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Silver Spark paced back and forth anxiously, heels clicking as she chewed her nails, her manicure chipping under the pressure.
"I don't know, Rippy, do you really think it's enough?" she asked worriedly, eyeing the small wrapped box on her kitchen counter. "I mean, what if he doesn't even like it? What if he's one of those guys who prefers to buy it all himself? What if-"
Rippy, seated at the table, rolled her eyes fondly. "Ba ba ba ba ba!" she reassured. "Ba ba baba ba ba ba ba!"
Silver Spark stopped her pacing, but still bit her nails. "He has been looking for a long time, but what if I'm overstepping? You don't think-"
"Ba ba ba ba, ba ba," Rippy cut her off. "Ba ba ba ba ba ba, ba baba ba ba!"
Silverspark jumped, grabbing her head in her hands. "Oh shucks, you're right! I gotta go, Rippy! I'll let you know how it goes!"
"Ba ba!" Rippy waved as Silver Spark raced out the door.
In truth, Silver Spark had never once enjoyed a Valentine's Day while she was in a relationship. She'd had plenty of great ones when she was single, days where she would spend time with all her girlfriends, or her family, or even just alone , but she had never had a good Valentine's Day with a boyfriend. Maybe it had to do with the type of guys she dated before - the high school boyfriend was always inconsiderate, the college TA was a villain and all-around bad person, the college professor was married and hadn't told her, on and on - but, regardless, there was never a relationship she'd been in where she had a good love holiday.
All that to say, she really, really, really hoped her first Valentine's Day with Laserblast went well.
She hadn't even been the one to bring up the holiday first. From the moment they started dating, she was completely resigned to not celebrating it; with a famous hero like Laserblast, she figured he would be so swamped with work he'd forget about it, or else would want to take it easy since every day at P.O.I.N.T. was so busy. Therefore, she was SHOCKED when he was the one that brought it up, about a week before the date.
"Hey, Sparks," he'd said, grabbing her hands in the middle of the break room and spinning her around playfully. Holding her close, he asked, "You busy on the fourteenth?"
Dizzy off of more than just the spin, she said she wasn't, and he cheered. "Fantastic! I've got the perfect date planned for us, and all you need to do is show up at my place, prepared for a good time. Think you can do that for me?"
So... she did.
Well, it wasn't like she was gonna turn him down!
Standing in front of his apartment door, she was sweating; she feared she looked like El-bow with the rate she was perspiring. She'd been nervous all day, fears running through her mind; how was she supposed to dress, what were they gonna do, would they be going somewhere, was her gift gonna be good enough, on and on and on.... Even now, dressed in her sparkly, strapless red sweetheart bust bodycon minidress and red heels, red lipstick donned and mascara applied, she wasn't sure whether she would be underdressed or overdressed. Or, more realistically, at the rate she was sweating, she wasn't sure she'd be fit to be seen by anybody, least of all her boyfriend.
She knocked before she grew too nervous.
"Coming!" Laserblast's voice called from inside.
Her heart jumped into her throat and she hid her gift for him behind her back right before he opened the door. He was, she was supremely relieved to see, dressed formally like herself; suit pants, white button-up shirt, black bow tie.... he was one of the few heroes she ever saw that looked just as impressive with sleeves as he did sleeveless. She nearly swooned as she blushed, taking him in hungrily.
"Sparks!" he grinned, stepping aside to let her in. "Right on time; dinner's almost ready."
"Dinner?" she asked shyly, stepping through the door.
She only got a few steps inside before his arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her to his chest, kissing her deeply. Her eyes fluttered shut as she sighed against his lips, one hand curling tight in his shirt, his heart beating a steady drum beneath her fist, his body hard and warm pressed against hers.
There was a part of her that expected that this was what the night would be, just sex and nothing more. It made her feel kind of... sad, truthfully, but she reminded herself that even that would be better than her past relationships. To her surprise and joy, though, he pulled away from her quickly, her red lipstick staining his lips as he grinned at her.
With a wink, he said, "Sorry - couldn't help myself; you look gorgeous. C'mon, let's go."
She trailed after him dazedly, steps wobbly, and kept stealing shy glances at him, wondering if she was dreaming. For some people, just having a home dinner date on Valentine's Day would be small and inconsequential, but to her, it was the most painfully romantic thing she could imagine. And the fact that he did all that for her? Well... She felt herself smile like a fool and couldn't stop.
It wasn't the first time she'd ever been to Laserblast's apartment, but she always liked looking around it when she had the chance to. It was nice and cyber-sleek, decorated in a minimalistic style; colorful neon light strips lined the ceiling, the furniture was all smooth matte black and dark fabric, and her steps didn't make a sound against the high-tech shock-absorbent black tile.
Though Laserblast was the one that lived there, there were a few things that marked her as a regular guest scattered around; her book, The Ethics and Morality of Small-Time Crime, was on his coffee table (still with her bookmark inside), her favorite blanket of his was balled up on the couch just like she left it, she had a toothbrush and some hair ties in his bathroom, on his dresser was a frog doll that she'd won for him at the fair on their third date, and in the kitchen cabinet was a coffee mug he bought just for her sometime before she first stayed over. Every time she visited him, it felt more and more like she was coming home.
In the kitchen, Laserblast hummed happily to himself while he put an apron on and walked over to the stove. "Sorry, it's not done yet; just a few more minutes," he apologized, peering into a covered pot that was quietly bubbling atop one of the burners. He turned to face her again, muscular arms crossing over his chest, and said, "Hope you don't mind waiting."
Sitting at the kitchen counter-bar, she too-quickly replied, "Of course not!" She blushed, then shyly added, "I-I don't mind at all!"
He smiled at her, eyes crinkling in that way she found just so damn attractive, and said, "Good! I hope you've got an appetite; I'm cooking up something special."
"Cooking?" she asked, realization finally belatedly dawning on her. Anxiety momentarily forgotten, she smiled knowingly and leaned forward, crossed arms atop the bar pushing up her bust slightly. With a teasing smile, she said, "I thought you said you didn't know how to cook."
He rubbed his neck and looked away with a shy smile. "Well... I don't. Er, didn't. ...Still don't? But I found a recipe online that looks foolproof, and I think you're really gonna like it!"
She hummed curiously, still smiling. She leaned to the side to look past him, but the pot on the stove gave no hints aside from the sound of bubbling. "Whatcha makin'?" she wondered, looking back at him.
He winked, causing her heart to flutter again. "It's a secret," he replied, one finger in front of his lips. She giggled excitedly.
"So, how's your day been?" he asked, changing topics before she could question him further. "Sorry we couldn't spend all of it together - the P.O.I.N.T. head meeting today was scheduled before you rookies even joined the team, so there was no moving it."
"Oh, no, no, it's totally okay!" she replied quickly, waving her hands. "Me 'n Rippy hung out before I came here. We watched some romcoms while I got ready..." She didn't want to sound like she was fishing for compliments, but she absolutely was.
"Well, thank you," he smiled at her, expression soft. "I said it before, but you look incredible. Good enough to eat, even." His voice grew low and teasing as he said, "I might have to skip dinner, because you look so appetizing."
It was such a smooth and flirtatious line, she couldn't stop the squeal before it burst out of her. Man, why was she so embarrassing?! There had to be some way to make up for it, had to be-
"If you think I look good now, just wait 'til you see what's underneath!" she said confidently, then immediately internally cringed. That was not what she meant to say - although it did certainly match his own line.
He stepped closer, smirking, and leaned low over the bar until his face was just inches away from her blushing one. His eyes sparkled and his cologne, musky and warm, was deliciously enticing. She looked down to his lips and knew she lingered too long on them when she met his gaze again.
Dark brown eyes swallowing her whole, his voice was smooth and sensual as he said, "I can't wait."
Abruptly and without warning, he turned and walked back to the stove, whistling happily as he stirred the mysterious contents of the pot. Meanwhile, she prayed her speeding heart would slow before she made an even bigger fool of herself. She hoped he didn't feel her utilize thermodynamic powers to cool her body down, the air in the room dropping a few degrees.
"H-how was the meeting?" she asked meekly, too in-her-thoughts to let the silence linger for long. She rubbed the little wrapped box in her lap, pondering when to give it to him.
He hummed thoughtfully as he opened the oven. The smell of garlic bread drifted from it; it smelled delicious, but she thought she heard him mutter something unhappy about it before he closed the door again.
Looking back at her with a shrug and a bored smile, he rolled his eyes. "Same old, same old. It was mostly just budget planning and making sure we've got everybody's birthdays on the calendar, that sort of thing. Greyman's in charge of buying the team gifts this year, and that's- wait! Gifts!" he exclaimed excitedly.
Silver Spark jolted atop the barstool and began to sweat again. Her hand clenched around the box in her lap and she was sure it was crumpling, but she couldn't make herself look.
"Uh- wha-?" she asked stupidly, mind failing to come up with anything better.
"Stay there; I'll be right back!" Laserblast said excitedly, then raced from the room. She watched him go, bewildered, then looked down at the little box on her lap.
Clad in shiny black paper and wrapped with a red bow, it was relatively unassuming. Inside was a pair of fuzzy white dice, meant to hang from the rearview mirror of a car. Underneath those was one of the last parts he needed for restoring the car he'd been working on for, according to him, the last three years: a gear shift shaped like a snake's head, with LED eyes that gleamed every time the car shifted gears. It was a car part he'd been looking for, according to him, for ages (even longer than he'd owned the car), but which he'd begun to lose hope of ever finding.
Rather than being something he could just buy at any regular auto parts store, it was a gearshift that was original to the make and model of the vintage car he was doing work on; it was incredibly hard to find secondhand, since the car was itself was both decades old and hadn't been very popular on the market during its initial release. It was pure luck that Silver Spark was able to find it at all; having bonded with her father over working on cars in her youth, she knew a few more relatively obscure places to look for older car parts, and, while on an unrelated trip to one of these stores, she managed to stumble across it right before someone purchased it.
She would've only been mildly embarrassed to say she screamed when she saw it. Another customer was at the checkout counter with it when she noticed it, seconds away from purchase. They refused to let her have it, even when she begged, and also refused when she offered to buy it off of them; the one thing they hadn't refused was a power battle for it. After a relatively short and painless fight, she was finally able to buy it as, defeated, the other customer swore vengeance and left. She was extremely excited to give it to Laserblast. She just... hoped he wouldn't be mad that she found it before he did - not that she thought he would be, of course, but still!
Laserblast returned a few moments later with a quick, excited pep in his step, still smiling. In his arms, he was holding a red bag with white hearts on it and white tissue paper sticking out of the top, as well as a bouquet of red roses.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Sparks," he said warmly, stopping in front of her. He held the gifts out to her and she gasped.
"T-these are all for me?!" she wondered, shocked as he handed them to her.
He snickered fondly, his smile lopsided and loving. "Who else?"
"Well, I- I don't know!" she admitted, grinning so widely her face hurt.
It was the first time a boyfriend had ever gone out of his way to give her a gift on Valentine's Day without her pressuring him to do so; she hardly knew how to react. She took the gifts from him and smelled the roses, soft petals tickling her face. Still grinning, she breathed the floral scent in deeply.
Setting the flowers aside, she held the bag tightly and asked excitedly, "Can I open it?"
At his nod, she started ripping the paper out of the bag, letting it fall to the floor around her. She felt something and pulled it out.
"A box of chocolates!" she cheered, excited. Sure, it wasn't very unique or original, but who could be upset about chocolate?!
He smiled at her like she was being silly. "C'mon, that's not all of it! Keep going."
That certainly got her attention. There was more? She felt downright spoiled! She quickly set aside the chocolates and dug through yet more paper in the bag. Finally, she reached the bottom and her knuckle brushed against something hard. Intrigued, she pulled it out.
"A binder?" she asked, eyes wide and mouth falling open. That was certainly a unique and original gift.
He rubbed his neck, clearly expecting a bigger reaction. He suddenly looked very awkward and insecure. "It- yeah! It's the one you told me about before, the-"
"Special Limited-Edition Titanium Ring, Weatherproof, Laser-proof, Padded, Shock Absorbent, MEGA Study Buddy 5000?!" she shrieked, cutting him off as she suddenly realized exactly what it was she was holding in her hands.
It was, quite literally, the binder of her dreams. The binder she used everyday currently, the one that housed reports, power notes, doodles, plans for the future, important information, unimportant information, and more, was practically bursting at the seams; she desperately needed a new (and larger) one. Unfortunately, there weren't very many binders that were available to buy and which actually fit her needs. Of the ones she could find, most were expensive, and of the ones that were actually worth that price tag... the MEGA Study Buddy 5000 model was the only one.
She'd wanted it for months but could never justify the cost. To have it given to her when she hadn't expected it, and had only mentioned it once in passing....
She stared up at him in shock and he flinched. "You hate it," he grimaced, miserable.
She blinked rapidly, mind foggy with surprise. "What?!"
He sighed and hung his head, a shadow crawling over his face. "Sorry, Silver Spark. I was sure you'd like it, but I know it's not a very romantic gift-"
"Are you KIDDING?!" she shrieked. She flung herself off of the stool and into his arms, hugging him so tightly he had to quickly tap her back for release before she accidentally broke him.
"I LOVE IT!!!" she squealed, jumping up and down in place as she clutched it to her chest.
"You- you do?" he gasped, trying to catch his breath as she proceeded to press kisses to every inch of his face, coating him with lipstick. "You look like you're about to cry, though!"
"I LOVE IT!" she cheered again, releasing him to spin in a circle, binder held aloft. A dizzying emotional swing nearly blindsided her with appreciation as she recalled, yet again, how much better he was than every single ex she ever had. She sniffled snottily and willed her emotions to calm lest she make her makeup run with tears.
"I really, really love it," she whimpered finally, fighting the urge to cry. She hugged him again, burying her face in his shirt, and let the soothing beat of his heart and warmth of his cologne calm her.
He chuckled breathlessly, then wrapped his arms around her. Kissing the top of her head, he muttered into her hair, "Glad I made the right choice, then."
After a moment, she pulled away from him and fidgeted shyly. On his shirt was an imprint of red lipstick and black mascara, but neither of them noticed it.
"I, uh..." she mumbled, not looking at him, "I got you somethin', too."
His eyebrows shot up, clearly not expecting a gift. "You did?" he asked, surprised.
"Uh huh..." she replied quietly. She grabbed the small wrapped gift off of the stool she'd dropped it on, then held it out to him with both hands.
"I-it, uh... it's okay if you don't like it," she murmured shyly. "I might've overstepped, or-"
He grabbed it from her hands and immediately pulled the bow off. With a teasing sneer, he pressed it to her head, catching her off guard. He chuckled as it stuck in her hair, matching the rest of her ensemble as perfectly as if it was meant to be there. Then, without warning her or giving her a moment to prepare herself, he meticulously began opening the box by individually tearing through the tape at the seams, as if he didn't want to ruin the wrapping paper. Box finally uncovered a moment later, he pulled off the lid.
"Hey, fuzzy dice!" he said brightly, grinning as he pushed aside the tissue paper. He looked up at her happily. "These are awesome! They'll look great in my car once it's done. Thank you!"
She grimaced and pointed at the box, closing her eyes. "There's more."
"There is?" he hummed curiously. At her pained nod, he pulled the fuzzy dice out and set them aside, then dug underneath the paper. He didn't say anything after that.
She kept her eyes closed and imagined the worst emotions flashing across his face. Indignation, Hurt, Annoyance, Disappointment...
"You got me the Snakeshift?!" he finally spoke up, shocked. His voice was almost emotionless and empty in a way that she trembled to hear.
She jumped and flinched away. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't've-"
He pulled her into a crushing hug as he picked her up and spun her through the air, laughing brightly. "This is incredible!" he cheered. "How'd you find it?! I've been looking for ages!"
"You... you like it?" she asked breathlessly, looking down at him in amazement.
He stopped spinning and finally set her back on her feet, grinning excitedly down at her. "I love it!" he reassured her. "This is probably one of the best gifts I've ever gotten in my life! Seriously, where did you get it?!"
She giggled breathily, still surprised, and brushed some stray hair out of her face; some of it stuck to her lipstick and came away red, but she didn't pay it any mind. "I know a place... We could go there together sometime..." she murmured, dazed. "You really...?"
He cut her off by kissing her, dipping her low to do so. Held in his strong arms, she swooned, holding him tightly. His heart raced underneath her hand this time, a pounding that matched the joyful stampede of her own heart. Slowly, he stood up again, holding her to his chest, but that didn't stop the weightless feeling she had coursing through her.
He pressed his forehead to hers and grinned. "Best. Valentine's Day. Ever," he muttered, staring into her eyes. "I love you."
She giggled and caressed his cheek, head spinning. "I love you," she sighed happily, eyes fluttering. "You're right; this really is the best Valentine's Day ever."
"Woah, hey you can't say that yet," he winked at her as he drew back slightly. "We've still got dinner. In fact, it should be just about ready...."
He pulled out of her embrace, though she didn't want to let him, and walked back to the stove. Shakily, Silver Spark clacked after him. Leaning against the counter, she watched him pull on an oven mitt.
"So, what's on the menu tonight, chef?" she asked, still grinning goofily. Tonight was so perfect, it felt like a dream. If something didn't go wrong soon, she might have to believe it was.
He grinned, eyes crinkling in a way that made her stomach do flips. He pulled the lid off of the pot and said, "Your favorite: Galaxy Truffle Pasta!"
She gasped excitedly and looked inside - then froze.
"Huh? What's wrong? Isn't that-" he started, then fell silent as he, too, looked into the pot.
Inside, the pasta he'd been cooking was almost completely black, shriveled and stuck to the sides in such a way that it was doubtful it would ever scrub out. It was, without a doubt, burnt.
"No, no, no, no-" he panicked, dropping the pot lid to instead fling open the oven. He pulled out the pan inside, then growled and dropped it unceremoniously on the stovetop. The misshapen bread sticks, seemingly handmade, were similarly blackened, and resembled coal more so than anything edible.
He groaned and covered his eyes with his hand, the other hand with the oven mitt hanging limply at his side. "Dammit..." he groaned tiredly as she giggled.
"Aww, come on..." she hugged his arm and leaned into him. "I'm sure it's not completely burnt! If we dig into the middle-"
They both jumped as the pot on the stove burst into flames.
A few minutes later, after the successful deployment of a fire extinguisher, Laserblast and Silver Spark both stared in shock at the charred remains of what should've been their romantic dinner.
He sighed and finally removed his oven mitt, then dropped it onto the counter. Looking over at her, face apologetic and exhausted, he said, "Sorry, Sparks... the recipe said to keep an eye on the pasta, but I didn't realize just how serious it was."
She giggled and gave him a side hug. Smiling up at him, she said, "That's okay! I think it was sweet that you tried to make me dinner. Maybe next time, though, you and I can... make it together?" she suggested unsubtly. She might not be the best cook in the world, but she was at least better than he was; together maybe they could actually make the luxury dish without burning it.
He chuckled and returned her smile, arm wrapping around her waist. "Yeah, I think I'd like that," he replied, squeezing her lightly. He paused then, and, grimacing slightly, said, "...Not any time soon, though."
She snickered and nuzzled against his shoulder. "Deal. Pizza?"
He grinned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Pizza."
Half an hour later, they sat cuddled together on his couch in their fancy, formal clothes, eating heart-shaped pizza, sharing chocolates, and watching a romantic comedy. It was, without a doubt, the best Valentine's Day either of them had ever had.