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Ray woke up like he always does, scrunched up in the small twin-sized bed that he’s just barely too big for, the mettle bedframe squeaking as he set up. His first thought was how tired he was, immediately followed by if he was to crawl back into bed how long it'd take for someone to come looking for him, probably 4 days he'd decided, when they needed something from him. From there he ran on autopilot. shower, teeth, hair, when he finally walked out of the bathroom he almost missed it, the small change in detail. As he sat on the bed to meditate his eye caught it, on his dresser right next to all the trinkets and gifts his fans have given him, sat a single Hershey kiss. It was the only thing out of place. He didn’t give it much more thought as he left for the mancave ready to start his day of waiting around for someone to need him.
He immediately spotted it this time, sat under the tubes where two stuffed bears, one brown with a blue mask the red suit matching his captain man suit and the other gold with a red mask dressed as kid danger, he picked up the gold one smiling at it, Henry Jr. he decided, he placed both of them on the couch side by side and groaned as the alarm went off, crime doesn't stop just cause it seven A.M. he went on with his day forgetting about the bears.
Walking into Junk and Stuff an hour later, Ray feels himself slipping further into his sour mood. It's not that big a deal really, the robbery was just Jeff trying to steal all the candy and flowers from the local grocery store, but that's what puts him on edge, Jeff got a date, JEFF, how did Jeff get a girlfriend? And that's the thing, Ray keeps thinking about it, he doesn't want a girlfriend, he hadn’t even tried finding a date for today, he hates commitment and yet he feels this hollow feeling whenever he thinks about being alone.
Ray tried to just go straight for the elevator, he already feel tired and annoyed but that feeling is worsened when he was stopped by jasper at the counter “Hey Ray” the over dramatic sigh he let out came from a deep place and he hoped it showed how little he wanted to talk, but the giant smile Jasper gave him in return and the glint in his eye tells him that he either doesn’t care or didn’t even notice his discontent “Happy valentines day!” Ray looked at him then tried walking away without acknowledging him, but Jasper kept talking like it didn’t bother him “this was left on the counter before I got here” he held his hand out and Ray snatched the mail out of jaspers hand "there's no name on that one” he pointed but Ray had tuned Jasper out at this point thumbing through the bills while walking to the elevator his attention caught on the small blue envelope in his hand, his name written neatly in red ink. Ray.
Hastily ripping the lip open and pulling the note out he can’t help but read and reread it
When darkness appears with its evil schemes,
You leap into action, fulfilling our dreams.
Roses are red, your suit is blue,
Your courage stands, so brave, so true.
In shadows you fight where darkness looms,
A beacon of hope that brightly blooms.
Your eyes hold a fire, a spark in the night,
Through every struggle, you bring forth the light.
In your presence, I feel so secure,
A hero like you, steadfast and Sure.
With every encounter, my heart starts to race,
To stand in your shadow, I’ve found my safe space.
So here is my truth, with no fear of expense,
Roses are red, your suit is blue, my heart beats and beats only for
You.
Ray feels his heart thud in his chest, a love poem… to him?
He doesn't even look up as he walks through the mancave, Charlotte is sat at her console when he walks in, the stuffed bears seem to have been moved to look as if their in fighting poses, Ray is stuck so far in his head trying to understand the poem that he didn’t even hear Charlotte talking, cutting her off mid sentence "I've had the weirdest day, with chocolate and toys, now I have a letter and Jeff, JEFF has a girlfriend” Charlotte shook her head holding her hands up “what is happening, are you having a stroke?” she's only partially joking but Ray’s still ranting “slow down, start from the beginning” and so Ray told her everything, handing the letter over for her to see, she read it over quickly, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion “who could possibly know you as both Ray and captainman?” he shook his head, “I don’t know it’s not like I make a habit of introducing myself as Captainman” he snarked back Charlotte rolled her eyes before going back to her computer “ya Ray, it’s not like you’re constantly bringing girls down here” the sarcasm dripped from her tone making him sigh and look anywhere but at the back of her head “HEY! I haven’t done that in like months, it’s not like-” he finally takes in his surroundings “where’s Henry?” choosing to ignore the sadness he feels at the absence of his best friend “he’s at his sister's basketball game, he’ll be here in a bit” Ray groans in annoyance and pouts, he knows he’s acting like a petulant child but no one ever called him mature. “I’m going to my room, don't bother me” he doesn't wait for an answer to busy reading the note over again trying to wrack his brain.
The moment he walks into his room he’s greeted by a gift basket that he knows wasn’t there when he left this morning, candy, assorted jerky, the good expensive soda he notes is Henry’s favorite and a card that only says figure it out yet? He sits in his thoughts for a while going over everyone it could possibly be but keeps coming up blank, maybe its Kaity? Or Haley? Or even Steven? But none of them sound right, he keeps coming back to those stuffed bears, one of him and one of… he looks at the soda, and thinks about the messy hand writing on the letter. Every thought begins circling Henry and he feels his stomach lurch then swoop like going over a hill way too fast; He feels sick, and excited, and so very terrified, but one emotion stood out from the rest, breathless. He felt like he was on the tallest mountain top unable to catch his breath, the thought of Henry doing all this for him made him feel like a teenager again, like he was getting an experience he had missed out on. But after the light headedness and excitement, comes a headache and nausea like he's never felt, if henry did this then that means he lo- likes him, Ray thought about their interactions lately, thinking about if he gave Henry any indication he wanted something from him, every little detail, it was safer to deny it, act like it was the casual brotherly affection it used to be but… to his horror he couldn’t deny himself the fact that ya since Henry’s been hanging around more lately he's been treating him differently and like the floor had dropped out from under him; he really started looking at his own actions; flirting disguised as jokes, touches covered as accidental, and to his surprise the realization that Henry has welcomed it all, throwing dumb one-liners for Ray to parry, leaning into all the small touches and seeking out hugs, he even chooses to stay late and come in early lately.
“Why?” Ray says it like the universe personally betrayed him, he doesn’t even know what he’s asking, why him? why is this happening? why Henry? why doesn’t it bother him more that it’s Henry? Jesus WHY HIM? With a deep breath he gets up just as his watch triple beeped duty calls.
Henry met Ray at the Swellview park throwing himself straight into the fray punching a dude before he could jump Ray “Dude why didn’t you beep me?” Ray took a deep breath and if he punched the bad guy just a bit harder than necessary then he wasn’t saying anything “you were busy, I had this under control” he most certainly did not ‘have this under control’ as he punched another goon, Henry rolled his eyes “sure you did that’s why Schwaz called me all frantic telling me I needed to get here” Henry soccer kicked the bad guy Ray just dropped “I did too have it under control” he crossed his arms pouting “they were all basically taken care of” just as he said that Henry zapped one of them that were about to punch Ray “uh huh, sure you did big dog” he pats Ray on the chest lingering in his space longer than needed, longer than was safe. Ray hates that thought, things that used to be comforting are now surrounded by question marks, wondering if he should step back, put up that boundary, but he needed Henry, he can’t just faze him out, Henry would know something was up immediately and Ray doesn’t want to have that conversation right now, in the open. Henry took his silence and continued pouting as a sign that he was upset about needing help, that his pride was wounded, completely lost to the turmoil of feelings happening inside his head “come on dude, lets head back to the mancave” Ray stayed petulant “I’ll buy you a churro on the way” his voice was singsongy and he ducked his head pulling Ray’s eye line back up to his face “ya ok” Ray couldn’t help the shy smile he felt as they walked side by side back to Rays car; and if he’d accidentally bumped shoulders with him multiple times on that short walk, well then Henry didn’t say anything.
It was already 7:30 by the time Ray left Schwaz’s lab walking out to the mancave, note in hand, he was trying to see if Schwaz could get any fingerprints off of it and he was surprised to see Henry laying sprawled out on the couch scrolling through his phone the captainman bear is tucked behind his head like a pillow. He looks up right as Ray’s eyes darted around the room “what’cha got there?” he sets up focused on the blue paper in Ray’s hand, his expression unreadable “someone's been leaving valentines for me all over the building today, I’m pretty sure I know who” Ray watches Henry carefully trying to read him and to his shock only seeing confusion.
Horror is the only word close enough to describe Ray’s feelings “who?” it was an innocent question that made Ray panic “I- it’s- I thought-” not a single thought articulated as he spirals, Henry's face only showed more confusion “Ray, dude what is happening?” Henry stands up crossing into his personal space again, all of a sudden the lines are laid out clearly between safety tape and bubble wrap, or head first off that cliff's edge. And he had a decision to make. His mind spun, his breath shaky “Hen” he didn't even recognize his own voice, his legs moved before he could stop himself, he’s at his bedroom door before he realizes it, reminding himself to take deep breaths, he opens the door and all thoughts escape him as he sees a woman sat on the edge of the bed “hi captain” he blinks, rubs his eyes, looks again, and there she is still sat like she owned the room “nurse Cohort” he greeted her in that super hero voice disguising his confusion and annoyance at this inconvenience “what are you doing here? How did you get in?” she laughs leaning back on her hands “been here all day, left you some presents, what I thought you liked surprises” he wrinkles his nose at the attempted seductive tone she was using “I- aren’t you and Minyak kinda a thing?” it was her turn to wrinkle her nose “gross he’s just my stupid boss” she sets up scooting closer to the end of the bed “this didn’t work did it?” she gestures around at the candles lit on every surface of the room to which he shakes his head “I’m not gonna lie, I thought- well I was hoping” he let the sentence die on his tongue, still seeing that stupid line “what you did was very sweet but I just don’t- wait how did you know where to find me? How do you know who I am?” she snorts “ya ok Ray, anyone who looks at you for more than a second and has more then two brain cells could figure it out. Those masks don't actually cover your face, you know that don’t you?” he scoffs at her tone as if she was explaining a trick to a dog “ya ok, I’ve kinda got a lot on my mind if you don’t mind” he gestures to the door, she ignores him patting the bed “so you thought it was someone else? Why didn’t you go to her?” he sat next to her “because if I do things will have to change, and I can’t be the one to break that wall down” she nods along “how could you possibly know that things will change?” it’s impossible to get into this topic without bringing up all the awful connotations that come with it “because it's my sidekick, because he’s 19 and I’m his boss, and it's NOT like this is how its always been, he’s always been some obnoxious little smart mouth brat that pissed me off” she gasped an ‘oh!’ but he pushed on “lately though… I don’t know he basically lives here, always in my space, still just as annoying but now it gets under my skin like never before” there's a light thud in the hallway he can focusing on instead of thinking about what he’d just admitted out loud, a weight lifted at his admission “I mean ya, things will have to change but, torturing yourself over feelings that you admit yourself weren't there at an inappropriate time is just stupid” that shook him to his core “but-” he had a protest on his lips but she cut him off “this pity party isn’t at all like the Captain Man I know, look yes it sucks you’re turning me down but… I can’t let you sit here thinking yourself to be this monster that you’re not” her hand is heavy on his shoulder and is almost comforting “go get him, tell him how you feel, then go from there. If he’s as good a friend as I think he is to you he won’t brush off your feelings”.
Ray feels almost relaxed walking back into the man cave, that is until he sees Henry pacing, his face screwed up in what looks like anger “kid what are you still doing here?” Henry's head shot up at Ray's intrusion “where is she?” his tone threw Ray off balance “who?” Henry shot him a look as if he was a stray cat a thing to be pitied, and Ray is getting really sick of being treated like an idiot today “nurse Cohort, the woman who apparently knows who we are, who you apparently have a thing with” Henry is stood by the couch Ray notes that the brown bear is laying on the floor across the room like it was thrown “Henry, one she left through the back exit, and two I do NOT have a thing with her” Henry scoffs stepping backward toward the elevators “um ya ok Ray, I- I actually have to go” he's walking backward and Ray felt a surge of energy following a few steps reaching out for him “Hen wait- you heard me back there? Are you… are you mad at me?” Henry scoffed, turning his back to him “mad? No, you did clear a few things up for me though” Ray stops short a few feet from him, his hand hanging in the air uselessly “I’m sorry” his head drops “you’re sorry!” Henry turned on him, hardly giving him time to react before he’s in his space “Ray if you wanted me to leave, to not hang around you, not annoy you and ‘get under your skin’ as you put it, you could have just said, you didn’t have to talk shit behind my back, GOD YOU”RE SUCH A CHILD SOMETIMES” he huffs a big breath dropping his eyes from Rays eyeline turned back around “whatever, I’m going home” before he could get more than a step out of Rays space he grabbed his wrist, all of a sudden lines blurred, safety felt like confinement, that cliffs edge looks like freedom and Henry looks so pretty angry “god you’re obnoxious” Rays tone dropped to a growl wrapping his arms around him pulling him closer, Henry smacks his chest obviously confused and annoyed but before he can say anything he's cut off “Henry you are annoying, you’re a smart mouth brat that never minds his own business and my god you are constantly under my skin” with every word they take a step until Henry feels his back hit the stone wall by the elevator all thoughts of leaving have escaped him as he has a staring contest with Ray neither daring break contact “and you drive me crazy" they're breathing each others air at this point "I swear to god, walk away right now… leave and I won’t follow you, we’ll never talk about this again, chalk it up as some evil scheme by Cohort but I’ve gotta be honest with ya Hen” leaning in there's only a couple inch's between them at this point his voice dropping to a whisper “I really want you to stay” he sees him gulp, Henry’s hands hover against his chest a moment to long and Ray thinks he's gonna push him away, he stepped back but Henry’s panicked eyes stopped him for just a moment, “Hen-” throwing himself forward his lips cover Ray’s, it’s shy and soft at first but when his arms circle Ray’s neck and Ray sees his eyes dropping closed he couldn't help but take over stepping back into his space, his hands dropping to his hips pushing him against the wall with a soft thud, Henry pulls back with a slight hiss rubbing the back of his head, a laugh escaping him “careful, you might be indestructible but I am breakable” the sweet laugh coupled with his word choice has Ray’s mind go static as scenarios in which Henry could be ‘breakable’ run through his head, he has to take a deep breath and steps back finally breathing in his own air “I-” his voice cracks and he has to clear his throat “my bad, I uh… got a little carried away” Henry laughs patting his chest softly “so this… is new” Henry can’t keep the smile out of his voice “does this mean you’re not mad at me?” Henry let out a full belly laugh at that one, like Ray said the funniest thing he's ever heard “oh ya I totally make out with all the men I’m mad at” he rolls his eyes dragging ray over and dropping on the sofa sliding over just enough for Ray to sit but still close enough to stay pressed against him “Ray this is what I wanted all day, spent so long thinking about you” Ray wraps his arm around his waist putting his chin on the younger's shoulder “all day I’ve found gifts all over the cave, the Ray bear and Henry Jr. and your favorite snacks and soda, that note, I thought for sure that it was from you” henry leaned further into him, his cheeks dusted pink “Henry Jr.? the- the bear? I uh I left the bears… I dropped by earlier but you where in the shower, then I was gonna tell you later on but you were acting all weird at the park so I thought it best not to bring it up” Ray blanched a moment “you left those? That’s unbelievably cute” he kisses the side of his head, sighing and letting his voice take on a serious note “but if we’re gonna… Henry, do you want to do this… date me? I am exactly what you think I am, I’m selfish, and childish, I’ll keep pissing you off and I can’t always guarantee I’ll be smart enough to know when to shut up” he leans away to look into his eyes holding his breath waiting “Ray, ask me again, for real this time” his smile is encouraging enough “Henry will you go out with me, be mine?” Henry rolls his eyes leaning his forehead against Rays “yes, I’ll be your Valentine, I’ll be your boyfriend, and I promise I’ll take better care of Ray Jr. and won't throw him again” that drew a laugh from a deep place in ray, unlocking a happiness he hasn’t realized he went so long without “you better or Henry Jr. will suffer the consequences" he laughed and was caught off guard by the soft lips on his again, he could get used to this. Henry slipped into his lap long legs on either side of his hips taking over the kiss, all of his senses are over powered by the boy in his lap; both their watches triple beep, duty calls, Ray groans gripping his hips a little tighter "ignore it” Henry chuckles pecking his lips a couple times before standing up “come on captain man, crime doesn’t stop just cause it’s valentines day” he holds his hand out, Ray takes it letting himself be pulled onto his feet, blowing his bubble Ray stands at his tube ready to leave, watching Henry with his heart full and brain running a mile a minute thinking of the future. There on the couch sat Ray Jr. and Henry Jr. cuddled up just as their counterparts would be as soon as they’re done punching these bad guys.