Hi I had a thought about Superhero AU HeraldCheese meeting- bc of Rich Cheese being Herald's biggest fan.
He's not the most popular of the Virtues and he...he gets it. He's big, he's kind of scary, and he can get a little too into fights. Kids prefer Salt or Bringer, sometimes Sage or Flour, and Herald gets it.
Except one day there's this kid who pops up and asks for his autograph. And she keeps popping up after battles, always getting his autograph. It's cute and it's nice, if a little concerning. One day, she doesn't pop up. Instead a woman approaches him for his autograph, explaining that she's the girl's mom, and she's sick today so she couldn't come- not like she should be close to battles but she was still bummed-
Herald isn't sure why he adds his phone number to the autograph but it works out.
Oooooo cuuuuuute!!! CUTE CUTE CUUUUTE!!!
I can just imagine Herald, after a battle, sweatier than his fellow Virtues, hair a wild mess, costume all torn and scuffed, and he just gets passed over. Day after day, battle after battle.
Until this fiery lil rooster pops up begging for an autograph! AH! So cute!
---
Morning Dew walked by and chuckled as she plucked a bit of building out of his hair, "Saving for later?" She teased.
"Hardy har." Herald rolled his eyes.
"Don't linger too long, you know how the officials get when heroes step in to do their work." She reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah," He waved her off. Already he could hear Sugar and Salt had left, Sage was still answering questions from the press, which left him to clean up their mess.
Like he'd been doing since they first started working as a group.
His powers: precognition, speed, and strength, along with his high pain tolerance were useful to brute force his way through a battle. Sage's wit and Morning Dew's reality warping might work find and dandy on a criminal mastermind, and Guide's speed and Bringer's mental manipulation worked well on their unhinged foes.
But Herald's brute strength was typically reserved as a last minute call-in.
That, and, his strange ability to recreate anything from the debris they left behind saved the city millions of dollars. Reconstruction was an odd superpower — ovens, did it even count as one? But it was what he had, and his mother had instructed him to use it for good, so he did.
It was a thankless, cyclical job, but if he stopped doing it, that'd make him no better than the monsters they swore to fight against.
He touched a pile of shattered bricks (Salt had been thrown through it, but that was a problem for Morning Dew to solve as she had the healing abilities) and lifted his hands. The small bits and pieces and dust and debris lifted and realigned itself back into the wall it had been before the battle had started.
He smirked and flicked his wrist, twisting the bricks into a more pleasing and artistic pattern than just layered brick.
He chuckled to himself.
"Uhm...excuse me?"
Herald looked down in shock.
It was a little girl?!
"Uhhh..." he wasn't sure how to respond to her.
How did she get past Sage's civilian barrier??
He glanced back at Sage, who was too occupied answering questions to notice.
"Hello..." he looked back at the beaming child, "Little one."
"Are you really the Herald of Change?" She asked, her grin growing so wide he wondered how her cheeks didn't tear.
"Uh..." he was not the most eloquent hero (That was Sage's job). "Yeah."
The little girl dropped her backpack and immediately unzipped it and pulled out a little red book, "Can you please please please pleeeeeeeaaase sign my book??" She pleaded and held it and a shiny, thick pen up to him.
Herald looked around. It was just him and Sage at the scene. He looked back at the little girl and pointed to himself, "Me?" He asked.
The little girl nodded eagerly.
"Uhh...okay." He carefully took the book and opened it. He expected it to be filled with autographs from other heroes, maybe other celebrities or characters from theme parks.
But it was empty.
He glanced down at the little girl, her choppy yellow hair, rosy dark dough, and sharp blue eyes.
Herald awkwardly held the book in one hand and signed with the other on the first page. "To..." he looked down at her, "What's your name, kid?"
"Oh," She blushed and smiled sheepishly, "Rich Cheese, Herald, sir."
"Of course," Herald resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "To Rich Cheese: Witness Change. Herald of Change." He narrated as he wrote it down and signed his superhero signature. He gently blew on the ink to ensure it was dry, then snapped the book shut and handed it back to Rich Cheese.
"There ya go, kid."
To his surprise, Rich Cheese accepted the book, then threw her arms around his midriff, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She cheered.
Before Herald could react, Sage grabbed his arm, "Come on, big fella, police are here. We need to scram."
"Alright, kid, I gotta go." Herald carefully pulled her arms off of him.
"What is all this mess??" Sage scolded, "What were you doing that whole time?? I keep the civilians away and you clean the mess, that's what we do, that's why this works —,"
Herald rolled his eyes, then hoisted Sage up over his shoulder (just to piss him off) and ran for their escape.
---
Herald thought he'd never have to see that strange little girl ever again, but as luck would have it, she showed up to nearly every major battle they fought in that summer.
She never wanted anything more than his autograph.
Not Guide's, not Bringer's, not Sage's.
His.
And, he felt bad just writing his catchphrase, so after the third time she showed up asking for one, he began to get creative.
"Stay in school"
"Get into coding"
"Cute hair clip"
"Wear sunscreen"
"Read books"
"Start a 401K"
"Truth Will Out"
(Okay, so he only did that one because he knew Sage was watching and was peeved this fan only gave Herald attention and not him).
He didn't know why, but the kid was never bothered. She treasured each and every autograph. All in the same red book, all with various pens.
He tried to ask her about herself(she knew so much about him, and she showed up all the time) but he was met with a firm —
"My mama said not to tell strangers personal information."
"Oh, we're strangers now, huh?" Herald had teased her and signed "listen to your mother; don't talk to strangers" in her book.
Rich Cheese nodded and hummed obediently, "Yup. But I am sad."
"Why are you sad, lil chickadee?" Herald asked. He touched a fallen tree from their recent battle and it righted itself. With a flick of his wrist a small treehouse platform formed in the tree.
"Because school starts soon and I won't get to see you as much." She pouted and hugged her book closely to her chest.
"Huh..." Herald paused.
Guess that meant his lil shadow wouldn't be around so much.
---
And she wasn't.
It was almost sad to not see her. Still, she always popped up on the weekends without fail, and when the school had staff days, she was right there by his side after a battle.
...
Until she wasn't.
"Uhm...excuse me?" A sharp voice caught his attention as he was lifting a bus.
Herald had to do a double take as the world's most beautiful woman stood before him. She had curly yellow hair with the tips dyed neon green and blue, rosy dark dough, and shimmering golden eyes. She wore more gold than he'd ever seen a person wear before, and stood with her hip popped out and her arms crossed.
He dropped the bus and quickly wiped his hands, "Uhh, hello? What can I do for you, miss —?"
"My daughter is a big fan of yours, but she's sick. She asked me to —,"
"Wait, you're Rich Cheese's mother?" Herald asked.
The woman blinked, she didn't like being interrupted, "Yes." She said slowly. "Now, my daughter —,"
Herald shook his head and frowned, "Rich Cheese is sick??" He asked, worried.
The woman frowned and eyed him curiously, "Yes. But she'll be perfectly fine. I had my friend pull some strings and he's babysitting her at his office today. He's a doctor. Anyways," she held up a hand to silence any further questions, "She wanted me to get your signature." She pulled a familiar red book out of her purse.
Herald took it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
"I, frankly, don't see the appeal of you heroes." She mumbled to herself.
Herald ignored her and wrote, "Get well soon, chickadee" inside, then his signature. He frowned and looked back up at her mother. He scribbled one last thing then handed the book back before he could scribble it out and feel regret.
Rich Cheese's mother (SHOOT! He forgot to ask for her name!!) thanked him and left.
And the test of the day, he was a nervous wreck.
He should change professions, skip town, adopt a new identity! He should —
His phone buzzed and he nearly chucked it out the window of his apartment.
After a calming breath, he picked it up.
It was a text from an unknown number.
"Hello, this is Golden Cheese. Rich Cheese's mother"
Before he could respond, another text came through.
"You've made her so happy."
And then a picture of his little girl sitting in a hospital bed, hugging her autograph book.
