𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 ~ 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴

~ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚: 𝙄 𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 ~

A/n: This chapter contains just a touch of spice!

That same night as Astrid lay on the couch wide awake as ever, a smile formed as she dreamt of her next secret date with Sloane. Obviously, with her reputation as a Sparrow, they wouldn't be able to go out to somewhere nice without risking being caught by citizens or the paparazzi that were eager to start untrue rumors and scandals. So, they would have to settle for another romantic date on the ceiling.

Astrid felt her cheeks glow as she wondered how it would go. They both enjoyed the first time being together, so the second time had to be even better than the last. When she was eventually able to fall asleep, she woke up to find herself completely alone, Allison having gone off with Luther to negotiate with the Sparrows, while Viktor was probably eating breakfast and socializing with the rest of their brothers.

She changed into some comfortable clothes and went downstairs to grab some breakfast. It wasn't nearly as delicious as the breakfast while she was held captive, but she did enjoy the sunrise mimosas, bagels, and mixed fruit salad with the mini chocolate chip muffins. "Triddy! Come sit with us?" Viktor called out to her, noticing her all by her lonesome. "I'm okay, but thanks anyway," Astrid shook her head. "You sure? There's another empty chair if you want it,"

"I'm sure. You can continue with your guy talk," Astrid assured. As she bit into her plain bagel, she heard Sloane's soft voice ticking off the different types of butter during the Sparrow's breakfast. Cashew butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, tahini, Brazil nut. The longer she thought about her forbidden gravity princess, her loving and admiring smile shone brightly through the rest of the seating area. Little did she know that her brothers caught sight of it, wondering who or what was making her so happy.

"What's up with her?" Diego whispered lowly. "Either she's been bitten by a deer tick, or I would say Astrid's thinking about someone special," Viktor speculated. Diego scoffed as he looked back at the Shadow Girl. "What? You don't think it's possible she may have found love and never told us?" Viktor squinted. "How could she find love? We've been dealing with apocalypse after apocalypse. There's been no time for romance," Diego shook his head. "I fell in love, remember? With Sissy? So did you with Lila," Number Seven reminded him.

The Kraken shook his head, muttering that he didn't have to be reminded of that, especially since Stanley might've been the product of that brief romance. "What are you guys talking about?" the tween questioned, popping his head out and resting it on Diego's shoulder. "Oh, just guy stuff," Viktor shrugged. "Well, I'm a guy, so can I join?" "No, it's stuff you wouldn't understand," Diego dismissed. Stanley mimicked him under his breath before continuing with his consistent nagging.

Just as Diego stood from his seat to take on the parental duties, Allison and Luther returned from their talk with the Sparrows. "So, how did it go?" Viktor questioned. "It was fine. They're meeting us here in a few hours, and we told them we would give back Marcus in exchange for the briefcase," Allison answered. "What? Why would you do that? You know we don't have him!" Number Seven gaped. "Well, they don't know that!" Allison insisted.

"What are we gonna do when they show up and find out we don't have him?" Viktor panicked. "That's what I asked her!" Luther jumped in. Allison rolled her eyes behind her pair of thick sunglasses, "We'll figure that out when they get here. We're powerful superheroes, it's time we started acting like it," "Like how you almost turned a conversation with Ben into a street fight?" Luther inquired.