live with me forever now

“Happy New Year!” Smee said cheerily, spending this one in Neverland rather than a cell already elevating his mood. 

Vaeda bounded over, giving Smee a party popper before she exploded her own. “Happy New Year!”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ve gotten a head start on tonight’s drinking festivities, eh?”

“I am very proud of you. You know how to do New Year right.”

“No problem! Happy new year’s! I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one.”

“Of course! It’s 2016! New Year, New Looks, New Friendships.”

“We should drink rum and sing ‘pirates life for me’!”

“It’s always nice to see a smile on your face. Cheers, V.”

“Come dance, Thatch. Come on, come on.” Vaeda was tugging on Thatcher’s arm. “Angel won’t dance for me until he’s had a few mored drinks.”

“Here! Have a chocolate. Sweets are the best way to start off a new year!”

“I thank you! This is my kind of way to celebrate!” 

“Hell yes, I can cheers to that.”

“Cheers, big ears!” 

“Welcome home,” Thatcher greeted, not looking up. “The balloons are on their way and the pony is out back, sweetheart.”

“You better not be lying to me, Thatcher. I’ll be expecting all of these things once I unpack.”

“You look terrible.”

“Great to see you too, Plato.” Vaeda said cheerily with a hint of sarcasm.

The tops of the bills inched out of the envelopes opening just enough to allow her one last recount as she walked into the hideout. It’s halls ingrained themselves into her muscle memory so firmly, she barely had to look up at all. Until she heard other footsteps approaching, that was. “The Captain around?” She asked vaguely tucking the tips back into their paper prison. 

“That is a negatory. I also don’t know where he has disappeared to.” Vaeda tugged on a lock of Hannah’s hair affectionately. “We could build a stuffed Captain with a few pillows and an eyepatch if you want. Other than that, I can’t help you.” 

Tobias eyed her for a second, trying to figure out whether her offer was sincere or not. Like he had any idea what the fuck he was doing when it came to hacking. Finally shrugging, he gave Vaeda a nod. “Alright, why not.”

Vaeda smiled at the prospect of having some company. “You don’t have to do anything. Maybe press a button that’ll end the world but that’ll be it.”

“You might regret that decision,” he mumbled as he turned on the television. He flipped through the shows, thumb in his belt loop as seconds turned to minutes. His indecision came to an end when he huffed and finally settled on Daredevil. 

“Hell yeah, I like Superheroes.” Vaeda dropped a huge stack of paper onto the coffee table that sat across from the couch. “Okay. They go by last name and then date. Example, Hayden Sinclair is under S and then the most recent date goes on top. These are just payslips to make sure everyone’s getting paid right and also so if one of you get all stabby over the fact that you think you’re not getting paid right, I got the paperwork to shove in your face.” The background noise was nice and it gave them something to focus on instead of the impending papercuts that were going to follow. 

A corner of his lips lifted. “I look pretty at all times. But the filing sounds tedious enough to want to finish it quickly, so —- what’s on the Netflix queue?”

“Since you’re helping me, you can have control. Pick whatever you want.” Vaeda passed the remote to Hayden before finding all the paper work.