Things are heating up this chapter! I've been having a whole lot of fun mixing my original characters, the BH6 characters, and other people's original characters. This chapter is no exception. And, I think I can finally say I like Ian. Do I like Hardlight? Meh. Do I like Ian? Yes.
"Wow, I've never seen you this depressed," Sadie commented, taking the seat next to her twin and running her hand through Seth's messy hair. Seth leaned against Sadie, groaning.
"I feel like shit, Sadie. I pushed Morgan away for trying to help me. She probably hates me now."
"She doesn't hate you. Morgan could never hate you. You just have strong feelings for each other and right now you're butting heads. It's going to be okay, Seth, just give it time."
Dalton walked over in pajama pants and nothing else, holding out a plate and looking solemn, "Here, break-up banana bread. Family recipe."
"Dalton, why exactly do you think I slept on your couch last night?" Seth took the banana bread but was a little confused.
"You broke up with your girlfriend, right?" Seth burst out laughing.
"Oh my gosh, Dalton, I'm not in a relationship with Morgan, what put that idea in your head?"
"Sadie said-"
"Nothing. I said nothing," Sadie said quickly.
"Sadie said nothing," Dalton quickly amended, looking guilty.
"Bennet," Seth called, alerting the attention of the sleepy florist eating banana bread in the dining room, "what has Sadie been saying about me and Morgan?"
Sadie silently pleaded with her other boyfriend not to out her but Bennet was honest to a fault, "Sadie's always joking about how you and Morgan are like an old married couple."
Seth scootched away from their twin, "Really? My own sister?"
"Everyone thinks it, I just said it out loud." Seth rolled their eyes.
"Yeah I think I've had enough couch surfing, I'm gonna go back to my not girlfriend. Thanks for the banana bread though, it really mends my broken heart."
Bennet snorted with laughter and Dalton nodded, "It does that."
Seth stood and stretched, "Sadie, can I borrow some clothes? I want to shower before I face the day..."
"Oh, I think I have some of your clothes."
"Of course you do. Do you have any of my overalls?"
"Uh, no, not my style. Wonderful for you, though. But I have some pants that would fit."
"Hey, Seth, we're headed to work, have a good rest of your day," Bennet gave Seth a little wave and locked fingers with his boyfriend, who nodded at Seth as Sadie went off to find them some clothes.
"I can get you that recipe, Seth," Dalton offered.
"I look forward to it," Seth agreed. They didn't fully understand it, but Dalton was a better cook than most people Seth knew. Half the recipes Seth used had been tested by the himbo first.
"Do you have any good ramen recipes?" Seth asked as Dalton and Bennet were leaving.
"Yeah! I've got your back!"
Sadie came back with a guest towel, Seth's black and gold plaid shirt, and a pair of cargo pants that Seth recognized as being Bennet's.
"He's not gonna mind. Bennet and Dalton basically love you."
"It's nice that I get along so well with your boyfriends and you get along so well with my girlfriend," Seth joked, hugging the clothes. Sadie laughed.
"I thought Dalton knew that you two weren't actually dating. But I'm sorry I started any rumors. I shouldn't put any pressure on your love life."
"Don't worry. I'll survive. I just feel lucky that I got to try the break-up banana bread."
"I don't know how he's so good at cooking," Sadie admitted, "He won't let me or Ben in on his secrets. He literally only shares his recipes with you."
"That's because you burn water," Seth reminded.
"It happens sometimes! Are you going to be okay?" Seth realized that they weren't talking about banana bread anymore.
"Sure, yeah. I need to apologize to her but I don't know if I can right away. I think I just want a little bit more time."
"Well, take some time to hang out with your other friends, get your mind in the right place. It's important to apologize but not if you're not ready."
"I want to make it up to her," Seth said, "even if I don't agree with her I know she was trying to help and I bit her head off."
"How about you and Morgan join us for dinner tomorrow night? We'll go to a nice restaurant and you can tell Morgan how you feel about things."
"Do you really think any of that will work?"
"Of course! I'm an expert on relationships, after all. I have two boyfriends. You have to be really good at dating to have two partners." Seth laughed.
"Dinner tomorrow could be fun. I might not be able to articulate all of my feelings that soon, but it might be a step in the right direction. Thanks for everything, Sadie. I think that things are going to be okay."
Seth took a quick shower and when they got out there was a new message from Morgan.
"Hey, do you want to eat lunch on campus with me? I feel like we should talk."
Seth sent a text to Fred before responding to Morgan, "Sorry, I'm eating with the superheroes."
"Okay, have fun."
Morgan seemed disappointed about that, but Seth wasn't ready to deal with the mistakes of the day prior. Fred and his friends didn't know about the argument, and it would be a welcome change.
Fred was always happy to spend time with his friend, he thought Seth was really cool, but his friends weren't as sold. Well, GoGo and Hiro weren't as sold. If Seth was the engineer behind the angel of vengeance, then maybe Seth shouldn't be treated like a casual friend. Hiro was fine with keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, but Fred just welcomed Seth in with a hug.
"How's the job search going?" Fred asked.
"Slow. I know I shouldn't be picky right now, but I really want to find something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life."
"Sure," Fred agreed, "You deserve to be noticed for your talents."
"When you're using your talents for good," Hiro muttered, which pissed Seth off a little bit. Just because their wing design was used for a robbery didn't mean the skill and technique weren't there and shouldn't be applauded. Having failed to meet the job requirements of several snobbish jobs they should have been perfect for, Seth was getting pretty annoyed that their talents were getting overlooked.
"Fred gets it," Seth said with a nod, "but at least I have some time to sharpen those talents, and maybe gain some new skills."
"Ooh, what're you working on?" Fred was always so supportive, so trusting, which was sometimes a mistake.
"I'm trying to learn self-defense."
"Oh, I bet GoGo could help you with that, she's a good fighter."
"I'm not offering any lessons at the time, Frederick," GoGo said, blowing a bubble and letting it pop.
"You owe me," Fred said, smirking.
"I, what?" GoGo crossed her arms, now glaring at Fred. She did not like being told she owed people things, the same way she didn't like guys telling her to smile.
"We made a bet that the Krei robbery was linked to the angel of vengeance-"
"Is that the name she's going with?" Hiro muttered.
"-And I was right. I never claimed my prize. I want you to be nice to my friend and teach them how to fight."
"I can teach Seth how to fight. I can't promise I'll be nice."
Honey Lemon put a hand on GoGo's shoulder and smiled at Seth, "She'll be nice."
"Fine," GoGo sighed, "I'll be nice. But you better not try anything, Seth. If Fred thinks you're cool there's a teensy chance that you're cool. And I guess I'll take that chance."
Seth felt a little bit awkward, they weren't the most popular but they had a good amount of friends and so it felt weird that Fred was essentially forcing GoGo to be their friend. So Seth decided to turn their attention to Honey Lemon, who seemed to already like them. Honey Lemon was all sunshine and rainbows, like Morgan without as much salt. Honey Lemon was happy to tell Seth about her numerous siblings, her plans for rivalry week, the podcasts she was listening to, and the projects she worked on while she was listening to podcasts. Seth didn't get much of a word in, but they didn't really want to. It was just nice to be talked to like they belonged, and that's what Honey Lemon was great for.
When Seth got back to the apartment, Morgan was at work. So Seth brewed some lavender tea and left Morgan a note inviting her to dinner with Sadie and the Suspects. As wonderful as Sadie and her boyfriends were, their couch was lacking in back support and Seth felt more tired than usual. The warm tea and soft mattress worked a little too well and what was supposed to be a quick nap turned into a lengthy snooze, Seth would still be asleep when Morgan came home.
Morgan stayed at work late, frustrated and puzzled over one of Krei's systems. Like all the days before since she'd started her job and Seth had lost theirs, Ian had given her a coffee and a thumb drive and she had set to work. But this time, it was near impossible. The thumb drive wasn't empty but it had taken Morgan an entire hour and a half to find what she was supposed to be working on. It was then that she had realized that what she was working on wasn't something Krei's company had created. It didn't seem like Ian knew what was on it, she'd grilled him for answers.
"Sometimes Krei has third parties do coding." It had been a good enough answer at the time, but now several hours had passed and Morgan was feeling as lost as ever. Why would Krei pay someone for this? It seemed like a virus, a bug...
"Hey, Morgan," Ian caught Morgan's attention as she began her last-ditch effort to do her job.
"What?" She must have sounded a little snappish, the whole thing was frustrating her.
"You've got to get out of here within the next hour. I want to go home, I have things to do. Look, I got you a Noodle Burger. Give me the thumb drive and clock out so we can both leave."
"Okay. I'm sorry it's so late," Morgan hastily apologized.
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. I just have to get back and feed my fish or there will be a mutiny."
"Yeah, we wouldn't want something bad to happen…" When Ian wasn't watching, Morgan copied the software down to her computer before returning the thumb drive to him and taking her food. She didn't know it, but on the other side of San Fransokyo, a man with a glowing face had gained access to her laptop, the plans for the angel wings, and the DJ Parasite fanfiction she'd written last time she'd gotten drunk and gone to a concert she couldn't remember. Of course, though Morgan was on his radar now, it wouldn't be long before the tables were turned.
Question of the week! What's your favorite podcast?
You didn't think I would shun the plot forever, did you? In fact, I've essentially set up the next two chapters and season 2... But I'm getting ahead of myself! You don't wanna talk plot, you want to talk ship names.
Sadie is the biggest Moth shipper around, but Seth returns the favor, they're the one who came up with Sadie, Dalton, and Bennet's ship name, Saltnet. Fun fact! Not a single one of you asked me why I used Bennet and Dalton's names interchangeably when talking about Sadie's boyfriend. I was a little salty about that, lol.
I'm having too much fun with this fic, it should be illegal. It should be illegal to have this much fun with a WIP. And there's not even that much angst next chapter!