#walked into my base and found two paramedics playing dress to impress and I have got to say

[chaosandmarigolds]

(office style interview)

reader, bargaining into the room: oh my god the shit I’m about to tell you

interviewer, was on their lunch break:

reader: you know that girly game on like-what’s it called- Roblox? Dress to impress or somethin?

reader: I just found Kyle and Johnny playing it together.

(cut scene to Kyle and Johnny laying in in the common space, laptops on laps as they sit facing each other)

Johnny; THEME WAS FUCKIN MAFIA M-A-F-I-A NOT HIGHSCHOOL DROPOUT

Kyle, with popcorn: I’m disappointed in this generation- OH HEY I WON

(cut back)

Interviewer: do you play it? Would you? reader: I mean, if I could convince ghosty I would.

[wellamarke]

tonight, of all nights

humans challenge, week 2, day 5: superhero au

They’d finally managed to find an evening when neither of them had any plans, and so, after about four months of loosely describing their relationship as “dating, sort of”, Mattie and Leo were on their first actual, bona fide date. Neither of them was particularly well-versed in the field, though, so the conversation so far had been pretty much the same as any they’d have had if Max, or Odi, or one of their other friends had been around.

What were you supposed to do on dates? The only concrete thing Leo could think of was that he was supposed to pay at the end, but even that might not fly in this situation - it seemed a bit too gender stereotype-y for Mattie’s liking. Still, he could offer, and just play it off as teasing if she objected. He was pleased with that solution. It wouldn’t really help him out until the end of the meal, though, so for now they just carried on the relaxed, easy enjoyment of each other’s company.

Mattie’s phone rang, and he saw her wondering what the protocol was supposed to be. Obviously, if they were just hanging out, she’d answer it. Was it supposed to be different on a date?

“It’s my mum,” she said. “She knows I’m out…”

“Then it might be important,” Leo said. “Go on, answer it.”

She smiled, and took the call. Not wanting to disturb the other tables, she slipped out to the back of the restaurant, where the bathrooms were. Leo watched her go. Then he returned to staring at the back of the drinks menu for a few minutes, only drawing his attention away at the sound of a static crackle in his earpiece.

“Leo. Are you there?”

He groaned inwardly, but said in a low voice, “Yes, Max, I’m here.”

“How’s it going?”

Leo immediately felt bad for assuming Max was calling him to action, and not just checking in. He grinned. “Weird. But good-weird. I think it’ll take us a little while to get used to the actual dating part of dating.”

“Well, hopefully you’ll have a lot of time for that.”

Leo stiffened. “Uh-oh. Hopefully?”

Max sounded apologetic when he spoke next. “You know I wouldn’t call for something small, tonight of all nights…. but we’ve intercepted communications between the Professor and his army. They’re converging on the town square. They’ll enslave everyone they find, you know they will…”

Leo was already standing up. “All right. I’m on my way.” He took a notebook out of his pocket, which he always kept for this kind of last-minute disappearance.

Mattie, he wrote, handwriting scrawling with the speed of his efforts. I’m so sorry - it’s an emergency, Max needs me. I’ll call you.

He hoped fervently that he wasn’t going to destroy things with Mattie by leaving like this, and in the middle of their very first date, at that. But a lot more would be destroyed if he didn’t at least try to defeat the Professor tonight. Max had been monitoring the supervillain’s activities closely for the past few months - he was quiet enough that they knew he must be planning something big. Apparently today was the day. As he raced down the street outside the restaurant, Leo wondered if he would ever catch a break and manage to get somewhere in his relationship, at this rate. Every time he came close, the world needed saving at exactly the wrong moment - it was beginning to seem like some cosmic force in the universe had set its mind against his being happy.

Leo turned a corner. He imagined Mattie returning from her phone call, going back to the table and seeing it empty. Maybe she’d read his note, maybe she wouldn’t even bother, and why should she? He hadn’t bothered to stick around. His anger at being forced into this situation made him run even faster. He pulled his jacket and shirt over his head without dropping his pace, pausing to retrieve his mask from a pocket before dumping the clothes on a bench. A homeless man looked up, confused, and Leo managed to pant, “For you!” as he ripped his tearaway trousers off and deposited them with the other things. The clothes he was wearing underneath were far more suitable for fighting the Professor, and indeed for keeping his identity under wraps. He slammed the mask over his eyes, repositioning it as he carried on running.

The nearer he got to the town square, the louder the screams became. He could hear things being thrown around and smashed, plus the sound of the Professor’s blaster firing against the walls. Leo took a run at a low building and leapt onto the roof, bounded across it and onto the roof next to it, higher up for a better vantage point. He slid his amplifier from its snug position in his sleeve, and checked that it was receiving signals from the cybernetic part of his brain, which could produce electric pulses that disabled his opponent quickly, if aimed in the right direction by the amplifier. Max had designed the system himself. In the absence of many fighting instincts, Leo’s kind-hearted brother spent his days improving his designs and the defences of their base, monitoring their enemies, and caring for any victims he found when he came to meet Leo at the end of each confrontation.

Speaking of confrontations. Leo’s keen eyes picked out the Professor standing in the midst of the commotion, and he raised his amplifier, ready to take out the soldiers surrounding him before going for the main prize. Something was strange about the way these soldiers were standing, though - completely still, frozen, no longer trying to use their blasters, unlike the ones on the outskirts of the fray, who were shooting at anything they could see. Leo picked some of them off before they could hurt any more civilians. Then he moved further towards the edge of the roof, looking for the unseen cause of the suspended animation that was holding back the others.

He saw a figure, dressed in a black suit with dark green detail, striding towards the frozen soldiers, arms held out in front and emitting some kind of ray that was holding the soldiers in position.

Leo found himself grinning. He recognised a fellow vigilante when he saw one. He’d heard of Stillshooter previously, but the two of them had never shown up to the same operation before. Clearly, he’d been beaten onto the scene this time - probably because Stillshooter knew better than to try and balance a dating life with a crime-fighting one.

Leo pointed his amplifier towards one of the soldiers who were coming up behind Stillshooter, and activated the pulse. The soldier fell. Stillshooter didn’t even flinch. Leo moved to disable the other soldier, felling him just as he was aiming his blaster at Stillshooter. The latter continued on the trajectory towards the Professor, and another ray shot forth from the outstretched hands, immobilising the villain as well as the soldiers in front of him.

Leo was impressed. He was more than happy to leave the Professor to Stillshooter’s mercy, while he dealt with the soldiers who tried to intervene. So far, no-one seemed to know he was there. They could take him out with an ordinary bullet, if they’d only aim for the roof, but the electric pulses from Leo’s brain came with no directional impression - they just knocked you to the floor. Few people had any idea what had happened when they came round.

He and Stillshooter made good time with the rest of the battle, and thankfully there were very few casualties by the end of it. Leo still wasn’t sure if Stillshooter knew that the work had been shared, even when the ambulances arrived to see to the injured, and the police arrived to take the disarmed, disgruntled and disgusted Professor into custody. Plenty of witnesses had been left alive and conscious to confirm that he was the one to blame, and that Stillshooter had saved them. Leo didn’t care if his presence went unnoticed. Stillshooter could take full credit for the Professor’s capture - it had been earned.

He contacted Max through the earpiece. “All done here,” he said. “I think the paramedics got everyone, too. I’ll meet you back at base.”

“Efficient,” Max commented, not sounding overly devastated that his presence wasn’t needed for cleanup at the scene. “You’re improving.”

“I wasn’t working alone,” Leo said. “Stillshooter got here before me.”

Max gave a low whistle. “Finally, the great meeting of minds.”

“Hardly. I stayed out of sight.”

Leo hopped across to the lower roof and sprang back down to the street he’d come by. He wondered if it was worth taking a light jog back past the restaurant, in case Mattie had stuck around, and finished the meal alone. But it was dark now - even if the place was still open, she’d surely have given up on his ever coming back. She’d have gone home, he was too late.

That failure dampened his post-coup exhilaration considerably. Maybe he’d still be able to salvage something. Maybe they’d go back to ‘just’ being friends. Or maybe she wouldn’t want anything to do with him after this. Suddenly he couldn’t face even the possibility of seeing her again tonight. He ran in the direction of the base, keeping as much to the shadows as he could.

When he reached the base, he showered and dressed in ordinary clothes, retrieving his phone from his supersuit before putting it in for a wash. There was a message from Mattie. Leo’s throat went suddenly dry, and he thought about not opening it. But he had to see how angry she was, and it would be worse the longer he left it.

He opened the message, and blinked at it confusedly.

Leo, I’m so, so sorry I ditched you like that. Mum really needed me, and I had to go, but I should have at least come back to the table and explained. I really hope I haven’t ruined everything. Call me when you get this. Xxx

He read it over again.

This wasn’t right. It was all backwards. He’d been the one to leave her…

He walked through to the main section of the base, and saw Max waiting at his desk, expectantly.

“Max…” said Leo, slowly. “How much do we actually know about Stillshooter?”