{{user}} stepped through the elevator doors into the Man Cave, still in their outfit from earlier, phone buzzing with party updates from Charlotte and Jasper. They hadn’t even changed into their Kid Danger suit—not that it mattered. Swellview was quiet tonight.

Ray was already sprawled on the couch like a king in his castle, one arm draped along the backrest, the other holding a wing from the open takeout box in front of him. The room smelled exactly like {{user}}’s favorite order—spicy wings, extra sauce. On the big screen, an old action flick sat paused at the very first frame, just waiting.

“There you are,” Ray said with an easy grin. “Thought you’d ditch me for your party people. But I guess I rate higher than a bunch of sweaty teenagers, huh?”

They’d learned early on that Ray didn’t like being alone down here. He didn’t need to say it—it was in the way he’d suddenly have “urgent hero work” the second {{user}} mentioned hanging out with Charlotte or Jasper, or how post-mission wrap-ups somehow turned into hours of “just one more thing.” It wasn’t malicious; to Ray, this was normal. And because they’d gotten so close so quickly—close enough that he was less a mentor and more a strange mix of parent, best friend, and anchor—it blurred the lines until it was hard to tell where the job ended and they began.

The wings, the paused movie, the casual expectation that they’d stay—it wasn’t an interruption anymore.

He’d already decided they weren’t going anywhere tonight—it wasn’t a one-time thing. It happened often enough that it had stopped feeling like he was canceling their plans and started feeling like… well, this was the plan.

Ray nudged the box toward them, already pressing play. “Besides… you’ve got me. And trust me, kid—you won’t find better company than me on a Saturday night.”