Heroes | Sportacus

We've Been Waiting for You

It was incredibly early. Since Bessy was working that morning, Emilia was the only one home. At least, until Stephanie and the other children showed up at her door. Stephanie was holding a rather large fruit basket. The kids all smiled at Emilia as she opened the door.

"Hey, what's up?" Emilia asked, looking at all of them. She almost stepped back when Stephanie shoved the basket in front of her face.

"My Uncle Milford asked us to bring this to you!" Stephanie smiled. "He told us it would be really nice!"

All the other children nodded, each of them grinning at her. Emilia took the basket from Stephanie's arms. Before she could thank any of the kids, they all ran away from her door in the direction of the playground.

"Thank you!" Emilia laughed. She watched them play together for a moment, not hearing a certain superhero approach her.

"That's a lot of sports candy!" said a voice.

Emilia jumped until she realized it was only Sportacus. She hadn't expected him to be awake yet, seeing as no one appeared to be in any trouble. He smiled back at her.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, gesturing to the basket. "I said that's a lot of sports candy, Emilia."

"Oh! Yeah, I know," Emilia laughed. "The kids brought it to me, something about the mayor thinking it would be nice, but I think it's because he likes Bessie."

"What do you mean?" Sportacus questioned, curious.

"When someone likes a person, they usually try to impress that person by being nice to their family," Emilia shrugged.

Sportacus raised his eyebrows at the new information, "Really?"

"Yeah, you know, it's... just a thing, I guess," Emilia nodded. "So, did you need something?"

"Oh! I wanted to know if you've had breakfast yet," Sportacus smiled. "It is the most important meal of the day!"

Emilia laughed, "I'm quite aware of that, but no, I haven't had breakfast. Do you want to come in? We could have it together."

Sportacus smiled, rather happily. He really liked Emilia and this was a moment he couldn't pass up. He quickly nodded in response to the suggestion. Sportacus followed Emilia into the house and sat down once inside the kitchen. Being Sportacus, however, meant that he couldn't remain still for long, so he was up and walking around again within a few seconds.

"I was making an avocado-banana smoothie for myself before the kids showed up. Would you like one?" she asked, glancing back at him for a moment.

"Sure," Sportacus smiled again. He watched Emilia as she poured two smoothies. She then slowly turned around after placing a straw into each of the drinks. Sportacus removed one from her hands, took a sip, and then exclaimed, "This is delicious, Em!"

"Em?"

Sportacus froze, unsure of what he should do. He cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. He then placed his cup on the countertop, slowly backing away to the front door. Emilia looked at him, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"I should go now. Stephanie will be looking for me," Sportacus explained.

"Sportacus!" Emilia laughed, realizing why he was trying to leave so quickly. "Are you really leaving because you called me Em?"

"You don't mind?" Sportacus asked. He looked at her, his bright blue eyes filled with worry and some confusion. He wasn't sure what to think about her at the moment. Then again, he never was.

"Of course not!" Emilia laughed again. She stepped forward and placed a hand on one of his shoulders. "Lots of people call me that! It's not a big deal! You're my friend!"

The blue hero's shoulders relaxed and he gave Emilia his usual happy grin. Sportacus felt his cheeks heat up when Emilia smiled back. His worry had disappeared, but Sportacus seemed to suddenly take in Emilia's words.

"I'm your friend?" he asked, slightly deflating once again. There was part of him that wanted her to tell him no because she was more than that to him. She was so much more than that.

Little did Sportacus know, Emilia felt the exact same way about him. Maybe even more so.