#so i'm just going to go with everythings good and i won't have extremely blurry gifs anymore

[roots-symphony]

it's only water, it's only fire, it's only love

it's only slaughter, we're only liars, it's only blood

you're only dying, you're only crying, you're only dead

[justlemmeadoreyou]

4. heat of the kitchen (restaurant owner!harry x chef!reader)

(part 1 here) | (part 2 here) | (part 3 here)

summary: the day of the gala, but something unexpected happens, leaving you a responsibility that could either make or break your career.

words: 5k

warnings: fluff, a hint of angst.

You had just started falling into a restless sleep when your phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand, making you jump awake in surprise. Squinting your blurry eyes at the bright screen, you felt a prickle of worry when you saw the time - 4:17am. This couldn't be good news at this hour. 

Sure enough, it was Harry's number flashing on the caller ID. With a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, you swiped to answer and brought the phone to your ear. "Hello?"

"[Y/N], hey..." Even through the tinny distortion of the phone line, you could hear the grimness and exhaustion in Harry's voice. "Look, I...there's been an emergency with my family back home. My mom is really sick and not doing well."

You sat up straight in bed now, any remaining grogginess from sleep instantly swept away by a crushing wave of dismay. You listened in silence as he explained in brief phrases about needing to get on the next available flight to go back to New York right away. He said he wasn't sure when he'd be able to return to Chicago.

"I just didn't have a chance to let you know about this earlier," Harry's low, raspy voice crackled with regret. "I've already spoken with Thomason to take over running things at the event today, but...I'm so sorry, [Y/N]. The timing of this could not possibly be worse."

"No no, please don't even worry about that right now," you interjected quickly, your mind already whirling with the huge implications of what he was saying. Today was the extremely important Martin gala event - without Harry there to oversee the execution of his highly complicated, avant-garde centrepiece dish, the whole thing could spectacularly fall apart in front of all the big-name food critics and chefs of Chicago.

And yet...none of that professional stuff mattered at all compared to the intensely personal crisis your mentor was going through right now. "Is everything...I mean, is your mom going to be okay?" you asked hesitantly, not wanting to pry too much but deeply concerned.

Harry let out a shaky sigh that made your chest clench with empathy for what he must be feeling. "I don't know yet. They're running some medical tests on her this morning to get more answers, but...it doesn't look good so far based on what they've told me."

There was a heavy pause before he added in a rough, strained voice, "Looks like I've got another big battle ahead of me here."  

Despite the gravity of the situation, you felt a pang of fondness at those terse words that sounded so quintessentially like Harry - tackling this heart-wrenching personal turmoil with the same determination and head-on approach he always brought to challenges in the kitchen.

"I'll be okay," Harry stated in a tone that made it clear he didn't want or expect any sympathy or reassurance from you about it. "Right now, all I need is for you to promise me that the gala event today is going to be a complete success no matter what else is happening. Can you handle being fully in charge of running the whole operation and making sure my vision for the centerpiece dish comes out perfectly?"

He didn't need to go into more detail - you knew full well the enormity of the responsibility he was asking you to take on here. Tremors of nerves joined the waves of sympathy and concern roiling through you at the weight of this task. But you didn't hesitate at all before answering.

"You have my word, Chef," you vowed solemnly. "I'll treat this dish and event with the same intense, laser-focused commitment you've been drilling into me from day one - and I absolutely won't let you down."  

This time, Harry's answering exhale held the faintest trace of pride and...something more you couldn't quite put your finger on. "I know you won't let me down. I'm gonna have to go take care of things now, but I'll call again later to check in on how preparations are going over there. In the meantime, just stay calm, stay focused, and execute everything exactly like we've practiced over and over again these past weeks."

"I will. And Harry--" you hesitated momentarily before plunging ahead. "I really hope...well, just please take care of yourself too, okay? Sending you all my best wishes for your mom to get through this."

There was a beat of surprised silence before he responded in a gruff but sincere voice, "Yeah...thanks, [Y/N]. I appreciate that."

With that, the call clicked off abruptly, leaving you alone amid the predawn stillness with nothing but the immense weight of the trust and responsibility Harry had placed on your shoulders.

This was by far the biggest professional challenge you'd ever faced in your culinary career. Not just having to pull off executing Harry's avant-garde, innovative, wildly complex dish to absolute perfection under the intense scrutiny of the biggest names and players in Chicago's food world - but doing so while your mentor battled a hugely serious personal crisis unfolding all the way across the country in New York. Just the thought of it made your stomach churn with anxious adrenaline and nerves.

Still...despite the daunting nature of this task, you couldn't help but feel a sense of opportunity arising as well. This was an unexpected and unprecedented chance for you to truly prove yourself at the highest possible level, to rise up and show you had the skills and mental toughness to handle the most intense culinary pressure situations. You'd worked too damn hard, invested too many long hours of sweat and failures in kitchens everywhere to let this monumental opportunity slip through your fingers.

A feeling of steely resolve settled over you as you climbed out of bed and began methodically getting ready to start your day. No matter what curveball life had thrown at Harry derailing his own ability to participate, your role and mission remained unchanged - you made a solemn vow to him, and you utterly refused to let him down when he was counting on you most in this dire moment. This gala would go off flawlessly, the vision and game plan he'd meticulously drilled into you executed with precise mastery down to every last detail. Abject failure was simply not an option today.

***

By the time the first pale streaks of dawn began filtering through your windows, you were fully dressed and shoving a high-protein bar into your mouth as fuel while heading out the door to the event venue. Despite the early hour, there was already a palpable buzz and energy of activity when you arrived, crews of staffers and organizers darting around in a highly choreographed frenzy as they put the very final touches and preparations in place.  

You spotted Thomason's towering, intimidating form immediately - the harsh sous chef resembled a military general marshaling the troops, barking out orders and keeping everything flowing in an orderly yet intense manner. Straightening your spine, you crossed over purposefully to greet him directly. Thomason's eyes flicked over you appraisingly before giving a short, sharp nod of acknowledgment. "Good, you're here. Let's get you situated and start running through all your station assignments."

Without any further preamble or wasted words, he turned sharply on his heel and strode off at a brisk pace, clearly expecting you to fall into step directly behind him with no delays. Suppressing a resigned sigh, you did just that, matching his stride as Thomason immediately launched into a rapid-fire rundown and delegation of every single responsibility that would fall under your purview for the entire day.

It was...honestly, a staggering amount of crucial tasks and oversight duties to absorb all at once this early in the morning, especially given the giant extenuating circumstance and crisis situation hanging overhead with Harry's absence. But Thomason pressed on in his typical brusque, no-nonsense manner.

Apparently Harry had already briefed the imposing, burly sous chef on the pertinent details of the personal situation he was dealing with, as evidenced by Thomason's uncharacteristic patience whenever you had to pause to fully digest certain instructions or ask for any clarification on assignments. But the gruff kitchen veteran otherwise made no comforting allowances, simply conveying the huge pile of duties you'd need to stay on top of from morning prep straight through to the evening's high-stakes dinner service.

By the time he finally finished laying out the overwhelming laundry list of tasks you were accountable for, a tenuous sense of control had settled over your earlier panic and worries. You could do this. Logistically speaking, it would be the most daunting and high-pressure culinary challenge you'd ever faced by far - but thanks to all the intense training and preparation Harry had put you through, you genuinely felt as ready as you could possibly be. All that remained now was keeping your head down and executing flawlessly with the same pinpoint focus and work ethic he'd instilled in you through those grueling practice runs.

With a grim nod of determination, you turned and started overseeing your assigned kitchen crew in setting up the intricate series of mise en place stations that would be required for pulling off Harry's avant-garde, wildly complex centerpiece dish. All around you, the buzz of frantic activity swelled as area after area of the massive venue was brought online in final preparation for the rapidly approaching arrival times of guests and participants.  

Though you kept waiting for the spike of nerves and adrenaline to hit, surprisingly, a strange sense of calm numbness had instead descended over you - the kind that often surfaced in the middle of an intense, all-hands-on-deck dinner rush back at the restaurant. In these do-or-die, make-it-or-break-it kinds of situations, there simply was no spare mental bandwidth available for anything beyond the critical task directly in front of you in that very moment. Distracting thoughts and nerves got shunted aside as survival instincts took over.

And just like that, you lost yourself in the soothing, almost meditative rhythm of prep work, falling into that laser-focused state of dicing, slicing, arranging each individual ingredient component with painstaking, meticulous care according to the detailed specifications Harry had drilled into you over and over. At one point, you absently accepted a bottled water from one of your line cooks with a murmured thanks, but otherwise operated on auto-pilot.  

You weren't entirely sure how much time had elapsed before Thomason's gruff bark of "Ten minutes!" roused you from your intense, trance-like focus. All around, your crew instantly kicked into an even higher gear, ferrying the completed mise en place components to the designated plating stations in an efficient flurry of motion. You barely registered Thomason sidling up next to you with an evaluating look on his imposing features.

"You did decent prep work so far, kid," he acknowledged in a tone of voice that was only marginally less dismissive than his usual demeanor. "Now let's see if you can actually plate this bastard of a complicated dish without totally screwing the pooch."

With that uniquely Thomason-style pep talk, he gave your shoulder a clap and then strode off to take his place at the all-important expediting position for the evening's service, leaving you warmed by the backhanded compliment. Coming from the notoriously harsh and miserly-with-praise Thomason, those words were basically the equivalent of an ecstatic rave.

Any boost of confidence was welcome at this point, as the first wave of elite guests began trickling into the dining area right on schedule. You could feel the atmosphere in the room shifting, charging with buzzing energy and anticipation as these influential culinary figures saw the artfully designed space, flipped through the rundown of tonight's prix fixe menu, and speculated about what boundary-pushing creation Harry had surely concocted for his centrepiece auction dish.  

Your own adrenaline kicked into high gear as you took your place at the head plating station, flanked by your hand-picked crew who would assist in the extremely intricate assemble of all the individual components coming together. A hush fell over the kitchen as you exchanged looks with your team, giving a final nod of readiness. 

"First courses..." came the terse callout from the expo line. And with that, you immediately snapped into focus, hands moving with the precision drilled into them through countless practice runs as you began plating the initial courses.

From there, the entire high-stakes evening blurred into a cyclone of intense concentration and rapid-fire execution, broken only by the occasional smattering of polite applause from the dining room as each new course made its debut to apparent delight. But you remained steadfastly disengaged from all of that, shutting it out entirely as you moved with economical grace from one fastidiously assembled plate to the next in a state of total flow.

You were aware on some level of Thomason periodically prowling the line, sharp eyes scrutinizing every last component with the intensity of a decorated drill sergeant. But his presence was almost soothing in a way, a low-key affirmation that you and your crew were hitting every lofty mark thus far.

Finally, after what felt like both a grueling endurance marathon and the naturally seamless completion of a singular, continuous motion...it was time. All the other courses had been executed flawlessly, clearing the way for the pièce de résistance - Harry's avant-garde centerpiece dish that would cap off the evening. You took a deep, steadying breath as the first calls came in from the expo line.

"Fire one centerpiece!"

Your hands moved with the precision of a surgeon, each practiced motion flowing seamlessly into the next as you began assembling the first plate of the showstopper course. Around you, your crew worked in the same laser-focused unison, handling each individual component with utmost care and attention to detail.  

Despite the mounting pressure with every new order fire, that strange sense of calm numbness persisted. There was no mental bandwidth to spare on anything extraneous - your entire world had contracted to these series of sequential tasks laid out before you, each one flowing naturally into the next like a continuous stream.

Plating tweezers arranged the final delicate pour of herb-infused olive oil spheres with the same singular focus as you squeezed the pipette to apply the perfectly calibrated dot of acidic reduction. Not a single movement was wasted, not a component out of place as you slid the finished avant-garde masterpiece across to the expo line for final approval before heading out to the dining room.

"Looked good from here, kid," Thomason's gruff voice sounded in your ear amidst the orchestrated chaos, startling you slightly. You blinked, barely registering the stocky sous chef's towering presence overseeing your shoulder before turning your attention immediately back to the next set of hands firing.

On and on it went in that same relentless yet steady cadence, each nouveau plate a pristine reflection of the focus, intensity, and cumulative skill that had been honed into you over months of Harry's rigorous training. Sweat beaded along your hairline, apron dampening as you moved with increasing speed and efficiency under the mounting pressure of continuous fires.  

You were only vaguely aware of the soft crashing waves of polite applause rolling in from the nearby dining room each time a new creation hit the tables. Your ears were trained to more important sounds - the sharp callouts from expo, the curt exchanges between yourself and your crew attempting to maintain the incredible pace.

At one point, you registered Thomason's heavy tread beside you once more, his grizzled voice pitched low to be heard over the controlled pandemonium. "Pretty damn flawless so far, I'll give you that. But don't let your foot off the gas now, we still got a ways to go yet."

A simple grunt of acknowledgment was all you could spare in response as you plated two more centerpiece dishes in rapid succession, sliding them across for inspection. Thomason made a noise of begrudging approval before turning away, freeing you to tunnel-vision once more.  

Swaying slightly on your feet from the physical toll and intense focus, you blinked away the spotties at the edge of your vision. There was simply no other choice - failure was not an option, not after everything you and Harry had invested into this critical moment. 

How much time had elapsed, you couldn't say. All you knew was the continuous cycle of order fires, the increasingly efficient rhythm of your movements and those of your crew. The end goal of seeing this groundbreaking creation delivered to the last diner with the same polish as the first lone plate.

It was only when the final callout came over the line that reality slowly bled back in around the edges. "Last one, centerpiece! Fire for the panel..."  

The clatter of your toolkit was shockingly loud in the relative stillness as you began assembling that climactic plate with even more painstaking care than before. Every component was a masterstroke, each paso doble between you and your crew unfolding in step.

You barely registered Thomason's presence hovering nearby, posture radiating tension and scrutiny, as you slid the final centerpiece across for his inspection. A short eternity seemed to pass as the steely-eyed veteran examined the plate with unsparing intensity from all angles.  

At last, he gave a single deferential nod before calling out the fire to the dining room. "Chef's centerpiece...walking!"

A rousing swell of applause rolled back from beyond the partition as you straightened up, only now allowing the descending sense of accomplishment to wash over you fully. It was done - Harry's groundbreaking, avant-garde vision had been executed to utter perfection.

The surrounding kitchen area seemed to slowly reanimate as the rest of the corps d'équipe emerged from their own hypnotrance–states, exchanging tired grins and backslaps of congratulations. For his part, Thomason wore an expression that bordered on...approving?You could never tell.

"You pulled it off, kid," he rumbled in that trademark gravelly baritone. The stocky chef's clap on your shoulder managed to convey impressed respect more clearly than any flowery praise. "Flawless service from top to bottom. I'll be sure to pass that along to Chef Patino when I touch base."

Your face must have reflected the gratified shock you felt at the gruff compliment, as Thomason's mouth twisted wryly before adding, "Don't look so damn stunned. You did good work holding it all together out there tonight. Real good work."

With that, he gave your shoulder one final squeeze before turning to address the rest of the crew and applauds rippled through the kitchen area. But you barely heard any of it over the dull roar in your ears - the mixture of bone-deep exhaustion and sheer disbelief at what you'd all just managed to pull off against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Gradually, the bustle of post-service breakdown routines fired up around you. But you remained still in the eye of that storm for several long moments, simply allowing the profound weight of your accomplishment tonight to sink in fully.  

Despite the challenges, the unexpected crises that had threatened to derail everything...your tenacity and the depth of your training had ultimately prevailed. Harry's faith in you had been rewarded with an unmitigated triumph.

The realization brought a surge of fierce pride, tempered only by the hope that your mentor had managed to find some shred of comfort amidst his own turmoil tonight. You knew Harry well enough to be certain he would be dissecting every component, evaluating each nuance of the dish's execution with his trademark intensity even from afar.

And suddenly, you very much needed to hear his voice - to fill him in on all the details, reassure him that you'd kept your word right down to crossing every final T. To...well, to simply share in this significant victory with the man whose driving ambition and belief had made it all possible.

As if summoned by sheer force of will, your phone began buzzing from your back pocket with a familiar caller ID flashing. Stepping aside from the lingering chaos, you swiped to accept the call with your heart lodged squarely in your throat.

"Harry? It's me..."

The voice on the other end sounded tinny and wrung-out, yet still utterly suffused with that unmistakable gravel-rough timbre. "How'd it go, kiddo?"

Despite the bone-weary fatigue dragging at your every muscle, you felt a grin tugging at the corners of your mouth as you took in the sight of your crew unabashedly celebrating their collective win. "See for yourself."

With a few quick taps, you switched the call over to FaceTime, angling the camera to capture the wild scene surrounding you. Raucous cheers and whoops of victory filled the feed as Harry got an eyeful of his triumphant kitchen corps living it up.

For a long moment, he was silent on the other end, drinking in the rowdy scene. Then, his low chuckle finally filtered through, slightly watery but brimming with unmistakable pride.

"That's my crew," Harry rasped in a voice gone thick. "Well done, team. Well done."

You grinned fiercely at the screen, willing him to feel every ounce of your conviction as you responded. "We did you proud, Chef. Start to finish."

And just like that, the shaky exhale he released said everything his gruff words couldn't. For all his outward bravado and grit, your mentor's steadfast belief had been vindicated tonight - and his faith in you rewarded beyond even his own expectations.

For the first time in weeks, that shaky tension seemed to finally loosen its grip on both of you. Though the road ahead might still be fraught, this evening's triumph had forged an unbreakable bond of shared understanding and trust.

The entire grueling process of preparing for and executing the ambitious centerpiece dish had pushed both your skills, stamina and mental toughness to their limits. But instead of fracturing under such tremendous shared pressure, your mentor-mentee dynamic had been distilled down to its essential core - that of two committed culinary artists striving relentlessly towards the same creative vision, and ultimately emerging unified in the wake of that lofty achievement.

In that moment, any unresolved tensions or lingering frissons of attraction between you were rendered almost quaint, overwhelmed by the profound sense of creative synergy and hard-won victory. Those undercurrents would inevitably resurface later once the high had faded. But for now, you could simply bask in the warm glow of knowing you'd risen to every challenge thrown your way and come out on top.

Harry must have sensed the shift in your demeanor, the way your posture had relaxed slightly without sacrificing any of that fierce determination. His gruff chuckle sounded again through the phone's speaker, drawing your attention back to his careworn but glowing expression.  

"Listen, pet..." he began in that trademark rasp, once again hitting you with the nickname that made your heart skip a beat,. "I gotta go take care of some stuff on this end. But we're gonna crack open a couple bottles when I'm back, you and me. We've earned it after pulling off a goddamn miracle like this one."

The very thought of the two of you sharing drinks and cutting loose for once, without the weight of impending culinary obligations hanging overhead, struck you as incredibly appealing after tonight's intensity. A warm smile tugged at the corners of your mouth as you gave an emphatic nod.

"You know I'm gonna hold you to that, Chef. I'm thinking top-shelf stuff too, none of that bottom-rung swill."

Harry threw back his head with another peal of laughter. "You got it, you earned it. Gimme a couple days to get things sorted and I'll take you somewhere swanky to celebrate, on me. My way of saying thanks for proving me right about you, Y/n."

Before you could respond, Harry's gaze grew pensive, amusement fading slightly as he searched your expression with uncharacteristic earnestness. "And I mean it, you know. Not just about the drinks, but...well, you really came through in the clutch tonight. I knew you had the skills to pull it off, but seeing you actually do it against those crazy odds? You exceeded every expectation. I couldn't be prouder if you were my own flesh and blood."

You felt your cheeks warming at the uncommon depth of sincerity in his gravelly voice. Though Harry had never been one for emotional vulnerability, in this moment you could see the profound gratitude shining through loud and clear.  

"That really means a lot coming from you, Harry," you managed in a slightly hushed tone, momentarily rendered speechless by the unexpected warmth radiating from him. "You know I'd never want to let you down, especially when you were counting on me most."

The tender moment stretched out in weighted silence, intimate currents flowing back and forth even through the crackle of the video feed. Until eventually, Harry seemed to resurface from that unguarded well of sincerity, giving a slightly blustery clearing of his throat.

"Well anyway, you did the heavy lifting tonight," he rallied in his typical all-business timbre, the hoarse bravado back in full force. "I'll leave you and the crew to enjoy your big victory bash. Just try not to get too out of hand with the partying."

He started to shift away from the camera, clearly preparing to disengage, when his hazel-eyed gaze flicked back to pin you with an unreadable look. A ghost of a smirk played around the edges of his mouth as he seemed to drink you in through the video feed.

"Oh, and one more thing, darlin'..." 

You felt your breath catch at the rich, velvety timbre Harry imbued that endearment with - a departure from the casual, teasing way he usually deployed such pet names. This particular iteration seemed to caress something deeper, more weighted between you.

"I'm real proud of how you rose above and killed it tonight," he murmured in that same honeyed rasp that raised goosebumps along your skin. His gaze raked over you with unmistakable heat and intent. "Showed me that laser-focused mental strength and fortitude I always suspected was in there."

Harry shook his tousled head slowly, lips still curved in that secretive half-smile. "Gotta admit, I clearly underestimated you in the past, darlin'. Won't be making that mistake again."

The suggestive timbre in which he issued that statement was utterly at odds with the mentor-protegee context you'd been operating in mere moments ago. You felt your breath hitch as a warmth bloomed across your cheeks, suddenly hyper-aware that you were still surrounded by your raucous crew celebrating nearby.

Surely you were reading far too much into Harry's words and tone...except his eyes were gleaming with a combination of heat and challenge as they roamed over your features in a way that made you feel stripped bare. As if he knew full well the dizzying, electrifying effect he could have on you - even through a mere video call - and was shamelessly exercising that power.

You opened your mouth to respond, though what you could possibly say to that molten statement you had no idea. Thankfully, Harry seemed to recognize he was quickly veering into the old inappropriate territory and reigned himself in with a rough throat-clearing.

"Anyway, go have fun with the crew and I'll holler at you in a couple days once I get things sorted out on this end," he concluded, all traces of that heated bravado tucked away once more behind his typical gruff exterior. "You've more than earned it, darlin'."

Another searing look accompanied the purring emphasis he gave that endearment before Harry flashed you a stunningly lopsided grin - then the video feed clicked off, leaving you slightly dazed and flustered in its wake.

A long moment passed where you simply stared at the blank screen, cheeks still burning as your mind raced over the cadence of that parting exchange. From the heartfelt gratitude and rare showering of praise...to that inexplicably molten aside loaded with suggestion, it had all left you feeling deliciously unmoored and off-kilter. 

You remained in that uncertain headspace for a while longer, the buzz of your crew's raucous celebration providing a soundtrack as the hours ticked by. Though you made a concerted effort to remain present, to revel in this hard-won moment of glory alongside your teammates, part of your consciousness couldn't help but keep circling back to that searing parting remark from Harry.

You kept thinking about the way he spoke, wondering if there was a hidden meaning behind his words.  Suddenly, your long-suppressed feelings for the charismatic chef surged with volcanic intensity, consuming every rational thought until only one truth remained. 

You decided you were done hiding your desire for Harry– done keeping that ravenous wanting locked away in the name of professionalism.The next time you saw your mentor, you promised yourself you would be completely honest. No more beating around the bush. Only complete, blazing honesty.

You would openly admit the burning attraction you'd felt since first meeting his intense gaze months ago. You would confront the growing tension from all his suggestive comments.

No more hiding behind being professional. You would put everything out in the open, once and for all. Either Harry felt the same fiery passion...or he didn't, and you could finally move on. 

Once and for all.

But the need to finally uncover the truth burned within you, even if it meant risking everything and leaving your heart in ashes - because the constant wondering and uncertainty had become a suffocating torment you could no longer endure. Making that decision lifted a weight off your shoulders momentarily, but you steeled yourself knowing the real challenge still lay ahead, a daunting path that could either lead you to euphoric fulfilment or utter devastation.

♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡

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[whimsikolya]

About Kevin and the dread powers

Just to clarify, this is a post about Welcome to Night Vale and The Magnus Archives because horror podcasts won't let me sleep.

I suffer from the same curse all TMA enthusiasts are well acquainted with, which is to say I've given up on trying to interact with any new piece of media without applying fear entities to everything and everyone involved. With this in mind, I've been asking myself for ages which fear Kevin would serve, and I've come to the conclusion that everyone's favorite prophet is a hundred percent an avatar of the Spiral. I don't usually share my thoughts with the class but I've only had a couple of hours of sleep last night and I've just seen a poll asking this exact question with very, very different results and... well, greetings everyone?

I'll start by saying that I absolutely get why people have completely different opinions on this, because at first glance this man and Desert Bluffs as a whole fit so many of the fears. And sure, the dread powers are colors, everyone is bound to blur a few lines. Kevin's lines are as boiled as a bowl of spaghetti though, we're not talking about blurry spots, there are leaks everywhere.

He's Spiral aligned, sure, but the omnipresence of gore and pain in Desert Bluffs is extremely Slaughter and Flesh coded, his Smiling God sometimes sounds like a manifestation of the Dark, and it's impossible to talk about Kevin without a few dozens mentions of cults and centipedes, so he's a pretty good candidate for the Corruption as well. And then, of course, we also have to talk about the blurry line between the Spiral and the Stranger, which makes it hard to see why he'd fit one more than the other. Conclusion: it's an absolute mess. I'm so sorry for how messy and long this post is inevitably going to be.

But hey, I'm doing my best to make sense here, so let's start by ruling out most of these options in a somewhat orderly fashion.

First of all, I'm automatically going to ignore the fears that didn't make an appearance in that little introduction. I can see the influence that the Beholding or the Buried might have on Kevin, but it's simply insignificant compared to the impact of the ones already mentioned. Again, colors and all that.

The Dark is easy to rule out too, but I couldn't ignore it when Kevin's eyes are black and It Devours describes the Smiling God as "that light that sometimes shines out of cupboards and basements, a cold light". But Mister Pitch already has his cult and I think there's too much focus on sunlight and not enough on what that darkness might hide to really go with it.

The Slaughter and the Flesh are harder to brush off, mostly because of, well, all the barbecue sauce. Violence and pain are, have been and will probably always be omnipresent in Kevin's life, and he's very likely a cannibal as well - with a morning routine that goes "burying what's left of breakfast". However, I think it would be too easy to stop at that. First of all, while the arrival of the boy in recent episodes proves that Kevin has always been somewhat open to violence and bloodshed, I'd argue a lot of it came from Strex. Triptych makes it clear that there was no issue with blood and viscera in Desert Bluffs before StrexCorp. And more importantly, hiding behind these fears specifically... the Spiral does that a lot. I completely believe Es Mentiras would've been equally as able to trigger the apocalypse as the Eye, because it has the same kind of special relationship with the rest of the dread powers, but that thought would be too long and too off topic. The point is, the Spiral served us the confession of a cannibalistic priest and a whole statement about a man forced to hurt himself via eating a computer. I'm really writing too much so long story short, I'd argue it really comes down to this: what's the end goal there? In the case of a Slaughter/Flesh avatar, it would be the gore/meat/pain/violence itself; to draw fear out of these things. For Strex and thus for Kevin, when violence and blood are gratuitous, the point is, most of the time, to keep people guessing. To instill doubt, to play with them. It's a "beat your employees to a pulp the day they start their new job to ensure their self-esteem and trust are never quite there" sort of violence. It's a "trick a whole society into thinking humanity is a food chain and they better bite before being bitten" sort of cannibalism. It's a different fear altogether, and so it doesn't fit either.

The Stranger and the Spiral are not always easy to differentiate, so I get the hesitation between the two. And yet I feel like it's pretty simple in the end. The Stranger, I Do Not Know You, is about concealing - thank you, Michael. It's hiding the truth and leaving you with nothing. The Spiral, It Is Not What It Is, is about lying, about twisting the truth so that you get it wrong. As much as I get the symbolism of masks and skins, and as much as they fit Kevin, he does not.. exactly hide anything. He never lies to Carlos about the blood in his studio, he doesn't hide how horrifying StrexCorp is - but he does say the truth with a big smile on his face and in his voice. He denies nothing, but he twists the reality of what happened to him, of who he is because of it. As the Archivist himself would say, he is the question "what hides behind a smile? Is a friendship true, or is it reaching with hands that cut you?" And you know who Kevin always calls a friend? His dear double, of course. He's once again clearly leaning towards the Spiral here.

The Corruption may just be the most tricky, if only because of the shared imagery. With the Smiling God being a giant centipede, and his little Temple of Joy hosting nothing less than a cult, it's hard not to entertain the possibility of Kevin turning to the Crawling Rot, willingly or not. He seems to have had toxic relationships with both family and friends all throughout his life, too, but he himself sounds like he's doing quite well with his new family. If anything, it means that he is/was a victim of the Corruption rather than a potential avatar to me. He may even have jumped off of his metaphorical tower Mike Crew style, right into the arms of the Spiral.

There would be plenty of examples, but to keep this sweet and short I'll focus on the main thing that the two entities share here, that is to say the cult/faith part. I'm a huge believer (ah) in the idea that the Spiral is equally as fond of religious devotion as the Corruption - not saying that they are the only ones, but they are the only ones that matter here. Father Burroughs and Bethany O'Connor, but also the statement giver of Sculptor's Tools who mentions going to church, are proof of this. Both entities target those who have faith to gain power through it, but again, not for the same reasons. The Corruption targets people whose beliefs betray a lack of and longing for connection to nature/others/etc, like Prentiss or the members of the Divine Chain. The Spiral targets people whose beliefs betray their guilt, doubts and insecurities - say a priest who couldn't save a young girl, or a woman who's quick to judge someone on his appearance. They prey on different concepts entirely and when it comes to Kevin and his faith in the Smiling God, I think it's pretty obvious which side he's leaning towards.

Now I'm aware this is a "why Kevin isn't aligned with this or that power" more than a true "why Kevin is Spiral aligned" rant. But this post is so long already that I'm going to stop here before I lose the rest of my sanity and bore all of us to death. I hope a number of points that connect him to Es Mentiras still shines through this whole thing, by contrast at least. I would also be very happy to write another post focusing on each and every single thing that makes Kevin an avatar of the Spiral to me, if anyone happened to be interested in that - and/or to discuss or argue this further, even though I doubt there's an audience for dreadfully long WTNV x TMA rants. But hey, if there is, you know where to find me. My opinion is probably completely off from someone else's perspective which is always fun. I'm just a dedicated listener with a ridiculously strong hyperfixation on both Kevin and the Spiral.

Going off the air until then. Until next time, Desert Bluffs. Until next time!

[plinko-mori]

how can you make the difference between someone you have a deep trauma on with a person that treat you bad but you know is right in some things?

OH YOU ARE ASKING THIS BECAUSE OF WHAT I HAVE SAID ABOUT YOSANO

I'll explain it with three situations: an ex boyfriend of mine, an ex teacher and my mother 🤗

Tw: Age gap, abuse, pedophilia, pedophile(s(?), abusive mother

Ex boyfriend

Ignoring the fact I was 13 and he was 18. I didn't have the best experience with him tbh

I mean, well, he was rude, verbally aggressive, internet user that I don't know how the fuck I got the interest in, always said that my feelings weren't important and the fact I asked him daily "oh hello, I hope I'm not bothering you but how are you doing?" for him was extremely clingy

He broke up with me recording a video, publishing in YouTube in his channel, talking shit about me not saying his mistakes (I think we were both bad), begging me to go away from his life, but keeping everything in anonymous with a gameplay of Sonic in the background. Our social-circle supported him, and the few people that actually knew I was dating him supported me even if they were like "you are so stupid for still loving him"

I have mixed feelings about this situation: I can talk a little about him, I won't add much information though and I panick with every mention, memory, or even when someone mentions a close friend of him! I blocked him from all social medias because I can't deal with the idea of getting close to him again even if he lives a country away from me

Just the idea of thinking in him makes me cry like I'm doing while writing this. You could consider it a trauma, right?

Ex teacher

I was 10, this person was 54 or 56 I can't fucking remember

Remember when I said you all that maybe someone rapped me because I have blurry memories of it and I'm not even sure what happened? He's the guy

I can talk about the situation, I am a little scared of talking to him directly or even tell an adult about it (I'm still a minor). I just want to avoid the topic mostly, don't think about it, leave it in the past and do nothing about it

My mom

The woman who screamed a lot «I wish you weren't even born» to me is finally mentioned here... So yeah what can I say?

I know she's a bastard, she will never love me truly, I will not love her either and I'm completely sure she will never apologizes for hurting me physically and emotionally, yet I can't deny she was right in some things

She raised me and did a disaster? Yes, but I can't deny she fucking taught me to be responsible

I have to speak with her, interact with her, and maybe if she isn't the same as when I was a kid... The pain is still there

But what about Yosano's situation?

I prefer to say it is similar to my situation with my mom

It's obvious she was hurt by Mori, he wasn't the best with her, yet she wasn't the worst

She can talk about him, she can speak both bad and good about him. She doesn't have a huge trauma with him, but REALLY bad memories that at least don't make her panic Just by the thought of him

And I won't add more, sorry, it's about the ex boyfriend situation

[lilith-little-world]

Okay so you know that little note I had about me joking nearly getting bedridden. So writing kind of got difficult, since all I could do is sleep and cook a meal before calling it a day. My body is aching so badly rn, but I should be fine. This isn't the first time this happened to me and won't be the last. But I did managed to write something so I could be somewhat active. Sorry if it's extremely short and have bad grammar, but I going to sleep after this. I'm really tired.

You can still send in request, just going to be slow.

I Saw You In a Dream, Maybe|| Pt. 3

You lost count of how many times this dream occurred. At first, it was blurry, the voices muffled. Then it slowly became clearer, finally noticing small details.

Sometimes the dream will continue on a little longer or end early. It didn't bother you too much, since you enjoyed the atmosphere. A happy celebration between you and the mystery groom.

No matter how everything else became clear, the groom was blurred. It didn't matter too much, since you got a good enough idea who it is.

However, you really don't want to admit it either.

“What got you lost in your own head? Today is a special day and we both need to be 100% present to enjoy it.” The groom next to you spoke softly.

“Oh, I was just thinking how perfect this day is.” You said looking at the scenery.

It was a small banquet filled with people you recognize and a few you don't. You smile at them, enjoying the small celebration.

“Good, the last thing I want is for you to regret this.” He mutters.

“Why would I regret it? I went over the pros and cons, and I still married you!”

He chuckled, but it held no emotion.

“I know, but I just can’t help but feel I tricked you into this.” His voice was hushed. You barely catch what he said.

Raising a brow, you glance at him. He only stares at the banquet.

“You didn't trick me into marrying you, Wukong. I married you because I love you.”

Your cheeks felt warm, a soft red dusted them. He turns at you, whatever was blurring him finally disappearing. The shock was written on his face turning red.

Well, it's too late to pretend you don't know who this guy was now.

Your hand gently cups his cheek, which he leans into. A smile took over his face.

“I love you too, [Name].”

You wake up and stare at your pillow. The hand that held his face, clenched already missing his warmth.

These dreams are getting out of control. Maybe you should go back to living with your parents. Then start a relationship with some random person and hope this ends. Yet, you have no more energy to do so. How can you go crawling back to your parents just because you felt lonely?

You sigh, getting out of bed and ready to start the day. You're an adult with a job after all. It also won't hurt to get a quick breakfast at Pigsy’s.

You glance back at the bed, noticing the doll. Rolling your eyes, you grabbed it while heading to the kitchen. Throwing it away in the trash bin. All of this whole mess started after you bought the toy. Maybe getting rid of it will help bring everything to an end sooner.

Yeah, it's for the best.

Anyways not like you'll ever run into him…

Right?

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 4

Episode 11: Diamonds Are For Heather

~In the Man Cave~

"Emergency. Danger. Crisis. Peril. Doomsday. Calamity. Disaster. Catastrophe. Apocalypse." 

Well, that's a nice greeting from the supercomputer's automated voice, for any panicking boy. It had been a peaceful evening for Henry, Charlotte, Jasper, (y/n), everyone really; nothing eventful had happened, the hours after school had dragged on with no worrying or life-threatening screw-ups so they'd all gone to bed for the night when the time came, content that they'd wake up the next day. After all, why should anything bad happen after such a calm shift in the Man Cave?

Well, that had been the plan. Just as they'd drifted off, following the sandman to wherever he may take them, they were all awoken by a terrible, shrill beep, (y/n) bolting upright in bed to see the bed cold and empty to the left of her, plus the emergency beacon illuminating the walls scarlet, and the teens getting a beep on their watch/phones that only meant that they had to get to the Man Cave as soon as possible because shit was going down. 

So they did; upon seeing that her fiancé was gone, vanished, stolen or god knows what else, (y/n) had scrambled out of bed, yanked a blanket around her shoulders for "protection" and had bolted down the corridor, thinking that Ray had been abducted from their room and was being tortured or something. 

They had definitely settled in for sleep, or least, he had been there when she did. Plus, he never left their headquarters without saying so, but the alarm made everything seem blurry, she couldn't think straight, not when the monitors were flashing and her hero was nowhere to be found. 

Okay, no Schwoz, no Ray, Doomsday Protocol activated, what should she do?

Not a lot really, at least she didn't have to do any panicking alone. A few minutes into her pacing, muttering and slight heart attack, a tube dropped with a highly dishevelled Henry inside, the boy looking like he had run a marathon in his sleep as she cowered under her blanket at the sound of an intruder, but relaxed slightly when she recognised her friend. 

Okay, not being alone was good, Henry wasn't dead, also good, someone who could help her figure out what was wrong, extremely good. This was fine, she was fine, or she would be fine if she kept twisting her engagement ring like it could switch off her worry.

"Ray?! (y/n)?! Where's Ray?! You okay? Oh my god!" Henry asked rapidly and breathlessly, immediately trotting down from his tube pad to put his hands on the woman's shoulders as she tried to keep her heart beating steadily. Okay, he was guessing that she couldn't answer the first question judging by how pale she was and how, like him, she was confused, nervous and ready for bed, only to have been shaken by the sudden emergency.

"I don't know! I woke up and he was gone and he never goes without telling me and he's not answering my texts and I can't think of where he could be and I won't lie, I'm freaking out!!" (y/n) panted as her mouth ran itself, voicing every anxiety she had at the stress of being roused and plonked in an unnerving situation, one where the man she loved more than anything was missing, leaving her void of leadership and concerned about what could've happened to him. 

A villain, a weapon, Drex, goddamn muffins, anything could've stolen him and she wasn't sure if she could stomach the thought of him so helpless that he'd felt the need to activate their most serious distress signal.

"Okay, (y/n/n), just breathe, we're gonna find him and he's gonna be all right. We're gonna find out what's going on, 'kay?" He spoke to him in the calmest voice he could muster, a sharp contrast to how he actually felt, but he knew that if Ray really had been kidnapped or something, then leading the rescue would fall on them and since she knew the man better than anyone else, she needed to use that clever brain of hers and some superhero training. 

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, he's fine, we'll find him. I'm fine, it's fine." She nodded, patting the hands that rest on her shoulders and pulling the blanket closer. Jeez, she normally didn't feel the cold, her pyjamas were thin and not what you'd call built for warmth, but she slept next to Ray every night, who was practically a walking furnace, so damn hot in every way that she found anything else too uncomfortable. Plus, it provided her with some reassurance that soon, he'd be back, safe and sound, his arms covering her bare ones, it was just a matter of seeing if they could seek him out.

"Yeah, so let's find him." Henry nodded, looking around the main room for any sign of where his boss could be. Nothing was amiss, the only change being the red, flashing lights everywhere and (y/n)'s wobbly bottom lip, so he figured that if he couldn't see Ray, then the guy might be able to hear him. "Ray?! Yo, Ray! Ray, where are you?"

"Raymond! Come on, where are you?!" The young woman joined in, figuring that two voices were better than one, but they got no reply unless the computer's words counted. Still no sign of their boss, but here came more help. That was something, at the very least.

"Henry! (y/n)!" Charlotte shrieked as she and Jasper came sprinting out of the elevator, also clad in pyjamas with messy hair and it looked like they'd run from their houses too. They never got many signals since they weren't superheroes, but some, a very small amount that was reserved for only the gravest emergencies, went through to their phones and it instilled fear in their hearts that something horrific was happening. 

"Charlotte, Jasper, thank god, you're here..." (y/n) breathed out when she turned to see them skidding across the tiles. Okay, two more of her friends were not dead, that was good too, more brainpower to help them figure this mess out. Or perhaps they'd received a message with more details, something to tell them where her dumb lover had disappeared to.

"Have you seen Ray?" Henry asked quickly once they'd stopped moving, his prayers echoing his friend's. It was unlikely but not impossible that Ray had told them rather than her where he was going and that they were there to deliver his instructions...wishful thinking, right?

"No, where is he?!" Charlotte shook her head frantically, making the boy and woman groan internally. Well, there was that hope dashed and honestly, (y/n) wished people would stop asking her that, including her own brain. It's not like she kept Ray on a leash or had a GPS microchip in his neck, even if the idea was sounding pretty useful round about now, she was the most important person in his life but she knew nothing, as stated many times.

"I don't know, I woke up and he was gone! No texts, no calls, nothing, just that stupid alarm!" She replied panic-stricken, angrily throwing her fist in the computer's direction. The sound was reverberating in her skull and getting really fucking annoying at this rate, she just needed to think but there were too many stimuli, too much distraction, too much going on...

"Well, he's gotta be around here somewhere!" Jasper proposed. He was the newest member of the team, but he wasn't as dumb as he looked. He knew as well as anyone that ever since the love muffin debacle, Ray never left the Man Cave on his own without telling somebody first and that somebody was nearly always (y/n).

"Ray! Are you there?" "Raymond!" "Ray! Ray!" "Ray!" They all yelled as they searched the main room, (y/n) and Charlotte checking the narrow corridor behind the tube pads, Henry looking through the sprocket to see if he had somehow been in his and (y/n)'s bedroom all along and Jasper, well, he was less helpful. The kid was obviously trying to be useful, although no one was too sure about how useful looking under a bean bag was, still, at least they could rule it out. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, not in the corridors, not in any rooms, no signs whatsoever...apart from the massive one of him just strolling through the hidden door.

"Who wants a snackkk!?" Ray cheered happily as they all fell silent and he turned off the Doomsday Protocol, the group staring at his stupid, smiling face like he was an alien. He wasn't dead, he wasn't injured, broken or kidnapped, he was perfectly fine, standing there looking all handsome with one of his favourite Hawaiian shirts on, plus a red apron that really accentuated his waist. 

Oh. My. God. He was cooking, the entire damn time, he was swanning around in the kitchen, making them panic as he baked whatever was under his silver cloche and he didn't even bother to wake up his sweet girl to let her know. Asshole.

"W-wha-what?" (y/n) asked shakily, her eyes wide as she took him, still perfectly dressed as he had been when she was nodding off. Okay, sure, he had been a little slow to undress but she'd just assumed that he was right behind her and had fallen asleep assuming that at some point, that dumb, ridiculously tight shirt would be in the laundry basket and he would be pulling her to his chest. But no, he'd sloped off and left her dream alone, panic alone and now, he was offering her a late-night nibble. Was he for real?

"Who wants a snackkk!?" Ray repeated cheerfully, looking at his girl with his brightest smile since he had no clue that he'd done something wrong. Aw, she looked so pretty in the white, flowery set he'd bought for her when they went to the mall, he could see her little belly button poking out and those soft thighs that lived around his waist, not to mention the way the set was complemented by the gleaming ring on her finger. His sweet, sweet girl, so beautiful with her fluffy blanket...so cute. 

"Dude!" Henry said in an outraged tone. His boss had done some pretty stupid stuff in the time he'd known him, he'd called him in the middle of the night plenty of times before, but never for something that sounded like they were in real trouble and he'd never had the nerve to freak out his fiancée either. He should've expected it, boy who cried wolf and all that, but any time could be a real emergency and they couldn't take that chance, no matter how much he wanted to strangle that grin off his face.

"No worries, I've got this." (y/n) moved her hand to stop Henry from stepping forward, slightly nodding at Jasper and Charlotte to let them know that they didn't need to do anything either. She floated down the few steps that separated her and Ray, the blanket fluttering around her as she walked until she was in front of him, her face free from any of the anger and frustration that had hardened from her worry. "Hey!"

"Hey, sweet girl!" Ray replied with a bright smile, not picking up on the sharpness of her tone or the hard look in her eyes. He was just so happy to see her after cooking his little creations on his own for a few hours; sure, the temptation of going to bed and snuggling in with her had been alluring, but his recipe had been so close to perfection, he just had to sneak off to the kitchens to iron out the last few wrinkles. She'd been so tired and he'd barely been gone a few hours, so he hadn't seen the harm.

"It's ten past twelve...AM!" She told her, jerkily grabbing Charlotte's wrist so the girl could show him the time on her PearPhone, which proved that it was all way past their bedtimes. He didn't seem to think it was significant, though.

"Yeah! You look so pretty tonight, baby..." Ray nodded along with whatever she said, too focused on how her tousled hair framed her face and the diamonds on her finger caught his eye, turning his brain to mush. 

His hands moved to brush under the blanket and settle on her waist, a definite sign that he was gonna pull her in for a kiss. He looked so smitten, so in love that their protests were bouncing off him and not having any effect at all, so (y/n) did the unthinkable, the downright, never seen before, absolutely insane, one thing she never did to Ray Manchester. She didn't let him kiss her.

"Why'd you send us all the Doomsday Signal?" Charlotte asked haughtily as she retracted her phone from the woman's grip. Eek, Ray's smile dropped a smidge when his girl caught his hands and pushed them back to his sides, the only things that were allowed to settle on her hips being her own in a pose that told him she wanted an answer for all the heartache she'd experienced, all the terror and panic from waking up with his side of the bed cold. She didn't like it any more than he did, she loved his kisses, craved them after thinking he was gone, but she was taking a stand, plus, a little saltiness was expected.

"'Cause I wanted to make sure you guys came over." He answered in a slightly more serious tone than before now that he had no sweet girl to hold. Had he done something wrong? She'd never flat out refused like that, never pushed him away, even when the situation had been what you might call less than appropriate for heaving petting and he wondered what the big deal was. Had he done the unthinkable? Had he made a move that wasn't wanted and offended her? Oh god...

"Dude!" Henry exclaimed again, not believing that his boss had been so dumb and unthinking. This really took the biscuit, he'd never done something this reckless before, had never made them panic like that before and it was strange to see a man in so much bother yet so clueless. Come on, his touchy girlfriend had not let him touch her, didn't that give him a clue. "What?"

"Dude!" He tried again, changing his tone of voice so it was more like "come on, no one can be this stupid", rather than, "are you fucking serious?". No one was happy, Charlotte was glaring, Jasper was grumpy, (y/n) preferred to have the blanket around her than her doofus and he was frowning, but Ray was still an idiot. Not a doofus, not this time, he was being a straight-up idiot. "Pff-yeah?"

"Dude!" Henry growled it one last time, hoping that it was third time lucky and his friend would finally get the message that they were all pissed off. He'd screwed up, he was the one who should've written a note, or, y'know, not used the Doomsday Signal for such a trivial thing and this time, Ray didn't like his tone of voice. His smile dropped and he pointed his finger at him as if Henry was in the wrong. Fucking cheek of the guy. "Hey."

"You told us that the Doomsday Signal was only for a major crisis." Henry reminded him, remembering his exact words very specifically. It was one of those moments where Ray was waltzing around like a strutting peacock, way back when he and (y/n) weren't dating and he still had to explain the rules. He'd wanted to impress her by sounding all authoritative and crap, so he'd puffed out his chest and acted all tough to make her swoon. It had worked, she kept sighing dreamily whenever his back was turned and as such, Henry couldn't forget it, neither could Charlotte. "Yeah, a life or death situation."

"Well, you are gonna die," Ray told them, not meaning it literally, but then again, he'd always had a flair for dramatics. The teens and woman clutched their chests in panic when he said it in such a way that sounded serious, making them think that he wasn't joining, right up until he whipped off the cloche and revealed his culinary creation. "Until you try my new recipe for...Captain Corndogs!"

"Captain...Corndogs?" Henry reiterated as he looked at the tiny sausages, all rolled in cornmeal batter and deep-fried and he wondered why his thirteen-year-old self had taken this job. It wasn't worth the stress sometimes, it really wasn't and they all seethed silently as he grinned at his little dogs. He had been making them for years, proud to say that they were really great but never quite right, up until now and he was certain that they couldn't taste better. "Yeah!"

"So you called them all here, made me wake up alone, scared shitless that you'd been kidnapped or murdered, just because you wanted us to try your new Captain Corndogs, even though I hate corndogs with a burning passion?" (y/n) asked with her arms folded, her eyebrow raised to signify her disbelief. She didn't know what was worse, that he'd contacted the kids with the signal or left her for some corndogs, knowing that if she'd have known he was cooking, she would've stayed up to help, even though she'd rather not eat them.

"Uh, yeah...sweet girl." Ray nodded slowly, his Adam's apple bobbing when he swallowed nervously at the sight of her miffed body language. Okay, when she put it like that, it didn't sound like such a clever idea and his heart skipped when he realised how he'd made her panicked, stressed out a girl who never needed her nervous personality to be triggered more than it already was with the job she had and if it wasn't for the belief that she'd pull away again, he would've reached out to embrace her. The doofus had done it again, let her down...

"This is not a life or death situation!" Charlotte snapped and went to sit down at the computer since her tiredness was beginning to catch up with her now that the adrenaline was declining, Jasper getting the feeling too so he flopped down onto the bean bag. (y/n) perched herself on the back of the couch, trying to not wrinkle her nose at the smell of the corndogs since her doof had worked so hard to make them tasty and as much as she was annoyed, she had to admit that he looked cute, handsome, hot, literally the most attractive man she'd ever met. And the dumbest one, but whatever.

"Yeah, it is. Seriously. It is." Henry argued calmly, smiling at his friend like he was perfectly all right, not mad at all, which was surprising, considering that he was extra tired from fighting crime all day. He turned away from the girl to look at his boss and the calm washed away as soon as he saw that oblivious grin and it was replaced with fury...and the need for revenge. "...Because I'm gonna kill him!"

Henry tackled Ray's waist as the man stood next to his girlfriend, an attempt to soothe the sting on his soul when she pouted and stared at the floor, refusing to meet his gaze. He just wanted cuddles, but she was stubborn and not ready to cave in to her need for them too, and Henry filled the wait as he tried to wrestle his much heavier, much more experienced boss to the ground so he could beat him to death or something. Not sure what his plan was considering that Ray was indestructible, the man chuckling at his attempts as they shuffled across the floor, Henry's arms grappling for a grip that would bring his opponent down.

The problem, though, was that Ray wasn't some two-bit villain, he was a highly experienced superhero and he took the rough-and-tumble fight as laddish banter, so he soon got Henry in a headlock as he squirmed and struggled to hurt him. He tightened his hold by pulling his wrist with his free hand, trapping the blood rushing to the kid's head until the pressure became too much and he tapped out, knowing that Kid Danger still had a long way to go until he could best Captain Man. "Okay, please let me go."

"Sure! Right after you try one of my steaming hot Captain Corndogs!" Ray exclaimed, not releasing Henry, rather, he shuffled forward a bit until he could pluck one of the mini sausages from their holder and bring it to his lips. Now, Henry wasn't in the mood for a midnight snack, he just wanted to be able to breathe again, not that Ray would just give up like that. 

"What? No, I don't wanna try that. Seriously, dude, I already ate, guys, guys, help—okay, okay, I'll try it." The boy's protests died when he saw that resistance was futile. It was easier to just get it over and done with, eat one, say it nice and then go home for a few hours sleep, leaving Ray to make up/out with his girl, so he let the man stick the corndog in his mouth, a frown etched into his forehead.

"There you go. Be a good sidekick." Ray smirked when he finally took it and only then did he let go. With (y/n), Charlotte and Jasper watching on with curious, confused expressions, Henry yanked the sausage off its stick, chewing what he thought would be a normal, fairly tasting snack, but oh no, he was dead wrong. The flavour that exploded in his mouth was like nothing he'd ever tried before, salty but not too salty, greasy but not sickeningly so and goddamn, that sausage was good. It tasted like real meat, not factory-processed crap and he was in love, which was really annoying considering that he was trying to be mad. "...Okay, give me another one."

"Ahhhh?" Ray smirked at Henry's reaction, glancing at his fiancée since she was the one he wanted to be impressed and he'd taken his place beside her again in the hopes that he could get one of her pretty smiles, but no dice. (y/n) was impressed, deep down she'd found the tackle funny, his headlock even funnier with a hint of manliness and knowing that he could cook was a huge turn on, but her hardheaded, stupid inner voice said that they were angry and that they had every right to be...but damn, he sure was adorkable.

"Oh my god! Jasper, Charlotte, (y/n), you guys gotta try these!" Henry groaned as he picked up two more dogs and rapidly shoved bites of each into his mouth so that his tastebuds didn't have to wait long before they had the taste sensation again. He wasn't one for inflating Ray's ego because he knew that his head was already huge, but dammit, they were fucking delicious.

"Ugh, if I try one, can I go home?" Charlotte groaned, having the same philosophy that Henry did twenty seconds earlier. Eat one, get it done, go home, that's what he'd thought, but look where that had gotten him. She nor her tastebuds knew what they were in for.

"Sure." Ray couldn't stop smirking, their belief that he couldn't prove them wrong making him smug since he knew that his Captain Corndogs were amazing, he'd been perfecting them for years, all his hard work accumulating into this one moment where he could floor anyone who doubted his word. The only thing that did ruffle his arrogant confidence was a cheek pillowing against his arm, which made him tense up for a second when he realised that his sweet girl was resting her head against him. She wasn't trying one, she didn't like them and with each passing second, her eyelids were getting heavier and he was like her personal pillow...

"Fine. I'll take one." Charlotte conceded and stomped forward to take a dog. (y/n) was weak, she couldn't resist the man's charms, but she was strong and certain that this was just a sausage dipped in cornmeal batter and deep-fried, nothing special, nothing amazing—oh, sweet lord, they tasted great. Dang it, Henry was right, that smug bastard had won again, her mouth feeling like it was in heaven as it complimented the taste before she could stop it. "Wow!"

"Well, I gotta try me one of these—" Jasper exclaimed as he stood up from his bean bag, inspired by the overwhelmingly positive reactions from his friends and he was too curious to know if they were as good as they said they were. However, the moment his spine straightened, the supercomputer began to beep loudly and the monitor flashed up that they had an emergency call coming in, probably something serious given the late hour.

"Emergency call... Now?" Henry muttered as all the noise shocked (y/n) back to reality, her body jumping back into consciousness and her head shot up from Ray's arm as she tried to assess her surroundings. Ray's arm instinctively went around her back to make sure that she didn't lose her balance and fall off the back of the couch and the warmth that seeped from his arm brought her clarity back, as well as a blush when she realised that she'd been snoozing on him and hadn't even realised it. Whoops.

"Jeez, pretty rude to call us after midnight," Ray stated as he popped a gumball, (y/n) reluctantly letting her bare feet hit the floor so she could shuffle over to a drawer to find her spare one. Her normal one was in her bedroom or the bathroom or the moon or somewhere that she'd remember after sleeping, but Schwoz, the little angel, kept her spare just in case and she rooted around to grab it as Ray failed to understand the hypocrisy of what he'd just said.

"Yeah, who'd be rude enough to call someone after midnight?" Charlotte asked sarcastically glaring at her boss as (y/n) found the tube at the back of the drawer and threw her head back so she could start chewing. Ugh, she hoped this was a quick, simple job, nothing that required too much energy 'cause she didn't have a lot left. She just wanted to crawl into bed, hopefully with her doofus this time, who wasn't really the bad guy in her eyes anymore, just a big hunk of hot stupid.

"Nearly gave me a heart attack, doofus." She muttered as she dragged her feet back over to him with a grumpy face. She chewed slowly, scrunching her nose up as she came to stand in front of the man, whose eyes softened at the news of just how worried she'd been, but she was always moody when she was tired and the dopey, barely-there smile on her face told him that she wasn't angry, at least not enough to warrant her sleeping in her old room that night. 

"Okay, Miss Grouchy Pants, no Captain Corndogs for you," Ray told her as he booped her nose, watching as it twitched afterwards like a rabbit's and he felt the urge to yank her into his arms so he could smother her face with kisses, affectionate gestures that he still craved, though he wasn't sure if he was gonna be getting any until the morning.

"I mean, I don't like them, so I don't care. Give them to those weirdos." (y/n) gestured limply to Charlotte and Jasper, who were making grabby hands for more of the delicious snack, ignoring her half-assed insult. She didn't think they were weird, well, maybe a bit for liking corndogs, but as long as she didn't have to eat them, she didn't care, it was just her sleep deprivation running her mouth, not her brain.

"Someone's tired..." Ray chuckled as he led her over to an open space where they could transform into their super-suits without any interruptions. She whined at the jostling and how he was so right, of course, he was, he knew her better than she did sometimes and he'd dealt with her mouth on more than one occasion when she just so happened to be tired, but one thing did surprise him.

"Meanie." Just before they blew their bubbles she stretched her neck and stood on her tiptoes to press a clumsy kiss to his lips, well, her aim was slightly off so it was more the corner of his mouth, heading for his chin, but the thought was there. He smiled as she dumped the blanket, acting as though she hadn't just improved his night by about ten billion per cent when she put kisses back on the "okay list" and ended the dispute between them. The words would come later, but for now, they were good. Tired, but good.

"You two need to go...not...be here." (y/n) told the teens once she was snugly into her super suit, the new sensation sharpening her mind enough to get her head in the game, even if her words weren't quite ready for action yet. Midnight was such an ugly hour, one that she was normally in bed for.

"Ready?" Henry mumbled to the couple as Ray guided his sleepy girl over once the non-superheroes were safely out of the camera's view. They didn't want their identities to be revealed to whoever was calling and they straightened up as he hit the button, Ray's hand settled in the small of her back now that he knew that she didn't find his touch repulsive or harmful.

"Ah, thank goodness. My name is Jerome Sanchez and I'm the Director of the Swellview Museum of Stools and Jewels." A bald-headed, glasses-wearing man greeted the heroes as the call connected. Well, he certainly looked like a museum director, he had that kooky air about him that suggested he loved art and all things on-trend, not to mention the lump of something wedged under his arm. It looked like a rock, but they had no way of telling and they didn't focus on it, mainly because he worked in a really weird place.

"Stools and Jewels?" Henry repeated, having never heard of that particular museum before. He'd heard of the regular museum, had visited it plenty of times as a kid, but why stools? Why jewels? What made them so fascinating that an entire building was dedicated to them? Jewels he could understand, stool, however, not so much.

"Yeah, they got the best collection of—" Ray started to explain that they had some pretty valuable stuff in the place and him being the city's superhero, he knew all about it, but Mr Sanchez didn't care for explanations, he seemed to be a bit of a hurry and dared to interrupt the great Captain Man.

"Stools and Jewels, yeah. Look, I need to hire you guys." The man said, hugging the rock thing to his body even harder and (y/n) could tell that something was up with him. He seemed nervous, protective of whatever he was holding and it must've been important if he needed three superheroes to come along and be guardians.

"Hire us for what exactly?" She asked, pushing the need to sleep to the back of her mind. Superheroes don't need sleep, at least that's what she told herself, and her mind would be fine, no negative, long-term effects but it didn't make it any easier. Hopefully, the man would inspire some energy into her, maybe he could give her some of his excitable nerves to shake her awake as the warmth of Ray's back behind her was really starting to seep in...

"To protect this!" Jerome thrust the rock thing towards the camera and suddenly, everything made sense, well, it did for the heroine, not so much for Ray and Henry. They weren't particularly clued up on national treasures or scientific marvels, so they just saw a shiny lump of stone, unlike (y/n), who recognised the lustrous sheen as that hunk of diamond that had arrived in the city a while back and she guessed that its value made it a target. Hell, if she was evil, she'd want to get her hands on it, even if it was in the rough.

"What am I looking at? It's looking like a white rock? Some sort of ice? Rock?—" "What's that? A rock? That's what they call it, a white rock—" The boys didn't get it though, they just mumbled about what it could be, not what it actually was. Their guesses ranged from ice to the shitty gravel people laid in the driveways, not even getting close to the dense, highly prized carbon that the stone actually was, and it really pissed the director off. 

"GUYS! This is the Neal Diamond." He told them, jogging their dusty memories. Right, that was the name and clearly, it was much more valuable than stupid ice, which made the boy feel pretty stupid. "Ohhhhhhh."

"Numskulls, it's the largest uncut diamond in the world, how did you not recognise it?" (y/n) looked back at them, taking a chip off the director's frustration since she proved that one of them knew the importance of what he was holding, even if her friends were stupid. Ray and Henry stumbled for an answer, acting as though they knew that, they were just testing her and Jerome, not that it convinced anyone.

"Yes, Miss Danger. It's on loan to our museum this week and someone just broke in and tried to steal it! That's why the cops are here, right now!" Mr Sanchez said, the lines cracking through his forehead suggesting that he was highly stressed and for good reason. His stool/jewel museum would surely close down if the world's largest uncut diamond got nicked under his watch and people were already making attempts. The police presence was making him nervous too, it just proved that his prize was in danger and so was his job.

"Oh...okay." "So what do you want?" Ugh, idiots. Henry and Ray still weren't on the same page as the man, even though it was pretty obvious that he needed some superhero muscle to come and look after his diamond. Swellview police weren't exactly the most intimidating force in the world, in fact, the criminals scared them rather than the other way around, unlike Captain Man and his sidekicks who scared them shitless.

"To hire you, Miss Danger and Kid Danger to come guard this incredible diamond!" Jerome exclaimed, shaking the roc just to emphasise his point. Seriously, he couldn't make it any clearer and Ray didn't like his pushy attitude or his flair for drama that echoed his own.

"Pfft, this guy's so dramatic." He grumbled, ensuring that his voice was low enough for the computer not to pick it up, but his sidekicks could still hear him clearly. (y/n) shivered at his voice rumbling in her ear and vibrating against her back, but she saw a tad of irony in his words, knowing that he was literally the biggest drama queen in the world. A case of the pot calling the kettle black, as it were. 

"I know, I know. Look, sir, have you tried locking the museum at night?" Henry asked condescendingly. Wow, like they hadn't thought of that, the museum staff weren't stupid, of course, they locked it up, but it didn't do anything to help, as proven by the man who jumped through a window and tackled Jerome just as the Kid Danger finished speaking. It was quite horrific to see him scream, the three recoiling from the screen as they watched the brawl and the desperate attempts from the thief to claw the Neal Diamond away and they realised the severity of the situation as several burly police officers came to drag him away. Okay, he needed help.

"You see? Did you see that maniac trying to steal the Neal Diamond?" Mr Sanchez panted once he was free from the madman, his rock still safe in his hands. Honestly, he could've used it as a weapon, the thing was pretty heavy and diamond is incredibly sturdy, it's not like it would break. 

"All right, yeah, we get it, you're sitting ducks." (y/n) conceded. They were convinced that he was struggling and that his story about people trying to steal it was true, but he wasn't one there. He needed them in his museum for the last few hours of the diamond being in his life, then all his worries would be over. "Look, we're only gonna have the diamond here one more day, so will you come guard it, please?"

"Just a second..." Ray told him as he wanted to discuss it with his sidekicks before he made any decisions. He had to think about them too and he wasn't gonna stand in the museum all day away from his best friend and sweet girl, so he valued their options. What they wanted to do, he was gonna do, which luckily, just so happened to be what he was planning on doing anyway.

"All right, I've, uh, spoken with my sidekicks and we'll come guard the Neal Diamond..." Ray reported once he'd done some whispering with Henry and (y/n), although the couple hadn't really spoken about the rock, more like he'd just whispered that she looked hot and she called him a dork in return. She'd do whatever he was gonna do and Henry was up for protecting the guy since that was in their job descriptions, but Ray being Ray, he'd slipped a term into the contract, something that would really irk the director. "Oh, thank you—"

"...If! You let me bring a bunch of my Captain Corndogs..." He added, making Jerome's relieved smile drop. Ew, that was greasy finger food, snacks that would get oil and crumbs all over his displays, his jewels, his stools! And what was Captain Man gonna be doing in regards to keeping the diamond safe if he was handing out these gross sausages? It sounded a little counterproductive and he didn't like it. "But I don't think—"

"...Which are like regular corndogs but they're appetiser size and they taste way, way better." He finished, unable to stop the little brag nor the victorious little smirk that grew on his face when Henry quickly agreed that they were amazing. Jeez, stroking his ego was dangerous and it made (y/n) roll her eyes because they were just corndogs, gross, icky corndogs...

"That's a matter of opinion." She muttered, feeling Ray's thumb stroke along the covered skin on her waist. Fine, whatever, she could watch the diamond whilst he was off feeding the masses, no problem, as long as she got to snuggle into his chest that night, she wouldn't complain...too much.

"And you have to say that it's okay for me to pass out my Captain Corndogs to anyone who comes to the museum." Ray placed the term on the table, his negotiating face on with no humour or laughter in sight. A favour for a favour, it seemed fair, and it wasn't like the corndogs would do loads of damage so Mr Sanchez was inclined to agree, but he never got the chance to say anything.

Before his lips could move, another man swung through a window and tackled him, probably an accomplice or copycat of the earlier thief and the director screamed as his grubby mitts swiped for the diamond. The police were hot on his tail, yanking the man away like they expected more criminals to come and try their luck, not that it made the experience any less traumatic for Jerome.

"So, we got a deal?" Ray asked once the director was free again, tired and dishevelled, but he wasn't hurt and he still had his diamond tucked under his arm, so he'd come out the other side fairly okay if a little pissed. He wasn't happy about the food in the museum and the idea of scrubbing greasy fingerprints off everything and sweeping the crumbs from the floor, but they couldn't go on like this, they needed Captain Man; his hands were tied. 

"Yes. Deal." Mr Sanchez growled curly and switched off the camera on his end since the hardheaded hero had annoyed him. His stone would be safe though, Ray, (y/n) and Henry would make sure of that, no criminal would dare to touch it...now, wasn't it time for bed?

"Boom!" "Woo!"  "Tired..." The three heroes exclaimed as they turned off the computer and walked away, two feeling much more chirpy than the third. It was all right for them, they liked Captain Corndogs, poor (y/n) didn't and she just wanted to crawl off to bed, their energy tiring her out even more. It wasn't over though, sure, Ray helped her shuffle over with his arm propping her up, but their intentions made her groan because they meant an extra half an hour before Ray would go to bed and she wasn't sleeping without him, not this time.

"All right, let's snack on some Captain Corndogs—" Henry smiled at his boss, eager to chow down on more of the fantastic nibbles until he couldn't move. The sight of Ray cooing at his sleepy girl made him grin too, the sight giving him the relief that they weren't gonna be fighting tomorrow, which was way worse than any of the love-mush stuff he normally had to endure. Her head was on his arm, her eyes were drooping closed and any minute now, he was certain that he'd just pick her up bridal style and take her to bed after just a quick snack...Or not?

The boys stopped when they came to the couch, their happiness shrivelling up when they saw the devastatingly empty plate that was resting on Jasper's tummy. Clearly, he and Charlotte had been the ones chowing down, crumbs covering their mouths and the dead giveaway that was numerous sticks on the boy's face. The greedy, little...they hadn't saved them one, not a single, goddamn corndog. Typical.

"There was...nothing I could do," Charlotte told them as they stared angrily at her and Jasper, mainly the latter since he was the one with a dozen sticks laying around him, but then again, every cloud has a silver lining and it was way too late for Ray to make a fresh batch, so...

"Can we go to bed now?" (y/n) asked her fiancé sleepily, rubbing her nose into the silky fabric that stretched over his muscles and upon hearing the sleep in her voice, he didn't have the heart to say no. Henry definitely wanted more snacks, would probably get on his knees and beg for them, but just the way his sweet girl clung to him, whimpered when someone said something too loudly and swayed from side to side, made him decide; he could go make more or he could go to bed with an angel, and the second option sounded like heaven.

"Sure, sweet girl. Let's go get some sleep." He mumbled, doing exactly what Henry had predicted and throwing an arm under her legs so she could curl against him as he lifted her. He'd take care of her uniform and the kids could do what they liked, crashed in the Man Cave or go home, it didn't matter. He was off to bed with his sleepy girl and he was gonna make damn sure that this time, he'd be there when she woke up.

~The next day, in the museum~

Well, tomorrow certainly brought clarity and soft apologies as the sun rose over Mount Swellview. Whilst still wrapped up in their blankets and each other's arms, Ray had apologised to his sweet girl for making her worry and she'd said it didn't matter, not when she knew that he was safe. It was water under the bridge and they'd gotten a good night's sleep, so there was no point in holding onto a grudge, not when the soft touches turned sinful and gentle kisses became rough and passionate, leading to a morning that definitely made up for the stress in the early hours.

It had set them up for a good day, at least that's what it was shaping up to be. After one or maybe two extra hours in bed, the couple had stumbled to the kitchen, laughing and throwing flour as Ray whipped up a dozen batches of his Captain Corndogs, hot and fresh for the masses they'd be greeting at the museum and truthfully, Ray wondered why he hadn't just done the same the night before. 

Cooking was a lot more fun when she was around to give him kisses from her place on the kitchen island, the granite countertop giving her the height to kiss him easily when he stood in between her legs and told her how pretty she was, how he'd won the lottery, how he'd never expected to find someone like her to spend the rest of his life with. (y/n) giggled and blushed at that, saying that she felt the same way, had never thought she'd be engaged to the bravest, sexiest superhero in the world, let alone watching him prance around the kitchen in nothing but an apron and a pair of plaid pyjama pants. 

The bliss didn't last though. As nice as it was to dance around the island as the corndogs fried, they had places to be and people to meet, plus, Henry was on his way, which left them no choice but to bundle away their happiness until it was just another sweet memory tucked into their hearts. They could always cook again and it's not like Ray didn't sit and wait to be fed when (y/n) baked cookies, so it wasn't over, just temporarily on hold, as it should be.

The museum was busy, really fucking busy considering that it displayed jewels, a fairly interesting collection of antiques, and stools, a certainly boring hoard of old rubbish. Anyway, plenty of people meant Ray had plenty of targets and he'd given his sidekicks a side quest as they protected the diamond; hold a tray of dumb corndogs and see if they could con any of the mugs into eating one. He was proud, Henry was just happy that they were more to eat, but (y/n), she didn't give a toss, she just let people pluck one if they were hungry, she just cared about the diamond.

"Hey there," Ray smirked at a couple as they viewed a particularly dull stool, admiring how it had been finished with a dark resin stain over its grain and he selected them to be his next customers. They looked all lovey-dovey, similar to himself and (y/n) and as such, he figured that they'd want a little snack, something they could feed each other because that's what he'd want to do with his girl if she actually liked his pride and joy sausages. "So...like that antique stool, huh?"

"..." The couple said nothing, just smiled and nodded like their tongues were tired, something Ray wasn't used to. He was a chatty guy and often, everyone wanted to get a chance to talk with Captain Man, y'know, because he was awesome, but these two were giving him nothing. "...Well, I see you two aren't much for conversation, so why don't you try one of my Captain Corndogs? Go on, go on...speechless."

They seemed to like the snack, munched on them happily as he ranted on and on about how good they were, wiggling the plate so they could take more and hopefully tell their friends about how clever he was. For Schwoz, Jasper and Charlotte, who were still back at HQ, it was annoying to hear him bragging, but they had an important job to do, so they could ignore it. They were three extra pairs of eyes and ears, plus, they had technology on their side to tell the heroes if anyone flagged up on their database, something that was sorely needed in the bustling crowd.

"So, we're seeing a live feed of what Ray, (y/n) and Henry are seeing right now?" Charlotte asked as Schwoz twiddled the controls on the supercomputer, doing some wizardry that was beyond her. It was cool that they could see what the supers could see, even if it was a little awkward when Ray and (y/n) started kissing, which was a lot, very frequent, seriously, they never stopped doing it. 

"Yeah. See, I installed teeny, little cameras into their masks, right here between their eyebowels." Schwoz explained in his funny little accent, gesturing to the gap between his eyebrows where the cameras were. They weren't noticeable, but they were extremely high-tech, capable of scanning whoever the heroes talked to and identifying whether they were a threat or not, so it really was a win for Schwoz and his brain.

"Now, I can zoom in on this lady Ray is talking to..." The genius mumbled as the monitor focused on the smiling woman, who was only looking pleasant because it was polite. They could guarantee that their boss was boring the pants off her.

"And this controls the facial recognition?" Charlotte asked. She was a lot more interested than Jasper, who was only there because of how important the mission was and because the store upstairs was dead with no customers, he didn't really understand what they were on about. "Yeah, try it!"

"Okay..." The girl leaned forward and pressed a button, which started the process of their algorithm sweeping over the woman's features. It was just a small, biometric security scanner, nothing too heavy, nothing too complicated, just a system that analysed someone's face down to the last millimetre, from their eyelashes to their Cupid's bow, if it picked up a criminal similarity, they knew they had to alert their friends. But luckily for this woman, she was squeaky clean. "Lauren Fillmore, no criminal history. Whoa, that's really cool technology."

"Yeah, I know this," Schwoz smirked as he leaned back into the chair. Okay, just because he designed most of it, didn't mean he got all the credit. The teens knew that (y/n) would have something to do with it, whether it was doing the math or some engineering, she would've helped, but for now, they let Schwoz have his moment as they continued to scan the area. 

"Okay, Captain Corny, you're boring them, let them go." (y/n) smiled at her doofus as she caught him droning on and on about how he'd had to figure out the correct cornmeal to sausage ratio to get his flavour balance right, but no one cared, especially not the couple he was talking to. Yeah, the corndogs were good, but they just wanted to view the exhibits, not stand around learning how good quality meat counts for everything.

"Hey, babe, I'm not boring them, they're—hey, where'd they go?" Ray's face instantly brightened as he turned to see his girl walking over, her tray of Captain Corndogs half full. Oh, goodie, people were eating them, that was great, her pretty face was drawing in the people, he'd be famous before he knew it, but the minute his sight left them, the couple took their chance and scarpered. He didn't think his recipe was dull, although when he turned around, there was no sight of them, gone before they could take another dog. Dammit.

"Told you, no one wants to hear about your corndogs, sweetheart. Just let them eat." The woman told him as she stood on tiptoe to give him a quick peck, a sight that was lovely for the teens watching through their mask cameras. They juggled their trays as he pressed a kiss to her cheek too, his free arm settling around her waist as they bantered back and forth, a well-deserved break after guarding and corndogging for a couple of hours.

"But they taste so good, sweet girl. So damn good..." He smirked at her, brandishing the mini snacks in her face so she'd get a waft of their deep-fried, carnivalesque scent. She wrinkled her nose at his movements, fully aware that he was trying to entice her into trying one because that's what he'd done for years; even when they were "just friends" and the recipe still wasn't perfect, he'd wanted her to try one, see if her tastebuds had matured since the last time he'd made them, but every time, she said no.

"I don't like corndogs, captain. You can put them under my nose as much as you want, but I'm not gonna eat one." (y/n) told him and pushed the tray away, knowing for certain that the texture, the taste, everything about them didn't agree with her. If it was anything else, she'd eat it and tell him that he was a hot chef, but she'd been down this road before and it had resulted in her spitting the offending sausage into a trash can.

"Just try one, for meeee?" Ray fluttered his eyelashes like it would crack her resolve and picked one dog from the tray so she could take a nibble, not that she was going to...probably. Darn, he looked cute and that melted her heart, it really did, he didn't butter up anyone else, none of the girls walking around, not even the hot mom and her son that she'd seen, she was the only one he could focus on and that made her feel special and soft.

"Look, if I eat one, will you watch a movie with me tonight? A really, really cheesy one that I've been saving for something like this?" Oooh, that was a tricky one. When she said cheesy, she didn't just mean a bit cringey, she meant full-on, make him groan, roll his eyes and want to die, the ultimate form of torture because she'd force him to keep paying attention. No matter how much he let his hands roam, no matter how filthy his whispers got, if he agreed to watch it, he was in for the duration and would be quizzed afterwards. But, the bargain was fair...

"For you, sweet girl, I'll do anything," Ray smirked and offered her the Captain Corndog, which she reluctantly took between two fingers as she met his playful gaze. She didn't think he'd take the bait, but she couldn't go back on her word and not when he seemed to get so excited as she eyed up the appetiser. He looked at her with so much love, it was like he'd hit his head.

"Are you flirting with me, Captain Man?" She asked him in a teasing voice, just to drag out the wait a little longer, give her mouth a chance to build up to the assault it was about to take. She could do this, it was just food made by her loving fiancé, but any chance for flirtatious banter was something she'd take, after all, they always made the most of finally being in the know.

"Finally, you noticed! Y'know, I've been trying to get you to notice a guy like me for, oh, eleven years, so whaddya say we run off and get marr—" The hero's eyes were playful as he pretended like they were still their dumb, oblivious younger selves, completely clueless to the fact that they were both flirting and showing affection like they were boyfriend and girlfriend. 

He still found it crazy that they'd been like that for so long, had allowed their hearts to pine but never said anything when if they had just been honest, everything would've been great, perfect even. What was even crazier was that he'd been dating her for over a year and was now engaged to spend the rest of his life with her, so much had happened and he regretted none of it, not a bit, they were in a good place and on the right track...but what he did regret was allowing Schwoz to natter in his ear; "Ray!"

"Argh!" The hero shrieked, spooking his fiancée and everyone around him when he threw his tray up in the air and clutched his ear, the volume of the genius shouting practically shattering his eardrum. Forgetting their banter instantly, (y/n) swiftly put her hands on his cheeks and ignored the weird looks they were getting, more concerned with her doofus and how he was seemingly in pain, although a quick hiss to the earpiece gave her an answer. "Schwoz, you nub! You interrupted me when I was flirting Miss Danger into eating a Captain Corndog!"

"It nearly worked too." The woman smirked when she looked at the corndog that had been dropped on the floor in her panic, meaning she definitely wasn't gonna eat it now. At least Ray didn't have to watch the movie now, considering that her end of the bargain was terminated, but still, he wouldn't get a chance like that again, he was so damn close to seeing her eat both a corndog and her words. She tapped her earpiece once, opening up the comlink between her and the Man Cave so she could hear what was happening too, feeling as though this was important.

"Ray, (y/n)! Do you see that girl Henry's flirting with?" Charlotte asked them hurriedly once she'd gotten Schwoz out of the way. He was just slowing stuff down and they needed to relay the worrying information to the heroes about the chick who'd taken Henry's eye off the ball because she was bad news. Real bad news.

"Yeah, what about her?" Ray asked, noticing the girl quickly since she was quite pretty and wearing a vibrant yellow jacket. She was no patch on his sweet girl, but he could see why the kid had singled her out; she was a tad older, blonde, blue-eyed, attractive and clearly quite sweet judging by how she giggled at what he was saying, so it was hard to see why they were so impatient to tell them about her. She looked harmless, right?

"She's a jewel thief!" The teen exclaimed, making the couple instantly stop routing for her and Henry to get together. Okay, looks could be deceiving 'cause she just looked like a standard, cute citizen, not the one they were fighting against, but maybe that was the point. Blend in and sneak past in plain sight, because who'd suspect the pretty one?

"Come again?" (y/n) gasped as she left her tray on a stool, which was probably artistic sacrilege but she had bigger things to worry about. The stool could be sponged down, the Neal Diamond was the thing they were really bothered about and she was shocked that the girl, who looked around her age, was there to take it. They could've been friends, she looked nice enough, but not anymore, her crimes sullied her good looks.

"Her name's Heather Bogart. She's been in prison, like, six times for stealing super expensive, rare jewels!" Charlotte explained as she flicked her eyes down the woman's criminal profile. It was there, clear as day, she must have been either a genius or an idiot because she'd been caught so many times, always reverting to her ways after being released, so there was no way that she was just there to take in the atmosphere. She had diamond eyes, they just knew it and they had to save Henry from helping her straight to it.

"Got it. We'll handle Heather." Ray growled in response and the team back at base fell silent. He nodded at his sweet girl, who was already cracking her knuckles and preparing for a fight. There were no soft touches now, no gentle hand guiding her across the room, no kisses on the cheek, no bright smiles. No, now wasn't the time for tenderness, now was the time for action and they were storming towards Heather as she flirted with their friend.

"So, you, uh, you want another Captain Corndog?" Henry asked the girl as he wiggled his tray around to make the corndogs wobble and he loved how his newfound crush giggled in response. She was so cute and everyone loved Kid Danger, the mask shrouded his true age, so he could get away with flirting with an older girl and my, oh my, she was lovely and so gosh darn dreamy. 

"How could I not?" Heather smiled and took the corndog from Henry's fingers when he offered it, but she never got to taste its deliciousness because Ray wouldn't let his cooking be enjoyed by a piece of filth like her. Raising his laser control, he zapped at the corndog and turned it into cinder because he'd rather see it reduced to ash than know it gave a criminal a few seconds of pleasure. She was everything his Captain Corndogs stood against, she didn't deserve that goodness.

"Captain Man, Miss Danger, what are you doing?!" Henry gasped as he turned around to see his boss glaring at Heather and (y/n) roughly pulled him away so she couldn't trick him and Ray put his arm in front of both of them as he kept the laser concentrated on the thief. Their gazes were piercing as Henry stuttered and floundered for an explanation; he had been getting his game on, he never did that when they flirted, he'd brought them together and they were ruining his chances of finding love now. Talk about ungratefulness, they were acting like crazy people.

"Stopping a jewel thief before she strikes again!" Ray snarled as he kept his sidekicks away from the scumbag, apprehensive as to what she might pull, a weapon, a move, some kind of trickery that only a burglar would have and he wasn't going to let her hurt his friend or his sweet girl. She was sneaky, straight up, no matter how innocent her "shocked" face appeared and he wasn't about to underestimate her.

"What? Dude? She's not a jewel thief!" Henry protested, thinking that they must've made a mistake because pretty girls can do no wrong and he didn't find it particularly fair that Ray was stopping him from flirting because he never did that to him. He just mildly groaned and averted his eyes when his friends were making out or doing gross couple stuff, so he hated that they were being hypocritical now, but Heather wasn't so secretive.

"Yes, I am." She stated bluntly, her smile disappearing since she knew that she couldn't fool Captain Man or escape Miss Danger's angry eyes. She was proud of what she did, not so much her jail time, but she made no secret of her profession, she stole jewels, they knew it, she knew, end of story. Henry was just lying to himself, fooled by her pretty face and those soft, blonde curls, but they weren't stupid and neither was his crush. "I mean, jeez, man, you don't just shoot a miniature corndog out of a girl's hand!"

"You do if she'd a nasty jewel thief, which she is!" (y/n) spat, trying to keep Henry away from the girl as Ray shielded her smaller frame and kept them both safe, but the kid wasn't having it. Even though they had proof, actual physical records of Heather being in prison, he couldn't see that they were telling the truth. "No, she's not!"

"Yes, I am," Heather repeated as Henry pushed past his friends and gave her a charming smile. Come on, how dumb was he? The girl was literally confessing to her identity, clearly confident and calm even as she faced the heroes and that raised (y/n)'s eyebrow, her sensing that she was planning something, but she couldn't tell what. Girl to girl, she could tell that she was up to something, there was no way that she'd turn up on the last day of the diamond being shown and not cause a scene, but she was mysterious and careful, too experienced to show her hand prematurely, despite that being exactly what she was doing. Hmmm, she didn't care if they knew who she was, she was showing her face, a power move...curious. 

"No, you're n—I'm sorry, say what? Sorry, you're a-a?" Henry stumbled when her words finally sank in. If Heather admitted to it, then how could he tell his friends off? The cold, calculating expression on her face told him that they were right and she was evil, but he couldn't believe it. She found his jokes funny, she'd smiled and giggled and flirted back, she'd led him on and now he felt so stupid.

"Heather Bogart, master jewel thief. How you doin'?" Heather smirked and offered her hand out for Henry to shake as though it was an honour to have such a title attached to her name. She'd done all the big jobs, she wore the crown and she'd probably stolen that too, but her cockiness was irritating and (y/n) was far too protective of Henry to just let his heart be broken and do nothing.

"Not being funny, love, but you've been arrested how many times? Can't call yourself a master if you get caught, sorry." The woman hissed and folded her arms as Ray kept his laser trained on that dumb yellow jacket. He didn't know if it was set to stun or not, but if she made one wrong move, he was gonna fire, in fact, he was tempted to squeeze the button for the ugly stare she gave his girl after she sassed her so well. Bitch.

"But you're so pretty..." Henry whimpered, staring at the thief like he'd been lied to, despite a person's prettiness and their occupation not having any correlation. She wasn't a model or anything and whilst her face helped her blindside a few people, him included, it wasn't essential for robbing places. Either way, he was stung by love yet again and he cursed the minute he gave her the Captain Corndog, which he could've enjoyed, not her.

"Forget about her, kid. She's rotten fruit." Ray growled. He knew the pain of being disappointed, he'd been led on by many girls in the past too, but he also knew that Henry had his special someone out there and they'd come along in time, just like his soulmate had, and Heather wasn't his. She was pretty, yeah, that was a bonus, the real thing that mattered was how special a girl could be, her personality, something that Ray had fallen for more than any appearance and Henry would learn that eventually. Sure, it wasn't nice right now, but he'd get over it and he'd find someone so much better than this yellow streak of bitchiness, time was a great healer.

"What?" He rather frowned at the insult, although it didn't really matter. Ray was probably going for some elaborate metaphor on how Henry had thought she was sweet and ripe for the taking but when he checked her out thoroughly, she was decayed, gross and gonna poison him, but he was never very articulate. Oh, well, whatever, swiftly moving on, he tucked his laser away, certain that if she tried anything his indestructibility would keep him safe whilst he cuffed her. "Quiet! Now, I'm taking you back to jail."

"No, you're not!" Heather spat and slapped Ray across the face when he tried to grab her arm, making him squeak and (y/n) see red. Okay, who did this bitch think she was? Some kind of tough girl? Some kind of "on Wednesdays, we wear yellow" chick? No one hit her fiancé and got away with it, because she knew damn well that he was too much of a gentleman to fight back. She, on the other hand, had no problems fighting back, she could take on a floozy any day of the week.

"Don't hit my boyfriend, bitch, or you and that knock-off purse of yours will be sitting ass-first in that trash can over there." (y/n) said lowly, careful to keep the new development in her and Ray's relationship a secret since they felt like it was private right now and they wanted to settle in before the world knew about Captain Man and Miss Danger saving the date. She circled the girl so she could go toe-to-toe with her, both of them glaring and sizing the other up for a fight, but Heather wasn't about to make such a foolish move. She knew that fighting Miss Danger now could be very stupid and she was all about making goody-two-shoes like her cry in the dust as she walked away with riches and glory. Her time would come and it wasn't like she'd done anything wrong.

"I got out of jail six weeks ago and now, I'm a free citizen and look, bitch. Here's my ticket for this museum in my knock-off purse, which means I have as much right to walk around here as anyone." She smirked when she produced the strip of red paper that granted her access to the building, fully paid for most legitimately. Oh, Miss Danger wasn't so clever now as she, her dumb boyfriend and her unflirty foetus of a friend glanced at the ticket before realising that she was right. Score one for the thief.

"Valid ticket, M-D," Henry told the woman as she wrinkled her nose. The ticket was turned around to show the officially, shiny sticker that proved it was real, not some counterfeit printed bullshit that she'd created to sneak in. Dammit, she was intelligent and knew her rights; it was true, she'd served her time fair and square and until she did something illegal, they could detain her, not even under suspicion of being a sly bitch, so letting it go was really fucking irritating and just what Heather wanted.

"Well, you can't have any more of my Captain Corndogs! I can tell you that." Ray snapped and took away Henry's platter so he could monitor his sausages, one arm safely around (y/n)'s waist too, just in case she punched. His heating was still thudding from how she'd jumped to his rescue and how despite him not needing it, she showed him the same protection he did to her. He didn't care if he was still her boyfriend in their professional lives, that would be announced soon enough, right now, he was just happy knowing that Ray Manchester was the happiest man on earth. Yeah, he picked right, she was so darn gorgeous and completely his.

"Cool with me. Y'know, I don't care if I can—" Right, that was convincing. The minute Ray brought the corndogs over and Heather got a smell of them, her mouth dribbled and she lost her train of thought. Okay, she hated Captain Man, but she had to admit, she loved his corndogs and had genuinely loved them when she was tricking Kid Danger, so the thought of not getting any more was heartbreaking, something that was clear to their inventor. "Oh, really?"

But Heather wasn't dumb, that had already been established and they really should've expected her tricks. She leaned forward on Captain Man, (y/n) growling at the hand she laid on his shoulder and she acted as though she wanted a corndog so bad, she was passing out for one. Ray faltered for a minute, wondering if something was wrong when her eyes rolled backwards and slid shut, but once he'd let his guard down, it was too late. Heather snatched a Captain Corndog before anyone could blink and took a victorious bite out of it as she stepped back and admired their scowls. Seriously, it was like taking candy from a baby.

"You see, that, kid? You see what kind of a jerk she is?" The hero snapped at his sidekick, who had been foolish enough to be blinded by her good looks as if that had never worked on him before. One soldier down, murdered by that woman and her heinous need for his fantastic cooking and he wanted to be pissed off at someone, not that the person who deserved his anger was Henry.

"All right, all right...y'know, I can't believe you're a jewel thief. You told me you were an Olympic gymnast!" The boy exclaimed, revealing the extent that the woman had gone to trick him and make her life a bit easier or just more fun. She hadn't expected Captain Man to be fooled for long, she knew that she'd butt heads with Miss Danger, but it was all too easy to fool Kid Danger when she smiled and laughed at his crap jokes, he was just a gullible kid, who saw her face and not her skills. "Yeah, I lied."

"Oh, lying too, huh?" Ray scoffed as his sweet girl gave Henry what comfort she could - a quick pat on the shoulder and some soft words to tell him that she wasn't worth getting upset over. It was like Ray had thought, better people were in his future, a girl who deserved to hear his corny jokes, bright smile and the fluttering of his tummy, someone who didn't lie and treat his feelings so carelessly. She was still furious, though, she still thought Heather was a bitch, that hadn't changed.

"Whatever, Heather. If you wanna walk around this museum, fine. You wanna look at some stools and, or jewels, go for it. But don't even think about trying to steal the Neal Diamond." (y/n) warned the woman, glancing at the lump of carbon that was still safely inside its glass cabinet, well-protected by the security protocols and locks that had been installed. She could cut them down, break their hearts and slap a fiancé, but that lump of ice was staying put and it wasn't gonna be stolen on their watch. "I won't."

"Good." "Gooood." Ray and Henry nodded at her cool response, glad to know that she knew when she was beaten, but they were dealing with a master, an experienced pincher and she was fully aware of her skills. Heather felt like she could have three superheroes sniffing around and poking their noses into her business, but she could still pull it off. It would be the heist of the century, stealing the world's largest uncut diamond under their watch and she was just the person who could, especially against these idiots. "I'm just gonna do it."

"Fine." "Whatever." "Hang on a minute, what did you say?" This time, Ray, Henry and (y/n) weren't so quick to dismiss the girl and whatever she was saying. Did they hear her right? Did she just confess to thinking about stealing the diamond to their faces? Nah, that would be madness, surely not...

"I'm gonna steal the Neal Diamond before the museum closes tonight and there's not one thing any of you can do to stop me." Heather proclaimed with a condescending smirk and just to add insult to injury, she took another bite from her stolen Captain Corndog, something that hurt more than her dramatic exit, flare-kick included, could ever do. That really ground Ray's gears, not only knowing that she thought she was so smart and they were dumb, but she was celebrating her mini-win with one of his corndogs. What a cow.

"I really don't like her." (y/n) huffed as she walked away with a sway to her hips and the corndog in the air as if she was parading it around like some spoil of war. She had lots of reasons; first, she was a thief, duh, two, she'd hit her doofus, third, she'd tricked her doofus, fourth, she made her doofus out to be a doofus and only she was allowed to do that, fifth, she'd won that battle and sixth, she'd gotten a cool move in at the end before she could bite back with some sass. She had a lot more, but she had to stay calm, otherwise, she risked dragging her out by her hair and stamping on the bridge of her nose until she choked on her own blood. And that would stain her boots.

"I really wanted her to be a gymnast." Henry sniffed, feeling her level of emotion but for him, the fury had broken into pain and hurt. What a shame, she was so pretty, they could've been so right for each other and she threw it all away for a lump of millions of years old carbon, would it love her as much as he could've done? Nah... Henry deserved so much better.

~

So, what's the best way of guarding a diamond? Standing right next to it, of course. After Heather's proclamation that she was out to nab the Neal Diamond, Ray had made an executive decision, saying that he was relocating the distribution of Captain Corndogs to the space around the diamond, where it wouldn't leave their sight. He was stood on the right and (y/n) and Henry were on the left, two sidekicks equalling their boss.

Of course, it was a little sucky that with this plan, he had to be a whole metre away from his girl as she stood by Henry's side and not his, which left him glancing across to give her putty stares, but she just smiled and told him to give out his corndogs. Once they were gone, they could properly focus and it's not like Heather could sneak past without them noticing, yellow is the colour the eye sees the easiest, after all, so she stuck out like a sore thumb as she waltzed around, free to move and tease them as they stood guard. (y/n) wanted to stand next to her fiancé too, she'd love nothing more than to have him whisper in her ear and give him kisses at regular intervals, but they had a job to do and Miss Bogart herself was on the prowl. 

As she sauntered past, she made a faux-grab at the diamond, acting as though she was about to jump to grab it, and in doing so, she made them twitch into defensive positions to stop her. She played them so damn easily and cackled as walked away, loving how highly strung they were. This was too easy, they were getting too riled up and she was gonna make her move at any moment because they were watching so closely, knowing that she was gonna do something, but what? The first step to blinding someone is getting them to open their eyes...

They watched as she "admired" some jewels and stools, nothing grabbing her eye since it was all so boring and cheap, her real prize sitting behind glass. Ray and Henry slowly chewed their corndogs as they studied her every move, (y/n) still refusing to eat one, but then again, she wasn't sure if she could stomach it, and not just because of the taste. That bitch made her sick, thinking she was so much better than them.

"Ugh, look at her. What a bitch." She groaned as some unsuspecting, innocent dude caught her eye and began flirting with her. They couldn't tell what they were saying, but no doubt she was fooling the poor sucker and doing it to wind Henry up, flaunting that she rejected his advances after tricking him so cleverly. At least now that. They'd moved away from the cabinet to keep an eye on her, she could cosy up to Ray, but that was hardly the point...she was still gonna kiss him though, how could she not?

"Yeah. She makes me so—oh, oh, look at this guy. Probably gonna flirt with her like I did." Henry hissed when he saw the man smile politely at Heather and wait, oh come on, she was laughing at his jokes. He was older, not a bad-looker either, possibly more suited to her since they were a similar age, but he could've been a loser and Henry would still feel jealous. And it wasn't like he wanted to be, he wanted to hate her, he did, he strongly disliked her, but she was one who got away and laughed as she did, which just rubbed salt into his wounds. 

"Watch. Bet she's gonna tell him she's a gymnast too." Ray scoffed, backing his sidekick's anger all the way. He found that being honest with girls was the best way, well, that had worked with his girl. He'd just come straight out with it, didn't lie about his profession when they first met, he told her who he was the moment they swapped phone numbers, but then again, he had been hoping that Captain Man would impress her into loving Ray Manchester, which had sort of worked. (y/n) had always loved the real him more than any dazzling alter-egos. 

"Hey! Hey, yo! My man! Not a gymnast! So?" Well, that was subtle. Not wanting to see another guy fooled into a crush, Henry just straight-up called out to the man, pointed at heather and disputed everything she may or may not have said, not caring if he looked like a weirdo or not. (y/n) gave him a pointed look, fully aware that they were meant to be keeping a low, sophisticated profile since they didn't want to alert any incognito thieves to their presence or ruin their cool-cat reputation. Shouting just seemed so churlish, like they might as well have had "we catch thieves" written on their foreheads, ready for the burglars to trick them again.

"I might enter my Captain Corndogs recipe into a contest," Ray mentioned as he chewed and thought, a process that had sparked the birth of many of the world's greatest philosophies and cracked some of the hardest codes, but Ray's pondering never stretched that far, he just wanted to find fame written in the cornflour. (y/n) looked at him with an amused smile, shaking her head in amusement at how cute he was when he was proud, it almost made her want to try one, just to see if she could make him smile like that.

"What kind of contest would take tiny, deep-fried sausages on a stick?" She asked sceptically, acting as though she wasn't convinced, but deep down, she just wanted to keep seeing his happy, little face. Just because she wasn't a fan didn't mean she was gonna ruin his dreams, rather, she loved hearing about his dreams and ambitions, even if they were what some people might call simple.

"Y'know, like a—an appetiser recipe contest where the winner can win like a—like a boat or something cool. Like something you can impress your girlfriend with—" Ray theorised, dreaming up his ideal competition in his head. It would have to result in him winning, otherwise, what was the point? He'd need a cool prize too, 'cause again, there was no point winning for a voucher or coupon, he wanted to appear like a winner for his sweet girl so she'd swoon and look all hot on his shiny boat/ alternative prize. A boat would be nice though, a swimsuit, sunscreen making her glow, the light on her skin, oh, yeah, that was the dream.

"Okay, okay, hang on a second, I can't take this." Henry interrupted his fantasy as he continued to watch Heather flirt with that man, that poor, clueless man. She was touching his arm, flicking her hair about, throwing her head back to laugh at something that wasn't even that funny and he had to put a stop to it, for the greater good, not for himself, no way. That, and Ray could tell (y/n) about his contest but he didn't care, it was boring. No offence.

"Hey! Little shit..." (y/n) grumbled as the boy walked away with nothing further to say, leaving them speechless since he had just left when her doofus was talking about his big plans. Aw, his pouting face melted her heart and she'd do anything to make him smile again, something that he picked up on...

"I guess, no one likes my corndogs..." Ray laid it on thick, sniffling and fluttering his eyes like he was trying to flush away his tears, even though he didn't give a shit whether Henry went over to scold the thief or not, he just wanted to tempt his girl into sampling his mini sausages. Sure, it was sneaky and when his bottom lip trembled, it sealed the deal, (y/n) gasping softly when he lowered his face to stare at the floor and she couldn't bear to see him so downhearted after smiling for most of the afternoon. This was supposed to be a good day, not a crap one and if she had to push herself out there then she would.

"No, people like them, everyone's been saying they taste great. Don't cry, doofus...if I try one, will you feel better?" The woman scrambled to comfort him, not seeing the grin making his mouth wobble since she couldn't properly look at his face. Aw, she really was his sweet girl, so caring and it felt a bit mean to trick her like he was, but he'd never get a chance like this again and he'd been interrupted before so this was it, the final judge. With her approval, he really would have the balls to send it to a competition, because her opinion meant everything to him.

"Would you? For me?" He asked softly, looking down at her with an adorable face, childlike wonder emitting from every feature and she nodded slowly. It was good to try new things, right? And it was only small, nothing more than a mouthful, so it could be that bad and it was for her lover, the man who'd do anything for her, so she could eat the food he'd made to make him smile. No biggie.

"Yea, just one Captain Corndog, just this once." (y/n) nodded and took a deep breath as Ray passed her a stick, her brain telling her to run as if her cavewoman instincts had detected a food known to be bad and her body was rejecting it. Everyone else liked them so why wouldn't she? Ray's eyes were wide and hopeful as she slowly and reluctantly brought the sausage up to her mouth, the smell permeating up to her nose as she studied it. It looked...like a corndog, the food she avoided like the plague, but she wasn't going to judge it, it was just the outer layer, plus, Ray looked so cheerful now. Just one nibble, right on the end...

It tasted...not bad. True to her word, her teeth took the first two centimetres off of the corndog, slicing a chunk of battered sausage into her mouth, where it rested on her tongue for a minute. Okay, first impressions, she was getting that gross flavour of deep-fried, carnival crap and she thought for a second that her instincts were right, corndogs were no good. But then, as her teeth got into it, chewing it slowly and mellowing the flavour, it started to work, the sausage counteracting the batter in a complimentary way that wasn't the best thing she'd ever eaten, but at the same time, she could eat a few contently and not be sick, which was a huge step for her.

"Well? Pretty good, right?" Ray beamed as she went through the stages of analysis, each like a shadow passing over her face, from "ew" to "okay, this isn't so bad". She wasn't yacking or spitting it out, she wasn't smiling or raving either, but for the girl who'd swore she'd never eat a corndog until the day she died, he was happy. His sweet girl tolerated them and that was good enough.

"Eh, as a corndog hater, I can say that these are okay. You have earned this." She smiled in defeat as she got the rest of it over with and quickly ate the rest of the corndog, chewing quickly so she could give him her findings. And a kiss for surprising her. It was soft and gentle, a little longer than it should've been since they were meant to be watching out for jewel thieves but their eyes were closed as they got carried away. What was new? Oh, yeah, (y/n) was converted now, from a hater to a tolerator, that was something, but them kissing like they were the only ones in the room was not.

"Hey...Hey. Hey! Okay, please separate, you're grossing me out and making me feel lonely." Henry grimaced as he came back over from an unsuccessful attempt at luring the man away from Heather, who had been truthful for once and shockingly, he was okay with her criminal background. Bitch. What he didn't want to see after that romantic nosedive was his friend eating each other's faces, it was revolting and a staunch reminder that he was gonna die alone.

"Hey, what's your deal? Can't a man kiss his girlfriend?" Ray asked, frowning at Henry as he and his girl were forced to pull away, although she stayed in his embrace and refused to budge, not for love nor money. Come on, they'd been diligently standing by the rock for ages, not kissing, not holding hands, nothing and now that they could sneak a quick make out, he was bullying them. Dick, what had made him so touchy?

"You mean, fiancée?" (y/n) corrected him quietly, her eyes shining with happiness as the hand that would have the ring on it came up to brush down his cheek, making him grin too. Oh yeah, that. The proposal. The whole "rest of their lives together" thing, how could he forget? Well, it was pretty easy with her against his chest, one arm around her waist and the other still holding the corndog platter, but if that wasn't there, she'd be crushed in his hug, totally protected, totally loved by him as he basked in their promise.

"That thief, Heather, keeps saying she's gonna steal the diamond." Henry's statement broke them out of the loved-up haze and made their jaws clench. (y/n) angrily dropped her stick onto the plate and turned around to scowl at her again, her heart longing for more kisses, but a small corner of it longed for justice too and she knew her duty. Kisses were forever, a chance to kick that bitch's ass wasn't and there was no way that she was gonna let her get away with it.

"Oh, yeah? Well, good luck to her, 'cause I'm not taking my eyes off this baby!" Ray announced as they returned to the stations next to the exhibit, only this time, he was staring at it and not looking away. It was a tall order for him, paying attention to one thing for a long period, with his sweet girl so close too, and it was very difficult not to admire her instead, but he was gonna do it, nothing could break his resolve...nothing but a willing customer. 

"Hey, Captain Man, can I have a Captain Corndog?" A plucky young man asked tentatively as he approached the hero, pointing to his plate and try as he might, Ray couldn't ignore him. His public needed his delicious creations and he was only too happy to prove, much to (y/n) and Henry's frustration. 

"You sure can, buddy. In fact, thinking about entering the recipe in a contest. I like to make 'em wiggle like this, see that?" He smiled at the man as he jiggled the plate again, completely unfocused on the task they'd set out to do since the guy was stroking his ego and the diamond was just sitting there. What a doofus, things were already hectic and oh, look. Here came trouble...

"There they are! Hi Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger!" Oh, shit. It was Piper, sweet, little Piper, who through no fault of her own was adding more problems to their pile. They needed to focus, but here she was, bringing in the Man Fans and they were likely all really excited to see their favourite heroes out and about, stuff like that. It was the last thing they needed, a bunch of kids running around the place, but they couldn't be rude to their own fan club, the only thing they could do was smile, wave and be polite.

"Well, hello there!" "Hey, guys..." "Oh, hi..." They tried to be polite anyway. Henry felt a little awkward, he always did when his sister was around Kid Danger because of the risk that she might recognise him or his voice or his hair or something and then that would be the cherry on the already complicated cake, so he was quite timid. 

Ray was awkward too, finding their sudden, energetic appearance a little overwhelming since he knew about this brat and the shitstorm that often followed her and he had to remind himself not to mention the engagement, or god forbid, their secret would spread like wildfire before they'd had a chance to enjoy it. But (y/n), she was good, happy to see the girl since she knew that she loved them too much to get mean and well, having a fan club was always nice, but it seemed like that wasn't what they were there for. "Did we miss it?"

"Uh, miss—?" Henry frowned, wondering what his sister was on about since nothing had come and gone, or at least he hadn't seen anything. Good thing they had the sleuth known as Captain Man on the job, he always knew what was up. "Oh, must've heard about the Captain Corndogs..."

"Uh, you guys here about the corndogs?" (y/n) asked sceptically, aware that it was a bit far fetched to assume that the kids would trek halfway across town for a tidbit of a snack, but then again, this was the Man Fans they were dealing with, not some half-assed crew of delinquents. What Captain Man liked, they liked, what Captain Man said, they believed and if he was making corndogs, then they were gonna try them, that was the idea anyway.

"No! We're here to watch Heather Bogart try to steal the Neal Diamond!" Piper exclaimed in a voice that was way too happy for a theft. They were excited about a crime and they liked superheroes? Was that even allowed? That seemed so redundant and stupid, in more ways than one.

"Wait, wait, wait, how'd you know she's gonna try and steal it?" Henry asked since that was this thing that stood out to them. They had assumed that they were the only ones who knew about Heather's big plan, otherwise, security would've been tighter and they would have swarms of police officers circling the room with them, right? Ha, no, Swellview Police would never do any actual police work. Keep dreaming.

"She posted a video about it. Look." The girl said and swiped on her PearPad until she pulled up the right clip on the thief's Twitflash profile, which showed her directly next to the diamond's case, so close that her cheek was pressed against the cool glass. When did she do that and how? They had been so vigilant, well, apart from the kiss... "What's up?! I'm gonna steal the Neal Diamond!"

"Well, that was to the point." (y/n) remarked as they watched the three-second clip, but gave her message clearly. She must've been very sure of her skills to announce it to the world and it was annoying that they couldn't arrest her right now. It would've made sense, keep her under lock and key until the diamond was taken away and then, it wouldn't be their problem anymore, but there'd be the law to think about and her rights, so it wasn't worth it. Bitch.

"Hey, hey, look at that!" Charlotte nudged her companions as they sat in the Man Cave, watching carefully as Ray reassured his sidekicks that Heather was just playing mind games and they merely needed to focus. The girl was obviously paying attention to the monitors more than they were as she noticed something peculiar through (y/n)'s feed, something that seemed highly suspicious when she considered that Heather wasn't one for some casual chitchat.

"What? The screen?" Jasper asked as he swirled his soda. His brain had been idling for the last hour, nothing interesting happening to keep him sharp, but this would wake him up. Everything that thief did had some calculation behind it, she didn't do stuff for nothing, it was always either to cause pain, irritation or to aid her plan and this time, Charlotte suspected it was the latter. "Yeah, the screen."

"What do you see?" Schwoz asked as he ditched his popcorn bowl and sat up properly, zooming in on (y/n)'s mask cam so he could search for whatever Charlotte had noticed and then, he caught it, just as the heroine was no doubt giving her man goo-goo eyes. "Heather...talking to those photographers."

"Hey, look sharp, she's doing something." (y/n) muttered to the boys as Heather crossed the room like a model with a pipe up her butt, all snooty and full of herself, but her movement suggested action and they were unaware as to what their friends had spied in the background. They regrouped and formed a tight line across the cabinet so that no one could sneak past, but that was her plan at all.

Having received their instructions, Heather's bogus photographers shrugged on pairs of thick sunglasses and sprung their plan into action. Captain Man loves a photo op, he loved being the centre of attention and that's where they came in, to play on his weakness and strike him as he opened himself up, his sidekicks too. "Hey, guys. Can we get a couple of youfies?"

"Youfies?" Ray repeated, not sure what this new variety of selfie was since he was old and had better things to do with his life, like track down bad guys and fall deeper in love with his fiancée, but luckily, Henry was on hand to translate. "Pictures of us?"

"Yeah." The man grinned and that was all Ray need to hear. Pictures of him with his sweet girl and friend, all of them looking really cool? Yes please, he wanted that and as such, he immediately curled an arm around her waist to bi=ring her in, Henry rapidly standing by her side so they could get all their superheroness into one shot. A shot of coolness, a shot of heroism, a shot that wasn't what it seemed. Heather shrugged on her glasses too as they huddled in and showed off the Captain Corndogs, one, two, three and...disaster. 

"Argh!" The corndogs clattered to the floor as the flash went off, but it was no ordinary light. Everyone in the room who hadn't shielded their eyes felt their vision darker the moment the man pressed the button, which left them groaning and panting for air as they panicked. Hold up, they were blinking, their eyes were open but they couldn't see, everything was pitch black, literally one of the worst experiences a person could go through and it was happening to all of them, plus their heroes.

"My—My eyes, I can't see!" Henry exclaimed as his arms stretched out to feel around him, nudging into someone he assumed was (y/n), but had no way of telling. He was freaking out, she was freaking out, everyone was freaking out, well, everyone apart from Heather, who was perfectly fine, not blind at all. 

"Neither can I!" Ray yelped too as he stumbled around in the dark, trying to feel for his sweet girl, but he was just grabbing onto nothing since he was facing the room way. Oh, god, he couldn't see to protect her, he couldn't see to admire her face or her smile or anything, he was lost and for the first time, he had no idea what to do. Was it permanent? Please god, don't let it be permanent, he couldn't take not seeing her again, he couldn't bear the thought of getting so close to marrying her and having the sight of her in w bite dress taken away so cruelly, don't let it be forever. He could maybe deal with temporary, it was terrifying, but they could work something out, just not for the rest of their lives.

"Captain Man?! Where are you?" (y/n) screamed as she tried to blink it away, but it wouldn't work. Her stupid brain wasn't connecting the dots, she couldn't think of an explanation, all she could think about was finding Ray and not letting go. She took a few steps forward, grasping an arm that was soft, squishy and way too small to be her fiancé's, so she went in the opposite direction, assuming that the arm had belonged to Henry. Okay, he had been on the left of her, so go left, wherever left used to be, shit, was it that way? Or had she turned? Fuck...

"Over here, sweet girl. Over—gotcha!" Ray's hand waiter through the air as he looked for her too, their instincts aligning and telling them to latch onto the thing that kept them grounded in times of crisis and that so happened to be the other. His fingers brushed her face and halter a quick pat-down, he knew it was her; he knew that facial structure and those boobs anywhere, he'd found his girl. She grabbed his hand and held onto it as tightly as she could, scared that if they got separated, they'd never find each other again and she didn't like the sound of that. What was she gonna do if she never saw that dorky grin again? Would she never know the sight of him with a wedding band on his finger?

"What happened?" Henry asked as he continued to feel around, glad to know that the lovebirds were sticking together. This was bad, really, really bad, if they couldn't see, then the Neal Diamond was a sitting duck, ready for stealing and there was nothing they could do to stop it. That, and those two had waited way too long for their happily ever after and now, they'd never see it. 

"Oh, see, those photographers just blasted you and everyone in this room with hyper-gamma light, which means you won't be seeing anything for the next two hours." Heather spat as she looked at the struggling heroes and the idiots around the room, who had just so happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. God, she felt powerful, she'd reduced Captain Man and his dumb sidekicks to uselessness and now, she could just walk around, steal what she wanted and make her exit as cooly and as easily as she needed it to be. Bitch.

Sauntering over, she brushed past the hero and Miss Danger, ensuring that her shoulder bashed into the woman so she'd stumble and trip in Captain Man's arms. Ha, hearing her squeak was so hilarious, and it was even funnier seeing her punch at the air to try and get revenge. They still couldn't see, so she got to work; crouching next to the diamond's cabinet, she fixed her device onto the granite pedestal and began to program it so the lock would open for her. She wasn't the kind to get her hands dirty.

"Oh, yeah? Heather, Miss Danger, Kid Danger and I might not be able to see, but we can still punch!" Ray growled, thinking that he could punch even with no sight. He'd been doing it for years and he'd often argued that he could fight with his eyes closed, however, no that they were testing his theory, it proved to be a bit trickier. His punch zipped past (y/n)'s face, catching her cheek ever so slightly, just enough to sting, but the poor sucker who took the brute of Captain Man's strength was Henry. Oops. 

"Hey, kid! Sweet girl! I think I hit Heather or maybe one of her photographers! Kid? Sweet girl?" Ray exclaimed happily when he felt his fist collide with a small face and for a Monet, it felt like it could've belonged to a horrible jewel thief, but when he got no reply from Henry, he started to panic. Okay, he could feel his girl, she was rubbing her cheek, don't know why and why did Henry sound like he was in pain? 

"You hit me!" Henry groaned as they all found each other again, (y/n) patting along the boy's tunic and rubbing at her doofus's face. Yeah, there was the mask, she'd know that jawline anywhere and she was definitely touching Henry. They were together, that was positive, Henry's face was bruised, not so positive, but at least they hadn't been separated, that was the main thing.

"Attention from Captain Man! I cannot see!" "We cannot see a damn thing!" Ray and (y/n) shouted to the panicking people around the room. It was so difficult to try and locate the bad guys because they were filtered through the crowd of innocent civilians, so every rustle, every murmur, it could be evil or it could be good, they had no way of knowing. They had to do something to protect these people and help themselves, separate the good and the bad.

"So, if you're not a criminal, please stand back, while Kid Danger, Miss Danger and I locate the perpetrators and then—" Ray yelled, coming up with a pretty good plan to fight the bad guys, but they were still at a disadvantage. They couldn't see the photographers sneaking up on them, they didn't see them cracking their knuckles and swinging their fists until they felt it. Hard. They hit the boys first, Ray falling against some stools as Henry was flipped onto his back painfully and (y/n) wondered what had happened when she heard the scuffle and felt their presence leaving her side.

"Guys, what's happened? I can just see two black blobs—oh, wait, I see a fuzzy grey blob too..." (y/n) gasped as her eyesight adjusted to something and suddenly, the pitch-black wasn't everything she could see. There were some very vague shapes covered in what looked like TV static, but it was a big improvement from what she'd been seeing for the last few minutes. Huh, her eyes were getting better, unlike Henry and Ray's.

"(y/n), your eyes will heal quicker, thanks to your super-regeneration!" Schwoz yelled in her ear as they watched in horror from the Man Cave and she winced at his volume. Seriously, she was already blind, she didn't need to be deaf as well, but that was good news. It was certainly getting better, the black fading to grey but it was still worrying, especially now that she got the sense that their energies were circling her and she didn't have her hero to shield her and she was scared of what was coming next. "Yeah, and how long before I can see properly again?"

"I don't—" "Oh my god, what's happening?!" Schwoz was cut off as a shrill voice came from the left, a voice belonging to Piper as she skidded back into the room. She'd been in the gift shop with her friends and had returned to see utter chaos; Captain Man and Kid Danger on the ground, Miss Danger looking petrified and all the museum-goers looking lost, what had she missed? Hey, at least she could see, no one else could...

"Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger can't see!" The guy who'd asked for a corndog earlier said, he too unable to see. Ray and Henry clambered to get up, not ready to give up yet and they had to stop Heather and her henchmen, even without their eyes. Failure wasn't an option and even though they didn't know how they were gonna do it, they were gonna stop her, possibly with Piper's help. "And Heather's trying to steal the diamond..."

"Oh my god, Captain Man! To your left!" Piper shrieked as she saw a photographer pick up a red metal stool, one that looked like it could do a lot of damage and pain, and raise it above his head, intent on using it to beat Captain Man, but Piper and her sweet, clear eyesight, gave him a much-needed heads up. Reacting instantly, Ray punched to the left, jabbing the guy in the stomach before he could fight back and roughly threw him across the room by rocking onto his back and throwing him over and onto his ass. Jeez, Piper was doing well and Heather was getting antsy...

Henry, however, was struggling; with no one to spot the criminals for him, every punch he threw was dodged by the bald-headed guy, who then cruelly gave him a blow in return and caused him to fall gain strength one of the displays. Whoops, there went some of those precious jewels and antique stools. The same could be said for (y/n), who hadn't known which way to turn when she heard the sound of hands hitting faces, although she was soon entangled in the fight too when Ray's opponent snuck around him and kicked him in his back. The hero tripped forward, losing his balance due to the shove and he slammed into a soft body and took it down the floor with him as she knocked into another display. 

"Ow..." (y/n) groaned as she felt all of her fiancé's six-foot frame land on her, not to mention the cut glass stone digging into her back from the rough landing and Ray instantly tried to roll off her when he realised what had happened. Y'know, he liked it when the universe threw him on top of her, he'd never complain, except for in circumstances such as this one, where he couldn't see her smile and all he could hear was her gasp of pain. And that wasn't the only problem going down.

"Kid Danger, he's right in front of you! Get him!" Piper yelled to her brother, thinking that he would be able to hit or punch or do something and the uh would go down, but there was a slight hitch. Henry jumped forward to take the guy to the floor in a brawl, not realising that there was a jewel-laden dummy in front of him, one that felt like a man when he hugged it, so it was no wonder that he was tricked into early success. "I got him! I go—" It was painful to watch, too painful for Schwoz, Jasper and Charlotte 

"Henry!" "Behind you!" Jasper and Schwoz yelled as they picked up on what Piper was doing and figured that it would make sense if they could give some warnings too and thank god they did. Henry picked up a stool and began swinging it wildly in the rough direction of the guy he was battling, guided by what they were telling him. Meanwhile, Ray and (y/n) had managed to get back on their feet and were sort of working together to fight the other photographer and despite whacking each other a few times, they were able to get in some good hits. Feeling a brush of air move past her, (y/n) swung when she knew that it wasn't her doofus and landed a pretty good backhander on the guy's cheek, which made him fall into Ray's hands. Goodie. "Yes, right there! Get him!"

With the three in the Man Cave blabbing in their ears, shit was getting pretty complicated and unable to see, it was unlikely that they were gonna be able to knock out the henchmen any time soon, no matter how hard they kept punching. One thing did stand out though, in all the time they'd been fighting, they hadn't heard a peep from Heather, not a word, not a menacing cackle, nothing, which begged the question, what was she doing?

"Kid, sweet girl, where's Heather?" Ray asked as he pulled back from pummelling the man's face, the thought striking him since they had all been so preoccupied. The diamond was the prize and they had no clue if it was safe or not or if Heather had already legged it. 

"How would we have that information?!" Henry hissed as he kept swinging the stool at nothing. Honestly, Ray didn't think sometimes, they were just as blind as him and it's not like they were playing Marco Polo with the woman. They were blind, right?

"Wait, hang on, looking for a yellow blob..." (y/n) said as she stepped away from the fight and turned to see if she could see any golden hints through the dreary grey. It wasn't definitely fading more quickly now and she could just about make out some shapes, possibly some movements, but Heather was crouched and the yellow was hard to find, which was infuriating for Piper to watch. 

"Miss Danger! Captain Man! Kid Danger! I'm right by Heather, follow my voice!" She screamed as she yanked the woman's hand away from her lock-cracking device and tried to be as clear as possible. Right, okay, they could do that, just locate the yellow blob through her bratty tone and then started hitting the blob. Easy, right?

"Huh?—Argh!" Ray moaned in pain when he too stopped fighting for a moment, wondering why everyone was talking about blobs and shouting and confusing his already overheated brain, which meant that he got in the way of Henry and his stool-swinging. The wood splintered against his body, crumbled into nothing more than a pile of matchsticks as it hit his rock-solid body and he stumbled back from the pain, causing Henry to cringe. "Sorry!"

"Get away from me, kid!" "Don't get loud with me!" Yeah, Heather had definitely met her match when she tried to swat Piper away, the girl fighting back with just as much attitude as she received. As long as she kept her occupied, that was good, fantastic even, and it gave the heroes a chance to fight back or at least try to.

"You're about to get hit!" Schwoz warned Henry after the kid threw some speedy punches, but without his eye coordination, his hyper-motility wasn't gonna help. The warning came too late, the kid had needed a good few seconds to react and duck, but Schwoz gave him one. A fist hit his nose and he collapsed onto the floor in agony, making Piper squeal in horror as Heather grinned. Bitch, bitch, bitch! 

Ray wasn't doing any better either; his guy snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder in such a gentle manner that for a moment, his brain thought that it was his sweet girl. It wasn't though, she was honing in on the yellow and pink blobs, the tap turned into a kick when the guy scissored his legs and landed a blow on the hero's chest, causing him to fall back against a shelving unit that really hurt his spine.

"What the?! My stools and jewels! What's going on?!" Oh, great, that's the last thing needed, old egghead Sanchez coming in and adding to their problems. Couldn't he wait until after the fight was over?

"Ah, Mr Sanchez, please, we have everything under control, so if you would like to wait in the next room, we'd be much obliged..." (y/n) panted as she felt a rough pair of hands shove her to the floor, possibly close the director's feet, she wasn't sure, but he seemed to get the message either way. 

Jerome ran off screaming when Ray was hurled to the floor again, this time landing close to his girl again but not directly on top of her. The guy was glad of their proximity, not because of how cute they were when their hands brushed and they smiled happily, but because it meant he could whack two birds with one stool and he lifted the wood above his head to beat the dumb superhero and his even dumber girlfriend whilst they were still down. Piper couldn't take that though, not when Captain Man and Miss Danger were couple goals and clearly trying their best, so she decided to give the guy a taste of his own medicine.

Grabbing a larger, grey and teal fur stool, she slammed it onto the man's back just as he broke his on the couple, causing Ray to groan in both pain and anger. His sweet, sweet girl, he could hear her whimper as her skin healed the cuts and bruises and he swore that the moment he could see again, he'd take great delight in bloodying that asshole's face, but Piper wasn't done. She retained two of the stool's legs and promptly used them to beat the second photographer's back, which gave Kid Danger enough time to wriggle out of his clutches regain his strength.

"Heather's about to steal the diamond!" Oh, shit, why were things never simple? In all the confusion, Heather's little device had found its lock combination and with an imitation thumbprint, she unlocked the cabinet as if she had the authority to do so, causing the Man Cave team to freak out as the cabinet opened widely. She took out the rock like it mystified her and the superheroes pushed the henchmen away now that Piper had knocked them out cold.

"Ah, she's got the diamond!" Piper squealed too, seeing the horror of the woman taking the diamond from behind its glass casing, but she Wasn't ashamed, she wasn't bashful, she was proud to have proved everyone wrong as she cradled the rock like it was a newborn baby. "Told ya I'd steal it."

"Hey, hey, hey! I found one of the photographer's cameras!" Henry exclaimed as Piper dashed over to try and wrestle the rock away from the thief and he just so happened to feel something oddly camera-shaped as they tried to stand up. That shocked Heather, who didn't like the sound of her enemies gaining her technology and Charlotte saw the opportunity that had been literally placed into his hands. "Henry, quick! Turn right and push the button!"

"Okay!" He gasped and scrambled to his feet as Piper pressed Heather to the floor, making sure that she couldn't move until he'd done whatever he needed to do. This was their chance to level the playing field and Ray was getting antsy, (y/n) too as she squeezed her eyes shut and threw her elbow over her eyes. "Push the button, kid!"

Light filled the room again, although this time, no one had been wearing glasses. The light affected everyone who hadn't been shielding their eyes, Piper, the henchman and luckily, Heather. They all squealed as their pupils took in the extreme brightness before everything faded to black and judging by their screams, it sounded like it had worked.

"Kid, I think you did it!" (y/n) exclaimed as she removed her elbow from her face and squinted around the room, seeing two fuzzy blobs shuffling along a grey background. A hand dipped under her arm to pull her to her feet and she smiled at the thought of Heather having worse eyesight than her, but they weren't exactly ready to fight either. Just because she could see blobs didn't mean the boys could and now it was all of them in the same boat, all of them fumbling blindly. "What do we do now?"

"We gotta get the diamond from her!" Ray told them, knowing that once it was out of her hands, she'd never find it again, but the tricky thing would be doing just that. (y/n) would have to be their eyes, their very bad, blurry eyes and guide them over because Piper was now useless too and Heather, well, she was shuffling away to make her escape. "Good luck finding me!"

"Hey, the yellow blob is moving!" (y/n) yelled and pointed, not that pointing was very helpful. She latched onto Ray and Henry's hands and began to drag them across the room, aiming for that wobbling, fuzzy woman as she poorly navigated the displays and struggled to find the exit. The heroine had been hoping that the boys would help her balance she moved them but proved to be more difficult than she had first anticipated when they felt Piper and assumed that she was the one she was leading them to. "Hey, hey, I got her!"

"No, it's me!" The girl yelled and shoved away their hands so they could grab onto Miss Danger and again, her figuring that it would probably be best if got out of the way so there could be no mixups. Rolling her eyes, (y/n) held their hands again as they resumed the search, her seeing the yellow blob wave wildly as she felt around the displays for anything that would tell her where she was. 

"Marco!" "Polo!" Yeah, that game wasn't gonna work if the boys played it together and it wasn't like Heather was gonna answer back anyway. She stepped forward, hoping that she was near the door but she didn't account for all the smashed chunks of stool on the floor, so when she slipped, it was a dead giveaway.

"The blob is right in front of us!" (y/n) exclaimed as she saw yellow directly in front of her and she knew that they had found their criminal. Ray grabbed the woman as she tripped on the dummy from earlier and Henry joined the struggle too, fighting to restrain her left arm so she couldn't run away. The kid wrestled the diamond from her arm as (y/n) took ahold of her too, meaning that he smashed a few vases along the way, but he yanked it free anyway and she was left sobbing in the hands of justice.

"Did you get it?" Ray asked hopefully as he heard the brawl and felt his girl's warmth seep into his arm, but he couldn't be sure that they'd recovered what they were after. He had Heather, that was all he knew and whilst that was good, knowing that she'd be going to jail, the diamond was what they had been hired to protect. "I got it!"

"Nice job, kid! Just don't lose it!" (y/n) told him firmly as she grappled with the thief and tried to keep her under control, but help came at the very last minute. 

"There! That's Heather Bogart, arrest her!" Mr Sanchez commanded two police officers as he stormed into the room, having called the cops the minute he'd run to safety. Oh yeah, they showed up the minute the fighting was over, but at least they took Heather away, kicking and screaming as Henry held the diamond in his arms and Jerome watched in pride and horror. His displays were ruined, his artefacts were broken, but the diamond was safe, all thanks to the heroes, not that he was feel very grateful.

"This isn't over! I'll be back and I'll get that diamond!" Heather screeched as she was dragged away, but she wasn't very intimidating, in fact, Ray, (y/n) and Henry couldn't be less afraid. They smirked in entirely the wrong direction as she was led away and for them, it was a job well done.

"Yeah, you lost! Bye-Bye!" "Keep talking if it makes you feel better, bitch!" "Yeah, all right, have fun in jail! You are not a gymnast!" They laughed at her moody face and how she actually thought that she could take down the great Captain Man and his sidekicks. She had literally taken away their sight and she'd still lost, off to spend her seventh time in jail and hopefully, this time, they'd throw the damn key away, so they weren't too worried. What they should've been worried about were the numerous ruined treasures that were cracked and broken around the room, not to mention their distraught owner.

"Do you three realise what you've done?!" Mr Sanchez cried as he looked around at all of his destroyed jewels and stools and you'd think that they could hear how upset he was, but they had no way of telling and no idea at the chaos around the room. They didn't know that things were ruined, they had done their job, no one had stolen the diamond and no one had said anything about keeping other stuff safe. They should have read the small print.

"Yeah. We saved the Neal Diamond." Ray smirked and put his hands on his hips, something which would've had his girl cooing and sighing at how hot he looked, how authoritative, but she couldn't see so she just went off his voice, choosing to simp over that Neal Diamond just picture his handsome face. Yeah, that was a nice image.

"Here you go, man." Henry smiled at the wall and offered the Neal Diamond out for Jerome to take and put under lock and key again until it was time for it to be taken to the next museum, but he should've waited until the director gave him some confirmation on his hold. Henry let the highly precious diamond slip through his fingers, assuming that it would safely drop into the man's hands so he could deal with it, but he wasn't expecting the boy to give it to him so soon. Sanchez watched in horror as the largest uncut diamond in the world hit the floor and shattered into a million little diamonds, which was odd, considering that diamonds are supposed to be the strongest naturally occurring material.

"Come on, Kid Danger, Miss Danger, let's go," Ray smirked as he ignored the crashing sound, preferring to focus on going home so he could snuggle up into his bed, safe with his sweet girl, where they could wait for the effect of the hyper-gamma light to wear off and then relax together, maybe watch that crappy movie if it meant he could see her again. Damn, he missed seeing her, her beauty, her laughing, her eyes filled with love. The boys moved to leave, each assuming that the exit was on opposite sides of the room and so, they each bumped into (y/n) when they tried to walk blin, squishing the woman in a superhero sandwich. 

"Hey, watch it!" She scolded them as they recoiled from her body and mumbled apologies for bumping into her. Right, so they were completely disoriented and the director wasn't gonna help, so they had to make a decision, which way to go, left or right. Each had an exit if they remembered, an adjoining corridor that would lead them out of the building so Schwoz could come and pick them up, but which was the best way? "Come on. Grab on and let's go this way."

"You're the boss, sweet girl," Ray smirked when his girl called the shot, trusting her word since she was much smarter than him and prettier and hotter and whatever, she could see, he couldn't. Well, she could see some streaks of bright light and some fuzzy cubes, that was the extent of it, but it was better than nothing and, well, she was his weakness, therefore, she kinda was the boss.

The hero led the way, guiding them forward as they connected their hands in a chain and shuffled in the rough direction that (y/n) had suggested, straight forward...maybe. Mr Sanchez nearly had another heart attack as Ray collided with another exhibit, the only one left standing that was displaying a beautiful necklace and a few other jewels, all damaged as the plinth toppled over and he trod on them blindly.

They made it out eventually, an hour later and very confused when (y/n) finally cracked open her eyes to see clearly. Her doofus was looking straight past her at the wall and Henry was staring at a mop, mainly because they were in a janitor's closet and definitely not the lobby like that had expected to be, give her strength. It was a relief to see them again, she never realised how nice seeing the world was and she silently thanked her ability for healing since it was that which enabled her to safely guide them outside where Schwoz was sat in the Man Van with a huge scowl on his face. He wasn't happy about being dragged out of their home but he'd be branded a liar if he said he wasn't happy to see them, safe, sound and okay, for the most part. 

Any damage would heal and Captain Man, Kid Danger and Miss Danger would live to fight another day. And watch a crap romcom once they were home safe and it would make him want to tear his hair out, but it was all worth it. Anything was if it meant he got to see his fiancée smile and smile she would. How could she not when he was the one making her happy?

[championofravens]

Do Ichiban!

YEAAAAHHHH ITS FUCKING ICHIBAN TIME LETS GO LETS GO LETS GO

favorite thing about them

I love how he loves! I love how his love for others is always at the forefront of everything he does! I love how love can make him violent and angry and willing to do morally dubious things but he will never go further than his heart can handle! Because at the end of the day! Loving others is THE reason to keep going! To help, to offer kindness, to go through bullshit and tough times to make life easier for others because you CAN make a difference! Start from the fucking bottom and work your way back up and you do it because YOU! LOVE!

least favorite thing about them

He won't kill. I think he should be allowed to kill!!! A little bit. I had six/seven games of Kiryu never killing anyone, especially when he DID kill them, and I'd like Ichiban to kill some of these fucking scumbags he gets pitted against. I'm hoping with all the bloodshed in Ishin we can get Ichiban doing a murder.

favorite line

Yakuza is not a particularly quotable game to me but Ichiban's final moments with Masato is such a profound and emotional scene, I had to lift something from that. It probably isn't quiet as impactful if you haven't seen the rest of the Yakuza franchise and their typical handling of men experiencing emotions but... I will timestamp and link to the scene in a video showing all the finale's cinematics but I will quote the best bit:

"No one appreciated you?! Bullshit! We were always there for you! We would've done anything for you, gone to hell and back! All you had to do was ask! When will you believe me when I say the three of us love you?"

There's such a perfect blend of catharsis and compassion as Ichiban finally breaks down the ego of his brother to say "You were loved, you ARE loved, and I will not let you run from that"

brOTP

Him and Namba are the best bros of all time. They are on some Spongebob and Patrick shit. It is so good. I have never sobbed over a platonic reunion like the one they had. Best fwends foweva.

OTP

Ichiban/Xhao, hands down. I just think they're sweet! They're flirty, banter well, have a really fun dynamic, and a no stress bond. They'd be such adorable boyfriends. C'mon. C'MON RGG. MAKE ICHIBAN THE FIRST BISEXUAL BITCH IN THE FRANCHISE.

nOTP

Ichiban is incapable of seeing any of the women he befriends in a romantic or sexual sense, sorry I don't make the rules, they're all too busy messily dating each other

random headcanon

He's bisexual, in case you didn't catch that. But I also think he gets introduced to the internet and starts going to online forums and trying to engage everyone in spirited overly earnest debates and he is OUTRAGED by troll bait and after a sleepless 48 hours of fighting hundreds of strangers on every topic under the sun, he is banned from every major platform and his smart phone is thrown out the window.

unpopular opinion

Look. Yes his hair is iconic. And I love it. But he unfortunately is hot as fuck with short hair or with it pulled back and I would prefer he have it that way for the entire next game he's in pretty pleaseeeeee <33333

song i associate with them

Oh man, there's so many I could put here! Cause I also have a fuckin Ichiban playlist! But after about four seconds of thinking, it's extremely easy: Breathe by Dom Fera

I caught a glimpse in the window I caught a glimmer of what I was hoping to see And everybody can stand there folding their arms They're saying don't hold your breath I'm saying how can you breathe

favorite picture of them

Yes it's everyone's favorite picture of Ichiban and there's good reason for it: he's so fucking cute! Second favorite picture is this blurry glimpse we caught in a production vlog of him in the next game with his hair tied back:

[liopleurodean]

can we also talk about how the world forgets that glasses users are disabled and sometimes refuses to accommodate? let's get petty with details actually.

just the other day I was in the store and there was a costume mask on clearance. was there space for glasses? of course not! because the visually impaired aren't allowed to be Spider-Man I guess. or what about swimming?

"man, isn't this lake gorgeous?" I don't know, I had to take my glasses off so I don't lose them in the water. the only reason I can tell you apart from the other people in this lake is because you chose to wear a bright red swimsuit.

"let's go to a trampoline park!" the park won't pay for damages if my glasses break because I signed a waiver saying they're not responsible for my property. insurance won't cover them because eyes aren't part of the health system, apparently, and I'm not completely blind so obviously they're not "essential".

insurance also won't pay for the eye surgery because my opthalmologist said my eyesight hasn't declined in the last three years and, since I've lived for so long this way, I've adapted, so the surgery is available but not necessary. insurance only cares about necessary.

listen I am so glad that there are accommodations available; that I can just walk into a Wal-Mart or a mall or get an app to get my glasses is amazing. but the menus at fast food places are too far away for me to read the prices clearly and participating in any sport means accepting that I'll be spending a good chunk of money on replacement glasses (assuming my hand-eye coordination/depth perception are up to the task) and I can't even enjoy a beach because every thing is a blur of blue and tan and rainbow sprinkles.

"just get contacts!" NOT EVERYONE CAN WEAR CONTACTS! I am sick and tired of hearing this. my prescription is too strong! my opthalmologist said that he could give me a recommendation to a guy who would make them for me, but they wouldn't be good for everyday use and I certainly shouldn't use them to drive! "just get lasik" lasik is a procedure for near-sightedness.it reshapes the cornea to enhance your vision. my nearsightedness is caused by amblyopia (lazy eye), but it's not so simple. the lazy eye itself is caused by ANOTHER issue that requires a specialized surgery by a licensed opthalmologist familiar with my medical history.

anyway I'm just tired. in high school I was involved in theater, as many nerds are. I couldn't wear my glasses on stage because they didn't fit the style of the piece (we were a competition group), so I had to navigate the set pieces and other actors extremely carefully. I can't play VR games like BeatSaber because, 1) they don't fit over my glasses so it'll be blurry anyway and 2) they require your eyes to be fairly equal, which mine are far from.

I'm not allowed to drive without my glasses, it would be dangerous. if they break, then I'm stuck. I can't go to work, to the store, to see my friends. my parents have full-time jobs, they can't take me. my brother isn't old enough, and if he was, he has school. none of my coworkers have the same shifts I do so we can't carpool. should I expect one of my friends to drop everything every time I want to go into one of the bigger cities? I live in a rural area. we have "public transportation", but that's only within the town itself and not affordable long-term.

people look at me and assume that I'm healthy, fit, and capable of any activity they can. they don't understand that I have severe limitations that restrict every choice I make.

Made the mistake of bringing up that needing glasses is a disability on tiktok and people got real mad.

“You can fix it with glasses” yeah, cuz they’re a disability aid? But like, I still have to pay 160 bucks to use my own fucking eyes?

Like, by definition, if your eyes do not work without aid, you have a disability to see.

Having a disability doesn’t automatically put you in what people consider the “disabled” category, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is in fact, a disability.

[mysticdreamcafe]

Health, health, and more health

I have stopped all my old mental health meds and started another one. Now I am off the roller coaster and feeling more like the me I used to know.

The immune therapy is working for the most part. My numbers are up but after the last week I've had a fever for a couple days, i.e. why 2 days in bed.

I'm going to say that the universe stepped in, you can call it God or whatever you wish but an intervention was made on a cosmic level, and annoyed me with pop up's of Johnny Depp clips. I found music again and was reconnected to listening to Alice Cooper. Listening to music triggered the urge to write which triggered the need to improve my health overall. All that, I call it the plague of JD during my instability phase, drama made me make Dr's listen and change the ones that didn't. Now, the insanity has halted but may reoccur at some point. I say this because when your body is slowly attacking your brain you never know what the future holds.

My insurance company called a few days ago and said I qualified for a free health care pack. This has an iPhone, BP monitor, Glucose monitor, and scale included in it. Everything is smart and will sync to an app on the phone via Bluetooth. This is monitored by people at the Ins. company and I have to do readings at least 3 days a week. They prefer daily readings.

All these extra tasks add to the ones I already have to do. Thus, adding to the cycle of doom. This is were I have so much to do I get stressed out, don't eat right, push myself to hard to get stuff done, miss medication doses, and cause myself more harm than good.

You'd think after 11+ yrs the Dr's I see would understand how the cycle of doom works and stop giving me more shit to do. I've told them over and over for years, yet if I stop journaling, exercising, or any other task they give me then they say I'm not adhering to my treatment. Basically, I'm not trying to help myself get better.

I've single handedly moved solid oak furniture around this house and freshened my bedroom for a month when I'm able. I do this to organize, declutter, and reduce allergens for a better living environment. I call that exercise.

I just heard a collective wave of thoughts saying, "you need a routine". Yes, I do. I'm always trying to create and stick to one. The problem is the bad days. I can't cook because I burn and cut myself or throw stuff when my arms jerk. Sometimes I can't hold anything without dropping it or I have trouble swallowing. So, I've limited options of what to eat. I stagger when I walk and sometimes fall over. Speech and cognitive can be glitchy. Pain can be unbearable when I move. Vision can be blurry, tunneled, or like there's a dark black fog I'm looking through. Sometimes I can't sleep and others I sleep only to wake, pee, eat, and go back to sleep. Any of these issues can hit singly or all can join forces to take me down. They can last hours or a week.

So routines are extremely difficult. My answer is to keep premade protein shakes on hand and frozen dinners in freezer (I make them when I am able to cook). My meds are in pill containers and done monthly. My watch and phone remind me when to take them.

Basically, I do what I can when I can but have backups ready when it comes to the essentials. There's canes, walkers, and seats/stools scattered about because my mom is way more unsteady than I am. Even if she refuses to use them.

Well, I've vented and now need to get something done around here. It's warm today so I'm digging my heals in about moving from the open window next to me. Good day for a nap, but that won't make dinner.

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

MV

[superwholockednico]

Season 7 is currently Samgirl-ifying me. (And why Sam believing he's inherently a 'freak' is so tragic.)

Idk what it is about this show that makes me keep switching which brother I like more/find more tolerable/think is morally superior. (Actually, I think the answer is that it switches between which character/character's storyline is the focus. At the start of the show, it felt like it was often Sam's pov plus he wasn't fully in the hunter life and hence acted nicer/kinder which made me agree with him more morally despite simultaneously simping for dean. Then again with the demon's blood arch, I was like sam is being mistreated why is dean acting like he's so inherently evil. Now with the lucifer in sam/fall out of that situation I'm once again like, Sam is in the right and I feel really bad that he keeps getting treated like he's inherently messed up to the point he's internalized it. Plus he gets shit for really normal healthy things like going for fricking run)

Long post so summary: I find Sam's recurring theme of being seen as inherently different or a freak (compared to Dean feeling like he won't fit in or can't live a normal life because of his lifestyle or choices) to be compelling. First, we see it in the demon blood arch where his own father tells his brother that he might have to kill him because he's born wrong and has an evil within him. Now it comes back with his Lucifer-induced mental breakdown/psychosis and how Dean constantly treats him like he's doomed because of it and isn't willing to believe he can change ('the other shoe always drops').

Because of this, he has a really interesting episode [The Girl Next Door] with the Kitsune girl from his childhood (Amy Pond. nice name choice) where it focuses on his feelings of being a "freak" and outsider and how that leads him to be compassionate towards her. Which uh... ends up not working since dean goddamn goes and kills her in front of her son afterward in a move that was totally fucked up and should have ended up with him at the very least admitting he was wrong for it.

I'm on s7e9 now, but from that moment on, Sam's stayed the more emotionally mature one (let's be real, he usually is tbh), from trying to initiate much-needed conversations between him and Dean (multiple times!) to making a pretty good lawyer for Dean and trying to convince him to not feel guilty.

(he also takes care of his health –eats healthier, goes on runs goes camping– which I find very likeable tbh)

I started feeling for him because of the Lucifer situation, which was probably the most horrifying/scary thing I've seen on the show yet from a psychological standpoint. The idea that you don't know if literally anything around you is real or if it's your torturer (or abuser if we/I project it on a real-world situation) tricking you into thinking it's real just to tear it apart is... really scary.

(also ignore sam sorta looking like hes smiling in the pic the screenshot ended up like that but could be bothered to retake cus most of it was blurry)

Side note: I also really felt for Dean in the scene where he came back to Bobby's house to find it burnt down. Like the feeling of hopelessness resonated with a past me. (Dean's feelings of being unfixable or unredeemable definitely contribute to me wanting to see him become a better person and become happy. but hey I know the show's ending so 🙃)

Back to the Kitsune episode. (wrote a lot up there so pics)

What's so sad about the scene with Dean and him there is:

He really isn't a freak. Anyone would be messed up if they were stuck in a cage in the worst part of hell with two extremely powerful angels, one of which is Lucifer. None of that is his fault, and if anything, he's handling it really well. He's still trying to save people despite everything, what else could you expect of someone.

After Sam compares himself to Amy, after he tells him he's managing so so is may... Dean goes and kills Amy. After Sam tells him, I'm just like her... Dean kills her. THAT'S LIKE DEAN TELLING HIM HE CAN'T CHANGE. THAT'S LIKE DEAN IS SAYING I DON'T BELIEVE A FREAK CAN EVER BE ANYTHING ELSE. Right after telling Sam he didn't believe he could have actually gotten better earlier that episode.

Sam always believes he's inherently messed up because his family's conditioned him to believe that because they've kept treating him like a ticking bomb instead of a human who is going through stuff and who needs support.

[mitsuaziel]

Rain (Barbatos x Reader)

Female! Reader

Slight angst but with a happy ending

In the human realm there you stood, under the heavy rain that wets your figure, soaking your entire being with its polluted water but you couldn't care less about how you'll get sick afterwards. No. You stare into nothingness, the heavy rain greatly limiting your field of vision to maybe one to two meters and even so, objects are extremely blurry.

The reason why you're under the rain is because you're heartbroken. It's stupid, yes, you know but he was your fiance of three years so it's heart shattering and as if your life line is plugged out when you caught him in action with another woman, balls deep into her as her moans fill the room, clearly having a good time. The reason for his cheating is because you didn't want to have sexual intercourse with him but being the religious person you are, you stated that you didn't want to have sex until after marriage but it seems that he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea.

'He only wants you for your body', your best friend said, attempting to comfort you but it didn't do much as your mind wanders to that specific moment in your life.

'He's the one missing out! It just means that he wasn't your soulmate. God has other plans for you', then why did He has to make it so painful to you?

'Fuck that guy! I hope he gets condemned to Hell', you wish too but you try to get yourself out of that mind set since it's quite the sin to wish someone that.

All these allegations are true, yet here you are, under the rain thinking negatively about yourself. Weren't you pretty enough? Wasn't your company enough for him? Satisfying enough for him? You let out a shaky breath and close your eyes, the rain getting heavier if that's possible. You really want to disappear off the surface of the Earth but you didn't. Again, it's a great sin if you did it.

So, you resorted to just being sad and crying out your sadness all alone. It was... Comforting, to say the very least and with the rain, it's easy to cover up your tears and voice.

"ARGH!" You screamed out loud. You could barely make out your own voice. Perfect.

So you screamed again and again and again until you ran out of energy. If you can't hurt or kill yourself, you might as well tire yourself and just go to sleep. But even so, you figured that you might have nightmares regarding what happened to you just yesterday so you might as well completely drain your energy until you can't move.

With one last scream of frustration and anger, you drop to your knees and let tears flow down your face. God, you just wanted to kill yourself but you can't. Sometimes you wish you weren't that religious but it's these times that you're also glad.

How long have you been under the rain? Half an hour? An hour? More than that? You don't know nor do you care at this point. You certainly couldn't care less about your health as well. You just want to hide under the rain so when you thought the rain stopped, you were confused. It's still raining yet why aren't you under it? Then, you look up.

An umbrella.

"Wha?" You breathe out under your breath as you look at the person holding the umbrella.

Due to the darkness, you can't really see his features but you can tell that he's wearing a suit and has gloves on. His expression though empty as ever, his eyebrows are furrowed as if to mimic confusion. He holds out a hand for you to grab and for a moment, flashbacks of your ex-boyfriend doing the same fills your vision and you shake your head.

The man assumes that you didn't want help and retracts his hand. You stand up but wobbled a bit due to you kneeling for so long, causing you to accidentally grab the man's arm. He was as still as a statue, seemingly unbothered by the fact that you just threw yourself towards him. You mutter an apology even though he won't hear it and didn't bother to squeeze water out your hair or clothes.

"Are you okay, miss?" He asks.

You nod and look away, slightly embarrassed of your appearance at the moment. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be going now."

"Wait."

You turn to him. "Do you need something, sir?"

Lightning strikes, lighting up the darkness and you only manage to see his features clearly for a few seconds. Beautiful emerald eyes, green hair gradienting to a teal down his bangs on the left side of his face and no expression at all yet it seems to compliment his handsome features. For a moment, you forgot to breathe. How can a man this beautiful exist?

"You just seem sad and I know that I'm just a stranger, a nobody to you but I do have some time to spare before I go back to serve my master." He states.

You were suspicious. The world is a dangerous place and if a handsome man like Ted Bundy can turn out to be a manipulative murderer, then surely, the man in front of you can do the same.

When no answer is heard from you, he sighs and puts a hand over his heart before bowing down to you, much to your surprise. "I am Barbatos, the butler to my master, Lord Diavolo."

"I... I see." You weren't expecting a butler to be by your side.

"You now know my name, my occupation and my master. Surely, this is enough information for you." The butler, you now know as Barbatos, said.

"Oh, uh, yeah." You awkwardly fidget around. He's just too formal with you that makes it uncomfortable for you.

"So, may I know what is the cause of your sadness? Why are you just kneeling under the heavy rain? Are you not scared of what might happen to you if you were to stay too long out here?" He shoots you question after question.

You wanted to tell him but you're scared of the thought of him ridiculing you. Your fiance's friends did, is he any different?

Barbatos sighs once again and mumbles something before saying, "I do not wish to make you uncomfortable. I do apologize if I do happen to make you feel that way. All I want to do is lend an ear. It is not too wrong of me to do so, is it now?"

You look at the more interesting ground. "Why do you even want to listen to my problems anyway? A butler like you shouldn't help me. You must have other jobs to do and even if I tell you, it's not like you're gonna use that information."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I just want to help."

Damn, he's persistent, you thought. It's not like you're ungrateful, it's more like preventing other people from meddling into your own problems that you can handle by yourself. You didn't need or want someone else's help. You can figure everything out yourself.

And yet...

"Kill me."

The butler was surprised. "Excuse me, but could you repeat what you just said?"

"Ah..." You shake your head. What were you thinking? "I'm sorry. I'll leave."

Just as you turn away, a hand grabs your arm. "Wait."

You wait for him to talk.

"I know I have no place to say this, and it's ironic that I'm the one who's saying this, but don't do it. Life may be hard for you but surely, there must be people who love you. I don't know what happened and really, I have no say in this, if you're thinking about suicide, shouldn't you do something you love? Be with the people you love instead of suffering all alone and eventually hurting other people?"

You look back at him with tears welling up in your eyes. "This is a stupid reason and all, but I just... Can't. The person I love betrayed me. He... He promised."

Barbatos lets go of your hand. "Then, that just means he's a liar, a toxic person in your life. Is it not a relief that you found out instead of being blinded by his lies?"

You wanted to talk back but you bite back your tongue. It is true. Better now then never. You think for a while before forcing a smile on your face. "I suppose so. Thanks for... Talking, I guess. I really appreciate it."

A small smile curl his lips, enhancing his already handsome face. "You're welcome."

*****

Barbatos finally went back to Lord Diavolo's castle after buying all the necessary items from the human realm.

"Barbatos! There you are! Where have you been? It took longer than usual. Did it run out of stock or something?" Lord Diavolo asks as he goes through his endless pile of paperwork.

The butler bows down to his master as a form of apology. "I am sorry, My Lord. No, it's not because of that."

"Then, what took you so long?"

Memories of the rainy scene plays in his head but he answered differently despite knowing that Lord Diavolo can tell between a truth and a lie. "There was a fuss over a mistake I did, My Lord. Wouldn't this new generation call that a 'Karen'?"

Though he knows, Lord Diavolo was more interested in the name the humans gave for someone with such an attitude. "A Karen, huh? Call Levi here! I need to know what that means!"

The day continues on like normal but Barbatos kept on wondering why the devils did he help such a helpless human who's willing to kill themself just because of a broken heart? He doesn't understand his own actions and frankly, he doesn't wish to know why either. He's a demon, a duke, an earl, he shouldn't care so why did he help that one human?

Ahh, of course.

"Welcome to Devildom!"

"Barbatos?"

He bows down to the new exchange student and smiles at you. "Welcome, MC."

"You were a fucking demon?!" You were surprised rather than scared.

"Were?" Lucifer asks but is ignored when both you and Barbatos wouldn't answer him.

How have the Fates destined the both of you to meet again.

[bts-fantasy]

@beautifuloperanickelturkey requested:

DNA, Anpanman, Crystal Snow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Notes

Pairing: Hoseok x Reader

Genre: Angst/Fluff

Trigger warning!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You smiled as you watched the yellow envelope fall to the ground as soon as you opened your locker. Without losing another second you picked it up looking at the familiar handwriting.

 

To Y/N

 

You would be lying if you said you weren’t waiting for this letter the whole week. Closing your eyes you inhaled the sweet odor of roses rising up to your nose and a warm feeling spread in your chest that made you a giggling mess. Cautiously you looked up and down the hallway checking if anyone had caught you. There weren‘t many students around at this time of the morning. You always came way earlier to school knowing there won't be much going on and you could hide behind your books until the bell rang without being noticed.

 

Your fingers slid along the envelope tearing it open as you eagerly unfolded the content eyes fixed on the black ink.

 

I can see your sad eyes even though you try to hide it behind a smile

I can hear your soul crying out for help even though you say that you're fine

Just know that there's someone out there dying to know how your day went

There's someone out there wanting to hold you when you're broken

Someone who wants to be by your side during good and bad times...

 

...and that someone is me.

 

Your heart was racing as you held onto the paper your eyes moving across the few lines over and over again. A feeling of being looked after came over you, something you hadn‘t felt in a long time and it knocked the breath out of you. You stood there frozen in your spot with teary eyes until the words turned into a blurry mess in front of you. You put the piece of paper back into the envelope closing it carefully before putting it on the top shelf where you kept all the other letters from the mysterious writer.

The letters started appearing in your locker a few weeks ago and you still had no clue who it was. They were encouraging and motivational that kept you going even though you wanted to be left alone.

You didn‘t have any friends at school, only a few acquaintances so you couldn‘t tell who would do something so thoughtful and sweet for you every week. At times you felt alone you'd look at the letters and immediately feel at peace because someone out there cared for you.

 

Closing the locker you took a deep breath before you mentally prepared yourself for another monotonous day.

 

You were sitting in class right before lunch break taking notes of what was taught. Your mind slowly drifting off due to your tired and hungry state as you wrote everything down without really paying attention to it. However, that quickly changed when you heard the word "group project". Suddenly you sat straight in your seat looking at your teacher in front of you with a list in her hands. The project had to be done in pairs and you weren't allowed to choose your partner. You started shifting uncomfortably in your seat watching everyone else eagerly wait for the teacher to read off their names. You looked at the familiar yet strange faces around you feeling as lost as ever as you listened to various names being called out followed by cheers or disappointed shouts.

 

"Y/N and... Hoseok!", your teacher looked up at you with a reassuring smile as you turned around. Hoseok was staring at you with the brightest smile you'd ever seen as he held his two thumbs up excitedly. You forced a smile before turning around quickly again. The feeling of being under extreme pressure filled your chest again as you hoped for this all to be just a nightmare and that you'd wake up soon in your bed. But you weren't dreaming and you had no way out of this either.

 

"Hey, Y/N. Wait!", you heard Hoseok's voice calling after you when you tried to walk away after the lesson. Slowly you turned around in the middle of the hallway facing your partner who was still smiling as bright as the sun. You didn't know much about Hoseok but that was because you never had the courage to talk to him. He'd tried many times to break the ice around you but you had avoided it successfully every time... until now.

You knew you had no other choice than to spend time with him and you couldn't help but think that it would go completely wrong.

 

Looking down at your feet you adjusted your backpack on your shoulders waiting for him to catch up to you. Once he was standing in front of you could hear him slightly panting.

"So... uh... I thought we could eat lunch together", he paused as your head snapped back up and you stared at him with wide eyes.

"To go through some stuff for our project of course!" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as a slight tint of red covered his cheeks. You nodded agreeing to his plan since you couldn't bring out a single word.

A few minutes later Hoseok was sitting across from you munching on his tuna sandwich the scene reminding you of a chipmunk. Hoseok didn't force you to keep the conversation going and you were extremely thankful for it. You would be lying if you said you didn't enjoy the comfortable silence surrounding you both.

But when he didn't mention your work even after finishing your food you just had to open your mouth.

"Uhm... about the project...", you began slowly, your voice merely a whisper as you kept your eyes low. Without another word, he slid a piece of paper across the table where a phone number was written down. You looked up in surprise watching his lips turn up into a warm smile.

"Just text me whenever you feel like it, Y/N."

With a short nod, he stood up and left the table leaving you with a surprisingly warm feeling inside of your chest. For the first time, you felt light after talking to someone. The familiar pressure was replaced by a safe feeling as you stared down at the paper lying in front of you.

 

Days went by and you and Hoseok talked to each other almost all the time. You were eager to find out more about the only person who actually felt like a friend to you. He pushed all your fears away with his words of encouragement and you were thankful for the way it helped every time. You were making progress with your project but you as a person were slowly changing as well. Hoseok had the same impact on you as the anonymous letters that still appeared in your locker every week.

 

Do not worry love

None of this is coincidence

We are completely different baby

Because they found two fates

 

You smiled down at the note as you felt the warm feeling creep into your heart once again. But this time you felt something else as well as you stared at the lines.

Butterflies.

Closing the door to your locker you took a deep breath to start your day. Today was going to be good you told yourself.

Hoseok was waiting in the library for you so you could work on your project. It was the first time you both actually decided to meet up after school and you couldn't help but feel nervous. Sitting down on the seat across from him you tried to smile your brightest smile which ended up being an extremely awkward one. But Hoseok seemed to be more than satisfied with it his eyes shining like a clear night sky. He was already prepared with a notebook and pen waiting to take notes for your schoolwork. With a concentrated look, he took a hold of his pen and swiftly moved it across the notebook and you watched him with a fond look until your eyes fell on the paper.

The handwriting. His handwriting. It was exactly the same as your mysterious letters.

 

Your heart dropped as you stared at him as he was still concentrated on his work. Your throat was dry as a desert all of a sudden as you realized that the person you were looking for this whole time was sitting right in front of you.

Hoseok looked up at you once he was done writing raising an eyebrow at the look on your face.

"You... You wrote them...", you stammered clearly unable to form a full sentence as you watched his cheeks turn bright red.

He scratched the back of his head a habit of his whenever he was lost for words and needed time to think about what to say.

"Well, you turned down every attempt at talking to you so I thought I'd write them down. I'm sorry, this is awkward...", he chuckled nervously looking down at his hands avoiding your stare.

"No, don't apologize, please. You literally helped me break out of my shell and I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you!"

Hoseok finally dared to look up at you staring right into your eyes. You felt your heart skip a beat as you stared back into his sparkling eyes that spoke to you more than a thousand words.

His lips slowly turned up to a smile and you couldn't help how contagious it was as you felt your own smile spreading across your face.

"Oh, I know a way you could repay me." You raised your brow expectantly as you waited for him to continue.

Hoseok took a deep breath before reaching out to take your hands in his. His eyes were fixed on you as if there was nothing else around you and you felt like you were the only one in the library at that moment.

 

"Will you go out with me?"

Masterlist

Song Request Game

[jamkookies]

° Bon Voyage °

• Part VIII •

Stay

~

"No you don't."

"What?"

"You felt the need to say that because I've been taking care of you, that's all."

He gives you an incredulous look, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you feel bad for me and you said that so I could feel better," you say.

He grips you by the the straps of your tank top and pulls you to him.

"Do you really think I would do that? Take pity on you? Is that what you're saying?!" he growls into your face.

You're taken aback by his sudden outburst. He looks angry, but his fingers are gentle and the proximity of his face to yours is anything but hostile.

His eyes keep staring at your lips.

"I've felt like this for five god damn years, but you're just too stupid to notice anything."

Jungkook's breath tickles your face as he struggles to get the words out of him.

"I love everything about you - the way you look, the way you act, the way you you scrunch your nose when you're reading, the way you tend to put other people's needs before your own.."

His expression softens a little and his hands abandon your shirt to cradle your face.

"I love you, Y/N and nothing can change that."

Your vision turns blurry because of the tears threatening to spill.

Your lips quiver and you're just about to say something back, when a rustle of leaves makes you both freeze.

At the edge of the hollow, a man's feet appear.

You and Jungkook flatten against the wall, him protectively shoving you against his back, even with his injury.

The man's feet are illuminated by the moonlight, roaming around the entrance of the hollow, but making no attempt to get in.

He hadn't seen you.

You hold your breath, terrified to let out even the slightest sound.

The wet leaves under his feet crunch every time he makes a step and it feels like a clock ticking closer and closer to your doom.

Another pair of feet join him.

"Did you find anything?"

"No. But they can't have gone far. Not with that injured leg of his."

"If Jungkookie dies, I will kill you."

The man chuckles.

"You're in no condition to threaten anyone. I could shoot you in the head right here and no one would ever know."

"But you won't," the girl says." You need me to get your money."

"For now."

"For now," she echoes.

They both pivot and walk away in opposite directions.

You can hear the steps getting further and further, till the sound gets lost in the breeze.

The rain had stopped for some time, you notice.

"That was close," Jungkook whispers.

You wanna say something.

Anything.

You wanna scream to the world that you love him so much to the point where it hurts.

But you don't.

The words get clogged up in your throat.

So you just put your arms around his torso and give him a back-hug.

Leaning your head onto his back, you can feel the vibrations reverberating through his whole body when he speaks in a low voice.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?"

You just squeeze him tighter.

"That's more than enough, then." he says.

He puts his hands on top of yours and starts making circles with his thumbs.

You just stay like that, in silence, enjoying the company of each other's arms.

* * *

He'd fallen asleep.

The exhaustion must have finally gotten to him, you think to yourself, as you feel his weight on your front body.

He hadn't removed your hands from his torso, hadn't even moved an inch, but just let himself relax till the tiredness had eventually knocked him out.

You scoot back and let his head drop onto your lap.

His longish hair falls into his eyes and you move them out of the way.

You trace his face with your fingers, lingering on every edge.

Beautiful.

He was beautiful.

His eyes shoot open.

"Like what you see?" he says.

You huff a laugh and your shoulders shake with the action.

"I do, actually." you answer.

He grins immediately.

"What exactly do you like the most about me?"

You are about to give him a sassy comeback, but you give up halfway.

"Everything."

He looks a little taken aback, but continues nonetheless.

"What about physical features?"

"I like your scar." you say and your fingers immediately find the flaw on his left cheekbone.

That small imperfection was what made him perfect.

"Wait, you actually like that?"

You nod vigorously.

"What else do you like?"

He was really enjoying this.

"You have a nice... umm..physique."

His eyes narrow at your words.

"Be more specific."

"Oh for heaven's sake, you have nice thighs, god damn it! There, I said it!" You shout in a whisper.

His smile goes on full-bloom.

"No funny comments, no snarky comebacks... Wow, there really is something going on here."

"You look pleased as hell."

"I like to be appreciated."

"You literally have millions of fans doing that every single day."

"But I wanted to hear it from you, though."

You look at him pointedly for a while, then release a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll stop." he says quickly and lowers your hands to his lips to kiss them.

Oh goodness.

He was just making it worse.

Goosebumps flare all over your body and it's the best you can do not to shiver.

"I should check your wound." you say with a forced air of nonchalance.

"Jumping right into the good stuff, aren't we?"

You tug at a string of his jet-black hair.

"Ow, ow.. sorry, sorry." he whines.

Your hands reach for his thigh, untying the strip of cloth with delicate hands.

This is not good.

It had started to get swollen, its corners red and puffy. If you didn't clean it fast, the infection would spread even more.

"I'm gonna go get some water." you say, already rising to your feet.

"With those guys wandering around the forest? Absolutely not."

"Your wound is infected. I have to clean it."

"It's too dangerous."

"You're gonna lose your leg."

"Better than losing you."

Your words falter in between your lips.

He grips your calf and looks at you behind his see-through bangs, doe eyes begging.

"Stay."

You had to go. You couldn't just leave him in this condition.

"Please." he adds.

You release a long sigh and get down to your knees, his eyes never leaving yours.

"We should get some sleep." you whisper. " We're leaving at dawn."

He offers you a bunny smile and envelopes you into his arms. You put your hair on his chest and just lay down together, savoring the warmth of each other's presence.

* * *

Eight minutes.

You had been counting non-stop, waiting for the sound of his steady breathing, the signal for you to do what you had to do.

You had to make sure he was really asleep before you left.

He was never gonna forgive you for it.

You knew that very well and you still proceeded to detach his hands from your arms, being extremely careful not to wake him up.

Thank God for his habit of sleeping like a log.

Soundlessly rising to your feet, you tip-toe your way out of the hollow. The ground is wet, the constant dripping of the water from the branches soaking it thoroughly.

First, you had to find something to fill up the water.

You scan the trees and bushes, looking for any decent-looking leaves.

There.

A few feet from you a shrub is in full bloom, its green, wide leaves hanging around it like a crown.

You pluck off a couple, careful not to rip them apart.

Wrapping them into a half sphere, you put them under a dripping branch and wait for it to fill up.

This was gonna take a while.

And the constant thoughts about having to let Jungkook on his own, unprotected, didn't make it any easier for you.

You prayed for him to be safe, prayed they wouldn't find him.

Drip drip drip.

The anxiety threatened to swallow you whole, all kinds of thoughts jumbled into your head in a disarray.

You look at your improvised bowl and notice that it's filled to the brim.You bend down to pick it up but the eyes staring at you in the reflection of the water make your breath hitch in your throat.

Then, something hard smashes into your skull, rendering you unconscious.

* * *

You open your eyes to semi darkness, dawn ready to spill its light on the top of the trees.

Your head pounds harder than the last time you got drunk with the boys.

The things you would give to go back in time...

There's none of that now.

Nothing except for the feeling of exhaustion weighing down your lids, your body an utter wreck.

There's a wetness at the back of your head. The feeling of something trickling down.

You know it's blood.

The terrible ache on your head was proof enough.

You look down at your body and almost scream at the sight.

They've tied you up against a tree, the rope digging into your wrists.

"Finally up, I see." you hear a voice nearby.

You turn your head from side to side, trying to locate its source.

The man is sitting on the ground, grinning at you like a psychopath.

"You know, she told me to kill you." he continues. "Get rid of you as fast as possible. But I didn't. I figured out I could easily sell you to the highest bidder with just a phone call. That Jungkook guy isn't the only famous one here."

You give him a look of disgust.

He keeps talking, unbothered by your indifferent behavior and gets in front of your face.

"So what I'm gonna do now is go get the car by the side of the road and then we'll go on a little trip, right sunshine?"

You spit into his face.

He flinches, hands reaching to wipe it off.

Then he slaps you so hard across the cheek, you see stars.

It stings like hell but you refuse to let out a sound, letting the anger build up inside of you instead.

He stands on his feet then storms off.

Bastard.

You'd never wanted to kill someone so badly. However the feeling of enragement gets replaced by raw panic.

What had happened to Jungkook?

Was he alright?

You hoped he was still asleep, safe from the clutches of these maniacs.

"Jungkook..."

"You called?" a voice is heard behind your back.

Two hands reach for the knot, trying to undo it.

Then Jungkook appears in front of you, sweat clinging to his forehead and a limp on his leg.

But he was okay.

He was safe.

You jump into his arms, squeezing him as hard as you can.

He does the same, pain and exhaustion all but forgotten.

"I'm so sorry." you say, voice muffled by his chest. " I didn't want to leave you alone but I had to."

"It's alright." he whispers. "I'm fine."

You breathe him in, letting his scent calm your nerves for just a second.

"We still have to go. He will be back soon."

You nod and grab his hand.

Ignoring the throbbing pain on your head, you sling his arm across your shoulder, letting yourself bear his weight.

"I'm alright, don't worry." he says and retreats his arm back.

You both sprint into a run and you know the pain on his thigh is killing him, but there's nothing you can do.

There's no plan.

You just run for your lives.

"Faster!" he gasps when he hears steps behind you.

It's the girl.

She has a gun in her hands.

You speed off, dragging Jungkook with you.

This was not gonna end well.

You had been caught up in between two fires. It was just a matter of time before you both got captured again.

The trees start to get rarer and rarer until a flowing creek appears in front of you.

It does not have a smooth flow.

The stream rushes fast and the rocks create whorls at every corner.

You don't stop.

It is now or never.

"Jungkook, I -

A shot rings in your ears and a terrible pain blooms on your shoulder.

The words don't make it out of your lips.

He doesn't let go of your hand and you fall into the water, dragging him with you.

[badgalkatzha]

YOUTUBE : Morphe Fluidity Collection Review + Wear Test by BadgalKatzha

Katherine : Hey my beautiful perfecthoodnation welcome back to my channel and another Kiki review. If you are new Hey? What's good? My name is BadgalKatzha but my alpha gang and perfecthoodnation calls me Kiki. I'm a makeup artist who loves makeup at 100. My channel is about makeup such as reviews of products, first impressions, full face of brands, challenges, transformations and more. So if you want to join the alpha gang you just have to hit that subscribe button and the bell to get notified when i upload a new video. You can also follow me in my Simstagram where i do mini makeup tutorials thanks to the IGTV feature witch mines is KikisglamTV. In this review we are doing a 8 hours wear test. So without any further do let's get started y'all.

Katherine : I don't know where to start with this video to be honest, but here i go. So in case you're not aware, makeup brand Morphe Brushes that sells very affordable products released 60 shades of foundations, 31 concealers and 15 setting powders. Their is a lot of drama with this product's cuz of the formula and the undertones. Witch i'll get there later on in the video. As you see in the screen this is the shades they have available for y'all in the website. Their customer service sucks i email them about my orders cuz they were delayed and nobody answer back. So when i got this in my mail i was migraine free. I bought all the items i'll be using for today's video nothing is PR from the brand. A full face of Morphe cost me 119.00 without shipping with shipping is like around 130.

Katherine : I give you Morphe Fluidity Foundation. For me the packaging is cheap is not something luxurious or a packaging that can make the product last as it should be. This little men cost 18.00 dollars. This is a matte formula base. Witch if you have dry skin i don't recommend you to buy this. Unless you prep your skin to the gods. Mind you even if you prep your skin. Theres always a probability of creasing or caking. So what's the tea with this foundation? The undertones and the formula itself. We have green, gray and orange undertones in this foundations. What do i mean with the greens, grays and oranges tones? Well when you blend this to your skin and set it for the day you might notice that the color of the foundation changes to this colors. But taking the time to learn how to identify your undertones can seriously help you in the makeup world from  properly choosing a foundation to knowing how to correct discoloration and enhance any hue to achieve a more even, flawless complexion. It's not so much about covering up, but more about color balance. The closest shade to my skin tone is F3.80 in the tan level with a slightly red undertone. I use foundations that haves red, pink or peach undertones cuz they're close to my skin tone. But theres a trick with this product. You can see the shade of the foundation right? Guess what? that's not the shade inside of the container so be aware to match yourself in stores.

Katherine : I prime my face with the Morphe Equalizer that cost 12.00 dollars. My skin feels very smooth right of the back. Morphe said in their website this primer blurs and softens imperfections witch i hope it does. As i blend the foundation i can totally tell you is full coverage. Allegedly this is sweatproof, transfer-resistant and water-resistant. Will see about that thru the day. They give you 2 ways to use this foundation witch is dew and matte. If you want dewy skin just use a damp of the foundation but if you go matte go full coverage. For my matte everyday look of mines i'll go full coverage. If you guys want a full video about the undertone topic just let me know down below my alpha gang. My skin is oily and not dry so will see how this foundation settles in oily skin type.

Katherine : This is the Morphe Fluidity concealer in shade C3.65 (COOL) the Morphe concealer haves 31 shades available. This product costs 9.00 dollars. I already had one side of my under eyes blended with the concealer and it feels very heavy as for the foundation it feels very light weight. So maybe when you use this just use a little amount. I like to cover my days of no sleeping with concealer so that's why i go hard on it. It does feels creamy and was easy to blend. However you need to blend this fast otherwise it will dry quickly. Listen if the foundation is already drying and doesn't have that nice blurry effect you'll definitely need to set the foundation.

Katherine : Off camera i started to blend the Morphe Filter Effect Finishing Powder in Filter #8 the brush i used was a Morphe M570 Tapered Powder Brush for blending. The powders only comes in 15 shades. The price of this powder is 12.00 dollars. I used the powder in my cheeks, forehead and chin. I can tell you this powder makes the foundation look more matte then what was before. However i'm starting to look orange-ish or peachy so i'll be using another clean brush to set into my skin more deeper the powder.

Katherine : Alright so i finish using the entire Fluidity Collection items. Now to set the look i used the Morphe setting spray witch cost me 15.00 dollars. I did my eyes, contour and highlight off camera cuz we are doing wear test y'all i don't want to make this so long. So far i think everything is holding out great. So far i haven't experience any caking or creasing witch is amazing. However that's the face for now. I would love to see later on how does the entire Morphe Fluidity Collection meshes with my fav products such as contour and highlighter. Cuz sometimes the foundation won't mesh well with other makeup products. That's totally normal is like a way to find out how good or bad is the formula or undertone. Would the foundation & concealer crease? Cake? Separate? Crack? Only the wear test will answer that. This is when the check-ins starts!!! I need to straight my hair since it looks messy as hell. That takes me about 2 hours. I have to visit my manager have a couple of meetings and for last go to Sephora to buy makeup for my next video. So I'm gonna go about my day do the check-ins and i'll see y'all back in the studio after i finish the 8 hour wear test. To let you know my final thoughts.

Katherine : Hey guys!! Just doing the first check-in!!! I'm in Rodeo Drive my manager was a total ass and cancel today's meeting. So me and the girls we are going to grab some Taco Bell. Zamn i miss my Bell Grande a lot. But y'all are not here to know what i eat ahahaha. So far the foundation hasn't cake or crease. But the concealer is creasing just a little bit. My face still feels i have makeup on but haves gone down a little. I have a suspicion is the concealer that mess the look. I have to leave you guys now BUT don't go anywhere Kikis review is not done yet their is another Kiki-Check-In coming up.

Katherine : Hey loves!!! Is 8:00 PM and this is the final check-in for the wear test. I was in my normal habitat called Sephora. I was buying new makeup and restocking some i run off. I think the foundation stills looks nice and it did mesh nicely with the contour and highlighter i used. It just feels very drying i think is the best way to explained it. But i'll expose more when i get back to my beauty studio.

Katherine : Okay guys!!! I'm back in my beauty studio to spill my final thoughts. I have the entire Morphe Fluidity Collection on my face for 8 hours and i did the check-ins for you guys to see how the products are in natural lighting outside of the beauty lights. Like i normally do thru out my day i always do touch ups but this time i didn't just for you guys. This is me sitting down after literally have 8 hours of wearing this. I think the actual foundation itself haves a soft blurring effect. However it is extremely drying. I notice as well i have small patchiness in some areas of my face including the cakey nose. I don't know if the camera is able to pick it up but off camera i can see it. As far as longwearing aspect of it their is foundation coming off around my eyebrows. The concealer girl!!! I wasn't a huge fan number one it feels heavy and cakey and it also like you need to work faster and am not a person that likes to work fast doing any type of makeup look. I want to be able to sit down do it and blended out as i please. If you have dry skin and you want to use this product first prep and hydrate your skin as much as possible. If you have oily skin like myself just do a basic prep or your everyday prep before doing your makeup. To close this chapter. I didn't like much the concealer but the foundation i give a 6 outta 10. The setting powder didn't do much it did blur a little but nothing i will say is SICKENING or mind blowing. I think this collection is okay and if you want to try this keep in my your skin type and undertones. Thank you guys for watching my Morphe Fluidity Collection review!!! I hope y'all enjoy the check-ins and hang out with me today. I'll see you guys in my next video 🐺

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Morphe Makeup Accessories By Me

Sephora Makeup Bag By @coatisims ty for letting me do this an accessorie for my post. If you want the Deco Verzion you can grab it HERE

[left-myself-in-the-alleyway]

Forever & Always

Part 3

Warning: Descriptive abuse, panic attack(s) touches lightly on drinking

To anyone who reads this: I wrote this part before I did any research on panic attacks and such so please be kind.

Thanks to @momobucketcomics for editing/co-writing this and making the mood board below.

More thanks to @devotedlybeautifulkingdom- (Tumblr won’t let me tag you!) for showing support for this story.

-

I felt someone rubbing my back. Someone, or something was comforting me, telling me I was safe. In the state I was in, I'm surprised I could hear it at all. I could feel the sweat trickling down my face, leaving a wet, slimy trail. I also felt myself calming down, albeit slowly.

It's okay. It's okay. I kept telling myself, desperately wanting to believe it.

I sat up straight and leaned back, still trying to fill my lungs. I could barely get enough air in them without feeling like I was suffocating.

I heard someone say my name.

"Mmhhmm...?" I mumble, my eyes still shut tight.

"Evelyn, can you please open your eyes?" I hear a voice that sounds like Tony ask, sounding... concerned?

Slowly, I comply to my so-called father's wishes.

I opened my eyes to see a sea of faces staring at me, worried expressions on their faces.

...Last time I checked, there weren't this many people in the room. Damn, I'm seeing double again.

I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath. Finally, my head was clear enough to speak normally. "I'm sorry... overreaction." I try to cover up.

"I would like to apologize for asking you that. I didn't know you would react that badly." Thor explained. It was badly worded, but...I knew what he meant.

"It's okay. It's not your fault- I shouldn't have let my mind wander..." The last words drifted off into a mutter- I wonder if he could hear me.

"Do I have a room?" I ask quietly. I don't want to stay here for much longer.

"Yes, I um. Yeah." Tony still looked a bit freaked out about my panic attack. I hope he hasn't bitten off more than he can chew by taking me in...

"I can take her to her room, Tony." Steve offers.

"Thanks, Steve." He replied, walking away.

Steve gave me a smile. "Follow me."

Dragging my feet, I grab my backpack and duffle bag. Panic attacks are exhausting.

As soon as we leave the room, it's just the two of us. The hubbub in the last room seemed to have vanished from existence, as if nothing had happened at all. Huh, guess they have soundproofing here too.

"Are you okay?" He asked as the elevator started to move.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I say, trying to get some form of a smile to form on my face. I hate it when people worry about me- I feel like I'm just a nuisance to them.

"You know, when I first came out of the ice, I had panic attacks. Everything was really overwhelming." He admitted. "I found the best thing I could do was talk to people about what happened. War is an ugly thing. You see a lot of things you wish you hadn't."

"It sounds like...you had a hard time leaving the past in the past and embracing the future" I say quietly as we navigate the halls, a whisper being all I could muster.

"You're pretty smart for someone so young. But that is something that you should remember too. Your past may determine your future, but it doesn't have to rule it." He explains as we come to my door, his pure blue eyes boring into my hazel ones.

"If you ever need anything at all, and you can't find Tony, don't be afraid to come to me for help." He said softly. "Just ask JARVIS to take you to my apartment. It's on this floor."

I scrunch my eyebrows. Apartment? "Everyone here has half a floor, except for myself and Tony. He has a whole floor to himself. I have almost a whole floor, so that's why Tony figured it would be a good idea to put you here." He explained.

My eyes go wide. "That's right, you get a small apartment just for you." He chuckled.

I smiled to myself. Maybe this won't be so bad.

"Remember what I said." He says, walking away.

I walk into my room, exhausted. I let go of my bags, letting them land wherever. It's so clean in here, I feel a slight twinge of guilt for messing up the neatness of everything with my scruffy baggage. I look at the rustic, brown clock. Thank God it’s not some weird futuristic aesthetic design, I hate that kind of stuff . It's 6:00.

That means it's only 3:00 back home.

Home. Somehow, the word feels foreign in my mouth- like a new shoe that'll take getting used to, or... Something.

I look at my messy bags laying haphazardly on the floor. My other luggage must be downstairs, wherever Mr. Hogan put them. I'm too tired to care about anything right now. I've got so much to do, but I can't resist taking a quick nap- Then I'll unpack and check out the rest of the apartment.

I flop down on the couch. Closing my eyes, I still can't believe how much my life could change so much over the course of a few hours.

-

Tony trodded over to the lounge bar, searching for the drink he had left behind earlier. He chugged down the glass of alchohol. Even though it was now room-temperature, he savored it rushing down his throat. Then, without even thinking, he poured himself a glass of the strongest bottle on the shelf- Devil's Springs Vodka. He collapsed on the couch sipping his strong drink.

-

"No, no! Stop it!" I scream at my mother.

She had just returned from wherever it was that she went. Probably the bar, considering her words were extremely slurred. With every step she took, it was heavier than anything- like ten earthquakes simultaneously rocking my world.

She was hitting me, landing blow after blow over and over again. I wish it would stop.

I need it to stop!

I almost got away, but she latched onto my shirt and pulled me back.

"Oh, darling. You're not getting away that easily!" She laughed as she dug her long, inhumanly sharp nails into my arms. I cried out as I felt the skin start to split and bleed.

She shoved me onto the floor. Before I could be relieved at her release, my head caught the corner of the table on my way down. Pain exploded through my head, and I could feel hot blood welling up somewhere on my face. Through my blurry, spotted vision I saw her chug down another bottle of vile-smelling beer.

Then, instead of doing what I hoped she would do, she threw it at me. I screamed as it shattered on the floor, showering me in broken shards. I cried out one last time as I felt the pieces of glass embed themselves in my flesh, burning deeper and deeper inside me. As I struggled to run away, my hands slipped on the floor that was pooling with my blood and tears. It rose ever higher, fueled by my bodily fluids, threatening to flood the entire room. The salty mixture seeped into my fresh wounds, burning them black.

Before I black out, I hear her say something. Her voice was no longer slurred, but crystal clear. It was sick and twisted, familiar and yet of something nightmarish that you'd only hear in the darkest depths of hell.

"Remember, Evelyn; however far you run, no matter how hard you fight back, I will be with you. Forever... and Always." As she growled those last words, everything faded away into darkness.

-

I shot up out of my restless slumber, drenched in cold sweat. My heart was pounding. I quickly pulled up the sleeves of my pullover, thinking I had woken up after being knocked out. There were only fading bruises and scars. Then, I remembered where I was. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I glanced at the clock. I only slept for 45 minutes, and I'd managed to have one of the worst nightmares in history. Oh, jeez.

I started unpacking my measly possessions. Anything to get my mind off That.

Someone had brought the rest of my bags up and put them in my room. I plopped down on the pristine bedsheets, feeling myself sink down into the mattress. It felt much comfier up here than on the couch. Maybe if I'd crashed on an actual bed, I'd have been spared the horrors of that nightmare.

I hung up a few of my tops in the closet. Most of my clothing consisted of long-sleeved sweaters, which I used to wear to school to hide the marks. I also had one sundress and two maxi skirts. They were beautiful, but I couldn't remember the last time I wore them. Standing on my tiptoes, I put a few of my pants and shorts on the shelves. Some of them were messed up, but I threw them in anyway. I was never any good at folding clothes. From there, I head into the bathroom to unpack all of makeup and other... Necessities.

I wonder if there's any dishes in the cupboards. Skipping off to the mini-kitchen, I went to check. Sure enough, there was. There was also food in the fridge! Am I supposed to live by myself, completely? I wonder to myself, checking out the other contents of the various drawers. The countertops were sparkling, and even inside the compartments of the kitchen, not a jar was out of place. Just the way it will stay, clean.

I fiddled with my phone, looking for my favorite playlist. Ah, found it.

Forgettable by Project 46 filled my ears.

I absentmindedly started to hum along to the song- This soon developed into quiet singing.

The song's beautiful and uplifting melody rejuvenated me. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, as I started organizing.

I adjusted a photo of me and my cat, trying to get it just right. I finally get it to sit at the right angle on the little counter beside the kitchen. As I subconsciously sung to the tune of my music, I stepped back to examine the angle of the frame. Suddenly, in between songs, I heard something behind me. It sounded kinda large- maybe mice? Huh, not if the cleaning team can help it. Really Evelyn, this is Stark towers. There won't be mice here. After ridiculing myself a bit more I turn around, thinking I might make some tea. I nearly screamed when I saw a figure in my doorway...

[callicalliope]

Okay so

I did not plan on writing this one, but I feel like I have to share it at this point.

I used to be in a relationship with a guy, let's call him Nathan.

We got together May 2019 after a trip to Budapest. Everything was picture perfect.

Now, I suffer from anxiety, and I was extremely worried of being abandoned as I have been before, but turns out it was not the case with this guy. He was sweet, charming, caring, and he obviously loved me very much.

I went to an other trip, also in Hungary, which he refused to participate in.

While I was there, Nathan's puppy got really sick, turns out she was born with a disease which I cannot explain in English. The puppy died while I was away. Nathan had an arguement with his best friend and cut off contact.

Now, Nathan was always a kind of weird guy. He never really had friends and was extremely antisocial. It was not a problem in itself of course. But when I got home from the trip a week later, I found him severely depressed. He only talked about negative things and often scared me. He told me he was unsure if he even loved me, which wrecked my heart, but I ignored everything and tried to help him the best I could. I did everything a 16 year old could have done in that situation. He refused to get helo, which worried me. He also had some physical problems, but he refused to see a doctor. All in all, he got better sometimes and went downhill again. His mood changed in 0.01 seconds. I ignored everything. I wanted to help him, I loved him. I also noticed that I was unable to bring him along when I was with my friends. When he did show up, he barely talked. It stressed me further, but in the end I let it go, because I knew how it felt. I only had those 3-4 people in my life and I had an extremely hard time making friends.

School started again, he was in his last year (Nathan is one year older than me). He is an extremely smart guy, but he refused to study. I was worried about him, because his parents were rich and he had everything, but that will not be the case forever.

I came over once to tell him that he needs to study and think about his future. He became extremely angry, told me to get out of the house and refused to talk to me. In the end, turns out he was going to break up with me because of this. Anyways, we did not part ways. I went to an exchange student program. When I got home, everything was fine for a few weeks.

There is a school tradition that every 11 grader goes to a trip to Budapest. I was preparing for the trip and asked Nathan to come with me to shop for food. We went by foot, and I accidentally missed a street so we had to walk for 5 more minutes. He became extremely mad and refused to talk to me. It was nighttime and extremely dark, but he turned around and started to walk away. I threw a tantrum and he told me he is breaking up with me. He called me awful names. Well, we talked for hours, turns out he felt like he was too sick for me. So we stayed together once more.

Things got better, and I started to blame myself for everything that happened in the past.

Nathan did not hide some of his awful traits anymore. He lives with his grandma, but he treats her like shit. He yells at him all the time. He also yells at his mother, and it gets physical sometimes. I became terrified of my own boyfriend.

The holidays passed and as Nathan began to show more and more of his true colours, I slowly began to develop some sort of panic disorder. I blamed it on my mother, I was scared of him.

Quarantine came, and I started to feel empty. Like I did not love him anymore. He was angry a lot, too, but I blamed it on the exams.

When the lockdown was lifted, he began to attend classes again. One time my mother allowed me to go to his place after singing class which I attended. Nathan told me to wait for him at his place, but I was anxious about being there alone, so I waited for him at the park. For 2 hours. He was extremely angry, he told me he expected to get home and find his loving girlfriend waiting for him in his bed. Well, he did not speak to me while we walked home, then he shut the door in my face. I had a panic attack, one of the worsts. I knew I could not go home because my mother would not let me meet him again. I stood there, terrified and begging him via texts to let me in because I'm sick, which he refused. I was in an awful state, but I managed to call my best friend and she came to the nearest park to calm me down. He soon forgave me and I did not talk about the accident again.

The summer was awful. He spent it arguing with me and hating on my friends. I tried to conceal everything, but my mom discovered some bits. She couldn't do much so she had to let it go.

It became harder and harder for me to fall asleep. One night I was feeling pretty decent and ready to actually rest, but he told me he needed a break right before bedtime. I was shattered.

Earlier he told me he did not like the fact that I was pansexual, because he felt like I was part of something he was not. So I told him I was no longer that.

He instantly regretted asking for a break and I once again felt pained and powerless.

He threw a tantrum via text during my mom's birthday, ruining my mood. Next day, when we were celebrating with friends and he attended too, he was mad that I did not greet him happily after the incident. He once again wanted to break up.

My mental health was circling down the drain by this point.

He hated my friends. He did not even try to hide it anymore. He even wanted me to drop them, but he was careful to not speak that out loud.

I invited him to another get together and he ruined the mood. He did not talk to anyone and accused me of degrading him when he thought I told something to my best friend. He was also offended by a joke: when my best friend said something about me being stupid in a joking way, my boyfriend agreed, once again joking, so I pretended to be mad and moved from him to her side. He was furious. He argued with me all the way home, calling me awful. He said he was only with me because he did not have other options.

He continued degrading my friends and me. He was also extremely jelaous. He also threw terrifying tantrums. I woke up once to him throwing a printer on the ground, slamming the table, screaming. He even broke a door once. All while perfectly aware that these things triggered my panic attacks. But this was not the worst.

TW: sexual abuse and self harm

After lockdown ended, I allowed him to tie my hands behind once. He became addicted and one day he showed me he purchased objects like a whip etc etc. I was scared, but I also knew he would be mad if I refused, so I instead set boundaries. Sometimes I had to be the dominant one, but most of the time it was him. I did not enjoy either.

On his birthday, he decided there were no boundaries. I do not like pain, I do not like to be hit, I do not like to be degraded, but I tolerated it. But that night was different.

He told me a safe word which was so ridiculous I knew it would ruin his mood, causing him to hurt me more. That night will haunt me.

It gets blurry, but I remember being put against the window, no one could see us, but I saw a car and a man in it. I wanted to scream down for help. I remember crying the whole fuckin time, asking him to stop. I remember collapsing and him getting mad at me for it. I remember nearly breaking my leg. I remember him pulling my short hair behind so much he nearly broke my neck. I remember me finally refusing something and him getting mad, telling me to take over, which I could not, because I was horrified. I remember him getting mad and telling me I ruined his birthday. I remember the pain, the humiliation, the disbelief that this happened to me.

And I hid it. I did not tell anyone. I harmed myself, I had panic attacks, I had anxiety, but I did not tell. He did not have anyone in his life, just me.

In early december, he called me a degenerate bitch, a slut, he said he hopes I'll die. Because I, someone interested in history, told him an other perspective. By this time he became alarmingly anti-woman, anti-anyone who disagreed with him and so much more. I did not dare to tell him when I went out with friends. He was obsessed with being right, and he was suffocating. So he degraded me to this level, and I stormed over, dropped his stuff and broke up with him. He came over and began begging me to take him back. I agreed. I was scared. I was also having a panic attack because my mom thought he might do something to himself.

I fell in love with my classmate in the meantime. It was nothing serious, but being with him comforted me. I knew we could never be together, but I clang onto the feeling and pulled myself together. Three days later he called me names once more for refusing to allow him to call my best friends sluts. I broke up with him again. My mother told me I won't be able to break away from him this way. I decided to change tactics. I reconciled with him and decided to distance myself instead. One thing Nathan is good at is manipulating people.

My birthday was coming up. I celebrated with my family earlier. As I was cleaning the house, my boyfriend texted me. He told me he almost killed his mom. Because of a stupid arguement about cookies. I was horrified. When family came over, I called my aunt to come with me to my room and I I told her everything. She was in an abusive marriage before. She only told me to run. With this courage, I told my father and my uncle (who is like a second father to me). My father was diabolical, nearly crying. I had to block Nathan on every platform. My father told him to never be around me again. So he started harassing me. The night before my birthday he started pulling up the shades, leaving messages that he would come back an hour later. My father threatened him. After my birthday, his mom called us and begged me to visit Nathan. She wanted to get me to go to couple therapy with him. I am only 18. 18.

We had to go there because he began to cut his arms. It was a horrifying sight. But he did not have any serious injuries.

He wanted to coerce me into resuming the relationship 2 months later, saying he would get help. I knew he was not taking his meds. I knew he was lying. And I left. Now, I cannot walk the streets alone.

On New Year's Eve, I got together with another man. I love him. So far, he makes me feel like a real person, a valid person, and I never felt safer than around him. He makes me happy and I feel like crying whenever I think about the fact that this nightmare is over and I can still be loved. It's hard to heal and he understands. And I am truly happy.

Solid advice: do not stay. You are not your lover's psychologist. You help them, you are there for them, but in the end, it is up to them to grow. Have power to let go. Do not let them manipulate you like Nathan manipulated me. And never be afraid to get help, to talk about it.