Chapter Text
Lizzie and Joel had teased him for days after getting Scott's number. Jimmy had many times been subjected to their words, whether it be at home or out on patrol. Each time, his face would go redder than a tomato and he'd stutter and stammer, then eventually give up completely. One memorable occasion was when he'd ducked out of a fight simply because Joel had gotten a bit carried away.
The news coverage that day had been immensely inaccurate, and that only made Lizzie and Joel more entertained.
It soon became a game of who could get Jimmy to do something weird first. Because of this, the reporters became more and more interested in him, because apparently everyone wanted to know why Jimmy was doing all this. The questions always bordered on inappropriate, but reporters were careful to never push that boundary too far. They knew the limits of what they could and couldn't ask.
That didn't stop them, though.
The Lost Prince had gone suspiciously quiet after Jimmy's last encounter with him, but during that time a new villain - although whether they could actually be considered a villain or not was still up for debate - had emerged. A man who went by the nickname Hephaestus.
Hephaestus was the newest pain in Jimmy's ass. Constantly undermining and mocking him, tossing his gadgets at him to explode in his face, or catch him in a net and leave him dangling pathetically until another hero swooped down to set him free. All these attacks were targeted exclusively at him. Lizzie never faced serious burns. Katherine was never ensnared in a net or caught in a facsimile of a bear trap. Joel came the closest, with him having gone through far too many smoke bombs during those encounters, but that was about it.
For some reason, a target had been placed on Jimmy's head.
"Come on, cod-boy!" Hephaestus yelled, tossing a flame-coated mess of cogs and wires his way. Jimmy narrowly jumped to the side. A ball of slime shot out from his fingers and swiftly put out the fires. "You can do better than that."
He gritted his teeth. He saw vines pierce the asphalt as giant roots wrapped around Hephaestus' leg, dragging him down. Hephaestus pulled out an ornate bronze dagger and set to work severing the root.
Jimmy attacked while he still had an opening. Katherine raised large trees out the ground, and he stepped onto one, carrying him up into the air. The slime solidified around his fist to create a long, sharp weapon. He raised his fist and brought it down in a curved arc, colliding with the belt of tools at Hephaestus' hips. Hephaestus cursed, abandoning his task of cutting the root and swung the dagger at Jimmy. The blade nicked his cheek.
"Didn't even put up much of a fight," Katherine grumbled, dragging Hephaestus to the ground and binding his body in vines. "It's like he wanted to get caught." She caught sight of Jimmy and waved.
It didn't take nearly as long as he'd have thought to take Hephaestus down. It'd probably been only five or ten minutes. Maybe not even that.
"There's too many villains popping up now." He said. In Mythical's absence, at least a quarter of the city had made a grab for the power that had been opened up. After all, Xornoth was now down one of his best soldiers, and everyone wanted that position. Being that close to Xornoth essentially meant fame, riches and power beyond imagination. Nothing would be off-limits.
And that was exactly why it was suspicious that Hephaestus had gone down so quickly. Normally, the other villains would try harder to escape. To outdo the heroes in a desperate attempt to prove themselves to Xornoth. So for a villain as annoying and strong as Hephaestus to go down so soon, and with so little effort, there had to be something wrong.
But nothing came. No ice suddenly spread across the ground. No flames licked the buildings as plumes of ash and smoke rose into the air. There was no annoying laughter as a man swooped down on colourful wings.
Instead, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Scott: Looking forward to seeing you later :)
He smiled, then put his phone away, but not before sending a reply.
Katherine was at his side within less than a second. "Who's texting you?" She peered at his phone screen. "Scott? Is he a friend of yours?"
Jimmy flushed and shoved his phone into his pocket. "Yeah! Just- just a friend. We, uhh... met at that concert Lizzie and Joel took me to a while ago." It wasn't that much of a lie, but Katherine saw through it like looking through a window.
Even Hephaestus, still tied up, saw through it. The villain grinned at him and loudly yelled: "What, is he your boyfriend or something?"
His flush deepened. Katherine gasped in shock. "Wait, seriously? You have a boyfriend? And you didn't tell anyone?" She was shouting loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the city. Jimmy could already hear the tell-tale clamour and rush of footsteps as a hoard of reporters and journalists appeared from all sides, swarming them in an instant. He shot Katherine a look, but she only smiled and took off with Hephaestus.
She left him behind to deal with the reporters. Wonderful.
"Codfather?" Shelby asked, running up to him. Behind her was a group of reporters, all holding microphones or notepads and pens. She doubled over, hands on her knees as she breathed deeply. Then, regaining her composure, she took out her pen and flipped to a fresh page in her notepad. "Can I-"
"I'm actually kinda busy," He told her. "I have somewhere to be soon." Technically, he wasn't due there for a few hours. "Maybe some other time?"
"It won't take long!" She protested. "Please? It'll be quick, I promise."
He looked over her shoulder at the crowd of reporters all fighting to get over there. He saw the cameramen give each other sympathetic looks and purposefully divert the cameras away from the reporters and over to him.
He sighed. "Okay, shoot."
"What are the plans for dealing with the villains popping up over the city? Anything you can share with the public?"
"We're working on a solution right now," he replied. "Nothing's been finalised, but we've had a few suggestions. I can't share it with the public, though. Security reasons."
She nodded, scribbling down his response. The reporters were steadily approaching. "Cool. Comments on Mythical's trial?"
"He's getting what's coming to him." Jimmy began to back away, and Shelby let him. She yelled at the reporters, pointing left, and soon the crowd was surging down that street. Did they not even see him behind her? Shelby was truly magical. He could see why his colleagues preferred her to the other journalists.
Jimmy ran down the street, tracing the route back to base. People going about their days stopped to take photos of him going by. He ignored most of them, but turned to a few to smile and wave.
The looming building of the House Blossom Alliance stood out against its neighbours. Whilst they were short and stout, with a colourful exterior and signs to advertise the shops, the building was tall and narrow. It was mostly white, with highlights of purples and pinks and a few darker colours here and there. The windows were tinted, so nobody could peer inside on a whim, and the doors only opened to authorised personnel. Plant pots were hung outside windows and dangled precariously from hooks installed, adding a dash of greenery.
The doors opened to let him through. He was greeted to the sight of Hephaestus sat on one of the grey sofas in the left corner as elevator music played. At the far end of the room was Pearl sitting at the desk on her phone, the sunflower-yellow case bright against the blandness of the reception. Her eyes flicked up to see him, then she set down her phone.
"Katherine told me 'bout your boyfriend," She tapped a few buttons on her phone and showed him the screen. Already on social media there were clips of the exchange, all captioned with varied messages that essentially said the same thing.
The Codfather has a boyfriend???
"I don't have a boyfriend." He said through clenched teeth.
Hephaestus barked out a laugh. "Bullshit."
"Nobody asked you." Jimmy turned back to Pearl. "How many people has she told?"
Pearl shrugged. "Dunno. She just ran into the elevator to-" She trailed off. "Oh. Oh, you're not gonna like what she did."
"She told them, didn't she?"
On cue, Joel ran into the reception, grabbed Jimmy by the arm and towed him into the elevator. Despite Jimmy's numerous protests to being manhandled in such a way, Joel did not relent. He was shoved into the elevator with some other heroes, scouts, secretaries and PR managers. He spotted Pix among them and gave a shy smile and incline of his head. Pix smiled back.
The music in the elevator was unbearable. It was some lame tune Jimmy couldn't name, because as far as he knew, it had no name or lyrics to identify it with. Just some jingle made up to fill awkward spaces that only served to make them even more awkward.
Joel had a strong grip on his arm, he noticed. Out of curiosity, Jimmy summoned as thin a layer of slime as possible to coat his skin and, by extension, his suit, but the action had no effect. Joel's grip remained as strong as ever.
When they landed on their floor, Joel dragged him down to his room. Joel waited patiently as Jimmy fiddled with his keys.
Lizzie was already inside. How, he didn't know. Did she have a key? He definitely didn't give her one, and nobody was allowed keys to each other's rooms without permission and good reason. Unless her reason was to surprise, embarrass and tease Jimmy constantly, she shouldn't be able to get inside.
Then again, this was Lizzie he was talking about.
When the door was shut, Joel guided Jimmy to the sofa. The silence began to unnerve him; they were planning something, surely. Like in the elevator, silence fell over them, leaving Jimmy awkwardly twiddling his thumbs as he waited for someone to speak.
Lizzie leaned forward. "So, you and music boy, eh?"
He groaned. What else was he expecting them to say? "I don't know what you heard, but he's not my boyfriend." They both gave him a disbelieving look. "He isn't!"
"Right. The sky is orange, gravity doesn't exist, and you definitely don't have a boyfriend." Lizzie replied.
His face heated up. "We- we haven't even gone on a date yet!" His phone buzzed loudly in his pocket. Jimmy gave them a vague gesture of gimme a minute, and opened up the notification.
Scott: Just wanted to check, is it casual or smart-casual?
You: Casual?
There was a small pause.
Scott: Alright <3
Joel gasped dramatically and snatched the phone from Jimmy's hands. He made a move to take it back, but Joel was already out of reach. "He sent a heart! Jimmy, he sent a heart!" He showed Lizzie the text, and she exclaimed in excitement. "He is totally into you. Hell, are you sure you two aren't a thing?"
"I think I would know if I had a boyfriend, Joel." Jimmy ran over and stretched across Lizzie with both arms. He whacked Joel in the face, then snatched his phone back with a triumphant noise.
"Would you, though?"
He made a strangled noise at the back of his throat. "I would!"
Lizzie waved him off with a dismissive hand. "We laid some clothes out for you in your room. Put them on, and comb your hair, for crying out loud." She made shooing motions, and he got the hint, heading into his room.
They weren't kidding. On the back of his chair was a cream shirt and a brown leather jacket, and dark jeans to complete the look. At the bottom of the chair was a set of casual black trainers. On his desk was a silver necklace with a cod charm on it; a gift from Lizzie when he'd first turned twenty-one.
He took a quick shower, tying a towel around his waist and drying his hair with a different towel, then changed into the clothes laid out for him. Not to his surprise, Lizzie and Joel made a good choice. He looked pretty damn good like this. Jimmy checked out his appearance for a short while. When there was a knock at his door (shave and a haircut), he emerged from his room to show off the look.
Jimmy stepped out and took a seat on the sofa. "Do I look good?" His hand rested on his jean pocket, feeling the outline of his phone.
"Yup." Joel replied, popping the 'p' and grinning. "But it doesn't matter what we think, does it?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, eliciting a groan from both Jimmy and Lizzie.
His phone buzzed again. Not a message from Scott, which made his heart sink, but when he read the notification, his eyes bugged out of their sockets and he leapt up, running to the door. "I gotta go! Wish me luck!" He called out over his shoulder, running out of the room and past the elevator in favour of taking the stairs. He missed two steps each time, jumping when he got to the last four until he was on the ground floor. He quickly checked for his phone and wallet. Safe in the knowledge he had both of them on him, he ran out the building and down the street.
---
He made it to the venue with five minutes to spare. The train had been miraculously ahead of schedule, and he spent the majority of the ride vibrating so heavily in his seat that the old lady next to him had to ask if he was alright. He told her he was just excited, then got off at his stop and raced down the street.
The place they'd agreed on was one that Katherine would work a few shifts at in her spare time. A Cup of Magic was the name. A cosy joint nestled between a tattoo parlour and a corner shop. Peering in through the windows, he caught sight of the shelves bustling with plants and small labelled bottles containing ground leaves and various coloured powders. A woman with ginger hair stood behind the counter, with a name tag he couldn't read from where he stood. The walls themselves were a mixture of dark wood and a nice purple colour.
Jimmy checked his messages again. Two more minutes now. This was definitely the right place.
He spotted cyan hair drawing closer, and tensed. He could hear Smajor's voice in his ears, feel the chill of an ice spike running up his spine and trapping him there. He saw those eyes staring at him, a coy smile on Smajor's face as he walked over.
"Hey," Scott said. He was dressed in a pale blue sweater over a white collared shirt, and beige trousers.
"Hi." He cocked his head back to the door. "Shall we?" Scott smiled, taking his hand as they entered the coffee shop together.
They took a seat at a table relatively out of the way, and situated next to a window. He got a decent view of the street as well as a nice vantage of the rest of the coffee shop, so he was pleased. He tried to look for exit points as covertly as possible; he spotted the door they entered, a window (if he broke the glass) and a door into what must have been a storage area or something. Presumably there was another door in the storage room, but he wasn't sure.
Scott sat down opposite him and took out his phone, taking a picture of the menu above the counter and zooming in. "Anything catch your eye?" He asked, rotating the phone so Jimmy could see.
He did a quick look at everything on offer (how could there be that many different kinds of coffee?) and came to the same conclusion he normally made when he was at a place like this: "I'll just have a black coffee." His eyes roamed over to the other side, and he paused. "Maybe a brownie as well."
"Alright. I can go up there and order now, or we can talk for a bit first." Scott turned, ready to get out of his seat. He looked at Jimmy, his eyes soft and totally unlike a certain cyan-haired villain. Then he smiled, and Jimmy could imagine that mask over his face, imagine them both out on the street. The ice spike returned, nicking the skin on his back.
"Um... you can go order. I'll wait here."
"Cool. Be back in a sec." Scott winked, stood up and joined the back of the shortened queue.
A short time passed, and he spent mostly on his phone, searching up things like questions to ask on a first date. All he saw were basic questions like "What are your hobbies?" and "What's your favourite animal/food/drink/colour?" Eventually, he gave up.
By that time, Scott returned from the queue with a cup of black coffee, a brownie, a chocolate-chip cookie and a sugary monstrosity that made Jimmy's stomach churn just from looking at it.
"How do you drink that?" He asked, with an expression of utter horror. He'd seen a lot of weird shit, but anyone drinking something as sugary as that without throwing up terrified him. "It's more sugar than coffee."
"I need something to sweeten me up." Scott replied, taking a long sip whilst deliberately maintaining eye contact. When he was done, he giggled. It was a nice sound. Jimmy wanted to hear it more often.
A car alarm went off outside. It wasn't loud, due to the chatter and faint music in the shop drowning it out, but it was still loud enough for Jimmy to pick up on it. Scott seemed to do so, too. In unison, they turned to look out the window.
It was Pearl outside, chasing after Hephaestus. How did he escape already?! Jimmy pulled out his phone and checked his messages. Most of them were normal, but the last few were desperately telling him to get out of the area.
Scott's expression was unreadable. He took a bite out of his cookie, then stood up. "Should we take this date on the road?" He suggested. "I think it's best we avoid becoming collateral damage."
"But... won't it be safer to stay inside?"
He wavered, but shook his head. "No. We... we need to go. I know a place, if you want." He should press. He should ask how Scott knew that, and where exactly he intended on taking Jimmy. He should be doing a lot of things, and potentially being on a date with a dangerous villain was not one of them, yet he was doing it anyway.
Jimmy nodded. "Okay, sure." He grabbed his coffee and his brownie, and followed Scott out of the coffee shop. What was the worst that could happen? If things went sour, then there was at least one person out of the two of them that could keep them safe.
It was utter chaos outside. Civilians were recording as much of the fight as they could, whilst keeping close to the sidelines and remaining wary of damage being wrought to the streets, roads and buildings around them. A bomb was thrown, and a large crater formed in the centre of the road. Several more car alarms went off, and many angry drivers rolled down their windows to cuss out Hephaestus. The villain couldn't be bothered to care; the car alarms, beeping horns and constant movement drowned out anything they were saying.
Scott grabbed his hand and held it tightly as he guided them away from the fight. He stared straight ahead, with occasional worried sidelong glances cast Jimmy's way. He squeezed Scott's hand gently. His hands were incredibly cold, but if Scott was who he thought he was, then that didn't come as much of a surprise.
What came as a surprise was how calm he was about it.
They made it a few streets away, tracing back to where the conflict seemingly originated. The road in front of the House Blossom base was cracked and filled with gaping holes, a few cars unfortunate enough to have been damaged in the fray. A massive hole was blown into the building on the fifth floor. Shattered glass coated the street. They walked on, both trying not to look at the damage too much.
Just collateral, but that didn't make it much better. Just collateral, but people's homes and jobs had been impeded upon by fights that they weren't involved in.
It usually boiled down to being just collateral.
They approached a park. There was a tall wrought iron fence, and the ornate gate was open as civilians casually strolled past. The grass was neatly trimmed, benches were stationed at relatively even intervals, and there was a surprising absence of litter.
"It's a nice park," He said, when the silence felt too heavy for him.
Scott hummed, his smile growing slightly. "It is. I like to come here when life gets a bit much." They walk for a while until they reach a bench next to a small pond. In the pond are a school of small fish swimming in the clean water. There's pondweed growing there, and the grass surrounding the pond is taller, shortening the farther away it is. Amidst the grass are a few brightly-coloured flowers.
They sit down together. Jimmy takes a bite out of his brownie and is grateful he's sat down. He melts against the bench with a satisfied noise, his face flushing because he just did that really loudly what if Scott thinks that's weird or-
He shook the thought away and focused on just enjoying his brownie. Scott does the same with his cookie, a few crumbs on his cheek. Jimmy felt the urge to lean across and wipe them off with his thumb, but that would be crossing a line. Too... domestic for a first date. Maybe when they've gone on a few more dates, that sort of thing would be more acceptable, but not just yet.
"Do I have something on my face?" Scott asked with a playful tone. "You're staring very intently. It's flattering."
"Um-" He just bit the bullet. Jimmy leaned in and cupped Scott's cheek, his thumb brushing away the crumbs. He let his hand stay there for a moment. Scott looked at him with those eyes, and his lips parted, and he just looked so kissable. He pulled back, ears burning equally as red as his face. "Sorry, that was probably too forward, wasn't it?"
"No, it's fine." Scott's hand grabbed his.
Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. That was the best way (and the most cliche, he commented internally) to describe the sensation. His body was flooded with a tender warmth that hugged him, held him tightly and whispered its love for him.
They sat in comfortable silence, leaning against one another and sharing the moment. Civilians walked by, and Jimmy made up stories for them; an elderly woman that used to be an international spy, then retired when she got bored; a man with two dogs that was secretly an arsonist, and owned a flower shop; two women that ran away together from a stifling town to live freely.
He checked his phone, and sighed with relief. Hephaestus had been recaptured, and put into proper containment for the foreseeable future.
"What is it?" Scott asked.
"The fight's over," He explained. "Hephaestus got caught."
Scott's shoulders tensed up ever so slightly. "Did he now?" He muttered with a ponderous expression. Shaking it off, Scott got up to his feet and lifted Jimmy up. "It's getting late. I'm due back at Gem's for rehearsals and all."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry. It- it was nice to do this." Scott offered him a shy smile that looked heavenly on his face. Jimmy took in every tiny part of his expression and committed it to his long-term memory. He refused to forget that smile. "Can we do it again?"
"Yeah!" He exclaimed. Jimmy blushed, then coughed awkwardly into his fist. "I mean, yeah. I guess we could."
"Great! Let's say, next weekend? Or sooner, if that works for you."
Jimmy nodded. He could absolutely clear off his schedules if he played the boyfriend card. He'd get teased, for sure, but it would be worth it to try this again, uninterrupted. An actual date with Scott sounded amazing. "That works. Text me a date when you get home?"
"I will." Scott grabbed both of his hands and- oh. Oh, they were very close. He could feel Scott's breath against his lips, and it sent bolts of electricity up his spine. He felt the urge to press their bodies together, to grab Scott by the hips and pull him closer until there was no space between them. He was light-headed just from the proximity alone.
It was so quick he almost missed it. Scott had waited, and Jimmy gave him a nod, and suddenly their lips were brushing against each other. It was chaste, but it was perfect.
"See you later, cod-boy." Scott said, his hand gently thumbing his necklace, then leaving. He turned his head to smile and wave as he disappeared into the distance. Jimmy remained standing there, his hand rising to clutch his necklace.
He went home soon after.
---
"Details!" Lizzie screeched, plopping onto the sofa and sitting cross-legged, arms propped up on her thighs. "Give me details. What happened? Where'd you go?"
"Did you two kiss?" Joel called out. From the kitchen, Jimmy noted, with a growing sense of horror. The last time Joel was in the kitchen, he made a delicious meal, but he also started a fire that took ages to put out.
"Joel!" He exclaimed.
"No, he's got a point." Lizzie leaned closer. "So? Did ya kiss? Was it nice?"
He groaned, placing his head in his hands and trying to ease his oncoming headache. This was only the first few minutes. Knowing these two, he'd be here for an hour before they finally let him go.
Joel emerged from the kitchen alongside two clones, all three of them carrying bowls. It was a simple mac-and-cheese night for them. After everyone received their bowls, he sat down next to Lizzie, his arm looping around her waist. "C'mon, Jimmy! Tell us!"
He recounted the date slowly, going off on tangents every now and again, but ultimately returning back to the original discussion after a gentle probe from Lizzie and Joel. Once he was done, he leaned back and prepared himself for the inevitable barrage of questions.
It was quiet, at first.
Maybe he'd actually get away with it. Maybe he could sneak off to his bedroom and spend the rest of the day relaxing.
"You two kissed!" Lizzie squealed. She pumped a fist into the air. "Yes! Katherine owes me twenty bucks!"
Joel groaned. "I still owe her about forty."
Lizzie gave him a playful look. "It's your fault for being so bad at this." She cackled, leaning her head against his side, her shoulders shaking with laughter. "No seriously, I'm happy for you, Jimmy."
Bashful, he looked away, swallowing the lump in his throat. He didn't want to tell them that Scott might be Smajor. He couldn't. Not if that playful glee turned bitter within the span of a few seconds. all of this would be ruined by just a few words.
He didn't want that.
Jimmy took a spoonful of mac and cheese and shovelled it into his mouth. The TV turned on, and the three of them watched it.
"Welcome back! I'm Joey, and this is Empire News. The villain Hephaestus was put into containment today after his earlier capture and escape, and is currently in the process of being lined up for a court trial. There is yet to be a date for Mythical's trial, although many are speculating that it will be released in a matter of weeks, so stay alert for when that drops! We also have a special guest here today. Please welcome the hero Helanthia!"
There was a pre-recorded fanfare as Pearl appeared on the screen, clearly via some kind of video call. There was minor static on her end. She'd donned her typical costume for the interview.
"Wait, Pearl is Helanthia?" He asked aloud. Lizzie shrugged and gestured for him to be quiet.
"It's nice to be here," Pearl told him. "I believe you have questions for me?"
The interviewer - Joey, Jimmy noted to himself, the man looked and sounded very familiar - sat up straighter, adjusting the papers in front of him. "Yes! Now, many members of the public are curious to know your standing on Mythical's trial, seeing as you two were quite close before he turned."
To her credit, Pearl seemed completely fine. If it were Jimmy there, he'd have snapped or remained silent, or diverted the conversation elsewhere. Pearl took the question in stride. "I hoped that he'd come back, when he first started. That he'd realise what he was doing was wrong. But since he didn't, I don't care that he's facing trial. That is the consequence for committing crimes and harming civilians."
"And, if that's your standing on Mythical, do you have an opinion on Smajor leaving Exor's Alliance?"
"If he's starting to see the error of his ways, who am I to deny him his chance at redemption? As long as Smajor didn't leave to be an independent villain, or start his own villain group, then I have no problem with him."
Jimmy ignored the rest of the interview, making quick work of his meal. When he finished, he placed his bowl in the kitchen then ran into his bedroom.
He stripped off his clothes and got into his pyjamas. Lying on his bed, he opened up one of his contacts and sent out a message.
With that out of the way, Jimmy dug under the covers and fell asleep. He dreamed of cyan hair and soft lips.