Imagine Asking Akande for Party Help:
Masterlist | Ko-Fi | Read on AO3
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As a member of Talon yourself, you were very aware of the organization’s no-nonsense, dark and brooding type of system. Except for the childish bickering and teasing the members did on occasion. Otherwise, completely no-nonsense and totally dark and brooding.
With that in mind, you decided to spread a little light and positive mood around the mildly eerie base. You, being the Halloween enthusiast that you were, had originally planned the idea for later on in the month, more like an actual Halloween party on said day. However, when a large portion of the agents came home disappointed and beaten down from yet another recently failed mission, you decided to move up your cheer up squad agenda.
Your goal was to decorate the cafeteria with red, gold, and orange autumn decorations with a dash of mild Halloween flair. It took some persuading to get the kitchen staff on board with making special treats to match the party theme, along with letting you use their cafeteria for your antics in the first place. Currently, the only big issue left was having a way to keep all the other Talon agents out of the cafeteria until you were ready. That and to keep their curiosity, should it arise, away.
Who might you go to for such a predicament? The biggest, scariest member on the team, of course. He who also happened to dislike the uneventful at-home part of Talon.
“Hey Doomie!” You knocked on the open door of Akande Ogundimu’s room before strolling inside.
The large, muscular man sat in an armchair with a book in hand, looking sophisticated as he ever has. When you hollered the obnoxious nickname, something that your pal Sombra had come up with, Akande lowered his book and raised an eyebrow at you.
He questioned, deadpan, “Can I help you?”
You leaned in the doorway and flashed a grin his way. “As a matter of fact, you can.”
A quick explanation of your plan and some wandering around the room later, Akande was on board to to block off the cafeteria and shut down suspicions. Not only did he appreciate you trying to put a little entertainment into the otherwise dull base but he also admired the fact that you were trying to cheer up your fellow teammates after their mission had gone sour.
“You have a good heart,” he’d mentioned before agreeing.
You had replied, “You know, a lot of us here do? And yet, we’re part of a big bad gang of criminals. ‘S weird, if you ask me.”
You got what you wanted, so with a clap on the large man’s back and giving him a party timeframe, you headed back on your way to prepare decorations and music.
“Hey, Jeremy, can you help me with this thing?”
It took more persuading and promises of helping with chores later on but you were eventually able to get the kitchen staff to help you decorate the cafeteria, as well as make an array of treats for the party. Luckily, they were generally enthusiastic about the whole idea so they followed your orders well and got things finished quickly.
And now here you were, currently standing on a particularly lofty ladder. You were trying to fit a pumpkin light shade over the last of the cafeteria lights in hopes of giving the room a soft orange glow but you couldn’t quite get the last shade over the light. The young ginger-haired agent you hollered at had the height and the long fingers to do such a tedious task.
However, Jeremy came in a little too hot and ended up bumping into the ladder. If it hadn’t been so tall, the bump probably wouldn’t have disrupted you, but the length-to-width ratio of said ladder made it easy to wobble. Which made it easy for you to lose your grip and fall with a very unappealing squeal to what was possibly your death.
Instead you landed more or less safely in the arms of Akande who, for some reason, had showed up in the right place at the right time.
“You’re my hero,” you whimpered, face visibly twisted in pain from landing on two logs of pure hardened muscle. If it weren’t for the man’s grip on you, you may have slipped out of his grasp and into a spineless puddle on the floor. For now you laid limp in his arms, letting out a breathless groan of pain and adding, “Your arms are like boulders.”
“You need to be more careful,” Akande commented. You briefly considered whether he was ignoring your pain or whether he really didn’t notice it until you remembered that, of course, the man was a genius and definitely knew you were in pain.
“It looks nice in here,” he continued with a quick glance around, “but we have a probl—”
Akande turned around, still holding you in his arms, for you both to see Reaper walking into the cafeteria. He was followed by his other main partners aside from Akande himself, Sombra and Amelie, as well as several other Talon agents. They all looked thoroughly annoyed and equally confused at the dying down commotion of party planning.
“Um,” you mumbled, digging for your phone, “Hold on. Just, uh, give me a sec here.” You fished the device out of your pocket and started flipping through the music on it. Finding a song you thought would set the mood, you hit play. Music started pouring from the intercoms and you addressed the group with your best showstopping smile, despite the fact that your back still ached from the fall and a dull throb in your left foot was beginning to make you think you twisted something on the way down.
“Sorry my boulder muscles hurt your back,” Akande murmured with a chuckle.
It took a very awkward explanation and promising to work cleanup crew for Reaper to get on board and allow the party to continue, but now you and Akande were watching comfortably from the sidelines as the other agents enjoyed themselves. You had tried to shoo the large man away to join the others but he was set on taking responsibility for your being in pain. Now, he stood behind the stool you were sitting on, trying to help soothe your aches and pains with ice packs and a back rub.
You simply hummed a response as Akande’s fingers absentmindedly pressed against the spot between your shoulder blades. You held ice your ankle, which had in fact become swollen. What happened to cause it, you had no idea, but it hurt like a mother.
After another moment, you actually replied, “If I had fallen from a high enough height, I’m pretty sure you could have broken my back.”
Akande cracked a grin as his hands gradually moved down your back in small circular motions. He continued, “I like what you did, though. Not the party really, although it ended up being very well-made. How you tried to boost everyone’s spirit, I mean.”
“You think it worked?” you asked lazily, shifting on your seat a bit. You rested your arms on the countertop your stool was bolted in front of, then rested your head on them and closed your eyes.
“They seem happier than they were, yes.”
“Good,” you muttered. The adrenaline high you had gotten from party planning adventure, then almost dying via death by ladder and Jeremy, was worn off now. That, added with Akande soothingly working on your back, made it a very difficult mission of staying awake. It was particularly difficult to keep opening your mouth for conversation, but you didn’t want to leave Akande for sleep. That'd be rude, especially since the man offered to stick by your side instead of attending the party.
“Don’t worry about it, by the way,” Akande said suddenly, drawing your attention back to the conscious world.
You forced your eyes open and glanced his way, confused. “I’m sorry?”
He chuckled, finishing his current round on your back. Then he lifted your much smaller body gently into his arms, setting the ice pack you were holding aside.
“You kept apologized for stopping me from enjoying the party,” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice, as he made his way to the cafeteria’s main door. “I said do not worry about it. I enjoyed watching everyone and I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
“Did I say that..?” You were dozing again and only vaguely aware that you were being carried back to your room.
“You did,” Akande confirmed. “A night’s rest will do you good now. You finished your mission. I’ll stop by in the morning to take you by the med bay.”
You were sleep before Akande even got halfway to your room.
