ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ʀᴀɢɪɴɢ ғɪʀᴇ

“look– i didn’t mean it okay??” esper gave the person an apologetic face. “i’ve just had a bad past week and i didn’t mean to take it out on you.” 

“You’re lucky you’re pretty,” he noted, arching an eyebrow. “If you need someone to vent to, I’m actually been told I’m a rather good listener.”

“I think you should miss a week of school,” he advised with a smile, “Then we can have fun at a beach house again. But why do you have to go back?” 

“The beach house was fun, wasn’t it? We’ll definitely have to make a summer trip to the Hamptons an annual thing-- or maybe just visit different beaches around the country? You, me, and Gus? That could be fun. Why do I have to go back home, you mean? You know how important Atlantis is to me, darling-- and Neptune knows I don’t show my face there nearly enough as it is.”

❛ I can honestly say I did not miss all the working out during the break. Can someone explain to me people who go on vacation and first thing they do is finding a crossfit box? ❜

“Some people are incapable of just sitting back and indulging their lazy sides. I can’t say I’m too sad you’re back at it, though-- it’s such a lovely view, after all.”

❛ If I don’t use my clever brain to come up with the best pet names what’s it for, really? I hate that and you know I hate it, but you still do it – why do I keep you around again? I wasn’t really disappointed, to be honest. I mean, that was a great Leon impersonation. How about you keep him? I bet you two have a lot to talk about, and you can have someone to talk in fish language around here. A hunt? Is Atlantean hunt just fishing? Or did you kill another shark? One day we will meet, whale friends. I knew you loved my texts. ❜

“You’ve truly achieved your full potential with this, yes. Hmm-- because you think I’m pretty to get rid of? Even when I’m passed out and drooling? Are you really going to give me a pet fish? I’ve never had a pet fish. I think I’d have to accept. Technically, yes-- smaller fish are caught with nets, usually, but we went after tuna. No sharks this time. If I didn’t love your texts, sweetheart, I would’ve blocked your number ten times over by now. I really did miss you, you know.”

“People are already calling me the next Cap, I don’t think I should be the ‘next’ anything else. Besides, Miracleman sounds like a kids’ party magician. But I like the part about the gold teeth. That would probably help the police, too.”

“I mean, sure, Captain America’s not a bad title to take up-- just saying it’s an option. And at least a party magician is better than a party clown, right? Now you’re looking on the bright side-- it’s a win/win, really.”

“I think perhaps the first would be a wiser course of action. More for your students than for yourself. A week late would not really encourage them to pay attention, or so I would think. Although perhaps you could manage it if it was only a couple of days into the first week.”

“If I were teaching one of the more academic courses that would probably be true, but the problems in my class are more with goofing off than with zoning out, and I don’t know that the week would make the difference. I wasn’t going to spend the entire week away, honestly-- it was just hard to leave again, once I was there.”

“Oh, wow, that does sound a lot more comfortable. Sort of like falling asleep in the bath, I suppose. I think I’d miss that, too. Oh, they certainly are. Though they’re both pretty special. I’m particularly fond of the one I gave birth to.”

“Very similar, yes. Falling asleep in the bath isn’t quite as good, but still better than a mattress-- but then I’m biased, of course. And I might be biased on that point, too; I don’t know your husband nearly as well as your son, but August’s hard to beat set up against anyone else.”

“You could always set up, like, a week-long scavenger hunt that just ends up with them back in the classroom when you get back. Teach them that sometimes missions are pointless or just plain fail.”

“That is an amazing idea. They can’t even be that mad about it in the end-- everybody loves scavenger hunts, right?”

❛ Incredibly lucky. But you should know by now that I’ll always have your back. Well, Fisheon tried his best, and whenever he didn’t answer while I was reading some super funny texts did remind me of all the times you fell asleep on me and didn’t text back. But no fish can replace you in my heart. What were you up two while I was having to make do with Fisheon? ❜

“Oh, I wouldn’t doubt that for a second. Fisheon-- there’s that clever brain of yours at work. You hate it when I fall asleep and don’t text you back; he must’ve been such a disappointment. I hope you won’t be too hard on him for it and still find him a good home now that I’m back. Oh, you know, catching up with friends, seeing my father, went on a hunt, talked to some whales-- they all say hello, of course, and that they’re desperate to meet you. I may have thought about coming home to your ridiculous texts, once or twice.”

“I’m guessing the way you sleep back home is more comfortable? You would think so, but Tony is weirdly specific about his mattress. He’d only custom make it if he did it himself, and he’s always ‘too busy’.”

“We don’t have beds like there are here-- more like hammocks, but all around you. Keeps you in place, but it’s still more like floating in water than laying on a bed. It’s definitely among the list of things I miss when I’m up here. Ahhh, I see. The Stark men certainly are curious creatures, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’d fully prepared. Although to their credit, I doubt they thought they’d ever really be able to have kids, let alone a super soldier kid. He got a new tooth and was fine. I was kind of hoping he’d get a gold tooth like a pirate, but he didn’t. I’m still disappointed about that.”

“The miracles of modern society. Hey, if you still haven’t decided on your hero name, maybe you could be the next Miracleman. And you can insist that all the bad guys’ teeth you knock out only get replaced by gold. Then all of your enemies will be pirates-- childhood dream accomplished, right?”

“I think your students would like an extra week off a little too much. I suspect they would be less prone to actually paying attention afterward.”

“Not paying attention in my class usually lands you with at least a few bruises if not cuts, so I don’t normally have that problem. Whether or not they’d show up would be my worry, but I think I could track down any stragglers who think they can keep that extra hour of freedom every day.”

“I honestly never thought about how that would be different for you here. Tony does that starfish thing where he spreads out and takes up the whole bed. So I guess I’m lucky that I have room to sleep at all.”

“It gets easier, the more time I spend up here, but it’s never quite the same. Sounds like you just need a bigger bed. Surely he could have something custom-made if he’s the one starfish-ing?”

“Safety tends to be a priority when we’ve got climbers, so I wouldn’t blame anyone for being an ass about it.” She stepped closer, hands ghosting over the buckles. “It seems like you’ve mixed up left and right. Not a big deal, but you’re going to need to take it off.”

“I could survive a much greater fall than just a rock wall-- and the harness is just uncomfortable.” He sighed, beginning to dismantle the straps. “Are you just a concerned citizen in this case, or is this your part-time job?”