Despite Calliope insisting, Russ declined her invitation to have dinner with them that night. Little Clara had tired him out. He had to hand it to her parents, he honestly didn't know how they both managed to maintain full time jobs and keep up with their 8 year old. And people said Pro-hero work was hard? Parenthood surely came close.

Then again, that didn't mean he didn't envy his old teammates, especially as he closed the door to his quiet apartment behind him. Silence greeted him. There was no sound of Calliope's gentle humming or Sam's muttering as he toiled away over his notebook, no sound of Clara's crayons scribbling...

Sighing, he flicked on the lights and made his way over to his makeshift gym. Sure, he was tired but he didn't want to risk another lonely, sleepless night; he'd make sure his body was utterly depleted of energy before getting into bed.

After an hour of solid working out, he threw together a small meal for one, showered then went to bed. He'd forgotten to close the window. The sheets felt particularly cold that night.

Russ woke up late Sunday morning. It had been another dreamless night without any alerts. It seemed the villain's and criminals were holding out on him. Of course, that was a good thing. But that didn't stop Russ from feeling a little lost. When he wasn't fighting villains or spending time with his brother's family, he didn't really know what to do with himself.

In the end, after gazing out the window absentmindedly whilst drinking his coffee, watching the dog walkers and the kite surfers on the beach, he made the decision to go for a jog.

After a quick wash and breakfast, he headed out the door and into the hallway. As he turned the key in the lock, he smiled as he heard Clara's voice coming from the door to his brother's apartment. She was singing loudly along to the morning radio. Luckily for her parents, she had a lovely voice. Her taste in music however, remained to be seen. Sam insisted she'd eventually grow out of her love for boybands and pop music. However, despite his dislike for the genre, his older sibling could be heard singing along to the generic lyrics in the background. This only made Russ smile more as he lingered by the door listening to the father/daughter duet. He debated knocking before deciding against it and taking off down the stairs.

As he exited the apartment building, he turned left instead of right. Today, he'd go a different route. Coz why the hell not?

Rather than head towards the beach, he took off towards the harbour. It was a quieter route. Part of him wondered why he hadn't taken it before. He jogged effortlessly by strings of colourful shop-fronts and impressive yachts. He had always wanted to learn how to sail but after taking one lesson with his old mentor Undyne the Undying, he quickly learnt that seafaring was not for him. His old mentor hadn't been sympathetic at all to his horrific seasickness and cackled at his green, slumping figure all the way back to the harbour.

As he turned a corner, he immediately stopped in his tracks as a familiar face caught his attention. Or rather, the familiar flash of pink and purple hair did, for Penelope's face was concealed behind a tall pile of grocery bags.

"H-hey!" He called out tentatively as she drew closer. Her large, amethyst-like eyes appeared over the top of a cereal box.

"Oh! Mr Papyrus!" She returned, turning towards him as their paths crossed. She sounded like she was smiling but he could still only see half her face.

"It's Russ. You can, err, call me Russ." He smiled, dipping his head left and right to try and see her properly.

"Do you need a hand?" He asked politely, frowning as the paper bags in her arms threatened to slip.

She hummed in thought as she attempted to hitch the bags into a more manageable position, only to lose a few apples in the process. They rolled along the concrete as Penelope cussed politely in her charming, Irish accent; Ah feck!

Russ found himself immediately smiling as he scooped them up.

"Oh, okay then," she decided eventually, and allowed Russ to take a couple of bags from her after placing the apples back in. She accepted his offer to help her carry them all the way home.

"You must feel quite silly helping a civilian carry their shopping when you're so used to fighting crime and bad guys." She said lightly as they passed the colourful shop fronts he had jogged by earlier.

Russ smiled, the pleasant scent of flowers from a boutique florist filled the air. "I like to help people whenever I can. It doesn't always have to mean taking down villains and criminals. Small things count too."

"Like taking your niece out to the beach?" She replied, her bright hair matching the fuchsias and orchids they passed by.

"Exactly!" He grinned, and felt his heart skip again when he saw her return the expression.

"She was very lovely," Penelope commented, her eyes drifting forwards again. They were nearing Russ' apartment building. He vaguely wondered if Sam and Calliope were sat out on the balcony. Perhaps they would see him. He hoped they wouldn't. His brother was likely to try and embarrass him somehow. He glanced up towards their apartment to find the balcony empty. Perhaps Sam and Clara were still dueting in the lounge.

"She certainly is." Russ replied, picturing his adorable niece singing into a wooden spoon while her father danced her around the room on his hip as Calliope clapped happily from the couch.

"Please let her know I've made good use of her seashell!" Penelope chimed eagerly.

When she turned excitedly back to face him, she almost lost more apples. She barely seemed to notice.

"I will. She'll be happy to hear that."

They continued to chat casually for the entire trip back to Penelope's small bungalow near a quiet part of the beach front. In that time, it had mainly been her who had asked all the questions. Though he was used to people wanting to know more about him, notably his private life, Penelope had been more curious about random and innocent things. Like, for example, what his favourite part of the day was, which part of the city he thought had the best view of the sunset, which shop he thought sold the best apples...

She was peculiar in her mannerisms. She tilted her head when she spoke, eyes gazing off unblinkingly into the distance. And when she did turn them towards him, he found himself lost in their gem-like appearance. Like her hair, they were purple towards the top and faded into pink.

He found her rather enchanting with her messy braids and large eyes. Her melodic accent only adding to this effect.

As they joined the few steps to her front door, she turned to him with a smile, head cocked to the side as she invited him inside for a drink.

"You must be thirsty!"

Her home was just as quirky as her. It was full of shelves lined with peculiar trinkets and oddities, homemade jewellery was scattered across nearly every surface and bright canvases hung at different heights along the walls. It was so different from what he was used to seeing. His apartment was neat and uniform, with solid blocks of primary colours dotted here and there against a white background. Calliope had decorated her and Sam's place with neutral, calming shades, lush houseplants and fresh linens.

Penelope was the chaotic to Calliope's neutral.

As he took a seat at her seashell covered table, he found himself wondering if the two women would get on. They were both quite different on first appearances.

But Calliope got on with pretty much everyone. Over the years of working with him and his brother during their time as a pro-hero team, to working at Juggernaut as a teacher, she had developed a saint-like patience. Despite her troubled past, she always saw the good in people and had a graceful air that was difficult to find fault in.

Penelope didn't offer Russ a choice of beverage. Instead, she placed a cup of yellow liquid in front of him. A quick sniff revealed the fresh scent of lemons.

"Homemade lemonade! Don't worry, it's not poisoned." She chirped, appearing opposite him with a jug of more lemonade in one hand and a glass in the other.

"Don't worry, I didn't expect it to be," Russ smiled, lifting the glass to his lips.

"That's nice to hear," Penelope said happily as she pushed some shells across the table to make room for the jug.

"Usually, once people learn of my quirk, they suspect that I just poison everything."

Despite himself, Russ couldn't help but stall at her words. He held the liquid in his mouth and debated whether or not he should discreetly spit it back into the glass when she turned her back on him to begin putting away the groceries.

Throwing caution to the wind, he swallowed. Other than being a little too sour for his taste, it wasn't that bad. He hadn't started foaming at the mouth or coughing up blood at least.

"What is your quirk?" He asked, placing the glass back down on a seashell-free spot on the table.

"Oh. It depends on the time of day," she replied, opening a cupboard to reveal an abundance of dried herbs.

Is that why she'd asked him which time of day he preferred? He'd told her it was the morning...

She went on, continuing to put away her groceries as she did so.

"During the day, my hands can heal but at night time my touch becomes poisonous."

He once again stalled as he went to take another sip of lemonade. He thought it could use just a touch more sugar.

"Poisonous?"

"Mmhmm. The longer I leave my hands on someone, the more I can either give or drain energy away."

Russ raised his brows. "Fascinating quirk." He commented lightly, trying not to sound like his father.

"I suppose so," Penelope replied, dusting off her hands as she finished putting away the last tin. She slipped into a chair opposite him. "Though it wasn't pleasant discovering it."

Russ frowned and remembered the time his brother had discovered his ability to summon the GasterBlaster skull that later became his ultimate move during his time as a Pro Hero. The beastly skull had almost burnt his older brother to a crisp, leaving him with a nasty scar across his torso. Calliope had also suffered from the discovery of her ability to turn people to stone, but only under immense trauma. Or at least, that's how it had been before Sam had helped her learn how to master it after running some tests at the lab. She could now turn things to stone at will, only having experimented on objects. The effect was irreversible however, so she chose never to use it, especially on people.

"What happened?" He began, then quickly added "if you don't mind me asking."

She smiled gently at him. Sipping at her own glass of lemonade before starting.

"Oh well. I learnt I could heal things when I used to help my mother grow herbs in the garden. But one night, I was playing with Raymond, my hamster, and after about 5 minutes, he died in my hands."

Her face remained quite neutral as she relayed this. It reminded Russ vaguely of a young Todoroki back when he used to tutor him during his time at UA.

"That's awful." Russ commented, noting how Penelope also had a strange taste in pet names, much like Clara did. He remembered laughing with Calliope and Sam about her naming her skeletal serpent Ozzy.

Penelope nodded and sighed into her glass. It clouded up, as did her eyes slightly as she seemed to relive the memory.

However, she promptly snapped out of her trance and her smile quickly returned.

"Anyway! I mustn't bore you! I'm sure your life has been far more exciting than mine! I should let you get back to it!"

Though Russ could have stayed and listened to her Irish lilt all day, he didn't want to overstay his welcome. He thanked her for the drink and the chat and she returned her appreciation for his help. She stood and waved to him from the door as he made his way back down her pebbled garden path. The whole area smelt like sage and basil.

There was a slight spring in his step as he walked home. And it wasn't from the lemonade, as he still thought it needed a extra dose of sugar.

However, as he touched his fingers to the bracelet Penelope had given him as thanks, made from the pretty shell Clara found, he felt his heart swell. He turned his wrist here and there to inspect her handiwork under the afternoon sun. The pretty shell did indeed shine iridescently like one of Calliope's scales. Russ noted how the piece of jewellery was like a delicate homage to three very unique females. Two of which he was extremely close to while the other...

The other he secretly hoped he'd get to know more.