Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started innocently. As hard as that may be to believe. Whilst the man currently pinned beneath your frame seemed to prove otherwise, you could swear it wasn’t by design. Not at first, at least.

Despite your careful planning and overthinking, you were prone to accident and injury, so you made the smart choice to keep the SDN’s number saved into your phone, just in case. It made more sense to have an emergency contact now that you were living on your own, and with heroes being a phone call away, it made more sense to call them rather than emergency services. Less fees and hassle.

You were laying in bed one day, scrolling something on your phone that you couldn’t be bothered to remember, when you smelled something burning from the other room. You lived in a shabby-but-cozy apartment complex, it was the nicest you could afford without spending every other paycheck entirely on rent. The cheapness meant you were forced to live near neighbors who weren’t the most considerate and a street that wasn’t exactly known for its cleanliness, so you had grown used to the odd smells and sounds here and there. That was until you heard the distinct beeping of the fire alarm going off.

Your heart nearly bolted out of your chest as you sprang up to check on the smell, and you followed your nose to your living room, where a wax melter had unfortunately set a nearby knickknack alight. You would find out later that your cat had pushed the only item on the table towards the small tea candle, and you would later resign to keeping the wax melter in your bedroom on its own empty table, but that could not be helped now, unfortunately. Your heart was pounding in your ears to the point that you could barely hear the fire alarm anymore. You watched the blaze currently scorching your table begin creeping along the surface, but had not yet reached anything else that could possibly void your security deposit, thank god.

You pulled your phone out of your pocket, struggling to unlock it for a second due to your shaking hands, and you called the SDN contact you had saved. You were met with a monotonous male voice, exhaustion clearly seeping into his inflection as he answered.

“Hello, SDN speaking, what’s your emergency?” You told him about the blaze in your living room that currently threatened to melt your carpet, your voice shaky and quick, stumbling slightly as you spoke.

“Okay, I’ll send someone your way, just hold tight until he gets there,”

You thanked him, looking around for something that might slow the fire that was now crawling down the legs of the table onto your decorative rug. You were a bit pissed that your living room decor was going to need replacing, but that was a thought that was pretty far back, seeing as your literal life was potentially in danger. You scrambled through your cupboards, shoving around dishes until you found the biggest bowl you could, running to the sink and filling it, cursing the slowness with which your faucet filled the bowl. Your landlord was pathetically cheap, and you were able to chalk it up to him trying to cut corners and nibble off change wherever he could. Once the bowl was mostly full you ran back to your living room, throwing whatever water you could onto the table.

The flame lowered a bit, but you were quick to realize that this was simply not fast enough to put out the blaze. You cursed under your breath as you ran to your front door, opening it just in time to see a marked motorcycle come to a stop, with who you presumed to be the hero dispatched to your location perched atop it. You called out to him, waving him up the two flights of stairs to your apartment. He slung off the logoed helmet and ran up the stairs, using the railing to pull himself up three stairs at a time. He followed you through your doorway and you watched as he walked up to the table and now rug that were being blackened and charred, rear back, and… vomit? Onto them?

What the fuck?

You realized after a moment that it was working surprisingly well, the fire dimming the more he released onto it. After the fire had been quelled, having been reduced to chunks of wood, a melted rug, and coal piled in the middle of your living room, he turned around, a satisfied but uneasy smile splitting his face. He made eye contact with you before perking up and looking worried, moving towards you, however awkwardly.

You noticed his somewhat odd physique as he clambered around your furniture. He was tall, strikingly so, and he was oddly… wet? His auburn hair stuck to his forehead and his clothes were clinging to his lanky limbs, making his appearance a little more uncanny, with him being strikingly tall and skinny. He stood before you, a bit close for comfort,

“S-sorry I don’t usually - I don’t go out on my own. I'm supposed to check- assess civ-civilians imme- ASAP” He laughed a bit breathlessly. “Are you- How are you- Okay? Are you okay?” He somewhat muttered the last part and, despite your heart still churning a bit in your chest, you laughed, feeling your endorphins begin to subside now that the threat was neutralized.

“Yes, thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you Mr…” You trailed off, realizing you didn’t know who he was. Most of the time SDN’s heroes were on posters and promotional content, like ads on social media and in magazines.

He smiled at your words, a light pink dusting the top of his cheeks.

“My name- they call me Waterboy. S-sorry.” You giggled at his shy demeanor, noticing yourself becoming more and more relaxed around him. Despite his tall stature and surprisingly broad shoulders, he was a very calm presence, his awkwardness and stutter serving to be more charming than anything.

Before you could respond to him you noticed your cat rubbing against Waterboy’s ankle, seemingly thanking him in his own way. You chuckled as Waterboy gasped lightly, crouching down and taking off one of his white gloves to attempt to pet him. As your cat continued to press his small body against Waterboy’s hand and legs, you chuckled, finding the scene adorable.

Your cat was a fairly typical sphynx cat. You rescued him several years ago from a shelter, with him being one in a fairly large litter that was saved from a backyard breeder. He was a bit odd, as sphynx cats are, with him being lanky and resembling an uncooked chicken breast, as sphynx cats typically do. You named him Tyson for this reason. One thing that was especially odd about Tyson, was his love for water. At times he would sit in the sink, demanding that you turn on the faucet, and his weekly bath time was his favorite time, purring throughout the entirety of the cleaning. He was, however, very picky of the temperature of said water, demanding that it be just above lukewarm.

“W-wow, I've never- there's never been a kitty- cat- who let me really pet them- him.”

“Yeah, his name is Tyson. He’s a bit of an odd cat, he adores water. I do suppose you wouldn’t get to pet many cats given your uhm- wetness?” He chuckled softly, mostly under his breath, his eyes still wide and locked onto Tyson as he began to purr. “You might be able to pick him up. He’s a complete lovebug and adores whatever attention he can get.”

“Really- are you sure?” He said, looking up at you with stars in his eyes. You laughed as you nodded, but you couldn’t help but feel a slight loss as he looked away from you. You don’t know if it’s your recent failures in the dating scene or lack of interaction as you kept up with work lately, your career finally beginning to take off, but the longer the hero’s pale grey eyes were utterly captivating. They reminded you of stones on a riverbed, the glassiness and sparkle, in this moment especially, taking your breath away just a bit.

“Yeah, of course.” You smiled softly as he took off his other glove, laying it on the floor near the other, before gently scooping up the cat and pulling him close to his chest. Tyson meowed softly, still purring from the attention, before bumping his head against Waterboy’s chin, eliciting a joyful giggle from the man.

“Cats don’t usually- typically like me on account of the uhm.. Water. My grandma has a few cats but they don’t appreci- like water that much.” He had begun to scritch under Tyson’s chin, the cat’s neck stretching and his eyes scrunching, showing off the innumerable wrinkles most sphinx cats had.

“Well Tyson seems to love you, he hasn’t been getting as much attention lately since I haven’t had anyone over in a while,” You thought for a moment, thinking over your interactions with this odd man. He was incredibly sweet, definitely your type, and your cat loved him. You also don’t want to admit it but you are a bit desperate for human interaction, especially of the romantic variety. You wouldn’t mind if he came over again, and your certain Tyson wouldn’t be upset, if the drool beginning to collect from his mouth was any indicator.

“Y’know..” You took a quick deep breath, it catching in your throat as he looked at you again. “If you wanted to come over again, Tyson could probably use more socialization.” His eyes widened and the soft rosiness that was already sitting on his very pale cheeks swelled to a blaze, the tips of his ears and the length of his neck being painted the same shade of cherry red.

“I uhm- well you don’t- that sounds- I-” He trailed off, a small noise sounding from the back of his throat. You felt a small dread creeping up your spine as your cheeks suddenly became much warmer. You looked away from his now piercing eyes, the light grey now making you shift your weight a bit uncomfortably.

“Sorry, you don’t have to, I don’t know what I-”

“No!” You jumped a bit at his sudden loud outburst, Tyson looking back at him before attempting to jump from Waterboy’s arms, the lanky man leaning down to set him on your sofa before turning back to you. You saw him close his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I would- I’d love to.” A cool wave washed over you, the growing weight of rejection being removed from your shoulders all at once.

“Okay, cool!” You stood there for a moment, not exactly knowing how to continue the conversation. You hadn’t had a date of any sort in a while, your flirting and general conversational skills being a bit rusty. You then realized that you didn’t exactly have a way to contact him, before further realizing you hadn’t even told him your name yet. Gods, you needed to get out of the house a bit more. You told him to stay there for a moment before rushing off to find a pen and paper. You wrote down your name and phone number, figuring his skin-tight wetsuit probably didn’t have pockets, and definitely wasn’t waterproof enough to keep a phone from breaking due to water damage.

When you came back into the living room, you saw Waterboy now sitting on the floor, Tyson returned to his side. He was still a bit red, clearly a little anxious with how his free hand, the one not petting Tyson, tensed and pulled at the seams in his suit. You apologized briefly and officially introduced yourself, holding out for your handshake. He smiled and returned it, and you handed him the slip of paper, after wiping off the now excess moisture on your hand. You tried not to let your discomfort at the wetness on your palms show on your face, it would be something you’d have to get used to if you continued to see him, but for now it was definitely a small hurdle.

“Th-thank you, you’ve been very swe- kind. Tyson too- as well, but I’m running really late and Ro- my team will start to w-worry,” You were a bit disappointed but you knew he had already been here longer than necessary, and you still had a now cooled pile of ash and ruined decor to get rid of. You led him to the door, opening it to allow him to leave.

“It was great meeting you, Waterboy. You can text me whenever, I’m off for the rest of today but I may be working so if I don’t respond immediately I apologize.” He smiled brightly, giving you a brief goodbye before heading back downstairs. You watched him as he put his SDN helmet back on and threw his leg over the motorcycle he rode there on, taking a brief mental image of the shockingly attractive display. Attractive until he stumbled trying to back up and turn around to leave the parking lot. You could see him turn back towards you, likely seeing if you were still watching, to which you giggled and gave him a small wave. He lifted his hand off of the handle bar, waving back with his shoulders hunched out of embarrassment before speeding off.

You went back inside, sighing at the pile of debris that you now had to deal with by yourself. Luckily the rug was still mostly intact and you were able to pick up most of it like a makeshift rucksack, but it still took two trips up the two flights of stairs to your apartment and a walk around to the back of the building to actually reach the complex’s dumpster. Once you were finally inside for the day, hopefully, you picked up Tyson, giving him a scratch under the chin before heading to your room and flopping onto your bed. You sighed happily, Tyson finding a comfortable spot near the foot of your bed, and pulled out your phone. You decided on bed rotting for the remainder of the day, arguing to yourself that you had enough excitement and needed some proper relaxation before doing anything else. You ended up drifting asleep earlier than usual, likely tuckered out by the stress of the literal fire lit in your living room.

Chapter Text

You woke up in the morning to sunlight seeping through your curtains. You quickly sprang out of bed, scrambling for your phone. You excitedly opened it, scrolling through various notifications you received during your slumber, only to be disappointed when there were no texts to be found. You brushed it off, figuring Waterboy must have been busy, or was too tired when he got home. Being a hero must be exhausting, it would make sense for one to need a good rest when they got home. Maybe he forgot, his mind being preoccupied with dangerous criminals and dutiful hero-work. You sighed before setting your phone on your nightstand, sighing as you ran a hand over your face. You quickly fed Tyson, his gluttonous form running to the food bowl as soon as he heard the sound of his food being opened. It was the only time he ran. You decided to take a quick shower before getting dressed, doing minimal makeup since you only needed to run a few errands today.

You went to the grocery store and laundromat, getting a couple simple dinners for the week and deciding to finally get rid of the growing laundry pile in your corner. You had repeatedly checked your phone throughout the day, anxiety growing as your phone continued to come back with radio silence. You struggled a bit more to sleep that night, mulling over your conversation repeatedly in your head. He seemed interested, if not in you then in Tyson at the least, and while you had been admittedly awkward, you didn’t think it had been enough to scare him off.

You eventually fell asleep, tossing all night and waking up with a pain in your shoulder. You groaned and got ready for work, feeding Tyson before you left. You sighed and continued cursing your phone for not lighting up with a text from the man who saved your apartment the other day. Work moved even slower than usual, with your belief in your dating life crumbling a little each time you checked your phone. Several days went on like this, until it began finally slipping your mind, deciding to accept the fact that your chance with the cute hero was essentially gone.

A week had passed since the fire in your apartment, and you were nestled comfortably in bed. You were repeating the events from before in your head once again, trying to find an explanation. Then it hit you-

You wrote your number in pen.

On paper.

To give to the water hero.

You immediately felt like a complete idiot, of course he wasn’t texting you, the paper was probably illegible by the time he got back to SDN. At least you hoped that was the problem. You fell asleep a bit more comfortably that night, dozing off in the midst of concocting a plan to hopefully get the lanky man back into your house and hopefully get your number into his phone. Or maybe you should try to get his number into yours. That would make a bit more sense.

—---

Waterboy was panicking. He returned to the office, a unique pep in his step. While he wasn’t particularly proud of how he handled the situation in your apartment, he was still stoked that you were interested in him. You! Someone who he found completely striking, and with an adorable cat he could actually pet, asked him about coming over. Between getting your number and being able to hold Tyson, he was on cloud nine, and the team could tell pretty clearly. It was probably for the best that he couldn’t hear the conversations being exchanged by the other members of the phoenix team, with Invisigal making several comments about the potential of him getting laid, with snickers and nods from Malevola and Punch Up, and Prism and Flambae discussing which substance he may have dabbled in.

Waterboy skipped checking back in with Robert, opting to speed walk to his locker, accidentally bumping into a dispatcher with a string of jumbled and stuttered 'sorry's. He reached his locker, pushing up his goggles with one hand and using his teeth to pull off his glove as he reached into his suit pocket for the slip of paper. He took one look at the slip before beginning to hyperventilate. He flipped the slip over but it was hopeless. The writing on the paper was reduced to a blue smear.

Waterboy ran out of the locker room, goggles still on his forehead and glove still in his teeth, and bolted to the dispatcher offices. He looked around the room frantically before finding Roberts desk, striding to it as quietly as he could. As he approached the ex-hero’s terminal, he watched as Robert held up one finger, signaling for him to wait as he finished speaking to the panicked civilian on the other line. Waterboy groaned under his breath, quietly so as to not disturb the call, as he shifted back and forth on his feet. Finally Robert dropped his hand as he turned to Waterboy, face plain and sarcastic as always.

“You know, this doesn’t really look-” His snarky comment was cut off by Waterboy slamming the sheet onto his desk, stunning him into silence. Typically, Waterboy was the most gentle and respectful member of his team, and the forwardness and aggression of the gesture was worrying on its own.

“S-sorry, uhm- The fire call- the dispatch- they gave me their number but I can’t- it isn’t”

“You can’t read it,” Waterboy nodded, worry and despair written across his face. Robert turned over the paper before handing it back to him, a small frown pulling at the edge of his mouth. “Sorry Waterboy, but this is completely illegible. Better luck next time,”. He attempted to not let his shock show through his emotions. Whilst he found it surprising that Waterboy of all people had managed to somehow woo someone while on a call, he could see that the man was clearly distraught and likely didn’t need the added insult to injury.

“I don’t know- what should I- what do I do?” His voice had softened as he spoke, his stance slouching as he curled in on himself. You were so kind to him. You didn't seem to mind his stutter and while he saw your initial discomfort with his power, he could see how you attempted to not let it show, and that was a lot more than a lot of people he knew. A handful of judgmental ex-villains were the first to pop into his mind. And to top it all off, you were gorgeous. It should also be mentioned that you had a cat that not only tolerated him but loved him and even let him hold them. It was so perfect, and he felt as though that perfect opportunity was slipping through his fingers.

“I could trace the logs for their number. Do you have their name?” Waterboy shook his head with a frown. “Do you remember the address, perhaps?” Once again, Waterboy was forced to shake his head. “Then I’m afraid I can’t exactly help. Maybe if you hear a dispatch that sounds like them again you can take it, but there’s nothing else I can do. Sorry killer, but I have to get back to work, I’d suggest you prepare for your next dispatch,” And with that, Robert turned back around in his chair, slipping his headset back over his ears and taking another call. Waterboy stood there for a moment, staring at the blue smudged slip with a frown etched into his face. He sighed, crumpling the sheet and tossing it into the wastepaper basket under Robert’s desk before trudging back to the breakroom.

The next few days Waterboy’s performance was even more sub-par than usual, his mind clearly pre-occupied. Despite the numerous criticisms and, shockingly, the encouragement from several of the team members, he still struggled. He was trying, that was clear, he would never let his romantic personal life directly interfere with his hero work, but his heart just wasn’t in it. He was getting better over time, though, and his mood was improving along with his success rate. He also, at the direction of Robert, began giving himself some self-affirmation each morning. It was fairly awkward at first, talking to himself in the guest bathroom mirror to make sure his grandma couldn’t hear him, but it helped, thankfully.

—-

You woke up with a start once again, throwing your blankets off of yourself as you ran into the bathroom with clothes in hand. You had figured it out, the perfect plan to lead Waterboy back. You were convinced that the paper had gotten wet, there was simply no other explanation. You took your time in the shower, deciding to make yourself look as nice as possible seeing as you were basically setting this up as a date. You put on a nice outfit, nicer than typical loungewear but not too nice so as to give away that it was a set-up.

Once your hair was styled and your makeup was done, you unlocked your phone and opened up the SDN contact number. You hovered over the call button for a minute, mulling over your lines a couple times to make sure everything went smoothly. With a deep breath, you called SDN and pressed the phone to your cheek.

“Hello, SDN speaking, what’s your emergency?” You let out a small breath you didn’t realize you were holding as you heard the same monotone voice as last time.

“Hi, my water isn’t working and my plants are looking really dry, is there anyone you can send who might be able to help with that?” It was a bit corny, sure, but there aren’t many situations in which you might only need one person with water powers. You were worried that the situation wasn’t severe enough for them to take the call seriously, but after reading through some chat forums you found that some people would call about moving boxes and putting together furniture, so you felt it wasn’t particularly ridiculous.

“Yeah I’ll, oh-” The line went silent for a moment, and you sat there, anxiety beginning to build in your gut. A wave of relief splashed over you as you heard his voice come back through the phone, “I have just the person, he’ll be there shortly,”. You thanked him quickly before the call hung up, quickly setting your phone down and giggling as you ran and flopped down onto your couch.

You sprang up as you heard the revving of a motorcycle outside of your apartment complex, running to the door and peaking your head out. Your heart jumped as you saw the same yellow and blue wetsuit, smiling as Waterboy slipped the SDN helmet off, his eyes immediately jumping up to you. He returned the wide grin as he jogged over to the stairs, once again taking them three at a time as he rushed up to your floor, waving awkwardly as he walked up to you.

“H-hi- Hey! Sorry I never messaged- called. The paper it- I couldn’t-”

“You couldn’t read it because the ink got smudged,” You cut him off, your smile disappearing as you looked a bit more frustrated with yourself. You should’ve thought about it before you handed him a piece of paper but your brain wasn’t working right with the excitement of a fire and a potential date.

“Y-yeah. Anywho, you wanted- needed plants watered?” Your face turned a bit red as you fidgeted with your hands. You probably should’ve thought about the fact that you didn’t really need your plants watered before he arrived but you were more focused on getting another chance to talk to him. The embarrassment of actually telling him you lied to get him to come over was setting in as you went to speak.

“About that- I don’t actually need my plants watered. Sorry, I couldn’t think of anything else that they would send just you to do, but you can still come in! I’m sure Tyson misses you,” You struggled to maintain eye contact as you spoke, but after a beat of silence you glanced up at him, your breath catching in your throat as you saw his blank, frighteningly red face.

“Y-you…” He trailed off, his voice quiet.

“I’m sorry- You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, I just thought-” Your words came out quick and rushed as you broke eye contact and looked around frantically, hoping to find something other than the tall man in front of you.
“N- no, I’m not mad- upset! It’s… sweet! I really appreciate it.” You looked at him once again, your face now matching his lingering cherry-ness. You both stood there for a moment, goofy smiles and simmering heat stuck to your faces, before you turned around and opened your door. You held it open for him, grinning as he walked inside, with Tyson being quick to walk up to his feet, meowing to demand attention. Waterboy grinned, crouching down and pulling off his glove with his teeth and petting the now purring cat. You giggled as you moved to sit on your sofa, reaching for your phone to pull open your contacts.

You cleared your throat before speaking to get his attention, hesitating for a moment as his eyes met yours. You had forgotten how striking his eyes were. You held out your phone, open to a new contact, “Just to make sure I don’t make the same mistake as last time, I think you should probably put your number in my phone instead, that way it won’t get y’know… lost,”. He nodded as he stood, taking off his other glove as he walked over, taking your outstretched phone into his hands. Your phone looked so small in his much bigger hands, and your face reddened at the swirl in your lower stomach when you noticed.

He handed your phone back to you with a sweet smile that you returned as you took it back. “Th-there, feel free to- to text whenever.” You thanked him glancing down at your phone.

“Herman? Is that your like- human name?” He chuckled a bit at your words, which were admittedly a bit odd of a choice but words weren’t coming very easily seeing as you had a very cute guy in your house who’s phone number was now officially secured in your phone.

“Y-yeah, I figure since we’re… friends-?” He paused, looking at you briefly for reassurance, and you nodded. ‘Friends’ works for now. “-it makes sense for you to know my- my actual name. My friends call me Herm.” He broke eye contact, turning his attention back to Tyson who had begun touching him with an outstretched paw. He slowly scooped his hands underneath the cat before picking him up and tucking them to his chest.

You giggled as Tyson bumped his head against Herman’s chin, to which the man looked up to you, a small glimmer in his eyes. You tilted your head, silently questioning why he was staring at you now. “Y-you’re… very cu- pretty.” You sat there in a stunned silence for a moment as he broke eye contact, looking back at your cat, who was now purring with his eyes closed. For how shy he had been acting, both now and in the past, Herman was being surprisingly forward.

“Thank you. You’re pretty too.” You said softly, still looking at him. He froze, and you began worrying as his face became even more red. The water that had already been dripping down his forehead began flowing as a steady stream, beginning to pool on your floor. You’re going to have to add towels to your next shopping list. He looked down at the drips falling off his legs, standing up and turning to you with an apologetic look.

“S-sorry it- I can’t really help it. It’s part of- because of my powers it just… yeah.” You chuckled, standing from your seat on the sofa.

“You’re fine, Herman. I’m gonna go grab a towel. Actually, as I’m thinking about it, do you know where I can get furniture covers? I figure that’d be easier than using towels and air drying every time you come over.” You knew you were being potentially optimistic about him coming over repeatedly. He clearly enjoyed being here, but part of you was still worried you were reading things wrong. Despite that, you also enjoyed making him flustered. It was made better by the little tells he had; the stuttering, the redness that painted his fair skin, the water that dripped down his body. You subconsciously pressed your thighs together thinking about it.

“There’s a uhm- furniture store downtown that has some pretty g-good ones. Th-there’s also Amazon, b-but I have some extras at my house! I can take- bring them over n-next time.” You walked back into your living room with three folded towels, one to put on the floor and two to make a waterproof spot on the couch. You figured he might have to leave soon but you were fine with stealing as much time away as you could, as selfish as that might have been. Heroes need a break too, and now that you had his phone number you didn’t have to call SDN again to get a hold of him.

“If you’re sure, I’m fine with getting one myself, though.” You set the towels on the couch and handed him the other. He set down Tyson, taking the towel from your hands and laying it on the ground, stepping on it a bit to mop up the sizable puddle on your floor. He handed you the towel before picking up his gloves off of the ground and stuffing them into his pockets.

“N-no it’s fine, we always keep- have a few extras, just in case the cats y’know- scratch at them.” You nodded, taking the now wet towel and throwing it into the clothes basket in the hallway connected to your living room. It landed a bit short but you’d deal with that later. Herman sat down onto the now toweled couch, looking a bit awkward as he tried desperately to not touch any part of your sofa that wasn’t covered. You walked into the kitchen, grabbing two glasses and setting them on the counter.

“Would you like something to drink before you go? I know you should head out soon, but it might be nice to get a short break before you're sent back into the field. I have water, milk, Dr. Pepper…” You trailed off, pouring yourself a glass of water from the tap. As much as you wanted another drink, you had been trying - and honestly failing - to drink more water in your day to day.

“Water is fine, th- thank you.” You grabbed the other glass off of the counter beside you, filling it up before returning to your living room. You handed him the glass before sitting down on the other side of the sofa, picking your feet up and placing them onto the seat beside you.

“I’d say you could set your drink down on the table but someone-” You shot a playful glare at the cat that was in the process of jumping up onto the couch with you. “Couldn’t help himself.” Herman chuckled as he took a sip from his water glass, sighing softly as he relaxed into the sofa.

“How could you h-hold grudges against him?” he cooed, petting Tyson briefly, before the cat walked over to you and butting his head against your knee. He then shot you a very cute look, almost giving you puppy-dog eyes, as ironic as that seemed. You rolled your eyes in return, scratching under his chin before setting your drink on the ground and scooping him into your arms. He quickly began purring as you continued petting him.

Herman continued to drink from his glass, hands fidgeting with it silently as he looked around the living room. Your space was decently decorated, a few posters hanging on the walls and shelves with various small plants and displays. There were a handful of LEGO sets sitting on shelves and you had a small bookcase in the corner. It mostly held your textbooks from school and little trinkets you had collected over the years. It wasn’t too cluttered seeing as decor is shockingly expensive, but you tried to make it as homey as possible.

“I suppose he’s pretty easy to forgive.” You mumbled, speaking a bit softly as Tyson began drifting off to sleep. You looked up at Herman, making eye contact for a second before his gaze quickly shifted away. You smirked a bit to yourself, finding the display rather cute. “Y’know, you’re allowed to look. There’s no harm in it.”

He stammered for a moment and you could see his ears darkening a bit before he took a breath. “You’re j- just…” He trailed off, before taking a deep breath and downing the rest of his water. He set his glass on the floor near yours before he stood, stretching a bit, as much as he could given his height and your rather low ceilings. “I should probably head- get going. I had a great time, but I am still on the- on the clock.” You frowned a bit, standing up and following him to the door.

“Well, I’m glad you had a good time. I’ll text you in a bit, I’m probably gonna clean up a bit. I figure you’ll be busy?” He nodded, an apologetic smile now resting on his lips. “Well, we can try to figure out a time you can come visit. How do you feel about going out for dinner sometime? I know a pretty good Italian place downtown. You can also come over after and watch a movie. Y’know, so you can say hi to Tyson and we can talk without being around a bunch of people. I usually pirate everything and hook up my laptop to my TV, so we can watch whatever we want.” You rambled for a bit, hoping to convince him. You only realized shortly after that it did come across a bit desperate, but as you looked up to him you noticed his smile splitting his face nearly in two.

“I- I’d love to! I do have one que- a question though.” You hummed in response, tilting your head inquisitively. “Is it supposed to be like a- a date? I- I’m sorry if I read the- the mood wrong, I just…” He trailed off as you giggled, smirking at him a bit. As sweet as he had been since he had come over, you did want to tease him a bit before he left. You couldn’t get over the way he looked when he was flustered.

“Well, do you want it to be a date? I, for one, would love to go on a date with you, but if you don’t want to I understand.” You sighed and looked away, feigning disappointment.

“No- I mean y- yes, I-” He groaned softly, clearly out of frustration at his lack of eloquence in the moment but the noise made your ears perk up like a hound dog. You were a bit ashamed at the growing heat in your abdomen, this was only the second time speaking to him after all, but you couldn’t deny the excitement that was growing in regards to what would likely be a date night in the near future.

You giggled, getting the flustered man’s attention before speaking, “Yes, it can be a date. We can talk about it later, now you go get back to saving the world, cutie.” His eyes widened at the nickname, his mouth falling open a bit before he nodded, a little hum escaping his voice in affirmation. You exchanged brief goodbyes, and he turned around heading down the stairs and mounting his bike. He threw on his helmet, sending you a wave that you returned, before he turned around and sped off, much more gracefully this time.