Summary: A series of shipping-focused continuous/separate drabbles, ficlets and one-shots. The ratings, genres and pairings may/will vary.

Chapter summary: Frida watched him and wondered, not for the first time, what she was doing here with him.

Genre(s): Humor/Angst/Romance

Pairing(s): Sergio/Frida, mentioned Manny/Zoe, implied one-sided Manny/Frida

Disclaimer: El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera is copyrighted by Nick, Mexopolis and its creators Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua. Any referenced works are owned by their respective creators.


"Here you go, my sweet! A special dinner, just for you!"

Frida watched as Sergio set the table and poured the pan's contents into the plate.

Not for the first time, Frida wondered what she was doing here. What was she thinking? Why'd she ever considered this a good idea, even for a split second?

Frida frowned. She knew exactly why she was here with Sergio. But then again, anything was better than the alternative.

Anything was better than watching them from the sidelines. Anything was better than feeling her heart get stabbed over and over.

Not that she had to worry about that all that much anymore. She and Manny barely hung out with each other anymore, having been drifting apart little before they entered High School.

And then... there was Sergio.

He'd offered himself as a distraction from her heartbreak, as the friendly shoulder to cry on. He'd offered to take her out, cheer her up- with him, she could forget all about Manny and Zoe, even if momentarily.

Frida, wanting just that, accepted. One date turned into another one, then another one, and another one…

Before Frida realized it, more than a month had passed and here she was, still hanging out with Sergio.

Dating, a little voice whispered in her head, but Frida quickly pushed it to the back of her mind, refusing to acknowledge it.

If she was honest with herself, it wasn't actually that bad. Sergio was… sweet and attentive, she supposed, letting nothing indicate that her presence brought anything but joy to him, even in the first few days, when her mood had been at its worst, switching between her seething in anger or bitterly crying.

Sure, in the beginning he was… clingy and a little too forward and eager to please, but when she had bluntly told him off, he'd gotten the message and backed off. He was slowly learning how to be less… creepy, for a lack of better words, and respect boundaries and her personal space.

Now, if only he could learn how to make food that didn't look like it could dissolve her insides, it would be great, Frida thought, glancing at her plate once more.

The soup had a sickly, greenish hue, with a bubble popping now and then. There were bones, tentacles and some other stuff she didn't recognize floating in the soup.

Did… did he really expect her to eat this?

Frida looked up briefly, only to be met with Sergio's expectant gaze. Frida gulped.

He did. He was waiting for her to taste his soup and tell him what she thought.

Frida glanced back at the monstrosity in her plate. She bit her lower lip. Months ago, she'd have simply told him off and refused to eat this soup, maybe even thrown it at his face, because he wouldn't have taken the hint then.

Months ago, when she and Manny had still been inseparable best friends.

Months ago, when Sergio had been just a weird little nerd who had a creepy crush on her and had once asked her to their first school dance…

And not this weird presence in her life, teetering dangerously from a simple distraction from her heartbreak to… a friend. A good friend, maybe.

She couldn't do it. Not with him looking at her like that.

Frida gave a resigned sigh before dipping her spoon in the soup. She just knew she was going to regret this.

No. She regretted it already.

But before could even lift it to her mouth, the liquid dissolved the spoon and fell back into the plate.

Frida just stared at her plate. So did Sergio.

"… take out?"

"… yeah, take out."

Sergio hurried to dispose of the deadly soup and order some pizza.

Frida sighed. How many times did that make? She'd lost count how much silverware had been lost because of Sergio's little adventures in the kitchen.

"… what's so funny, Frida?"

Frida turned towards his voice. A few giggles had escaped her lips, quiet, subtle, but it seemed Sergio heard them anyway.

He looked a bit sheepish, probably a bit worried he'd ruined what he'd hoped would be a romantic dinner and a chance to 'sweep her off her feet'.

She gave him a light, friendly punch in the shoulder, "Nothing, dude." She smirked, "But you better buy more spoons soon if you're gonna keep making those," she nodded at the monster soup in the trash.

Sergio gaped at her for a second before giving a light chuckle himself.

Frida smiled. "Now, what do you say we play some videogames while we wait for that pizza?"

"As you wish, my sweet. But just to warn you, I won't hold back this time."

Frida raised an eyebrow. This was new.

It wasn't the fake submissiveness he had presented in the beginning, in hopes of getting in her good graces. It wasn't the worshipping, adoring tone he had whenever complimenting her either.

He was being… playful. It was the most casual Frida had ever seen Sergio be around her.

This wasn't really a side she was used to…

But Frida couldn't bring herself to dislike it. She grinned at the Italian boy.

"Is that a challenge? 'Cause you better be prepared to have your butt kicked, man."

"Let's see that, my little buttercup," Sergio gave her a playful smile and went to get the games.

Maybe, Frida thought, just maybe this wouldn't turn out to be so bad.


Author's note: I wrote this a while ago, then rewrote it, and held off publishing it because... I wanted to write and publish about other ships first.

This is short, but it's a little something to introduce the pairing... it's based on the concept that Frida would apparently date him (and Diego and Django, but these will come later) during High School while Manny would be dating Zoe.

Sergio being a terrible (read: lethal) cook is based on the episode 'Love and War' (I think that's what it's called).

As usual, tell me what you think, what you'd call the pairing, and whatever else you have in mind in a review.