kids of the night;

♡

“I’m wounded,” Fred gasped, placing a hand over his heart. The dramatics only lasted a few seconds though before a grin spread across his lips again. Fred loved all of his friends dearly, he appreciated all of the dynamics, but he was still surprised sometimes that Gogo genuinely liked him. He didn’t think he’d be the type of person she’d hang out with normally.

“270?” He repeated, his eyes wide. Something about the idea of her flying down the road at 275 miles per hour didn’t sit right with him. It made his stomach twist in knots. “That sounds kind of… dangerous.” Not a thought that often crossed his mind. The boy would climb on his roof with no ladder, he drove an unreliable van around town, he walked across the street half the time without thinking to look both ways. But this was… extreme. Of course it was extreme. It was Gogo. But still. “Is that even… uh, legal?”

“I’m so sure.” Gogo teased back whilst rolling her eyes. She did appreciate the jokes event though if some of them felt lackluster. She wasn’t sure if anyone else would’ve done the same to cheer her up. It warmed her cold little heart--her feelings for him dwelled beneath the surface. Complicated and foreign. 

“What? What’s wrong with 270?” She asked a bit taken aback by his reaction. Mostly because she had been living in her own delusions, not taking a step back and realizing this was all much more dangerous than she was making it out to be in her head. “Dangerous maybe if you don’t have the right gear, but you know me I’m all sorted. I’ll be good.” She wasn’t sure where all this was coming from, Fred wasn’t known to be the lecture type, at least as far as she’d known him. If she wanted to be lectured she would’ve gone to Hazel instead. She felt a small pang in her chest at his words. “Legal Schmegal. What they won’t know won’t kill em’.” She paused, meeting his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

♡

“It’s true, my joy is infectious,” Fred joked, though it seemed somewhat true. He’d say one of his talents was cheering his friends up. Even when he was feeling down, he didn’t let it show, keeping his energy at top level so he wouldn’t bum others out. It was a win/win most times, really, it made him feel better in the end too.

“I am glad to be of service.” His beam faded slightly. “Oh, yeah?” Fred wasn’t the worrying type. He’d been carefree his whole life. But there was a nagging feeling in his gut now, thinking about Gogo speeding through the streets. The world was a dangerous place. They didn’t live in a comic book or a movie where everything worked out, something Fred had been reminded of recently in the hardest way. He didn’t think he could lose another friend. “So, like… how fast are you thinking?”

“Most of the time.” She teased with a playful grin. That was what she loved most about Fred. Each member in their small circle had their own unique strength and Fred’s was his ability to light up a room, even if he was just being a big goofball. She wasn’t sure what she brought to the table, but she hoped it was useful.

Gogo found herself hanging out with Fred more after Tadashi’s death. She had Honey who was also sweet as can be but with Fred she was allowed to sit in silence and work on her bike if need be. He never pushed or prodded, just there to lend support. “Mhm.” Gogo nodded with excitement. This project was one of the main things keeping her going at the moment, at least distracted enough that she didn’t have to think about things. When she was out there at night with nothing but the wind in her hair and the fire in her gut she felt weightless. “Not sure about the accuracy but the fastest car in the world has gone 270 miles per hour. This baby can already go five miles over that, but I'm aiming about twenty miles more. She’s going to be the fasest girl out there.” Gogo beamed happily, completely unaware and in denial to the danger of her project.

“Listen, after the last time I used it and you gave me the most hilarious look, you can’t blame a gal for trying to recreate that magic.” she chuckled. Tadashi, and now by extension Hiro’s, friends were the sweetest bunch. Even the stone cold badass Gogo was always so kind to her. “Since you asked so nicely, you can have first dibs on the goodies in the kitchen. Got a whole new batch I wanted to introduce you and the gang to tonight whenever y’all came in.” She motioned towards the kitchen, “Seriously, help yourself. I need the discerning tastes of young folks like you to make sure my stuff is up to snuff.”

“You can’t re-create that magic Aunt Cass, you can only make new magic.” She smiled warmly remembering the first time Tadashi had introduced her to his aunt. She paused--that hurt still there but buried deep within. Gogo couldn’t think about it too long, it was always go go go with her. Cass was able to pull her back to reality, her smile never leaving as she followed her towards the kitchen. “Uhm, hell yeah. Your foods the best, I’d be a fool not to accept that offer. Whatcha’ have anyway?” She asked a little too excitedly, Gogo wasn’t picky so she was pretty happy with whatever she got usually. “Ah, I love being your personal Guinea Pig.”

♡

“What, you didn’t like the one about the man catching fog? I thought it was great.” He mist. Fred laughed at the previous joke again before slipping his phone into his back pocket, growing bored of the list of corny puns. He’d already read so many, and he had a short attention span.

“So, how’s it going?” He asked, leaning forward to get a closer look at the bike she was working on. “Any progress? All fixed up? Has my moral support saved the day? What are you doing, anyway? Did it stop running or something?”

“Well, it wasn’t awful. I’ll give you that. The last one was just more appealing.” Gogo mused with a small smile. “I think you telling them made them better though. On their own--I’m not so sure.”  Had it been someone else she wouldn’t even been able to manage a laugh. A grimace expression at the very least.

“I’m kinda’ stuck on it at the moment.” She sighed, feeling a bit defeated at her task at hand. Dropping her tools on the ground she wiped the grime from her hands onto the spare rag next to her. “Belieive it or not, it has! Made time go by much faster anyway.” Gogo giggled, looking up at Fred. “Nah, she works just fine. I just want her to go faster, much much faster.”

♡

Fred knew he could be overbearing at times, so he was glad Gogo didn’t seem to mind him hanging out today. Even if he’d hardly shut up. He couldn’t help it, he stayed lonely, so he’d talk whenever anyone was listening. Or even if they weren’t. It made his day just to be in his friends’ presence.

“Oh, so close!” He shook his head, glancing back down at the phone to make sure he didn’t screw the punchline up. “Unfortunately the answer we were looking for was ‘to quack the case’.” Fred barely managed to get the joke out before erupting into laughter.

While Gogo had a rather serious demeanor, at least most of the time she still loved her friends more than anything. Even if it was hard for her to express it so openly. Plus company was better than no company, and Fred was best at being a great distraction. She was glad he was here.

At his contagious fit of laughter Gogo couldn’t help but to laugh herself. Maybe not as loudly but it was the first joke he had told today that got any reaction out of her. After the small laughing fit she gave him and ever so small smile. “I have to say, that was a better joke than the last one.”