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Herm's well aware the sigh that leaves him sounds like it came from an exhausted, sad dog, but he doesn't have the capacity to stifle it at the moment. It was his third day working for SDN, and it was definitely the most draining so far. He had managed to convince Blonde Blazer not to cut anybody the day before— partially because he's sure Granny would ring his neck for giving up on people, and partially because Sonar and Coupe both look like they'd rip him in half— but the team still seemed a bit pissed about the whole situation and took it out on him for the first shift. To be fair to them, they weren't told that it wasn't happening after all until they all clocked in that morning, but it was still rough on Herman.
What he wasn't expecting was for the second shift to go as horribly as it just did. His eyes land on the spots were Flambae and Invisigal's icons normally were on the screen's interface. The frown that's been firmly planted on his face since they both clocked out early deepens. While it's… a little unfair to say, he's not really surprised at Invisigal doing so, but Flambae has proven to Herm time and time again that he loves the ego boost Herm being his dispatcher gives him— both in terms of Herman doing a good job of dispatching him as well as him being used as a verbal punching bag— so it seems very out of place for him to leave, too. Especially given how sudden it was. Surely if they needed to clock out early they would've done it after lunch and not right before the shift started?
It's while Herman tries to figure out what had happened that he hears the skitter of paws towards him that he's grown to love. He's snapped out of it officially at the quick yap targeted at him, frown instantly morphing into a smile as he swivels in his chair to look down at the dog Chase's been bringing with him to work.
"Beef!" Herm chuckles, adjusting the gloves on his hands before curling over to pet the dog; while Blazer had reassured him that the equipment given to him was proven to be waterproof, it all looked so old that it had him paranoid he'd still soak it into breaking somehow. "Hi, b-beefy boy," he coos, scratching under Beef's chin, taking in the way that his tail wagged so hard it was causing him to be unable to stand still. It's nice to know an animal that actively seeks out Herman's attention, given that almost all of his grandmother's cats are fiercely against his water production, even if it was significantly reduced now.
Herm's so focused on cooing at and petting on Beef that he only notices the person standing next to him when he feels someone pat his shoulder. He definitely doesn't jolt slightly at the sudden touch, but he relaxes once again either way as soon as he sees who it was in his cubicle; Chase, who was trying to stifle a chuckle at his reaction.
"Hey, kid," Chase nods once he clears his throat and gets himself under wraps, patting Herm's shoulder once more. "Shift wasn't too bad after those fuckers bounced on you, was it?"
"Phr-phrasing," Herman initially replies out of instinct, getting a snort out of Chase, "b-but it wasn't so— so bad! They, uhm— they listened a… a bit better," he continued, smile turning nervous as he shrugged his shoulders.
"That's definitely a good start with them fucks. Hopefully it continues after your rascals stop throwing their tantrums," Chase smirks, gesturing vaguely to the roster still on his screen. "Which reminds me, uh, can I get you to do me a favor before you clock out?"
"O-of course! Whate-whatever you requi-re— need. Whatever you need," Herm perks up, shoulders straightening subconsciously over both the fact that he was needed for something and the mild worry that managed to sneak its way onto Chase's face. He doesn't think he's seen Chase worried before. It's a little concerning, given that he seems like the type to brush things off easy; at least, as far as Herm could tell in the little time he's known him.
"Check up on that new hire under your belt," Chase nods towards the roster before logging out of the interface for Herm—he had almost forgotten to do it yesterday out of stress until Chase had reminded him, hopefully he doesn't think it's a habit— then going back to having his hands in his pockets. "Tried talkin' to him, since we go way back, but he isn't hearin' me. Maybe he'll hear you instead."
"I wi— I-I c— I'll do my best," Herm nods, smile widening, trying to portray a confidence he wasn't really capable of at the moment. Besides, it's part of his job to be a mentor to his team, so it really should be something he does.
"Thanks, kid. He should be kicking around out the side of the building somewhere. Good work today," Chase pats Herm's shoulder again, the smile he gives him still having a bit of worry to it before he made his way to his cubicle, Beef quickly scurrying along with him.
"T-tha—thank you! Y-you too!" Herm calls as Chase walks off, before taking a deep breath to steel himself for the task ahead. He pushes his chair in after he gets up, making his way outside like a man on a mission.
He supposes he is one, isn't he? Hopefully it won't be too bad. He just needs to give a pep-talk to Mecha Man, no big deal.
Oh gosh he needs to talk to Mecha Man.
Okay, so maybe that's been something kicking around in the back of his mind since the start of the second shift. He just hasn't had the time to truly process— and then fanboy out— over the fact that Mecha Man works at SDN and is currently under his team. Mecha Man. The hero that inspired him to get into hero work in the first place. The guy he's been keeping up with almost religiously ever since Blue first came onto the scene, just in time for Herm to get into superheros in the first place.
He kinda knew that Mecha Man was under contract with someone— the press conference where he mentioned that he has found some help to get the suit under repair and that he was to come out of retirement to was practically burned into Herman's eyeballs, given how many times he re-watched it out of disbelief— but he didn't know it was through SDN. That was probably the point, now that Herm thinks about it; Mecha Man has an identity to keep under wraps, so if he was to say that Mecha Man was now under SDN only for someone new to show up at the office would likely blow any cover he had.
Wait, how does Chase know Mecha Man? Personally, too? He isn't gonna show up in the Mecha Man costume outside only to reveal he was the next Mecha Man generation, is he?… Could he even be Mecha Man with how old he was?
The ding of the elevator opening on the bottom floor snaps him out of wherever that train of thought was going, stepping out quickly and giving a sheepish smile to the few night shift workers who had been waiting on the elevator. He makes his way out of the building, taking a deep breath as he scanned the area for where Mecha Man could be— now is still not the time to be freaking out, that can happen when he gets home and oh god he has posters of his new subordinate up on his wall. Okay, he'll definitely freak out about it when he's home, but he's still on the clock so he needs to really focus up here.
A startled noise leaves Herm as soon as he catches a glimpse of a blue flight-suit when he turns the corner, eyes widening and legs craving to just go back, clock out, and hope that he wasn't too late for a bus back home. There was a chalk outline next to the building, Mecha Man— Mecha Man! God, he really needs to get himself together— leaning against the wall, smoke from a cigarette lazily curling into the sky as he stared forward. Herm feels a little foolish, puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders, but he needs to get his nerves to calm down somehow. He does his best to sigh out the rest of the bundle of nerves present in him, before making his way over to the designated smoking area Herm's a little surprised SDN has.
What surprises Herman a little more, though, is the sigh that Mecha Man lets out as he approached him— similar to the one he let out at what would've been the regular end of his shift. "The insistence's appreciated, Chase, but I'd rather not—" he turns his head while raising his cigarette to his mouth, only for his eyebrows to raise when he has to look up to make eye contact with Herm. "Oh, hey kid. Didn't know you smoked," Mecha Man— Mecha Man!!— says, digging in the pocket of the leather jacket he was wearing.
"H-h-hello! No, uh— uh, I h-haven't— n-not any-anymore," Herm stumbles out, simultaneously mentally kicking himself for stuttering and also being proud of his stutter not being even worse. "W-w-w-water made it, uh. D-diff-diffi-di—tro—hard."
"Ah," Mecha Man winced, hand leaving his pocket, moving his cigarette out of his mouth instead, blowing the smoke away from Herm. "What brings you over here, then? Chase sic you on me?"
The slightly-nervous, short guffaw that leaves Herman will not haunt him later, he swears. "M-may—m-maybe! I just want— I w— I w-wanted to… check up o-on you. Ma-ma-make sure your first shift was good. I mean, i-it was! It was. Good. Just— j-just mmmaking sure you… agree," Herm settles on eventually, nervously wringing his hands together, trying his best to not cringe at himself for fumbling the fuck out of that sentence.
"Ah. Well," Mecha Man huffs out, taking another drag from his cigarette before he continued. "It's as good as a first shift could go, I'd imagine. Especially with…" Herm watches as Mecha Man cringes, turning his face away from him again. "I probably should've looked over who was on the roster before I joined the Z-team officially. I mean, I knew they were are reformed villains, but, uh… me being on the team's probably gonna complicate things. If they haven't already, at least."
A frown settles on Herm's face, tilting his head as he regarded the other. "W-what do— wh-what do you mean? I-I mean you've been— you've been great so far! You did— you d-did really good, I promise. B-better than— it was the b-b-best shift the Z-team's had, I think," he attempts to reassure Mecha Man, slightly exaggerating; being down two people had been really stressful, but Herman does still think the shift went well aside from how draining it had been.
Mecha Man shrugged his shoulders, relaxing further against the wall— unintentionally prompting Herm to do the same, realizing he's just been standing there like an idiot so far— head turning to catch sight of Herm from the corner of his eye. "There really isn't a good way to bring this up," he huffs out, an edge of humor to it that Herm isn't privy to. "I'm not sure why Invisigal left as soon as I introduced myself, but, uh…" Mecha Man seems to hesitate, looking away again, taking yet another drag before answering.
"I was the one who arrested Flambae. Or at least, I'm assuming it was me catching him that led to him being considered for the program. Admittedly I kinda didn't keep up with the guy after the mall fire like I probably should've. Least I could've done after disabling him," Mecha Man mutters the last part under his breath, but Herm manages to catch it anyways— just as his eyes light up in recognition.
"Oh, he's the one th-that wuh-was behind that mall fire? I-I mean— i-it kinda— it makes… makes sense! He's a ff-fire elem-ele—el— guy, I should've— sh-should've thought of— of that when h-h-he left," Herman started mumbling near the end himself, frown deepening for a moment as he thought further about it. "Did they— they di-di-didn—didn't, uhm. Consi—consider that? Miss Bla-Bl-Blazer seems like she wo—w-would've thought of— of that."
"I was told it wasn't necessarily something she had time to think about," Mecha Man shrugs again. "She mentioned that it was so short notice so that the board wouldn't get too mad at her. Something about needing to pivot after being 'unable to do something they had requested of her?'" Mecha Man slips into an impression of Blazer as he repeated her words. Herm has to bite the inside of his mouth so he wouldn't chuckle.
"Oh." Herm says when he gets himself together, moving his gaze away with another tilt of his head. "Uh, o-oops? T-th-that might've— m-mi-might've been… a m-me thing. T-that I caused." He shrugs, more out of embarrassment than anything, awkwardly shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants to get himself to stop cracking his knuckles.
"W-well!" Herm starts, turning back towards Mecha Man, immediately taking his hands out of his pockets despite just putting them in there, clapping once and forcing a smile onto his face. "Did you— di-did— h-how'd y-you like being on the t-team so far? I-I-I know you— er, that t-the Mecha M-M-Man l-line in general ha-haven't— h-haven't been with a team since— si-since the Br-Brave Brigade…"
"Do you, now?" Mecha Man asks, a tilt to his words that Herman does his absolute best not to read too much into; especially as Mecha Man turns towards him, shoulder against the wall, eyebrow raised, all accompanied with a slight smirk on his face as he looked up at him. "Wasn't expecting to run into a fan at the company… especially one being my dispatcher," he teases, smirk morphing into a smile, likely taking in how Herm was doing his best to not visibly freak out.
"N-Not— W-well—" Herm huffs, turning to look away again. "O-o-okay, well, I've— I-I've been… a fan for a— a while, but I-I— I swear it won't a-aff—a-affect w-wo-work! Honestly it— i-it ssstill hasn't— h-hasn't quite hit me yet, but— w-whe-when it does it won't ha-have an—a-any effect on work!"
"Easy, kid," Mecha Man chuckles, taking another drag of his cigarette after. "'Was just teasing you. You seem like a great dispatcher, I doubt you would've let it change anything anyways… outside of maybe the team teasing you if they figure it out." Mecha Man mutters the last part again. Herm does his best to act like he didn't hear it this time, considering he really doesn't need to be freaking out about that aspect of things right now. He'd never hear the end of it if the team ever did figure it out.
"Uh— t-tha-thank you!" Herm smiles, turning back to look at Mecha Man, still a little thrown off by the smile still present on the other's face. It's much less guarded than he's used to seeing on Mecha Man— granted, he's really only seen that smile on posters and in interviews before now. He hopes he gets to see it more ofte— no he doesn't, he shoves that thought wayyyy down for him to never examine again. Definitely. Hopefully.
"But, uhm— I-I do— I am— Uhm. Y-you di-didn't… answer my qu-qu-question," Herm pressed, going back to nervously fidgeting with and around his hands, tugging down the black wetsuit he wore underneath his company uniform. "How di— D-di— How's b-being on the— t-the team going s-so far? O-o-outside of— O-outside of, uh, the F-F-Flambae thing, at least," he mutters out, a little nervous to ask; he's familiar with purposefully dodging answering things people ask of him he doesn't want to answer, especially after all of the media surrounding the fire that had put him out of hero work. He'd normally feel horrible for putting Mecha Man on the spot like that, but he really wants to make sure he's doing well.
Herm gets his answer watching Mecha Man turn his head away from him once more, eyes cast downwards for a moments as he took yet another drag of his cigarette. The corner of Mecha Man's mouth twitches down into a frown, shoulders sagging as he sighed out a mix of smoke and likely stress.
"It's gone as well as it could've," he says after a beat, turning to look at Herm with a smile that he's much more familiar with; plastered on to appease an audience. "I just, uh…" The smile didn't last long as Mecha Man continued, settling back into a small frown. "To be honest, Herman, I'm not sure I'm really… cut out to be on a team."
"Wha— Uhm, w-what makes you ss—s-say that?" Herm tilts his head, brows pinching in a mix of worry and confusion.
"Well… it's a lot of things, really," Mecha Man huffs out, vaguely gesturing with his cigarette. "Kinda too much to be really… spilling out in the open. Maybe with a few drinks in me," he mutters, a humorless chuckle following after.
Herm mimics the chuckle Mecha Man let out, shrugging more out of a nervous habit than anything as he started to avoid Mecha Man's gaze. "W-wwell, i-if you— if you want to e-ever… uhm. T-tell someone. I'm— I'm here! Bla—B-Blazer said t-that you were, uh, a me-m-mentor for the team wh-w-when she added you, but— B-but I could— uh. W-well you— y-you have a bit more experi-experience than me, but i-i-it's also part of my job to… mentor the entire team. I-Inclu—Including you! Be-b-b-because— because you're... a part of the team now. Whether you— y-you feel like you be-belong in it, o-or that y-you're a g-good fit or not. Which— w-which you are."
"M-may-maybe gi-g-give it— give it a few shifts, at least?" Herm smiles awkwardly, eyes now trained on his shoes. "I-I know it— i-it took me a while to— to get used to everything. Maybe it'll— Hopefully it'll be like that for you, too!"
There's a small silence before Herman gets a response, raising his nerves significantly. He chews on his bottom lip for a moment before he finally looks back to Mecha Man's face— surprised at the hint of… awe behind his eyes? Herm really doesn't get it; why would Mecha Man be in awe of him? He's just a dispatcher nowadays, and all he really did was reassure him he had someone to talk to.
Herm's slight confusion must be apparent; Mecha Man seems to notice after a moment, quickly schooling his face to be a bit more neutral, slipping into a half-smirk. He puts out his cigarette against the bottom of his shoe— barely any of it left anyways— leaving it in the pack when he puts it back into his pocket. "I, uh…" he starts, clicking his tongue before meeting Herm's eyes again. "Thanks. For believing in me, I guess."
"O-of c-course!" Herm blurts out before he could really stop himself, smile a little awkward around the edges. "Y-yo-you're we-welcome. I—" Herm manages to stop himself, biting his bottom lip so he wouldn't start going off on how he's always believed in him. Surely the guy hears that enough from his fans, he really doesn't need it from his dispatcher.
"I'll, uh— L-lik-like I said, I'm h-hhere if you— if you need me. It. S-s-someone t-to— someone to talk to," he stumbles into saying instead, resisting the urge to pat Mecha Man on his shoulder. Would that be weird? Surely it would be.
"I'll keep it in mind," Mecha Man responds before Herm's train of thought could derail any further. He rose up from where he had been leaning against the wall, rolling his shoulders with a concerning amount of pops. "See you next shift?"
"Y-y-yep! Ssee you t-then! There!" Herman gives him a thumbs up out of habit, earning him a chuckle and a thumbs up back from Mecha Man before he started walking back towards the building— likely to either change out of the flight suit or to look for Chase, if Herm had to guess.
Herm watched him leave, fidgeting with his hands again as he bit his bottom lip. That went better than he expected it to, really; he's proud of himself for not freaking out and becoming an inconsolable mess when Mecha Man first acknowledged his existence. That's always how he imagined him meeting Mecha Man would go, ever since he first started seeing him as his role model and idol. Freaking out over meeting him may just come later, though, Herm supposes. It still hasn't truly hit him yet, or if it has then it wasn't as hard as he was imagining.
It's not like he's complaining at least; he'd much rather have his little freakout at meeting and now being in charge of his childhood hero at home rather than at work. Speaking of, he still needs to clock out, and a quick glance down at his phone in its Ziploc bag tells him he really doesn't have the time to sit and reminisce on the conversation he just had if he wants to make it in time for the last bus.
Herm speeds his way through clocking out, getting a last goodbye in with Beef, reassuring Chase his talk went well, and then rushing out to the bus stop near the SDN building. The bus had been there for a moment if Herman had to guess, barely getting on in time before it started moving.
He's a little distracted thinking over his entire work day as he finds a spot on the bus, lucky enough that there were still a few seats open. Distracted enough that he doesn't realize the man he incidentally sat in front of seemed surprised to see him, even though Herm doesn't think he's seen him before when they accidentally meet each other's gaze. Surely he'd remember someone with a notched ear, right?
Herm doesn't really get a lot of time to dwell on it, though, since the stranger looked away from him and Herm's phone started buzzing with text notifications immediately after. His thought train can wait until later, like he's been saying all day; for now, he just keeps reassuring his grandma that he's only late because he got held up by needing to talk with someone, that he did make it onto the bus, and is now on his way home.