🥪Picnic - Have the character(s) go on a picnic. Specifically Athena and her two husbands (or just one tiny husband but two works as a crack humor bit)
Athena was not a very patient woman and she had no problem in admitting as much. She liked it when things were kept on a tight, ordered schedule right down to the hour. It was one of the few, if the only, things she had in common with the Lieutenant General which helped keep the rocky peace between them. Even if no one else knew of her former experience as an elite soldier, it was hard to miss the well ingrained training she carried on and off duty. Especially in comparison to Felix who did little to hide his aloof nature despite donning the metal badge meant to signify enforcement.
That wasn’t to say the human was incompetent. Far from it. The sheriff was one of the only people Athena had ever come across that had managed to seek her out on multiple occasions. Not even the handful of mindwipes she flashed him deterred him from finding the giantess, mostly without him even being aware of what he was looking for until he was right at her heel. Though it annoyed her to no end, there was something…charming about it all. She liked his persistence, his unpredictability. Traits that drove her perfectionist nature crazy strangely suited him well, much like everything else about him. Felix was soft hearted while she was hard edges, he was smiles while she was deadpan, he was kindness while she was firm.
He was nothing at all like her ex husband, almost the exact opposite. Perhaps that was why Athena genuinely enjoyed his company so much.
Felix snuffed out his cigarette into the ashtray he had taken from the cruiser’s cupholder once it had burned down to the filter. “If I had known we were going to be out on a stakeout this long, I would have suggested we bring a picnic.”
There it was, the patience that Athena sorely lacked. Whereas Felix was used to sitting around in his car, waiting for something interesting to happen either over the radio or before his very eyes, Athena wanted things to be done and over with in a timely fashion. She couldn’t begin to understand how he could deal with the boredom when there were so many other things they could be using this wasted energy on. One of the scientists had said astronomers had detected another unusual ‘meteor shower’ looking to fly over, but due to its erratic flying it was hard to pinpoint an exact time frame of when it would be making contact. The solution was to just have Athena sitting around the general area that these types of flybys would land for several hours on end, much to her displeasure.
At least she had a bit of company, even if the nosy little sheriff wasn’t her first choice. Actually, she couldn’t think of anyone else she’d rather be stuck with for an extended period of time, so Athena supposed he was her first choice if only because he was her only. It didn’t count to win by default, in her opinion. When the cruiser had pulled up next to her, she hadn’t even bothered to ask how he found her hiding spot this time. She also didn’t pry into the fact his patrol shifts typically didn’t end until the early hours of the next day and he shouldn’t even be off the clock when it was barely dusk.
“A camp out might be more fitting at this rate,” Athena grumbled. She adjusted her sitting position again so that she could stretch out her legs a bit, dusting off the knees of her black slacks. If only it were possible to pick up the same nicotine habit as the sheriff, at least then it’d be something to calm her nerves and keep her preoccupied. Perhaps that was why Felix started smoking to begin with which then gifted him with unprecedented patience.
Felix shrugged and gave her a smile. “Still a night picnic. Some might even consider that more romantic if it’s under the stars.”
That was true, in fact Athena was willing to agree with him due to her own firsthand experience. She and Lyle had gone on a few dates early in their relationship that could be considered close enough to the ideal of a picnic. It became something of a romantic tradition between the two of them; every new planet they settled on for evaluations and negotiations, Lyle would scout out the most scenic spots with the best privacy to take her for the evening. Sometimes they would bring light food or alcohol with them, but more often than not it was just him holding Athena while they stargazed. She thought it was beautiful to dream about each world beyond the stars, he thought it was strategic to point out the next best systems to invade.
“Do you like picnics?” Athena found herself asking. Quite the random, personal question coming from someone like her. She found herself doing that more frequently, though only when she was talking to Felix.
Even he seemed caught off guard by her inquiry, but he was more than happy to oblige. “Sure, I guess. Haven’t really gone on very many, Angelica wasn’t a fan of ‘em. She didn’t like all the bugs and dirt and stuff getting on the blanket or food.”
Felix was so interesting, always eager to offer up loads of information that no one asked for. The answer could have been a simple yes or no, yet here he was explaining his life story as if Athena was supposed to care for the reason he did or didn’t like an activity. Why was that so cute to her? Better yet, why did she find herself actually making a mental note that the sheriff might enjoy being taken out for a real picnic if she ever had the means for it?
“What about you?” Felix asked, never one to pass up the chance to dig a little deeper into Athena’s tightly sealed past. “Did you ever go picnicking? Or camping?”
“In a sense.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have eaten and slept outdoors on some occasions.”
“And did you, you know, enjoy it?”
Athena enjoyed it at the moment. When she was younger and naive, blinded by love and eager to please her revered captain. She liked those sweet, quiet moments together with him when they would talk for hours about nothing under the twinkling stars. Both of them thinking about the future without knowing what the other was truly planning. It was her own fault for believing he would ever eventually give up reign to settle down with her somewhere family friendly. It was Lyle’s own fault for believing his obedient wife would never leave his genocidal side.
“I enjoyed…parts of it,” she admitted. Now, the memories only made her sick, much like any instance that involved remembering the bittersweet feelings of her marriage. The love she once felt had turned to an ugly resentment and she wanted nothing more than to smack her younger self upside the head and tell her to wake up and see the reality of what Lyle was creating. “I liked stargazing.”
Felix smiled up at her and her stomach twisted again. It wasn’t the same nauseous feeling as before, something a little lighter. A tickling sensation that wasn’t unfamiliar and one she was quick to swallow down before it turned into full on butterflies. Absolutely not. “You must have seen a lot of them, huh? I can’t even imagine what it must be like to see them so close. I always liked them at this hour, when the sky is still colorful but you can just start seeing them peek out.”
“...there was one planet I had visited years ago. Something about its atmosphere meant that when it rotated to a night cycle, the sky was the deepest blue I had ever seen. And all the stars made it look like this…glittering ocean. I’d love to see a sky like that again.” She didn’t bother to go on and explain how it made her feel like she was truly upside down and looking into a vast body of water rather than the universe. Or how she pretended that the creatures flying through the air were actually swimming. Or how Lyle had ordered the execution of the king and his family two days later, prompting them to never return after the massacre.
The sheriff laughed. “You should take me with you if you ever do. I promise I won’t take up much room in your suitcase.”
Athena blinked. “Would you? I mean, would you ever leave this planet with me? If you had the chance?”
He hummed, looking up at the steadily increasing scenery of twinkling lights as the sky continued to darken from shades of orange to black. “I don’t know,” Felix answered with a shrug. “Part of me says yes because, duh, it’s a once in a lifetime chance to see the whole damn universe. But I think the other part of me would get homesick pretty quick. I don’t know if I’d be able to leave everyone behind forever.”
Why not? It’s easy, was what Athena wanted to say. It was impossible to relate to the feeling of being homesick when there was never a home for her to yearn for in the first place. Hell, there weren't even very many people that came to mind who she missed during her prolonged absence. Even the ones she worked side by side with, graduated from training from, she didn’t mind never seeing again. She couldn’t place why it stung the fluttering in her stomach to hear his reluctance in ever absconding this dreadful planet with her, but at least the feeling had snuffed out those unwanted butterflies. Felix really was her opposite, wasn’t he? What was the word humans had for that…? Starcrossed?
CONSIDER: a giant pred that’s a country boi and hides in mucky rivers like a gator to eat & catch animals and generally teases a lot with southern charm
OH SOUTHERN CHARM COUNTRY BOIS MY BELOVED
Just him drawling out pet names and old weird sayings just to confuse/fluster tinies because it's so cute watching them stutter about...v good
Does Negasonic work with any other villains or is he always an independent baddie?
On occasion he'll work with other villains if their plans happen to align with something he was already doing and thus mean less work for him, but he doesn't really seek out longterm partnerships
