Day Seven: Giving
What's UP, blast from the past! It's been legit five years since I wrote a PnF fic of my own volition, so this was fun. Short because it felt right short, making it longer would have felt drawn out and bad. Technically a "quarantine fic," but nothing is discussed in depth bc this is fluff month.
As always, next fandom and prompt at the bottom. (Spoiler alert: there's gonna be another PnF one later this month) Stay evil!
"And in other recent news, numerous local charities this morning woke up with an anonymous donation each of five thousand dollars. Such charities include the Fireside Girls LGBT fund, the local animal shelter, and the Danville Homeless shelter," the news anchor read, her eyebrows creeping up as she took in the long list of names. "The donations were made online anonymously, and the charities are reaching out in order to thank the person who made them, especially during this current crisis. This unexpected-"
The screen went black and Vanessa jolted, nearly spilling her cereal as she turned to look at her father. He was setting the remote down on the side table by the couch, already looking down at his phone as he picked his coffee up off the table. "What the heck? I was watching that, Dad."
"Eh. Same old, same old. Depressing news, depressing world," Heinz drawled with a shrug, taking a long drag of his drink.
Vanessa frowned and leaned over, precariously balancing her cereal bowl in one hand as she grabbed for the remote. "It wasn't, actually. Some person donated thousands of dollars overnight to a bunch of charities. It's the first good news I've heard in like, weeks."
"Huh," Doof said, still not looking up. His shoulders were more hunched than usual. "Pandering, probably."
Vanessa paused, taking in the tired look in her father's eyes, the rumpled state of his hair. Her eyes left him to drift across the room, her lips parting in surprise. She set her bowl down on the coffee table and stood up, crossing the living room and peering into her father's lab. "Um. Dad?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Where are like, literally all of your inventions?"
"Eh, scrapped them for parts."
She twisted, squinting at him and crossing her arms over her chest. "Really."
Her tone was unimpressed, and Heinz looked up with a lifted eyebrow. "Yes." He went back to looking at his phone, sipping at his coffee with a little too much vigor.
"Interesting. The night all of your very expensive inventions disappear, over a dozen charities in Danville get thousands of dollars in donations."
"Quite a coincidence, mm?"
"Dad."
Heinz's eyes twinkled a little when he glanced up again and Vanessa broke into a soft grin. "You scrapped all your stuff for charity? Man, didn't think going to work for OWCA would make you such a softie."
She walked over to him and draped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him into a side hug. "That was really great of you," she mumbled, leaning her head on her father's shoulder and pulling up her recent text messages.
Heinz hummed and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, well…not like I can go around doing evil right now anyway, even if I wasn't working for Major Big Head. Don't you dare tell anyone."
Vanessa's lips twitched and she held up her phone. "Too late, told Perry. Suffer in your kindness."
"You can prove nothing."
Tomorrow's fic: Suddenly, Kittens!, How to Train Your Dragon (AU)