Work Text:
"Hey, bartender. Yeah, I'm right here. You gonna serve me, or what?"
The loud, grating voice came from the end of the bar, thankfully far from where you sat across from Eddie. Pulling a disgusted face, you winced at the sheer disdain and rudeness in both the tone and the phrasing, then checked your partner's reaction to being called over in such a way.
As expected, Eddie was instantly seething, his dark eyes furious as he scowled down the bar. You even caught his lightning brows twitching in irritation.
You followed his scowl and found—just as expected from the voice you'd heard—Saiman. Or rather, Super Saiman. He was constantly insisting everyone address him by his full name while he boasted about his own greatness. Admittedly, he did have the bulging muscles to back up some of his claims—hulking man that he was—but very little brain power or charm to supplement them. He'd always made himself a nuisance wherever he showed up, but this time, he seemed to be really pushing it.
Definitely past the limits of Eddie's patience.
"I'm getting rid of this guy," he muttered through gritted teeth, throwing the rag in his hands down on the bar. Turning his eyes to you, something in them softened for a moment into concern. Small as the crack in the façade was, it was all for you. "Stay here. It might get a little...tense."
You absolutely melted in your seat to know how much he cared for your safety, but at the same time, you couldn't help but worry about his. "Okay..." Though hesitant, you agreed, your eyes flicking down the bar again nervously. "Be careful."
"Always am." Eddie spared you one last fond look before steeling himself and turning to go confront Saiman.
Heart clenching with anxiety, you focused down on the whiskey sour in your hands. You couldn't watch. It wasn't quite so easy to distract your mind, though, which drifted right back to the problematic object causing all your worries at the moment.
You had no idea why you'd ever woken Saiman up in the first place. Like Hero Hime, he was an anime figure. The difference was that this guy wasn't a main character like she was. Maybe that was why he was such an asshole: an inferiority complex making him overcompensate or something.
The figure of him had been a present for some holiday from some distant relative who'd somehow found out you liked anime and thought they could make up for several other missed holidays in one fell swoop. Not bothering to find out if you liked this anime, or even knew who the character was. You'd half-heartedly put him up on a shelf somewhere out of the way and then promptly forgotten about him.
Until the Dateviators. You'd hoped he'd be cool. At the very least, he looked cool in his object form: huge muscles barely covered by green and white armor, big spiky hair, and a confident grin on his face as he struck a triumphant pose. But no; he'd been a jerk since day one, and showed no signs of changing. You'd regretted waking him since your very first conversation with him.
As you frowned down into your drink, Saiman's overpowering voice cut into your thoughts, forcing you to hear the confrontation even if you didn't want to watch it.
"About time; you took long enough," he complained grumpily, "I want—"
"You're not getting any more drinks," Eddie cut across his request, his voice firm, carefully controlled anger simmering just below the surface.
With barely even a pause to consider that tone, Saiman started pushing back. "What the hell! Why not?!"
"I think you've had enough."
There was a slamming sound that made your body jolt, your heart stutter, and the entire bartop rattle with the impact. "That's bullshit! You can't—"
"Is there a problem here?"
Volt.
By the time you looked over, he had somehow already managed to not only insert himself between Saiman and the bar (as well as the unharmed Eddie behind it), but also backed him up a few paces for good measure. The small smile on Volt's face was pleasant enough on the surface, but the tight coldness in his eyes gave away the real danger he could (and would) unleash at a moment's notice if necessary.
But, typical of the meatheaded object, Saiman seemed oblivious to any danger. "Yeah, your useless bartender won't give me another drink!"
Or...maybe he was eager to pick a fight...
A dark shadow crossed Volt's face at the insult to his partner, then was quickly veiled behind a thin veneer of polite patience. "My apologies, but Eddie does know best. If he's cut you off, I'll have to stand by that call." He extended his arm out to the side, gracefully gesturing towards the doors to the outside world. "May I escort you to the exit?"
"Why? You trying to get rid of me?" Saiman demanded, balling his hands into fists, "All I want is another drink. What's so bad about that?"
Volt's patience visibly started to fade when his first polite request to leave was ignored. His tone became more terse and pointed. "You're disrupting our other patrons," he explained slowly, "So, again, I'll see you out." He pushed forward a half-step with his arm still outstretched, hoping to force the belligerent man towards the doors.
Unswayed, Saiman stood his ground. In fact, rather than backing off, he leaned into the building conflict. There was even a mocking grin playing at his lips, making it absolutely clear that he wanted a fight. "I'm not going anywhere."
Two strikes so far. This request would be the last Volt would offer before resorting to force. "Sir," Volt said coldly, "I really must insist you leave." His eyes and fingertips started to spark dangerously.
Any patrons that hadn't yet seen what was happening finally noticed the disturbance at the bar. A few had already been nervously making for the exits, but when the whole club was able to clearly witness Volt's growing displeasure, many more of them practically tripped over themselves to get out of there.
You, however, were frozen to your seat as you watched the argument play out, stomach twisted in knots. Not for your own safety, but in pure, anxious anticipation of whatever was going to happen next. It was about to come to blows; that much was obvious. But who would be the first to take it there?
In the next second, you got your answer.
"Why don't you make me?" Saiman goaded, lashing out and shoving Volt backwards by the shoulders.
Your mind went blank.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. As soon as you saw Saiman touch Volt, you were on your feet. Out of your peripheral vision, you saw Eddie heading for you, his eyes widening when he saw you running towards the danger rather than away from it. He shouted some kind of protest at you, but you were singleminded in your reaction to what you were witnessing. By the time Volt's back hit the bar with the force of Saiman's push, you were halfway to them. You saw Volt gritting his teeth, his hair and eyes crackling with energy, his skin beginning to take on a bluish hue as his eyes glowed bright white, but by that point, you'd reached them and stepped into the middle of the conflict with no hesitation.
Facing Saiman, you pushed him a few steps away from Volt. No doubt the only reason you were able to move him at all was because you'd caught him by complete surprise. "Hey, back off!" you yelled, glaring up at him and standing as a human wall between him and Volt. Your tense, defensive body language screamed that if Saiman wanted to get to him, he'd have to go through you.
Undoubtedly, the looming musclehead got the message, but instead of being threatened by it, he only laughed. Disbelieving at first, then with real humor as he realized you were serious. "Sure, sure," he invited mockingly between dwindling chuckles, "What do you think you can do against me?"
Like lightning, a solution popped into your head and just as quickly came blurting out of your mouth before you could really think about it. "I can throw you out!"
Again, a derisive bark of laughter burst from Saiman. "Ha! You?" he spat, "Even if you could, I'd just come right back in."
"No, I mean I can throw you in the TRASH."
Finally, you seemed to have put a dent in Saiman's confidence. His mocking smile fell, his eyes widened, and his shoulders stiffened, all while suddenly staring at you with a new wariness about him.
His stunned reaction gave you the boost of confidence you needed to keep going. On pure anger and adrenaline, your mind ran away with the idea, and you spoke aloud every unfiltered thought to really drive your point home. "You understand that that would get rid of you forever, right? At least, you wouldn't be our problem anymore. In this house, you're safe, but out there? Who knows what could happen to you? Maybe you'll even break."
You saw Saiman's expression darken, his muscles tensing and fists clenching. At the same time, you heard the intense hum and snap of electrical energy behind you grow louder, but you refrained from looking.
Instead, you remained focused on Saiman. Scoffing at his subtle threat, you forced down your fear, even as your voice shook. "Sure; you can beat the shit out of me right now if you want—" Behind you, Eddie hissed your name in an urgent reprimand. "—but do you really think that'll stop me from throwing your ass out of my house as soon as the Dateviators are off? The charge on them doesn't last forever. You hold no power over me."
Though seething, Saiman made no move to attack you. For once, he seemed to be thinking before acting, narrowed eyes flicking between your face and just past your shoulder as he measured his odds.
Eager to see him gone already, you jabbed a finger towards the doors without taking your stern frown off him. "Get. Out."
There was another moment of tense silence.
At last, Saiman scoffed, turning towards the exit. "Whatever," he grumbled, not bothering to keep his voice down as he left, "This place is a dump anyway. I'll get my drinks somewhere else."
And with that, he was gone.
As soon as the doors closed behind him, your breath left you all at once, taking all the tension you'd been holding along with it. A little lightheaded with the relief, you covered your chest with a hand, suddenly aware that your heart was racing. Yet, you couldn't help but feel accomplished. You'd kept a fight from breaking out!
While you recovered, you distantly heard Eddie calling out to any patrons brave (or stupid) enough to have stuck around through all the excitement to clear out. "The bar's closed for the night," he proclaimed, his voice oddly stressed.
You frowned. The threat was gone, wasn't it? Suddenly uncertain, you turned to Volt, wondering if he knew what was going on with Eddie.
Unfortunately, you found him looking almost exactly as he had before you'd stepped in between him and Saiman: tinged slightly blue and crackling with volatile energy all over. Like Eddie, he hadn't relaxed either. On the contrary, he was stone-faced as he silently held your gaze, pure white eyes still sparking.
With your heart in your throat, you reached out a tentative hand towards him. "Volt?" you asked softly.
Without a word, Volt pulled away from you and strode towards the exit.
Your heart dropped to your stomach. Had you done something wrong?
You didn't get the chance to wonder for long. A familiar, calloused hand grabbed your still outstretched one roughly and dragged you from the spot. You were left with no choice but to follow Eddie into the privacy of the back room, away from the last few stragglers on their way out of the club.
As soon as you were alone, Eddie dropped your hand and whirled on you, a frenzied look in his usually solid steel eyes. "I told you to stay out of it!" he yelled, getting right to the point, "Volt and I had it handled! What the hell were you thinking?!"
Staring at him wide-eyed, your mind raced. You had done something wrong, then. But what? "Uh, I..." Desperately, you replayed the last few minutes, trying to figure out what you'd done that had made both Eddie and Volt so upset with you. In a sudden moment of clarity, it hit you. "Oh, I—I didn't think about how making an even bigger scene would make you and Volt look," you stammered, brows furrowing and cheeks flushing hot with shame, "This is your club. I shouldn't have...I'm so sorry..."
You'd hoped to calm Eddie down with your apology, and you did succeed...technically. At the very least, he didn't seem like he was going to yell at you anymore, but now confusion had joined the lingering distress in his expression. "Wh—That's...not what I'm talking about," he insisted. His frown deepened as he gestured towards you with one hand. "You could have gotten hurt."
Oh. That.
"I..." You tried to summon an argument for yourself, but came up blank. "Yeah..."
Eddie's arm dropped back to his side in disbelief. "The thought didn't cross your mind at all?!" he demanded, his voice raising in volume alongside his growing agitation.
You threw your arms up in exasperation. "I couldn't just sit there and listen to that asshole threaten you and Volt anymore!" you argued, matching Eddie's tone and volume. The memory of Saiman's sneering disdain for Eddie and his violence against Volt crept back into your mind, twisting your face into a grimace and your stomach into knots. You knew if given the chance to relive the moment over again, you'd do exactly what you'd done before. "I had to do something!" you concluded, stubbornly holding Eddie's eye contact.
Unimpressed by your conviction, Eddie raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Like inviting him to beat the shit out of you?" The displeased glint in his eyes and the stern set of his jaw let you know he wouldn't be forgetting about you saying that any time soon.
You winced, averting your eyes. "Yeah okay, I might have gotten a little carried away with that."
"Oh, you think?" Eddie burst out sarcastically. In the next instant, he exhaled a shaky breath that reminded you of the time right after he'd caught you from falling while helping him with repairs. Turning on the spot, he ran a hand through his hair. "Amp, what are we gonna do with you?"
We.
The allusion to Volt dragged your thoughts right back to your last glimpse of him. From what you'd seen, his feelings on the matter seemed pretty obvious. That emotionless look on his face...His silence as he'd turned and walked away...Now that you were starting to understand how you standing up to Saiman must have felt from his and Eddie's perspectives, Volt's reaction made sense.
Didn't make it hurt any less, though.
Trying not to feel the growing lump in your throat, your fingers fidgeted in front of you as you watched Eddie. "Is Volt...okay?" you asked in a small voice, "He seemed a little..."
You trailed off in search of an apt description, but were spared from finishing the sentence. "After that stunt you pulled, you're asking if he's okay?" Eddie demanded, giving you an incredulous look.
Shame-faced, you bit your lip and silently cast your eyes down to your hands.
With a gentle, careworn sigh, Eddie crossed the small space between you, and your eyes absently shifted to his boots as they entered your vision. "He will be," Eddie assured you, voice softer now, "He just needs some space to cool off."
Your breath hitched at his wording. The echo of angry, crackling electricity replayed over and over in your ears, and your traitorous mind could only think that the anger must have been directed at you. Eddie's boots blurred as you gripped tightly to the front of your shirt, the first thing your hands found. "...is he mad at me?" you asked at length, hating the wobble in your voice.
"Hey..." As soon as one tiny tear fell from your eyes, Eddie reached out to run a comforting hand along your arm. "I meant that he physically needs to cool off. That was a lot of energy he built up and it's gotta get out of him."
The knot in your chest eased somewhat at that explanation. It made sense...yet he still hadn't answered your actual question.
"He's not mad at you," Eddie assured you, as if he could plainly see your lingering uncertainty, "And neither am I, while we're at it. We both just want you to be safe, and when you do shit like this..."
Your shoulders slumped as you cast your eyes off to the side. You didn't think you could bear to look at him and see only disappointment on his face.
Eddie was having none of it. While keeping his reassuring touch on your arm, he used his free hand to angle your head up to face him. To your relief, there was no trace of the disappointment you'd expected. Only helpless affection. "But we also know we can't ask you to be someone you're not, and you're our live wire." With his thumb, he brushed the tear from your cheek. "In every sense of the phrase."
His words warmed your heart, finally drawing a small, tentative smile to your lips.
"Even when that means you stupidly jump into danger without thinking," Eddie added dryly.
"Aw, Eddie," you giggled, "You're sweet."
Hearing your laughter dragged a reluctant grin onto Eddie's lips as well. "Yeah yeah," he griped, tugging you closer to press a kiss to your forehead. When he pulled back, he released his hold on you and jutted a thumb over his shoulder towards the rest of the club. "Now come on and help me clean up for the night." His grin turned teasing. "It's partially your fault we had to close early, after all."
Your mouth dropped open in mock offense, even as you followed him out. "It was definitely Saiman's fault, not mine! I'm not the one that started it!"
A little more lighthearted, harmless bickering on the topic carried you into the first of Eddie's closing tasks, helping drive home that he really didn't hold any lingering anger towards you. The return to his usual wry, teasing tone acted as a balm on your heart. Whether he was consciously minding his tone or just doing it completely by accident, you appreciated it.
After some time, the two of you lapsed into comfortable silence as you both worked on cleaning your individual areas. By that point, it was feeling like just any other ordinary evening, if not for Volt's continued absence. Frequently, your mind wandered and remembered that he was still missing from the comfortable scene. Every time it did, your stomach gave a small, discomfited flip, but you did your best to squash the feeling and remind yourself of Eddie's earlier reassurances. He'd said Volt wasn't mad at you. You trusted him to know what he was talking about.
You were wiping down a table by the stage when suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped around your waist, enveloping you in warmth. When you felt the tingling static of long hair brushing against your cheek, you knew it could be none other than Volt. Unsure of his mood, you froze, breath catching in your throat. Your hand was tense around the rag, holding it in place while you waited for him to break the silence.
A small bit of your tension drained away when you realized that Volt seemed to be nuzzling into you as if you were a stuffed animal meant to comfort him. Surely, he wasn't too upset anymore, then. At last, he spoke, his voice soft and almost...confused. "You protected...me?" he murmured, and you could hear the small frown in his voice.
You swallowed your apprehension and gave a single slow nod. "Yeah."
"You—" The word cut short, barely escaping Volt's throat before he tightened his arms around you for a brief moment. As he loosened his grasp again, his breath left him in a soft huff that you felt against the back of your head. "Darling, you didn't have to."
His tone was patient, but there was enough of a gentle reprimand underlying it that you couldn't help but close your eyes, abashed. "I know..." you admitted.
Volt's patient tone persisted, now with an added hint of resignation. "And yet you did it anyway."
Huffing, your hands tightened into fists around the rag and against the table. "I hated seeing you get threatened, Volt," you explained urgently, "I had to do something!"
"Even though it meant throwing yourself into the line of fire?"
One drawback of having two partners: you received the same scolding twice. Even more so when your partners were Volt and Eddie, who shared such a unique bond. You could have laughed at just how closely Volt's last words echoed Eddie's from earlier in the evening, but instead you just sighed, tipping your head back against Volt and relaxing your hands in a sign of surrender.
"Yeah, I get the picture," you informed him wearily, "Eddie already gave me a talking to."
Your heart lightened considerably when Volt finally showed a sign of levity, releasing a quiet laugh that rumbled against your back. "Oh, did he now?" he teased, his voice sounding much more himself, "And did you learn your lesson?"
With the sense that you were getting back in familiar waters once again, you felt comfortable enough to lighten the mood right along with him. You let out an uncertain little noise in the back of your throat. "Maybe?" you half-asked, then immediately admitted, "Probably not." You turned your head towards Volt and whispered conspiratorially, "I think he might have let me off easy."
You caught a glimpse of Volt's brilliant smile just before he leaned in close to your ear to whisper right back, "Well, he does have a soft spot for you."
From over at the bar, Eddie griped, "I can hear you, you know."
Both of you were well aware. You shared a mischievous snicker between yourselves.
As your laughter died down, Volt drew away from you and came around to your side so you could finally see him properly. Gone was the blue tint to his skin, as well as the violent energy in his eyes, hands, and hair. He was back to his usual self, and you'd never been happier to see the warmth in his glowing eyes. He held you captive in that warmth as he reached out with both of his hands to hold one of yours to his chest. "Thank you," he said, emphasizing the sentiment with a gentle squeeze, "for keeping me safe, my sweet spark." He sealed his gratitude with a kiss to the back of your hand.
The last thing you'd been expecting was to be thanked, but you had to admit: it felt pretty amazing. And also a little overwhelming, to be completely honest. Your face flushed in equal parts pleasure and fluster, which seemed to amuse Volt to no end once he raised his eyes back to you. When he released your hand, you could only stammer. "I—I'm, uh...I'm almost done here. With the tables, I mean. Just, uh..."
"Allow me to help you," Volt offered graciously, knowing you could use the time to regain your bearings. Not that he minded, of course; flustering his partners was a favorite pastime of his. The recovery time was just another delightful part of the process to him.
True to his word, he took up the job of flipping the chairs onto the tabletops you'd already cleaned while you finished up the last few tables. Before long, the tasks were complete and the two of you headed for the bar to check what else needed to be done.
As you approached, the sight of the bar brought one particular memory from earlier that evening rushing to the surface of your mind. It was when you'd been running to get in between Volt and Saiman. Everything had been happening so fast, but Volt being shoved backwards to hit the bar was something that would be burned into your brain for a long time, you feared. The contact hadn't been so forceful to make any impact on the bar itself, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt.
"Volt!" You spoke abruptly, drawing his attention to your distress at once. "I'm so sorry! I should have asked sooner: are you hurt?" Reaching out, your hand hovered near his back, afraid to touch in case of an injury you didn't know the severity of. "You hit the bar pretty hard, didn't you?"
As soon as he heard your words, Eddie's sharp eyes snapped up to stare at your shared lover as well. He set down the bottle in his hands without looking away, waiting to hear Volt's response.
No matter how suddenly he was put into the center of such unwavering attention, Volt's smile widened at once. You couldn't help but notice how closely it resembled the smile he put on for guests to the Breaker Box. "Don't worry that pretty head of yours, spark," he placated easily, "I can hardly feel the pain anymore."
"Implying that until recently, you did feel it," Eddie cut in, leaning forward with his arms crossed over the bar. His eyes remained locked on Volt, now scanning him up and down in search of outward signs of harm.
You were so glad in that moment that he was there with you to call Volt's bluff. Especially when Volt doubled down and kept bluffing. Turning his attention to Eddie, he insisted, "It's nothing I can't handle, my darling."
"Is that right." It was clear from Eddie's tone that he didn't believe Volt for a second.
"Of course; I'm fine!" Volt tried to assure yet again, meeting Eddie's challenge without hesitation. You could practically see the sparks flying between them in such charged, silent eye contact. A test of wills, playing out right before your eyes.
Eventually, Eddie gave in and and broke away, turning his eyes to you instead as he let out a quiet sigh. "Don't worry. I'll check him over later to make sure."
You rested a hand on his arm, relief flooding through you to know that if something was wrong, Volt wouldn't be able to hide it for long. "Thanks, Eddie."
Shaking his head, Volt laughed softly. "You two are worrying over nothing, I assure you. But..." He angled your head up to meet his deeply affectionate glowing gaze. "Thank you for your concern, regardless. You really are determined to take care of us, aren't you?"
Heart fluttering, all you could do was offer him a besotted smile in confirmation.
"Now," Volt went on, releasing you to lean thoughtfully against the bar, "the most pressing matter to concern ourselves with is how to keep that pest Saiman from darkening our door again." He regarded you with an admiring gleam in his eyes while the corners of his lips twitched in amusement. "I have to admit, I rather enjoyed your ideas, live wire."
While Eddie laughed his agreement, you tried to push down the surge of pride their reactions dragged up inside your chest. It wasn't that you didn't enjoy their approval, but you had some misgivings, now that you'd had time to properly think over what you'd said to Saiman. "I mean..." You grimaced, rubbing your neck. "I probably should have checked with Cam before threatening to throw Saiman in the garbage. I doubt he'd want to keep that guy company any more than the rest of us do. But...is there such a thing as object jail? If not, chucking him out the window still seems like a viable option."
Eddie and Volt's continued laughter at your wonderings pulled a smile back onto your face as well. Despite how impromptu your solutions might have been in the moment, maybe you'd been onto something after all.