Sorry for having two recurring characters who work at a bar despite having no experience drinking I hope you forgive me for not knowing what I'm doing and I hope you drink responsibly irl anyway happy pride month.
Once Seth grew more comfortable with leaving the house their calendar filled up with a slew of double dates. Three consecutive double dates, to be exact. And since one of those double dates was with Honey Lemon and GoGo, Morgan thought it was only appropriate to once again check in on Hiro.
She'd checked on Hiro a couple of times since the whole thing with Di. After all, the poor kid was traumatized after seeing Karmi get mutated. But he'd assured her he would be fine once he had more time to adjust to Karmi being safe but far away. Morgan had promised he could come to her at any time and that was mostly that. Now, though, they had some old ground to retread.
"Hey, Hiro? I wanted to kind of warn you, Seth and I are going on a double date with Honey Lemon and GoGo."
"Oh, okay. You can do whatever you want, Morgan, other than crime obviously. You don't have to ask me for permission to go on a date."
"Of course not, I just wanted to give you a heads up, since they're your friends, and they were Tadashi's friends…"
Hiro took a deep breath, "Okay, yeah, it still makes me feel weird that you're already dating someone else, but our friends, the people who knew Tadashi the best, love and accept you and Seth. If Honey Lemon and GoGo want to go on a double date with you guys then I'm not going to get upset. I promise."
"I'm glad to hear that, Hiro."
"Still family?" He asked, offering a fist bump.
"Still family," Morgan promised, bumping his fist and then making her own fist explode. Hiro laughed and she was once again reminded of how young he was.
"Take care of yourself, okay kiddo? Lot of criminals out there."
"You better not be one of them," Hiro called as she walked away laughing, leaving to get ready for her double date.
That Friday they decided to have a quick dinner and then head to The Queer Bait, on account of Seth and Morgan getting free drinks there. They wore casual clothes since they weren't doing anything fancy, a fun galaxy print crop top for Morgan and a black button-up Seth had stolen from Dalton and then ended up getting tailored, with a few buttons on the front unbuttoned to add flair and a pronoun pin that Sadie had gotten them a few years ago as a birthday gift.
Booker was working that night so when they headed over to the bar he switched from his customer service charms to his regular, still charming self.
"Ladies and gentlethem, how are we doing tonight? Morgan, Seth, who are your lovely friends?"
Honey Lemon laughed a little, beginning to blush. GoGo gave her a look, but she wasn't jealous.
"I'm GoGo and this is my girlfriend, Honey Lemon. Or at least, those are our nicknames."
"I like them, very chic. I'm Booker. Right now I live with Morgan and Seth while I'm saving up for a place of my own."
GoGo was secretly impressed that Morgan and Seth had friends who weren't crime fighters or criminals unless she'd misjudged this man entirely. He was going to get some good tips tonight.
"Anyway, what are we drinking tonight?" But an expert mixologist like Booker couldn't possibly have time to commit crime.
They talked and drank and danced together, occasionally coming back over to Booker to top off their drinks or get his opinion on something or another. Seth had a lot of fun with Honey Lemon and GoGo but they certainly didn't agree on everything, and Morgan was just along for the ride.
"You got so many compliments on your wings," Morgan commented as they climbed into the back of a cab on the way home.
"Who knew gay people liked bats so much?" Seth giggled, resting their head on Morgan's shoulders.
"Well, I always think you look incredible."
"Aww, thanks babe. I had a really good time tonight."
Morgan beamed. She'd been worried that Seth's first big night out since the incident would be difficult for them, but Seth seemed to be adjusting to things fairly well now that they'd gotten over the big hurdle of guilt. Of course, being with friends and being inebriated certainly helped. They both went to bed that night feeling better than they had in a while, despite knowing they'd both be hungover the next morning.
"I really like your friends," Booker mentioned the next morning as he made them some strong coffee, "I hope I get to meet more of them."
"Well GoGo and Honey Lemon really liked you, so I'm sure the rest of them would too. Maybe you can come with me to fencing practice on Monday with Wasabi and Fred," Morgan suggested.
"Ooh, that sounds really cool. Not much of a sword guy, but I'd love to watch."
"Fred just watches as well, even though it's his fencing facilities."
"Then it's a date," Booker said, "Seth are you coming too?"
"Normally yes, but on Monday I start work for Obake. You two have fun, though."
"Aw, bummer. Anyway, I'll be out today. I'm taking Maya to the park and then she's spending the night." Booker always lit up whenever it was his weekend with his daughter. He got to see her during the week sometimes but dedicated father-daughter weekends were his favorite.
"Oh, have fun! Say hi to her for us," Seth requested. Despite previously having the opinion that they didn't like kids, Maya had completely melted Seth's heart without even trying. Maya was just excited to have new friends and Morgan and Seth were more than happy to play with her whenever she was around.
"I will. Have a good day, you two." With that, Booker left them to fend for themselves for breakfast, but they already had dinner plans.
"I can't believe we have two double dates two days in a row."
"Three. We're getting brunch with Obake and Kei tomorrow. Which means we better not drink tonight."
"After last night I don't want to touch a drop," Seth assured Morgan, feeling like they'd overdone it a little on their first big night out in a while.
"Then we'll have a very calm and casual night with your sister and the boys, at a restaurant where we can only afford to drink water and get one entrée to split anyway," Morgan said with a laugh.
"And you won't flirt with my sister?"
"Scout's honor. But I'm gonna be wearing that blue floral dress you both like, so there's a chance she'll flirt with me."
"I'm pretty sure we're past that. Though I'm gonna be wearing my suit so Bennet might flirt with me…"
"I wouldn't mind it. It's Bennet, it's not like he's going to do anything. He's as ace as we are."
In person, that evening, Bennet had his own thing to say on the matter.
"Physically, I am not a monster fucker because I don't fuck, but spiritually I am absolutely a monster fucker and goddamn those wings really do it for me. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Several people, last night actually. A lot of gay people were into the wings."
"One girl wrote her number on Seth's arm in permanent ink," Morgan said with a laugh.
"That's why I'm wearing long sleeves," Seth said.
"The wings do look good on you," Dalton agreed, "but I don't know if I like them as much as Bennet does."
"I'm just saying! I still wouldn't choose Seth over you two, you don't have to worry about that, but I can't lie when I find something attractive."
"And we would never want you to," Sadie said, pressing a kiss to her monster fucker's cheek.
"Yeah, never change Benny," Seth agreed, "I get most of my ego from you."
Bennet burst out laughing and gave Seth a thumbs up, while Morgan pretended to be wounded.
"Babe, I compliment you all the time."
"Yeah, but you're my girlfriend, you have to compliment me. Bennet compliments are generally unprovoked."
"Bennet is the best at compliments," Dalton agreed, losing himself in his boyfriend's eyes for a minute.
"Well, the best deserves the best," Bennet said, leaning over and kissing Dalton before turning and doing the same to Sadie, "And I'm pretty sure I have the best partners in the world."
Seth wrapped an arm and a wing around Morgan, "I think that's where we'll have to agree to disagree, Benny Boy. Because I have the best partner in the world."
"Aww, babe." Morgan peppered Seth's face with kisses.
"Let's bring home some of the fancy rolls for Booker," Seth suggested after the kisses were complete and a server had dropped off more rolls for the table.
"That's a great idea."
"So you guys have been having fun, living with Booker?" Sadie asked.
"Yeah, he's practically a part of the family," Seth said, with Morgan nodding in agreement.
Bennet and Sadie exchanged a look that Dalton and the others didn't notice.
"That's good, Booker is a great guy, I'm glad he has such awesome people to live with," Bennet said.
"There you go with the compliments again," Morgan said with a grin.
"Couldn't stop if I wanted to, I tell it as it is." But there was one thing that he and Sadie noticed that Bennet kept back for now, knowing if they brought it up it would be denied and if they mentioned it to Dalton it would be blurted out by mistake. The only secrets Dalton kept were recipes, and he still shared most of those with Seth.
The topic of conversation changed to Seth's new job, which they kept pretty vague on account of the criminal activity, and at the end of the double date they boxed up a few rolls and most of their dessert for Booker and Maya.
Maya was asleep in Booker's room when they got home but Booker was awake and microwaved himself a roll.
"Thanks for thinking about me and Maya," he said quietly.
"Of course," Morgan said with a smile, "I think she's gonna like the dessert."
"She likes anything sweet, so I think she'll love it. You two are well on your way to becoming her best friends," Booker laughed. Morgan and Seth fist-bumped.
"Is there anything I can do to be her sole best friend?" Seth asked.
"I'm afraid not, Bats, come Monday her best friend will be the mailman."
"Damn. You can't win these days."
"Bats?" Morgan asked with a laugh.
"We decided that that'll be Booker's nickname for me," Seth said with a grin.
"When did you decide that?" Morgan was a little amused.
"Uh… It's Saturday now, so, um… It must have been Wednesday, right?"
"Right," Booker said with a nod before taking a bite of his fancy roll, "Oh, shit, is that honey butter?"
"It is."
"That's the best thing I've ever tasted. We'll have to go there sometime and get some more bread."
"Ooh, if we have three people we can split two entrées like Sadie and the Suspects did," Morgan said, forgetting momentarily the nickname topic. But only momentarily.
"So, Bats, what's Booker's nickname?"
"Doc. Because he almost became a therapist and because he likes those time travel movies."
"Aww. I want a cool nickname."
"You're Sugar. Or Angel. Isn't that enough?" Seth asked with a laugh.
"Huh. I guess Booker could call me Sugar. Sugar, Doc, and Bats. What a band of misfits we are."
Booker grinned, "And I consider myself very lucky to have found this band of misfits. But right now I need to go to bed so Maya doesn't wake up alone. She's still getting used to this place."
"We should get to bed too, we have brunch plans."
"I've never seen anyone go on as many double dates as you two," Booker laughed.
"What can I say? We're just really good at dating. Night, Doc."
"Night, Bats, good night, Sugar." Morgan watched Booker disappear into his bedroom, followed by Lulu. Beans was friendly but loyal to Seth, however, Lulu adored Booker and Maya more than she loved Seth and Morgan.
"I really like him," Morgan said absently as they got ready for bed, easily changing in front of each other after knowing each other for so long.
"Me too," Seth said, yawning.
"One last double date and then we'll get a break for a while."
"I never thought I'd get sick of going on dates with you."
"As long as you're not sick of me, I get it," Morgan said.
"Well, I could never be sick of you, babe. But if we're going to go on any dates soon then we're gonna have to do something chill."
"Or something different," Morgan said sleepily, not elaborating. She didn't have to. Seth crawled into Morgan's arms as they lay down for bed, both feeling comfortable and safe.
The next morning Morgan and Seth got up relatively early so they'd be ready for their brunch date and to spend some time with Booker and Maya.
Maya was immediately delighted as soon as she saw Seth and Morgan. She toddled over to Seth and reached to be lifted, to which Seth immediately complied.
"Fairy," Maya said, her eyes gleaming and her little toddler hand gently stroking the wing.
Seth beamed, "Yeah! I'm your fairy godparent."
Maya looked ecstatic.
"But they can only use their magic sparingly," Booker said wisely, "And it takes a lot of magic to have wings."
Maya nodded like this made sense, not completely understanding everything her dad said.
"Pretty," Maya said after thinking about things for a minute.
"Thank you, Maya, you're very pretty too." Maya nodded as if she already knew that.
"Am I pretty?" Morgan asked with a smirk. She didn't really care if a toddler thought she was pretty or not but she liked being a part of this, a little jealous that it seemed like Seth was Maya's favorite.
Maya nodded vigorously, "And daddy!"
"Oh yes," Morgan agreed, "Daddy is very pretty."
Booker rolled his eyes, "Don't you guys have to go eat toast?"
"We do, just wanted to say hi to our favorite little princess," Seth said, "and our favorite doc."
"Well, I know Maya is always happy to see you, right kiddo?" Booker took Maya from Seth's arms.
"Yeah!"
"Have fun on your date, Sugar Bats," Booker said.
"I think our ship name is Moth," Morgan corrected before taking Seth's hand. They were wearing matching pantsuits, button-ups, and sunflower ties. They looked good.
Moth got to the little cafe a little bit before Obake and Kei.
"What's their ship name?" Seth asked.
"Hm. Bob and Kei… Kob."
"What about Obakei?" Seth suggested.
"No, I like Kob."
Seth had to laugh.
"Kob's pretty great. Better than Sugar Bats."
"I like Sugar and I like Bats but together sounds like the name of a drag queen. And I'm more interested in being a drag king."
"Oh, you'd be so good at being a drag king, you wear that pantsuit so well," Seth gushed.
"Not as well as you," Morgan said.
"Yeah, but I'm not going to do drag, even though the wings are perfect for that."
"Huh. They are. Forget crime, you really could do drag…"
"Yeah, not gonna do drag and not gonna forget crime, I literally start my job tomorrow and my boss is right there," Seth pointed towards the door, where Obake had his arm wrapped around Kei. They really were quite cute together. Seth wrapped their arm around Morgan, not about to be outdone by a newer couple.
"Hey, kids," Kei said with a dazzling smile. She was wearing a gorgeous, flowy purple dress that matched but covered her mutation marks. Kei was no longer ashamed of those marks but since they were easier to hide than Seth's wings she had decided to cover them up sometimes when she went out. Right now she was just happy to be out with her friends and partner.
"Hi, mom," Seth joked.
"Are we still doing that?" Obake asked drily.
"Yes, these are our children," Kei said defensively, though this wasn't really an argument.
"Morgan is my nemesis and Seth is my employee and neither of them is young enough to be our children," Obake said.
"If I was your nemesis you wouldn't be getting brunch with me," Morgan pointed out.
"You're still not my daughter," Obake said.
"That's what my real dad said. Well, actually he said, 'I have another wife and kid in Nevada.' But the hurt is the same, Bob."
"This is why I only hired Seth and not you," Obake said.
"Obake wanted to hire you, Morgan, but Krei's got his claws in you for a couple of years until you've completely repaid him," Kei said. Sometimes Morgan forgot that Obake had been properly spying on her and Krei before they met. She decided not to think too hard about it.
"Yeah, that guy's a dick. Make sure you keep screwing him over until your contract is up," Obake said.
"And then will you hire me, dad?" Morgan asked with a shit-eating grin.
"No."
"That's okay, babe. I'll be the criminal and you'll be the hot one," Seth said.
"What about Booker?"
"There can be two hot ones."
"Aw babe, you're hot too," Morgan promised, leaning in for a kiss.
Obake felt a little uncomfortable with the PDA until he noticed that Kei was leaning in for a kiss too. Morgan could be a little insufferable, but Obake really liked being out in public with his partner. And Seth wasn't so bad, the crime lord genuinely felt like the inventive engineer could be a good part of their team, their crime family. Yeah, Obake had the feeling that for once things wouldn't end in catastrophe.
Question of the Week: What's your favorite nickname/ship name from this chapter?