where the kids can come down and learn how to care for the horses as well as just ride. But that’s all in the planning stages.” “Well you have a good set up.” he said, and she beamed back.

“Thank you, a lot of graft went into setting it up. My mom and dad’s retirement didn’t start out quite as quiet as they had planned!”

“I can imagine.”

“Ok,so…the real expensive outlay is gonna come at the start.” she said, turning to Mary “You’ll need some boots and a hat kiddo.” Mary grinned up at Frank.

“I do have hats I can loan for a few lessons but it is better if they have their own.” she looked at Frank. “It’s the one thing I don’t recommend getting second hand. But boots and jodhpurs etcetera you can pick up on e-bay and the like.” Frank nodded “And the hat?”

“There’s a great store not far from here…hang on…” she dug in her drawer again and produced a flier. “Here… the kid stuff is pretty reasonable to be fair, you’re probably looking at about $30 for a decent hat but they’ll help you out. If you take my brochure in you’ll get a 20% discount too.”

Mary took the flier from her and began examining it.

“That’s really it.” Fliss said, as she completed her mental check list “So all that’s left is to either book you in or you can call me…” “Please Frank!” Mary looked at him “Can we book?” Frank nodded “If you want.” “I do…” “Ok…what availability do you have?” Fliss opened the laptop and entered the diary and looked for a free spot.” “Does Wednesday at one suit?” she offered “I know once school starts you’ll probably want a weekend or evening but. whilst it’s the holidays does that work?”

Frank nodded “Yeah that’s fine. I can jiggle work around” Fliss tapped on the keyboard and smiled “All booked. If you want to leave me your number I send a text update out the night before just as a reminder.” Frank smiled, and gave out her number which she stored in the diary slot and then clicked saved “All done…guess I’ll see you Wednesday.” “Thanks.” he smiled “And thanks for showing us around.” “Not a problem.” she shook her head “Always important the clients get the tour of the place, to make sure they like it.” “Its awesome.” Mary looked up “Can we go here on the way home.” Frank sighed and looked at Fliss raising an eyebrow. She laughed.

“Yeah, get used to it. Once you get that horse smell on your hands it’s kind of an addiction.” “Frank hates animals.” Mary shrugged.

“I don’t hate animals.” Frank shook his head.

“You hate Fred.” “No, I don’t”

“You said before we should bring him so a horse steps on him.” Frank inwardly groaned as Fliss gave a chuckle.

“Fred is my cat.” Mary explained.

“Good name.” Fliss said “I have a few yard cats hanging around, they keep the mice at bay. And that reminds me, I haven’t seen Thor in a while…”

“Thor?” Mary looked at her

“Yeah, my dog…” Fliss stood up and opened the office door, giving a sharp whistle. “He never goes far.” As if on cue a large german shepherd came lolling down the yard to greet them. Frank eyed the dog, it was huge. Mary, right on cue jumped down off his lap.

“Can I stroke him?” “Go right ahead.” Fliss said, she looked at Frank and spotting his face she smiled “He’s a softie, looks the part though.” “Well I wouldn’t mess put it that way.” Frank snorted, standing up.

“Is he named after the Avenger?” Mary looked up “I love those films.”

“Sure is, he used to have a brother called Loki too but, well he died.”

Thor gave Mary a lick causing her to giggle before he flopped onto his side raising his paw.

“He wants a belly rub.” Fliss smiled, and Mary dropped to her knees to give the dog a tickle. His tail began to wag furiously on the floor and Mary laughed.

Frank watched the girl, smiling. He loved seeing her like this. She was so grown up and serious half the time, he yearned to see her acting like a normal seven year old. He was reticent to drag her away for that reason but he had work later that afternoon, a boat that needed finishing by Monday afternoon was taking him slightly longer than he had anticipated.

“Alright short stack, we gotta move…” “Do we hafta?” “Sorry kiddo.” Mary made a face.

“Do you wanna go to the store or not?” “Ok.” she said, jumping up and wiping dusting off her knees.

Fliss walked them to the truck which was parked in the car park and her eyes flew over to her horse wagon, a small 3.5 tonne box. Frank noticed her looking before she turned back to him

“Yours?”

“Yeah, I did have a bigger one but, well I don’t use it often enough now to warrant it. Maybe at some point I’ll get back into competing…never say never hey?” He smiled.

“Ok, so I’ll see you Wednesday.” she said To Frank’s utter surprise, Mary walked over to the woman and wrapped her arms around her, giving her waist as squeeze, her head pressing into Fliss’s stomach. Fliss bent over to give the girl a quick hug and smiled.

“It was nice to meet you both.” Fliss released Mary and gently ruffled her hair “I can’t wait to see you ride.�� Mary headed over to the passenger side of the truck and stood on the sill so she could yank open the door. Fliss turned to Frank and looked at him, frowning slightly.

“Sorry, was that too much? I didn’t mean-” “Oh,God,no.” Frank stuttered, hastily shaking his head. “No, it’s just…well she’s never usually that affectionate with strangers. Not that you’re a stranger I suppose, not anymore but…” he shrugged.

“I’m flattered then.” Fliss said, her pretty face cracking into a smile which Frank couldn’t help but return. There was a moment of silence where he simply looked at her before he started suddenly.

“I should…” he gestured to the truck with his keys.

“Yeah, sorry. Have a good day Mr Adler…” “Frank…” “Frank.” she corrected herself with another gorgeous smile “I’ll see you Wednesday.” With a smile of his own and a nod he walked to the truck and Fliss turned and headed back to the yard.

He climbed in and turned to Mary who was looking at him, smirking in a smug way that was well beyond her years.

“What?” he demanded.

“You like her.” Mary snorted.

“She’s a nice girl, I mean woman…lady…”

Mary didn’t say a word, simply sat back as Frank reached around for her belt before doing his own and setting the truck into reverse. Sometimes she was far too observant for her own good. *****

“If she gives you any trouble just tie her up on the porch.” Frank said as Mary settled on the couch in Roberta’s trailer. Roberta snorted and Mary glared at him.

“The only one who gives me trouble around here is you Frank Adler.” Roberta shot back. “Now scoot, Mary’s gotta tell me all about this pretty girl at the stables she says you’re sweet on.” “Jesus…” Frank groaned “I’m not sweet on her, she was just nice.”

“He googled her.” Mary said.

“You googled her” Roberta intoned.

“I was curious ok?” Frank sighed “And you asked me to!” “She’s an Olympic Gold medallist.” Mary chanted, draping herself over the arm of the sofa, head hanging, hair brushing the floor “At London 2012 but then she had an accident in the World Championships later that year and she broke two vertebrae…she didn’t compete again. And she was married to a guy called John Stazaker, he was on the US team but they’re divorced now. He’s in prison…but Frank didn’t tell me why.” “Because it’s none of your business, and you don’t mention it to her.” Frank said sternly, cutting her off.

Roberta looked at him curiously “But you’re not interested in her,at all.” “Like I said, curious.” he shrugged “Especially if she’s gonna be teaching Mary.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Roberta dropped her hands to her hips “Whatever you say honey…” Frank sighed and then looked at Mary. “Be good.” “I will, see you in the morning…”

He nodded and then headed out. It was a pleasant evening, the heat of the day had died down to an acceptable level and the ten minute walk down to the small strip of bars wasn’t as sticky as normal. It passed fairly quickly, he was lost in thought about the woman he had met before. It had made for surprising reading, a child star on the circuit the accident had cruelly robbed her of a future in the sport five years ago, and from the sounds of it her ass-hat ex-husband had stolen three years of her life too. Still, as he had told Mary, it was none of their business.

He yanked the door open to Fergs and headed over to the bar. Ordering his usual he perched on a stool and pulled over one of the papers, flicking it open. Taking a pull of the beer he was handed, he let out a sigh. Friday nights were always his time, his one night of the week where he wasn’t Frank with the Dead Sister and the child genius niece to bring up. He was just plain old Frank Adler, perpetual bachelor that might or might not get lucky, depending on how the night went.

Half an hour or so later he was another beer deep and completely lost in his reading. So much so he was barely aware of the body besides him as it slid into the space next to him at the bar. That was until they spoke.

“So how much did she sting you for at the store?”

Frank grinned at Fliss “Just short of a hundred. New hat, boots and a pair of jodhpurs.” Fliss giggled “Make sure she wears the boots in, they’re a killer for the first few days!” “I’ll bear it in mind.” he smiled “So, you hear alone or…” “Oh, no. It’s my Mum’s birthday so there’s a few of us out.” she said, glancing over her shoulder. Frank followed her eyes and settled on a table full of women who were all laughing. One looked quite similar to Fliss, same face shape and nose, who he assumed to be her mother. “If I’m honest it’s a bit boring considering they’re all over fifty but…” Frank laughed “Well I was gonna offer to buy you a drink but…” She laughed again “Thanks but, there’s a kitty going…” with that she turned to the bar tender. “Hiya, can I get 4 bud lights, a gin and tonic and a vodka soda please?” The bar tender nodded and headed off.

“Mary hasn’t shut up about Monty all afternoon.” Frank said and Fliss smiled.

“Like I said, once they get the bug they’re bitten.” “It’ll be good for her to have a hobby.” Frank repeated his earlier sentiment “She doesn’t get much interaction with kids her age.”

“Oh, what about School?” Fliss asked. Frank hesitated and took a drink from his bottle. Fliss let out a silent groan “Sorry, that’s really none of my business.” “No, it’s fine.” Frank shook his head, swallowing his beer. “She’s err, home schooled at the moment. My neighbour thought a hobby might be a good way for her to kinda do that before she goes to school.”

Fliss smiled “Well she’s not wrong. The kids I teach are great, I don’t stand for any crap, she’ll be welcomed with open arms.”

“Glad to hear it.” Frank smiled “Mary can be a litte…well, I suppose, odd is the right word. She’s old before her age.”

“Oh I know all about that.” Fliss smiled. “I spent most of my childhood training. Didn’t get chance to do much normal kid stuff. I was that focussed on my dream of gold medals…” “And you achieved it.” Frank nodded.

“Yeah, wish it had lasted longer you know, but what can you do.” she shrugged. “Hey, you never know, Mary might find a sudden hidden talent that catapults her into stardom…” Frank stiffened slightly and it didn’t go unnoticed by Fliss. She hesitated for a moment before Frank shook his head and smiled “Maybe, although that would really gonna fuck my bank balance…”

Fliss chuckled, eyeing him slightly. The man was a total mystery. At that the Bar Tender returned with a tray of drinks and she turned to pay him, waving away the change.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you Wednesday.” she smiled “Bye Frank.” “Yeah, have a good evening.” he smiled and she turned and walked away. Frank watched her go, the tight jeans she was wearing accentuated her ass and her legs, helped by the white heels she was wearing. The loose white cami top rode up slightly as she bent over to deposit the tray and when the woman he assumed to be her mother caught his eye and gave a knowing smirk he hastily turned around.

“Another beer please pal.” he said, waving his empty bottle

****

“Who’s that?” Verity leaned over to Fliss as she settled in the seat next to her.

“Oh, that’s the guy I was telling you about.” she shrugged “the one who brought his niece up to the Centre this morning.” “I know you said he was good looking but…”

“Shut up Mum.” Fliss said, flushing slightly

“You’re old enough to be his mother.” Jane, one of the other women said and the table laughed.

“I wasn’t looking for me…” Fliss rolled her eyes “Seriously?” Verity laughed and placed her arm round her daughter, giving her a squeeze. “I’m just teasing Lissy, its just nice to see you talking to someone, that’s all.” Fliss smiled and grabbed her beer, taking a drink.

“Who the fuck was that?” John said, pointing across the packed bar to the man that Fliss had just smiled at.

“No one…” Fliss protested “Just a guy from work, that’s all.” “Right…” John said, the nerve in his jaw twitching. Fliss swallowed nervously and gently touched his arm.

“Honestly, he works at the stables. I was just being polite.”

“He’s eye fucking you.” “No, he’s not…” Fliss rolled her eyes and immediately realised what he had done when John gripped her chin painfully between his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” he practically snarled.

“I’m sorry…” Fliss said, the tears springing forth “John you’re hurting me…” He let go and she dropped her head, turning back to the bar. She picked up her drink and took a long pull from the bottle, trying to compose herself. Her hand was shaking, she’d made him angry.

And she knew what that meant…

“Hey…” her mother’s voice shook her out of the memory and she looked up at her. “Oh Liss…”

“I’m ok…” she said, taking a breath.

Her mother looked at her again, and Fliss knew she was busted. “I was just…having a flash back that’s all.”

“He’s not here.” Verity dropped her voice “That fucker is where he belongs, behind bars and he won’t be bothering you again. Me and your dad promised you that…and we meant it.”

“I know, honestly I’m fine…” Fliss assured her mum who leaned over and gave her temple a soft kiss.

Fliss smiled back and shooting one last glance at Frank, who has his back to the table as he continued his reading, she turned to the women and threw herself into the conversation.

**** Chapter 2

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted fan fic #gifted

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johannstutt413 · 3 years ago

Text

(requested by calligomiles; continuing from this)

Grani yawned as she walked into her mini-precinct, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she did. Who would’ve thought that she’d stay up so late with Natal- yo, why was there someone already in cuffs?

Jackie gestured to the black-haired Ursus in question. “Caught ‘er gettin’ in a fistfight with a bouncer, so I brought ‘er in. You know her, Officer Grani?”

“I know her friends,” the Kuranta said reflexively, even tired recognizing the style of her outfit. “Leto, right?”

“That’s me, yup~” The Ursus hiccup, clearly intoxicated.

The Perro cracked her knuckles. “Well, I’m gonna head back out there since you’re here. Have a good one, Grani!”

“You, too, Jackie!” She plucked a proper amount of cheer from her endless-but-a-little-frozen reserve, fist-bumping her on the way out, before stumbling over to the coffee machine. “Want a cup, Leto?”

“Eh? Cup’o’what?”

The mountee showed her the bag of coffee in her hand. “Coffee?”

“Ohhhh. Yeaaaah.” The halberdier yawned and hiccuped at the same time. “Heh. Weird~”

“Jackie means well, but she’s got some things to learn about the force still. Rule number one: stay with your charges until they’re processed. Rule number two: it’s way too early for this.” Still, Grani couldn’t help but smile. She’d done good work bringing a belligerent drunk like Leto in by herself.

Things were (mostly) quiet until they were both sitting down, uncuffed and drinking coffee in the row of chairs in the ‘waiting’ area of the mini-precinct. “So, uh...you gonna charge me with anything?”

“Nah. I think you learned your lesson already, right?” The Kuranta had completely dethawed by this point, the caffeine picking her up to her usual level of energy. “Why were you fighting a bouncer, anyway?”

“I showed him my ID, and he said I couldn’t go in. Thing is, when I was with the girls earlier last night, he did. That’s discriminating, itn’t it?”

Grani snorted. “Leto, it’s three in the morning.”

“...Oh, yeah.” Rosalind blushed. “That’d do it, huh?”

“Yep. Why were you trying to get beer at three in the morning, anyway?” It’s not like it would’ve helped with the honey-hangover, after all.

She shrugged. “Didn’t have any in my fridge, and the honey Bee brought home was the red stuff, so it was keepin’ me up. Still needa get to bed pretty soon.”

“Yeah, if you’ve been up this long, you really should...Tell you what: I’ve got something at my place that’ll help knock you out. You can crash on the couch until the meeting tonight.” The officer could tell the Doctor what’d happened if someone went looking for her.

“Really?” The Ursus finished her cup with one final long, slow drink. “That’s so nice of ya. Thanks.”

Why did she have a sudden urge to ruffle her hair? “No problem, Leto. Let’s get you to sleep.”

“Cool...It’s Razz, by the way.”

“Huh.” Grani helped her up, setting their empty cups in one of the chairs for clean-up later. “That’s kinda neat, your name and Rosa’s codename sounding kinda similar.”

Leto thought about it for a second before chuckling. “I ‘adn’t even noticed, really. Grani and Gummy are kinda close, too. When are you gonna join the Group, huh?”

“Oh, today. The General invited me.” What was that, sixteen hours from now?

“Really really?” The halberdier sobered up even more hearing that. “How’d ya manage that one?”

The Kuranta chuckled. “It’s kinda a long story now, honestly. I guess we’ve got time though.” And so, Grani explained it all - talking to Rada a while back, the Doctor asking her to make friends with Natalya, sparring with the General that afternoon and going to Rosa’s place that night. It was a long enough story, with Leto’s occasional laughs and oohs and awws, that by the time they got back to her room they were both properly awake.

“Man, and now I’ve gotta sleep after hearing all this? I’m blamin’ you for my dreams, Gran-gran.” Rosalind rolled onto the cou- holy shit, did she ever use this thing? It was almost brand new!

“Gran-gran?” The officer pouted as she went to the kitchen. “I’m only a little older than you. Still better than ‘Tiny’.”

That sent the halberdier chuckling. “You’re barely taller than Anna, though!”

“L-look, I said a little older, didn’t I?” Grani sighed, pouring her signature ‘go-the-fuck-to-sleep’ drink into a small cup.

“I guess. And I mean, the General’s pretty tall for our age, anyway, isn’t she?” Rosalind shrugged to herself. “Taller than me, anyway.”

The officer set the cup on her coffee table. “There you go. Drink that, and you’ll wake up eight hours later feeling fresh as daisies.”

“Thanks...Say, ya gotta pillow I could borrow?”

“Oh! Sorry, I don’t.” The Kuranta sighed. “I don’t use this couch, and the only pillow I’ve got is...uh...”

Leto chuckled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Take a seat for a minute.” She downed the drink like a shot.

“Eh? Razz, you don’t have to-” And with that, the halberdier was out like a light...her head falling into Grani’s lap back-first.

“Razz...I’ve gotta go back to work.” Nothing. Grani sighed, looking at the clock before starting to stroke the Ursus’ hair. “That’s alright; I’ve got some time. Sometime, you’re gonna have to tell me why it’s so hard for you to fall asleep...you and the rest of the Group, too. For now, though? I guess Podenco’s honey-lavender tea did its job.”

About thirty minutes later, the Kuranta gently lifted Leto’s head so she could run to her room, get the stuffed bear Rada and her had won at a fair a couple of weeks ago, give it to the sleeping halberdier as a pillow, all before dashing off to the precinct once again. Busy, busy horsey...but a very happy one, all the same.

#arknights #arknights fic #leto (arknights)#grani (arknights)#the timeline for this is kinda weird #i forgot I'd already done a Grani/Rosa and that calligo i guess rolled that into this universe since #which is gonna make linking them even more fun lol #but the pay-off is gonna be soooo good #...i bet

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inthelonelycoolbeforedawn · 4 years ago

Text

tw: mentions of past animal abuse (nothing graphic and not portrayed in the fic itself)

Harringrove April Day 10: Peaches

Steve couldn't contain a smile as he stepped out onto the deck. Billy was sprawled in their double lounge chair, sunglasses on, Lemmy and Cookie flopped next to him.

"Hey," Steve said. "You gonna sleep all day?"

"Got bored waiting for you." Flashing a grin, Billy hooked his arm around Steve's waist and tugged. "C'mere. Celebrate with me."

"Nuh-uh," Steve said, planting one hand on the chair to regain his balance. "Dogs in the house, then I'll celebrate with you."

Billy heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine. Hurry up."

Laughing, Steve called Lemmy and Cookie inside and slid the door shut. He felt a bit guilty about disturbing their nap, but he and Billy hadn't had much time to themselves in the last couple of weeks.

Besides, they had a lot to celebrate.

After eight years in L.A. they were both ready for a change. They weren't sure exactly what they wanted, but when they found a house away from the city on three acres of land, with a big yard for the dogs and an easy drive to the beach, they decided to buy it. They cashed in their savings and the last bit of settlement money from Starcourt, signed the papers making the house theirs, and officially moved in two days ago.

"Sorry, guys," he said, scratching the silky black-and-white fur between Cookie's ears. "We'll make it up to you. You want some treats?"

Both Lemmy's and Cookie's ears perked up at the word treat. But where Lemmy's bright eyes and barely wagging tail were his only indications of excitement, Cookie was practically bouncing up and down on her three legs, her entire body wriggling. Steve laughed and gave them both another pat before reaching for the box of dog biscuits.

A flash of movement by the window caught his eye, and his grip on the box instinctively tightened as he looked out to see what it was.

There was a small brown-and-white pony in their driveway, its thick mane flopping into its eyes as it snuffled at the ground.

Steve watched it for a minute, then went back to get Billy. "Um, Billy? Come see this."

Billy pulled his sunglasses off. "What?"

He hurried after Steve, and Steve pointed out the window.

"The hell?" Billy said.

"We should try to catch him," Steve said. "He could get hit by a car or something if he's running around loose like that."

"Yeah," Billy said. "I guess we can get him tied up somewhere and call animal control."

They went out the side door so they were ahead of the pony. It ignored them, taking a few steps and dropping its head again to mouth at some weeds.

"Here, uh - " Steve frowned. "Boy? Girl? Horse? Here, horsey, nice horsey."

"It's not a dog," Billy said. "Let's just try grabbing him. He doesn't look very fast."

They took a few cautious steps towards it. The pony lifted its head, nostrils flaring, but didn't move.

Steve and Billy inched closer.

The pony snorted and broke into a trot. Steve and Billy lunged for it, but that made it run faster. They stopped so they wouldn't chase it onto the road and watched it.

"Maybe he's hungry," Billy said. "Do we have anything he would eat?"

"Oh, yeah!" Steve spoke louder than he'd meant to. The pony looked up and moved farther away. "Oops." Lowering his voice again, he continued. "Carrots. I think horses like carrots. Go get them, babe."

Once Billy returned with their longest dog leash and a bag of carrots, they each took one.

"Here, pony," Steve said.

"You hungry, little guy?" Billy said.

The pony looked at them, tail swishing.

They crept towards it, getting closer than they had before. The pony was watching them intently.

"Nice pony," Steve said, almost whispering. "Who's a good pony?"

"Steve," Billy said, his own voice quiet. "Go right."

They split off, approaching the pony from both sides. The pony stomped its foot but didn't move. They were almost close enough to grab it.

Holding his breath, Steve stretched his arm out a little farther. The pony snorted again, then reached out to take the carrot from his hand. Billy grabbed its halter while it was chewing.

"Got you," he said.

The pony flinched and quickly backed up a couple of steps, but when Steve grasped the other side of its halter, it stopped and stood, trembling.

"Hey, it's okay," Billy said. "You're okay."

"Good pony," Steve said.

Slowly and carefully, they looped the leash through one of the halter rings and secured it with the clip.

Now that it was caught, the pony seemed willing to follow them. They led it to the deck and tied the leash around a post.

Steve gave the pony a tentative pat on the neck. "One of us should probably stay here. Keep an eye on him."

"I will," Billy said. "Just, maybe grab some water for him? And the carrots?"

"Oh, yeah," Steve said. "All that fur, he's probably thirsty."

Billy grinned. "You know, he reminds me of Henderson, with all that hair in his eyes."

"He does not look like Dustin," Steve said, although he secretly agreed.

He retrieved the bag of carrots, then filled a big cooking pot at the kitchen sink and managed to carry it outside without spilling any. The pony stood quietly as Billy worked at a tangle in its shaggy mane.

"Wow," Steve said. "He's really calmed down."

"Yeah," Billy said.

"Well." Steve paused, not sure why he suddenly felt like he was doing something wrong. "I'm gonna go call. I'll be back soon."

Lemmy and Cookie crowded around him, and he petted them absently as he flipped through the phone book.

"It must have an owner," he said. "I bet it belongs to some little kid who'll be really happy to see their pony again, right, guys?"

Cookie licked his hand and Lemmy's tail beat against the floor.

Steve sighed. "Right."

He lifted the receiver and dialed the number for animal control.

A few phone calls later he headed back outside. He found Billy sitting in front of the pony, stroking its nose, a soft smile on his lips. The pony's head was lowered almost to his lap, its eyes half-closed.

It reminded him of the times he'd come home to find Billy and Lemmy, napping or reading or watching TV, Billy's hand resting on Lemmy's scarred side and Lemmy's massive, brindled head resting on Billy's scarred chest.

He stood there a minute, watching, before sitting down next to them.

Billy glanced over. "I gave him more carrots. Guess he's happy."

"Yeah, looks like," Steve said. "Oh, and uh, it's actually a girl horse. Her name's Peaches."

"Peaches?" Billy repeated. "Figures it'd be something stupid."

"I don't know, it's kind of cute," Steve said.

Billy stopped petting Peaches and turned to face him. "So. I guess that means you found her owner?"

"Yeah." Steve picked at the hem of his shorts as he spoke. "Animal control said there was a missing horse reported, and put me in touch with her, and - anyway, she's coming to pick her up."

"Oh." Billy looked away. "That was fast."

They sat in silence until the dogs barking and tires crunching on the driveway alerted them to Peaches' owner's arrival.

Steve squeezed Billy's hand, then got up to greet her. He came around the corner of the house just as a young woman climbed out of a pickup truck with a trailer attached, holding a halter and a thick, neatly coiled rope.

"Hi," the woman called. "I'm Nina. I'm here for Peaches."

"I'm Steve." He shook hands with her, then gestured towards the yard. "She's out back."

"So, you're new here?" Nina said as they walked.

"Yeah," Steve said. "We just moved, actually. How'd you know?"

"It's been empty for a while." She smiled. "I drive this way a lot. Our place is only a couple miles from here."

Billy was still sitting with Peaches when they rounded the corner, but he stood up when he saw them. Steve hurried to his side as Nina introduced herself to Billy, then turned to the pony.

"Peaches!" she said. "Hi, sweet girl. Oh, you scared us."

She gave the pony a quick once-over. Satisfied, she clipped the rope to Peaches' halter and handed the dog leash to Steve.

"Thank you for taking such good care of her," she said with a warm smile. "We were worried sick when she got loose. She's had such a tough time, poor girl."

"What happened?" Steve asked.

Nina's smile faded, her lips tightening into a thin line. "Her last owners weren't very nice to their animals. She developed back problems and couldn't be ridden anymore so they just threw her out in a pasture and left her to fend for herself. Luckily someone called us before it was too late."

"She's a rescue?" Billy said softly.

"Yes," Nina said. "Honestly, I'm surprised she let you catch her. She's still skittish around strangers." She patted the pony's shoulder. "She must like you two."

"Well." Steve ran a hand through his hair. "At least she's safe now, right?"

"Oh, she'll for sure have a home with us if she needs it," Nina said. "But we're a horse rescue. New horses are always coming in and space can be a problem. So ideally our goal is to get all our animals adopted out." She gave Peaches' shoulder another pat. "It might be difficult to find a good home for Peaches, though. She's a sweetheart, but most people want a horse they can ride."

Steve glanced at Billy, who was fidgeting with his ring and staring somewhere past Nina, jaw clenched.

"Hmm." Steve tried to sound casual, fighting to hold back an eager smile. "You know, I think I might know a place."

Steve and Billy stood at the fence, arms crossed over the top board, watching Peaches graze while Lemmy and Cookie frolicked in the far corner of the pasture.

Nina had agreed to let them adopt Peaches on the condition they volunteer at the rescue to learn how to take care of her properly. Nina, her family, and the other volunteers were glad to help with everything from answering questions to building the fence and a small barn on their property. They'd made several new friends by the time they were ready to bring Peaches home.

She'd settled in quickly, making friends with the dogs and spending her days grazing and playing. She loved being groomed, and Steve had teased Billy a few times about him spending more time on Peaches' hair than his own now.

Steve and Billy had settled in too. They'd used some of the extra land to plant a garden. Steve converted the garage into a woodworking shop and with a bigger space to work in, he started experimenting with larger pieces. Billy still surfed whenever he could. They took the dogs to the beach and discovered a few new favorite restaurants. It was everything they'd hoped for when they bought the house.

"I was talking to Mrs. Cooper today," Billy said, breaking the silence. "Her goats are having their babies, and I guess there's a lot of them this year. She said we could have a couple if we want."

"Goats?" Steve was so surprised he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yeah," Billy said. "We've got room. They'd be buddies for Peaches, and we could sell goat milk and stuff eventually."

"Huh," Steve said. "Goats." He shrugged. "Why not?"

Billy grinned. "Great. I'll tell her we'll take 'em."

Steve grinned back, and surrounded by their dogs and their pony and their own happily-ever-after, he and Billy kissed in the soft spring twilight.

#harringrove #my writing #ficlet #harringroveapril #tw: reference to past animal abuse/injuries #but don't worry they are all safe and loved in the fic itself #original female character #original animal characters #peaches the pony

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agentrouka-blog · 4 years ago

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The Waters in the godswood, death and life.

I’ve been looking at some the relationship between Catelyn and the Winterfell godswood and I realized there’s a fascinating connection between the bodies of water and Sansa and Arya.

She put her hand on his cheek, and held it there while he felt how warm she was. "That is how life should feel," she told him. "Only death is cold." (ASOS, Jon XI)

Cold and hot water. Two girls half-fish.

AGOT, Catelyn I opens with a description of the godswood, a contrast between the life-affirming one at home, and the gloomy one in Winterfell.

Opening line:

Catelyn had never liked this godswood.

She had been born a Tully, at Riverrun far to the south, on the Red Fork of the Trident. The godswood there was a garden, bright and airy, where tall redwoods spread dappled shadows across tinkling streams, birds sang from hidden nests, and the air was spicy with the scent of flowers.

The gods of Winterfell kept a different sort of wood. It was a dark, primal place, three acres of old forest untouched for ten thousand years as the gloomy castle rose around it. It smelled of moist earth and decay. No redwoods grew here. This was a wood of stubborn sentinel trees armored in grey-green needles, of mighty oaks, of ironwoods as old as the realm itself. Here thick black trunks crowded close together while twisted branches wove a dense canopy overhead and misshapen roots wrestled beneath the soil. This was a place of deep silence and brooding shadows, and the gods who lived here had no names.

Among the images invoking night (dark, shadows), unease (gloomy crowded, twisted, misshapen) and death (decay, silence) we have some Arya references: stubborn, needles, no names.

It goes on:

For her sake, Ned had built a small sept where she might sing to the seven faces of god, but the blood of the First Men still flowed in the veins of the Starks, and his own gods were the old ones, the nameless, faceless gods of the greenwood they shared with the vanished children of the forest.

At the center of the grove an ancient weirwood brooded over a small pool where the waters were black and cold. “The heart tree,” Ned called it. The weirwood’s bark was white as bone, its leaves dark red, like a thousand bloodstained hands. A face had been carved in the trunk of the great tree, its features long and melancholy, the deep-cut eyes red with dried sap and strangely watchful.

The black, cold pool with its death imagery and the terms “faceless” and “vanished children”, the “long face” recall two things:

1) Arya, a vanished child, and the dark pool in the House of Black and White:

In the center of the temple she found the water she had heard; a pool ten feet across, black as ink and lit by dim red candles. (AFFC, Arya I)

and

The dead were never hard to find. They came to the House of Black and White, prayed for an hour or a day or a year, drank sweet dark water from the pool, and stretched out on a stone bed behind one god or another. (AFFC, Arya II)

and

Poisons. She understood then. Every evening after prayer the waif emptied a stone flagon into the waters of the black pool. (AFFC, Arya II)

2) Jon and Ygritte in the cave of Gendel’s children.

Ygritte stumbled into the pool and screeched at the cold of the water. When Jon laughed, she pulled him in too. They wrestled and splashed in the dark, and then she was in his arms again, and it turned out they were not finished after all.

“Jon Snow,” she told him, when he’d spent his seed inside her, “don’t move now, sweet. I like the feel of you in there, I do. Let’s not go back t’ Styr and Jarl. Let’s go down inside, and join up with Gendel’s children. I don’t ever want t’ leave this cave, Jon Snow. Not ever.” (ASOS, Jon IV)

The cave of flesh-eating lost children. With the dark, cold water. What a prospect. The cave and its memory are always connected to death.

So, we have this association of the Winterfell godswood with darkness, death, cold black water - and Arya.

AGOT, Catelyn II, meanwhile, concerns itself with the hotsprings.

Opening line:

Of all the rooms in Winterfell’s Great Keep, Catelyn’s bedchambers were the hottest. She seldom had to light a fire. The castle had been built over natural hot springs, and the scalding waters rushed through its walls and chambers like blood through a man’s body, driving the chill from the stone halls, filling the glass gardens with a moist warmth, keeping the earth from freezing. Open pools smoked day and night in a dozen small courtyards. That was a little thing, in summer; in winter, it was the difference between life and death.

Catelyn’s bath was always hot and steaming, and her walls warm to the touch. The warmth reminded her of Riverrun, of days in the sun with Lysa and Edmure, but Ned could never abide the heat. The Starks were made for the cold, he would tell her, and she would laugh and tell him in that case they had certainly built their castle in the wrong place.

Again the comparison to Riverrun, this time positive. The hot springs are a contradiction, “un-Stark-like” although they are life-giving and healing. Nonetheless, they are part of the godswood.

Across the godswood, beneath the windows of the Guest House, an underground hot spring fed three small ponds. Steam rose from the water day and night, and the wall that loomed above was thick with moss. Hodor hated cold water, and would fight like a treed wildcat when threatened with soap, but he would happily immerse himself in the hottest pool and sit for hours, giving a loud burp to echo the spring whenever a bubble rose from the murky green depths to break upon the surface. (AGOT, Bran VI)

Hot bath water (unlike scalding hot water) is associated with healing and comfort.

A pair of yellow eyes looked into his own, shining like the sun. The window was open and it was cold in the room, but the warmth that came off the wolf enfolded him like a hot bath. (AGOT, Bran III)

It connects Sansa to Winterfell, especially:

The hot water made her think of Winterfell, and she took strength from that. She had not washed since the day her father died, and she was startled at how filthy the water became. Her maids sluiced the blood off her face, scrubbed the dirt from her back, washed her hair and brushed it out until it sprang back in thick auburn curls. (AGOT, Sansa VI)

Or accompanies her castle building.

She heard the door open as her maids brought the hot water for her bath. They were both new to her service; Tyrion said the women who'd tended to her previously had all been Cersei's spies, just as Sansa had always suspected. "Come see," she told them. "There's a castle in the sky." (ASOS, Sansa IV)

Or downright echoes Cat:

"I used to dream of it, in those years after Cat went north with Eddard Stark. In my dreams it was ever a dark place, and cold."

"No. It was always warm, even when it snowed. Water from the hot springs is piped through the walls to warm them, and inside the glass gardens it was always like the hottest day of summer."

(ASOS, Sansa VII)

And Jon prefers the hot water, too:

The day before last, Jon had made the mistake of wishing he had hot water for a bath. "Cold is better," she had said at once, "if you've got someone to warm you up after. The river's only part ice yet, go on."

Jon laughed. "You'd freeze me to death." (ASOS, Jon II)

And is equally reminded of Winterfell and the godswood:

The warmth took some of the ache from his muscles and made him think of Winterfell's muddy pools, steaming and bubbling in the godswood. Winterfell, he thought. Theon left it burned and broken, but I could restore it. Surely his father would have wanted that, and Robb as well. They would never have wanted the castle left in ruins. (ASOS, Jon XII)

The hot water conjures images of rebuilding, of castles and gardens, rather than death.

So we have the cold waters and the hot waters both in the same godswood. Tully and Stark, life and death.

Of course, it is Catelyn herself, who has now turned away from life-giving to death.

Lady Stoneheart lowered her hood and unwound the grey wool scarf from her face. Her hair was dry and brittle, white as bone. Her brow was mottled green and grey, spotted with the brown blooms of decay. The flesh of her face clung in ragged strips from her eyes down to her jaw. Some of the rips were crusted with dried blood, but others gaped open to reveal the skull beneath. (AFFC, Brienne VIII)

Which unsubtly mirrors this - but with an interesting twist:

The priest lowered his cowl. Beneath he had no face; only a yellowed skull with a few scraps of skin still clinging to the cheeks, and a white worm wriggling from one empty eye socket. "Kiss me, child," he croaked, in a voice as dry and husky as a death rattle.

Does he think to scare me? Arya kissed him where his nose should be and plucked the grave worm from his eye to eat it, but it melted like a shadow in her hand.

The yellow skull was melting too, and the kindliest old man that she had ever seen was smiling down at her. (AFFC, Arya I)

Which has me hoping...

"Stupid little bitch." Fires glinted off the snout of his helm, and made the steel teeth shine. "You go in there, you won't come out. Maybe Frey will let you kiss your mother's corpse."

"Maybe we can save her . . ." (ASOS, Arya XI)

… will have a pay-off, when “Mercy” returns to “Mother Merciless”.

Baby Persephone returns to Mother, and the images of decay and death from the godswood may stop clinging to Arya, and she might return to something a little more associated with happiness:

The godswood there was a garden, bright and airy, where tall redwoods spread dappled shadows across tinkling streams, birds sang from hidden nests, and the air was spicy with the scent of flowers. (AGOT, Catelyn I)

Like...

She had Ned's long face, and brown hair that always looked as though a bird had been nesting in it. (ACOK, Catelyn VII)

And

One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. Sansa kept hoping he would tell Arya to behave herself and act like the highborn lady she was supposed to be, but he never did, he only hugged her and thanked her for the flowers.

(AGOT, Sansa I)

Arya in a godswood that celebrates life, rather than death.

Meanwhile the Sansa building Winterfell from snow “in the wrong place” will pay off in having her return to the original hot springs and rebuild there from the ruins, like Jon imagined. Like the original Starks.

Persephone joining Hades, Winterfell rising around her again, like the original did around the godswood. Only this time with a laughing tree.

Brandon Stark built Winterfell around the time of the first Long Night, and its return suggests that whatever happened then was not a cure but a temporary solution. The memory is only preserved in song and legend, the Wall is a divisive penal colony, the dead are marching once more.

The Starks will have to face the conflict that marked the birth of their House. They will need to do it over, and do it right this time.

Winterfell is in ruins, and perhaps it needed to be, in order to be reborn for a time where “Winter is coming” is no longer a necessary warning.

This:

The green and yellow panes of the glass gardens were all in shards, the trees and fruits and flowers torn up or left exposed to die. Of the stables, made of wood and thatch, nothing remained but ashes, embers, and dead horses. Bran thought of his Dancer, and wanted to weep. There was a shallow steaming lake beneath the Library Tower, and hot water gushing from a crack in its side. (ACOK, Bran VII)

and this...

Of Winterfell burned and tumbled, its people scattered and slain. The glass gardens were smashed, and hot water gushed from the cracked walls to steam beneath the sun. (ASOS, Bran I)

and this...

The thatch and timber had been consumed by fire, in whole or in part, and under the shattered panes of the Glass Garden the fruits and vegetables that would have fed the castle during the winter were dead and black and frozen. (ADWD, The Prince of Winterfell)

Will turn to this:

If I could show her Winterfell . . . give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us. (ASOS, Jon V)

And they will remember this:

In fact, three acres alone are given over to an ancient godswood, where legend tells us Brandon the Builder once prayed to his gods. Whether this is true or not, the antiquity of the grove cannot be contested. And the godswood no doubt benefits from the hot springs that are contained within it, protecting the trees from the worst of the winter's chill.

Indeed, the presence of the hot springs—which pepper the land around Winterfell—may be the chief reason why the First Men initially settled there. One can easily imagine the value that a ready source of water—and hot water, at that—would have had in the depths of a Northern winter. In recent centuries, the Starks have raised structures that have made direct use of these springs for the purpose of heating their dwellings.

(A World of Ice and Fire - The North: Winterfell)

You know nothing, Ned Stark. Cat was right. The hot water is the point of Winterfell. Blood of Winterfell. Key to the North.

Or, you knew one thing:

"Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa … Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you … and I need both of you, gods help me." (AGOT, Arya II)

Persephone bringing life and spring, both of them.

#asoiaf #arya stark #sansa stark #catelyn stark #hot water #cold water #Hot Springs #Winterfell #Winterfell godswood

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years ago

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Riding High Ch1: Jodhpurs and Jeans

Chapter Summary: Frank Adler is a single man in his early 30s, simply doing his best to raise his genius niece Mary. After a passing comment from his well-meaning neighbour, land-lady and friend, he decides that before he enrols her into school she needs to learn some social skills and pick up a hobby to help her interact with kids her own age.

Felicity (Fliss) Gallagher is a single woman in her early 30s. An British Olympic Gold Medal winning Showjumper who was forced into early retirement due to a nasty accident, she’s now settled in South Pasadena running Sandybrook Stables, an Equestrian Centre which provide both boarding and teaching services.

Mary decides she wants to learn how to ride… meaning the two of them meet for the first time

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Tagging all my SSB/CSI readers…if you want in or off the list PLEASE just tell me

As always I’m a ho for a REBLOG and COMMENT!

And yes, the woman in the photos in the cover banner on and with the Chestnut is me and my wonderful, wonderful old girl who I lost 2 years ago…

Chapter Song: Driftwood by Travis

Series Masterlist Main Masterlist

August 2017

“I’m holding you solely responsible for this.” Frank short Roberta a glare as Mary bounced over to the truck, her blonde hair swinging slightly as she skipped.

Roberta took a deep breath and simply shrugged “On your head be it.”

“Come on Frank!” Mary shouted, standing up on the ledge of the truck “we’re gonna be late!”

“It’s 20 minutes tops to Pinellas Park…” Frank looked at her “We got half an hour, chill out Stack”

“My name’s Mary not Short Stack…” she sing songed back.

“Don’t I know it…” Frank said, looking at her before he turned back to Roberta “I’ll see you later.”

“Hmmm” she nodded, and with that he rolled his eyes again and headed to the truck.

“You know you’re not actually gonna get to ride anything today right?” he asked, turning to his niece.

“No, but I’m still gonna see the ponies.” she said, smiling. “Why can’t we bring Fred?”

“Because a horse might step on him.” Frank said, before he paused. “Actually, shall we take him?” Mary narrowed her eyes at him “That’s mean.” He chuckled, ruffled her hair and started up the truck.

******

“Ok, now soften your outside hand…” Fliss called out across the paddock, as the woman riding the tall, bay warmblood circled her “Yeah, you feel that. He’s taking the contact now, not leaning against your hand. So when you feel that softening, that’s when you need to push with your inside leg…and if is he isn’t listening a soft tap up with the stick…” She watched again from behind her Oakley wraparounds, smiling as the horse extended nicely down the long side of the school.

“Yeah, there you go!” she shouted encouragingly, “Now bring him round again and this time at the corner, pop him into canter…” She took a quick glance at her watch. She was running slightly behind, but what else was new? She would never leave a lesson, regardless, until her client had achieved something, even if it was what they dubbed a small victory. End on a high was her motto, and this was no different. Ever since Lucy had brought Jensen out of his stable, Fliss could see the horse was in one of his awkward moods so she’d had to switch out her plan a little. It had worked and he’d settled after about 15 minutes of being an obstinate shit and he was working quite nicely.

“Ok, bring him back down…” she said, “And into trot…and walk…”

“Yeah because you rode him well.” Fliss smiled “You know, I seriously think you should consider a Dressage Competition.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I do. I know you don’t have a horse of your own but you can borrow Cap if you want…have a think about it.” “I will, thanks Fliss.”

Fliss smiled, gave the horse a pat and headed back to the gate.

“Joanne?” she called, and one of her grooms appeared. “Can you just supervise Lucy cooling him off. I’ve got someone bringing their daughter in at 11 am that should be here any time soon.”

“Hi…” she walked over, momentarily stuck by how damned good looking this guy was. He was dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt which perfectly accentuated his toned upper body. His chiselled jawline which was covered in a short, stubbled beard, soft spikey dark hair, and he flashed her a smile that made the corners of his aviator covered eyes crinkle. A smile that made her clear her throat. “I’m Fliss, you must be Mr Adler.”

Frank looked at the woman in front of him, glad that his glasses hid the fact he was blatantly eyeing her up and down. Dressed in a pair of long riding boots, tight navy blue jodhpurs with a white belt around the top, and a tight pink polo shirt he could see every curve she possessed. But it was the smile she flashed him that made him feel like some kind of teenage school kid again. “Frank, please.” “Nice to meet you.” Fliss smiled before turning to Mary “And what can I call you Miss?” “Mary.” she said, looking up “Are all these horses yours?”

Fliss chuckled. “No not all of them. 9 belong to me. 3 are my personal ones, then I have 6 that work in the riding school and the other 6 are boarders.” “Oh.” she said, looking around. “So which one can I ride.” “Mary…” Frank chastised her softly as he looked down at her, before glancing back at Fliss “Sorry, she’s excited.” Fliss laughed and shook her head “It’s fine, I love to see it.”

She turned to Mary and then in an exaggerated whisper so that Frank could here said “I’ll let you into a secret, I always put the new kids on Monty because he’s awesome and looks after everyone…and he especially likes girls. He’s a ladies man. You wanna meet him?” Mary nodded eagerly and Fliss looked up at Frank, seeking his permission. He nodded and gestured with his head and she straightened up before leading Mary across the yard to the barn on the opposite side.

Frank stayed where he was for a moment, watching her ass as she walked before he mentally slapped himself and followed.

“Monty, meet Mary…” she said with a smile as Mary gently reached up to stroke the pony’s soft nose.

“He’s really pretty.” Mary said, appraisingly.

“Yeah he’s awesome.” Fliss smiled, “And he’s a good boy too.” “Can I go in the stable?” Mary asked.

“Erm… if your dad says it’s ok?” Fliss looked at Frank who was tucking his sunglasses down the front of his shirt.

“I’m not her dad.” Frank shook his head “I’m her uncle.” “Oh, sorry.” Fliss frowned “I just assumed.”

“I get it a lot.” he said, waving her apology away “But I am her legal guardian so…”

Fliss nodded, studying him for a moment. There was clearly a bit more to that story but it wasn’t her business to pry.

“Can I?” Mary looked at him and he nodded.

“What’s he doing?” Mary asked.

“It’s called grooming.” Fliss explained “So he is mimicking what you’re doing to him to me, see? It’s how they show affection in the wild. Sometimes they can get a bit carried away and they nip but they don’t mean to be nasty or bite.”

“Spend less money on beer when you go out tonight” she shot back, and Fliss gave a loud bark of a laugh as Frank, shook his head.

“See what I gotta put up with?” he snorted.

“You should talk to my dad about it.” she laughed “I bled him dry due to horses as a kid, especially when I was up and down the UK competing!” “I was gonna say your accent isn’t local.” he said, smiling.

“Neither is yours.” she shot back “New England?” He cocked his head, momentarily surprised. He didn’t think his accent was that strong considering.

“Boston.” he nodded, “But I aint lived there in a while.” “I lived in Concorde” she explained, noticing his puzzled glance

“Huh, no kidding.” he smiled “Cambridge.” “Nice state.” Fliss smiled “I loved it.”

“What made you end up here?”

Fliss hesitated for a while. “Erm..” “Sorry, you don’t need to explain, I was just a little curious.” “No, it’s fine just a long and complicated story.” Fliss said, scratching her temple “The abridged version is my marriage broke down and my mum and dad retired out here so I joined them.” She was avoiding his eyes slightly. Frank was smart enough to realise there was slightly more to it than that but he was tactful enough not to press. Besides, it was really none of his business.

“How about you? What you running from?” “What makes you think I’m running from anything?” he asked.

“Aren’t we all?” she looked at him, her deep brown eyes locked onto his.

“Fliss, sorry to interrupt but do you want Cap and Bolt turned out?” a young girl with blonde hair approached them.

“Yeah, they’re not working again today.” Fliss said, “But take them one at a time. Bolt’s taking to being a bit bargey. If he starts wrap the lead-rope round his nose.” “Will do.” “Thanks Jo.” she smiled, and they continued walking.

“What’s bargey?” Mary asked.

“Pushy.” Frank looked at her “Bossy.” “Like you?” Frank shot her a look and saw Fliss smiling to herself as she overheard.

“Or it could mean pain in the ass like you.” he said. “Rude.” Mary shot back as Fliss opened the door to the office. Frank leaned over to hold it open.

“Thanks.” she looked at him smiling. He stepped in after Mary and they both stood, looking around taking it all in.

The frame was split into 2. On the right hand side was a photo of Fliss dressed in competition gear, navy jacket, red piping, white jodhs and a navy hat. She had a smile on her face that was literally ear to ear and round her neck sat the gold medal which was displayed in the left of the frame.

“London 2012…” Mary read the small plaque at the bottom “Frank, look…” “I can see.” he said, surprise evident in his tone. He looked at the woman “You were in the Olympics?” “Yeah.” she smiled “Only one though. Trained for years to get there…”

“Why only one?” Mary looked at her.

“Mary.” Frank groaned “Stop being nosey.” “It’s ok.” Fliss chuckled “A few months later at the World Championships I had a nasty accident. I damaged my back and it took me nearly 6 months to recover. Sadly I lost my place on the team.” “Oh, that’s sad.” Mary looked at her.

“It’s a dog eat dog world kid.” Fliss shrugged “Not all bad though, I got into the training side of things which was great. Just didn’t work out.” There was a moments pause and Fliss replaced the photo and turned to Frank “Can I get you anything to drink?” “No, I’m good thanks.” he smiled.

“But I can give you those to take home, you can bring them with you when you come back.” she said, reaching into her desk drawer. She pulled out a glossy leaflet and opened it. “Our price list is here. I’m not a huge outfit, I don’t have more than 3 kids on a lesson at a time. Mainly because I don’t have the horses but I prefer to focus on the students, not the profit. I try to keep overheads down as much as I can to keep the costs low…”

She bit her lip, she hated this part of the job, the sales patter as her dad called it. “So it really depends on what you want to do as to how expensive it is. Group lessons are $20 for 45 minutes and individual lessons are $30 for 30. I do always insist on an individual lesson first, but that’s discounted to $20 for the first one.” Frank nodded, it wasn’t cheap but they’d manage. He’d already explained to Mary that she wouldn’t be able to do it every week, but he could certainly stretch to once a fortnight.

“That’s reasonable.” he said after a pause.

Fliss smiled “I’ve only been 6 months or so now, but I’m planning on starting up a few Own a Pony days where the kids can come down and learn how to care for the horses as well as just ride. But that’s all in the planning stages.” “Well you have a good set up.” he said, and she beamed back.

“Thank you, a lot of graft went into setting it up. My mom and dad’s retirement didn’t start out quite as quiet as they had planned!”

“I can imagine.”

“Ok,so…the real expensive outlay is gonna come at the start.” she said, turning to Mary “You’ll need some boots and a hat kiddo.” Mary grinned up at Frank.

Mary took the flier from her and began examining it.

“That’s really it.” Fliss said, as she completed her mental check list “So all that’s left is to either book you in or you can call me…” “Please Frank!” Mary looked at him “Can we book?” Frank nodded “If you want.” “I do…” “Ok…what availability do you have?” Fliss opened the laptop and entered the diary and looked for a free spot.” “Does Wednesday at 1 suit?” she offered “I know once school starts you’ll probably want a weekend or evening but. whilst it’s the holidays does that work?”

“Yeah, get used to it. Once you get that horse smell on your hands it’s kind of an addiction.” “Frank hates animals.” Mary shrugged.

“I don’t hate animals.” Frank shook his head.

“You hate Fred.” “No, I don’t”

“You said before we should bring him so a horse steps on him.” Frank inwardly groaned as Fliss gave a chuckle.

“Fred is my cat.” Mary explained.

“Good name.” Fliss said “I have a few yard cats hanging around, they keep the mice at bay. And that reminds me, I haven’t seen Thor in a while…”

“Thor?” Mary looked at her

“Yeah, my dog…” she stood up and opened the office door, giving a sharp whistle. “He never goes far.” As if on cue a large german shepherd came lolling down the yard to greet them. Frank eyed the dog, it was huge. Mary, right on cue jumped down off his lap.

“Is he named after the Avenger?” Mary looked up “I love those films.”

“Sure is, he used to have a brother called Loki too but, well he died.”

Thor gave Mary a lick causing her to giggle before he flopped onto his side raising his paw.

“He wants a belly rub.” Fliss said, and Mary dropped to her knees to give the dog a tickle. His tail began to wag furiously on the floor and Mary laughed.

Frank watched the girl, smiling. He loved seeing her like this. She was so grown up and serious half the time, he yearned to see her acting like a normal 7 year old. He was reticent to drag her away for that reason but he had work later that afternoon, a boat that needed finishing by Monday afternoon was taking him slightly longer than he had anticipated.

“Alright short stack, we gotta move…” “Do we hafta?” “Sorry kiddo.” Mary made a face.

“Do you wanna go to the store or not?” Frank shot her a look. “Ok.” she said, jumping up and wiping dusting off her knees.

Fliss walked them to the truck which was parked in the car park and her eyes flew over to her horse wagon, a small 3.5 tonne box. Frank noticed her looking before she turned back to him.

“Yours?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did have a bigger one but, well I don’t use it often enough now to warrant it. Maybe at some point I’ll get back into competing…never say never hey?” He smiled.

“It was nice to meet you both.” Fliss released Mary and gently ruffled her hair “I can’t wait to see you ride.” Mary headed over to the passenger side of the truck and stood on the sill so she could yank open the door. Fliss turned to Frank and looked at him, frowning slightly.

“Sorry, was that too much? I just…well she…” “Oh,God,no…” Frank stuttered, hastily shaking his head. “It’s just…well she’s never usually that affectionate with strangers. Not that you’re a stranger I suppose, not anymore but…” he shrugged.

“I should…” he gestured to the truck with his keys.

“Yeah, sorry. Have a good day Mr Adler…” “Frank…” “Frank.” she corrected herself with another gorgeous smile “I’ll see you Wednesday.” With another nod he walked to the truck and Fliss turned and headed back to the yard.

He climbed in and turned to Mary who was looking at him, smirking in a smug way that was well beyond her 7 years.

“What?” he demanded.

“You like her.” Mary snorted.

“She’s a nice girl, I mean woman…lady…”

Mary didn’t say a word, simply sat back as Frank reached around for her belt before doing his own and setting the truck into reverse. Sometimes she was far too observant for her own good. *****

“If she gives you any trouble just tie her up on the porch.” Frank said as Mary settled on the couch in Roberta’s trailer. Roberta snorted and Mary glared at him.

“He googled her.” Mary said.

“You googled her” Roberta intoned.

“I was curious ok?” Frank said “And you asked me to!” “She’s an Olympic Gold medallist.” Mary chanted, draping herself over the arm of the sofa, head hanging, hair brushing the floor “At London 2012 but then she had an accident in the World Championships later that year and she broke 2 vertebrae…she didn’t compete again. And she was married to a guy called John. He was on the US Equestrian team but they’re divorced now. He’s in prison…but Frank didn’t tell me why.” “Because it’s none of your business, and you don’t mention it to her.” Frank said sternly, cutting her off.

Roberta looked at him curiously “But you’re not interested in her. At all.” “Like I said, curious.” he shrugged “Especially if she’s gonna be teaching Mary.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Roberta dropped her hands to her hips “Whatever you say honey…” Frank sighed and then looked at Mary. “Be good.” “I will, see you in the morning…”

He nodded and then headed out. It was a pleasant evening, the heat of the day had died down to an acceptable level and the 10 minute walk down to the small strip of bars wasn’t as sticky as normal. It passed fairly quickly, he was lost in thought about the woman he had met before. It had made for surprising reading, a child star on the circuit the accident had cruelly robbed her of a future in the sport 5 years ago, and from the sounds of it her ass-hat ex-husband had stolen 3 years of her life too. Still, as he had told Mary, it was none of their business.

“So how much did she sting you for at the store?”

Frank grinned up at Fliss “Just short of a hundred. New hat, boots and a pair of jodhpurs.” Fliss giggled “Make sure she wears the boots in, they’re a killer for the first few days!” “I’ll bear it in mind.” he smiled “So, you hear alone or…” “Oh, no. It’s my Mum’s birthday so there’s a few of us out.” she said, glancing over her shoulder. Frank followed her eyes and settled on a table full of women who were all laughing. One looked quite similar to Fliss, same face shape and nose, who he assumed to be her mother. “If I’m honest it’s a bit boring considering they’re all over fifty but…” Frank laughed “Well I was gonna offer to buy you a drink but…” She laughed again “Thanks but, there’s a kitty going…” with that she turned to the bar tender. “Hiya, can I get 4 bud lights, a gin and tonic and a vodka soda please?” The bar tender nodded and headed off.

“Mary hasn’t shut up about Monty all afternoon.” Frank said and Fliss smiled.

Fliss smiled “Well she’s not wrong. The kids I teach are great, I don’t stand for any crap, she’ll be welcomed with open arms.”

“Glad to hear it.” Frank smiled “Mary can be a litte…well, I suppose, odd is the right word. She’s old before her age.”

Fliss chuckled, eyeing him slightly. The man was a total mystery. At that the Bar Tender returned with a tray of drinks and she turned to pay him, waving away the change.

“Another beer please pal.” he said, waving his empty bottle.

“Who’s that?” Verity leaned over to Fliss as she settled in the seat next to her.

“Oh, that’s the guy I was telling you about.” she shrugged “the one who brought his niece up to the Centre this morning.” “I know you said he was good looking but…”

“Shut up Mum.” Fliss said, flushing slightly

“You’re old enough to be his mother.” Jane, one of the other women said and the table laughed.

“Who the fuck was that?” John said, pointing across the packed bar to the man that Fliss had just smiled at.

“No one…” Fliss protested “Just a guy from work, that’s all.” “Right…” John said, the nerve in his jaw twitching. Fliss swallowed nervously and gently touched his arm.

“Honestly, he works at the stables. I was just being polite.”

“He’s eye fucking you.” “No, he’s not…” Fliss rolled her eyes and immediately realised what he had done when John gripped her chin painfully between his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” he practically snarled.

And she knew what that meant…

“Hey…” her mother’s voice shook her out of the memory and she looked up at her. “Oh Liss…”

“I’m ok…” she said, taking a breath

Her mother looked at her again, and Fliss knew she was busted. “I was just…having a flash back that’s all.”

“He’s not here.” Verity dropped her voice “That fucker is where he belongs, behind bars and he won’t be bothering you again. Me and your dad promised you that…and we meant it.”

“I know, honestly I’m fine…” Fliss assured her mum who leaned over and gave her temple a soft kiss.

Fliss smiled back and shooting one last glance at Frank, who has his back to the table as he continued his reading, she turned to the women and threw herself into the conversation

@the-omni-princess @momobaby227 @geekofmanythings16 @angelofhell-666 @thewackywriter @marvelfansworld @cobalt-gear @asgardlover75 @jennmurawski13 @jtargaryen18 @saiyanprincessswanie @navispalace @patzammit @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @icanfeelastormbrewing @djeniiscorner @ayamenimthiriel @coldmuffinbanditshoe @disneylovingal @madzmilllz @sgtjaamesbaarnes @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @southerngracela @goldenfightergir @kellymat @official-and-unstable-satan

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted fan fic #gifted

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