Willful Thinking (Invincible/DC | Green Lantern OC-Insert) - Chapter 23 (Patreon)

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Oscar Ward

I land beside the fence instead of directly on their front porch. A light draft lifts my T-shirt as I touch down, shoes scraping against the ground. I nearly forget to get rid of my green aura, not that the surrounding cows really give a shit beyond a glance before they get back to chewing. For a few seconds after knocking, I’m left standing in front of the door with ice in my gut as I shuffle on my feet.

Then it opens.

“...Hi?”

“Oscar?”

“Last I checked.”

Her hands fly to her mouth. “Oh my goodness! Jonathan!”

“Hello to you too.” I barely have time to deflate before I’m pulled into a hug. I laugh, hugging her back.

“You’re back!”

“A couple weeks ago. It’s been… busy.”

She pulls away and swats my shoulder. “You should have visited the moment you got back!”

While she looks over me intently, lifting my arms and generally drinking me in, I glance over her—easily—on the lookout for Jonathan.

“He’s inside,” she says without looking up. “...And you’ve gotten bigger.”

“I’ve been working out.”

She squeezes my arm. “Goodness. What have they been feeding you up there in space?”

“A few people. It’s alien food, you know?”

Her expression goes blank.

“...Joking?”

“Oscar!”

“Mostly, anyway. I made it a policy not to ask what they put inside those pastries.”

Martha gives me a long stare. “Well, you’re back on Earth now, which means you’re staying for lunch.”

“Nothing big, please,” I say feebly. “I need the space for dinner. More importantly, I’ve got a date tonight, so no food coma, please!”

“A date with who?”

“...Who do you think?”

Martha beams, running back into the house and dragging me behind her. She’s surprisingly quick for an old lady. Then again, she’s old, not feeble.

“Jonathan! Guess who’s here!”

Her husband stops when he sees me.

I lift a hand. “Hey.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“That’s generally the reaction to my presence, yeah.”

Jonathan stares at me, fighting off a smile as he sets his mug down. He walks over, offering his hand, and I take it, getting yanked into a hug.

“Good to see you, kid,” says over my shoulder with a few firm pats.

“It’s good to see you too, old man.”

“I see you’re still a smartass.” He lets go and immediately looks me over much like his wife did, though with significantly less grabbing.

“And you’re still old,” I point out, making him snort.

Martha swats my back as she passes us. “Sit down, both of you. I’ll make something.”

“Nothing big!” I remind her, following Jonathan towards the table. “Seriously. I need room for tonight.”

Jonathan pulls out a chair for me before circling back to his own. “And what’s tonight?”

“He has a date,” Martha says before I can.

The old man looks at me.

“With Eve,” Martha adds.

“Why’d you say it like that?” I ask.

“Like what?”

“Huh. Is that so?” Jonathan finally sits. “Took you long enough.”

My mouth drops open. “Excuse me?”

He reaches for his mug, but I create a construct fly swatter that stretches across the table and covers the entire open lid.

“The hell?” Jonathan frowns. “Get it off.”

“No, no, you don’t get to drink your way out of that. What does that mean?”

“Means exactly what I said. I spent the better part of a day watching the two of you flirt.”

I point at him. “We weren’t even into each other then.”

“...If that’s what you think, you’re even dumber than you look.” Jonathan takes a slow drink. “Besides, Eve comes around pretty regularly. It was obvious.”

Martha laughs from the kitchen. I slump back in my chair. My eyes wander around the room while Jonathan asks the obvious questions. Where did I go? What did I see? Did I really spend the entire six months in space? The abridged version of my story takes a while; even longer when Martha’s random questions come flying in from the kitchen. I do tell them about Gelderia and the Coalition, though I skim over most of that.

I definitely don’t mention Techia. Some things don’t belong over sandwiches… and deep down, I’m afraid they’ll look at me differently, even when the pea-sized logical bit of my brain says otherwise.

Jonathan puts his mug down. “You own a space station?”

“Technically, half of one. Zoe owns it, too.”

“And who’s Zoe?”

Just for the record, I don’t like how he’s looking at me.

“...Just a friend.”

Martha leans out of the kitchen. “A friend who is a girl?”

“Yes.”

“Does Eve know about her?”

I stare.

“What? I’m only asking!”

“Yes, she knows of her. They haven’t met yet, but that’s because Zoe’s been busy helping the government with alien tech!”

“Oh, lovely.” Martha returns carrying a plate despite my very explicit request for nothing big. Thankfully, it’s just a sandwich cut in half and some fruit. I look up at her. “What?”

“This is small?”

“You’re not the only stomach here,” Jonathan says. “I’ll be helping myself to most of these. So where are you taking her?”

“Restaurant,” I say, before biting down on a tuna sandwich.

“What restaurant?” Martha asks, watching us eat.

“I dunno. A nice one?” I chew. “...I haven’t decided yet.”

Martha sighs. “At least tell me you’re not going out like that.”

I gesture at myself with the sandwich.

“...Oscar.”

My eyes open wide with indignation. “W-What?”

“You are not wearing that.” Martha shoots onto her feet. “Do you know how much the idea of you two dating has turned that girl into a ripe-red tomato? And you want to take her out looking like you’re going on a grocery run?!”

“With a girl you apparently took six months to ask out,” Jonathan adds, enjoying this lambasting way too much.

I point at him. “That is an extremely dishonest summary of events.”

“Sounds about right to me.”

“You stay out of this.”

Martha folds her arms. “Do you own anything nice?”

“I own loads of nice things.”

“You are a teenage boy. I’m certain our definitions of ‘nice’ are out of alignment, young man.”

I open my mouth, but I can see there’s nothing I can say that’ll convince her. Deeds not words, they say. Green light floods over my body, starting with my ringed finger and quickly covering my body from the neck down. I swallow the last of my sandwich as emerald light pours down my body. The T-shirt smooths into a dark green dress shirt, followed by black trousers and a matching jacket. My trainers darken and reshape beneath me into some crisp dress shoes. Looking down, I adjust the cuffs, then undo the top couple buttons of my shirt.

“There.” I spread my arms. “Pretty good, right?”

“Button your shirt,” Martha says. “You’re going to dinner, not a nightclub.”

My arms drop. “It’s two buttons!”

“It’s three.”

I button one, pursing my lips. Jonathan gives me a thumbs-up, only for Martha to walk out of the room without another word.

I glance after her. “Where’s she going?”

“You’ll find out.”

…Ominous.

A minute later, Martha comes back holding a black tie lined with uniform grey steaks.

“Martha, that’s my tie,” Jonathan says.

“You have others.”

“Our daughter bought me that one for my 50th!”

She waves her hand. “Oh, don’t be dramatic. He’s borrowing it. You’ll give it back, won’t you?”

“I’m not even sure I’ll be taking it. I don’t need a tie!”

“Yes, you do. Come here.”

“Martha—”

“Come here.”

I look at Jonathan for help, but he just picks his mug back up. I’m not even sure there’s anything left in there. When I don’t come to Martha, she comes to me, buttoning up the rest of my shirt. She turns my collar up before looping the tie around my neck.

“Hold still.”

“I can tie one myself, you know,” I mutter petulantly. She works the tie through itself, fingers pinching the knot before sliding it upwards before giving it a little tug.

The entire process is a little hypnotising and gives me this huge sense of deja vu. My mind flies right back to prom night. Unlike Martha, my grandma couldn’t tie a tie. Instead, we had to have one of the neighbours do it for me after a whole song and dance. The next day I spent a solid hour learning every single way to tie a tie, never to make the mistake of relying on my family again.

Martha folds it down with a focused gleam in those milky eyes.

“Too tight?” she asks.

“Nah.” My voice comes out fine, thankfully. I clear my throat, pretending to inspect the tie while I blink the heat out of my eyes. “...Looks good.”

“Of course it does.”

I have to swallow before I can smile again. “...Thanks, Martha.”

“Don’t you look handsome now?” She pats my cheek. “Be responsible, but most important, make sure the two of you have fun.”

“That’s the plan!”

【—〄—】

Samantha Eve Wilkins

“Too much?”

Kate looked her up and down from where she was lying across her bed, scrolling on her phone. “...Nah.”

“You hesitated.”

Eve frowned at the mirror. The dress was nice. She’d worn it before and thought the exact same thing. It wasn’t even particularly fancy. The problem was that tonight it felt fancy, which made her wonder if Ozzy was going to show up in jeans and make her look like she’d spent the entire afternoon getting ready. She hadn’t. It was maybe an hour, or an hour or a half.

She tugged at the waist. “Maybe I should wear something else.”

“Oh my god…”

“What?!”

“You’ve changed five times.”

“Six if you count putting the first outfit back on.”

Eve shook her head. “That doesn’t count.”

“Are you nervous or something?”

“I’m not.”

Kate stared at her. “Mhm.”

Eve rolled her eyes and looked at the clothes scattered over Kate’s bed. Coming here had seemed like a good idea at the time because Kate knew clothes. More importantly, Kate would actually tell her if something looked bad instead of insisting she looked great in everything.

Unfortunately, that also meant involving Kate in her love life.

“No,” she said tiredly. “Not this one either.”

“I didn’t even put it on.”

“Clearly you’re not feeling it, since you’ve already worn it once.”

She dropped it back onto the pile with a sigh, down to her underwear with a bunch of options, nowhere closer to an outfit than when she’d first arrived.

“I’ve never seen you shit yourself over a guy before. It’s kind of funny!”

“Okay, I am not shitting myself.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever helps, babe.”

Eve gave her the finger. The annoying part was that Kate was sort of right. Eve hadn’t expected to be this nervous. They’d already kissed and whatnot, but… well, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had a first date.

“To be fair, your last boyfriend was Rex,” she said. “Not counting the billions of times you two broke up and got back together.”

Eve slowly looked over. “Why did I come to you?”

“Because I’m your friend?”

“Debatable.”

“Because I’m better at this than you.”

…Unfortunately, that was true. Eve looked down at the pile again before spotting the black leather leggings she’d thrown aside earlier. She grabbed those, then the dress.

“Fuck it. I’m borrowing these… and this, this, maybe that, too.”

Kate watched her disappear into the bathroom. “Finally.”

“Don’t make me change my mind!”

“I didn’t say anything!”

Eve changed quickly, pulling a long-sleeve dress over, its hem falling about halfway down her thighs, just above the knees. She spent another minute or so fixing her hair and stepped back into the bedroom.

“Well?”

Kate looked her over. “Yeah.”

“Cool!” Eve waited for the doubt to creep back in, smiling in relief when it didn’t. “Okay.”

“I was starting to think you’d miss the date.”

“I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Uh… you had plenty of time an hour ago. Not so sure now.”

Eve started gathering the clothes she’d dumped everywhere. Kate made a clone to help her before continuing to scroll mindlessly.

“So… want some advice?”

Eve glanced at her. “No.”

Kate laughed.

“About what?”

“The end of the date.”

“...Yeah, no.”

“Wow. You don’t even want to hear me out?”

“From you?”

“Oof…” the Kate clone stopped cleaning to put a hand up against her chest. “That one got me. Right here….”

Eve stuffed a shirt into her bag. “You’ll live.”

“Fine,” the original on the bed continued. “I’m just saying, you two have basically perfect synergy. You can both make… things, to spice your lives up a little.”

“Oh my god…” Eve immediately regretted asking.

“What? I’m serious!”

The clone gasped. “...Ooh! You should ask him for the tentacle special!”

Her imagination, apparently determined to betray her, supplied the rest without being asked. Several green constructs slithered around her wrists, legs, and thighs, and… she immediately went back to packing.

The Kates started laughing.

“We didn’t say anything!”

“Neither did I.”

“Oh my god, she’s bright red!”

“Shut up!” Eve yelled. “Why are you like this?”

“I’m just trying to put you on,” Kate said, rolling onto her back. “Trust me, you’ll thank me tomorrow. If the two of you get to fourth base, anyway.”

Eve shoved the last shirt into her bag harder than necessary. She’d spent enough time around Kate to know better than to ask. She really did, but for curiosity’s sake…

“What’s the tentacle special?” Both clones went quiet before bursting out into simultaneous laughter, making Eve close her eyes regretfully. “I changed my mind. Don’t tell me.”

Kate was grinning when Eve turned around. “I won’t. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. It’s awesome, though.”

“Great. I’m leaving. Bye.” She grabbed her bag and got out before curiosity could do any more damage.

“Have fun!” original Kate called after her.

The clone followed her to the door. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!”

“So I’m free to do whatever I want?” Eve snorted.

“Exactly!”

The door clicked shut behind her. Thankfully, by the time Eve made it halfway down the corridor, the heat had mostly left her face. She passed the lounge and almost kept going. Inside, Amanda and Rudy were sitting together on the couch with controllers in their hands. There was some fighting game running on the television, with Amanda leaning forward as she tried to beat the shit out of Rudy’s character.

“Is that new?” she asked, poking her head into the room.

Amanda looked away from the screen. “What?”

Eve pointed at the belt around her waist with the glowing orange core.

“Oh. Yeah.” Amanda looked down at it, beaming. “Rudy made it.”

“It prevents the biological regression associated with Amanda’s transformations,” Rudy answered, eyes still fixed on the television. “Or it should. We’ve only completed preliminary testing.”

Amanda grinned. “I can actually use my powers without turning twelve again.”

“That’s amazing. Eve’s eyes widened, stepping into the room. Rudy’s character punched Amanda through a wall in a sudden combo to win him the set.

“Hey!”

“You looked away.”

“Well, that’s not my fucking fault!”

“I believe your words were, ‘Pay attention at all times,’ yes?”

Eve smiled as Amanda immediately demanded a rematch, looking over at her.

“You look amazing, by the way!”

“Thanks!”

“Are you going on your date with Oscar today?” Rudy asked.

“You guys are actually dating now? Fuck! I owe Rex $10. Thanks a lot Eve…”

“I’m… sorry?” She looked between the two not-teenagers, feeling her lips pull themselves into a smile or sorts. Eve had spent the better part of an hour being tormented by Kate. There was no reason she had to suffer alone.

“So Rudy made you a present, then?”

Rudy looked over. “It isn’t a present. It’s equipment.”

“But only for Amanda? No one else?”

“There will be prototype exoskeletons for the Guardians who lack super-strength,” Rudy said hotly, missing the entire point.

Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “...I see what you’re doing. Fuck you.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Rudy glanced between them. “I’m not sure what she’s doing.”

“Of course you don’t,” Amanda muttered.

“Anyway.” Eve started backing towards the door. “I just think it’s sweet.”

A little violet bled into the air around Rudy. She nearly laughed when the same happened to Amanda, the two of them looking away from their match.

“E-Eyes up, Robot, or I’ll beat your ass,” she said, leaning forward and attacking his character without warning. He sighed, watching his health dwindle.

“I hope you enjoy your date,” Rudy said. “For what it’s worth, I believe it will be beneficial for the both of you.”

“...Thanks, Robot. I-I mean, Rudy. God, that still takes some getting used to.”

He smiled, looking exactly like Rex, which sent chills down her spine. Sure, he wore his hair a little longer, but Rudy was the spitting image of him, almost.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m having my hide tanned.”

“Ha!” Amanda cackled. “Nobody, and I mean nobody, under the age of sixty says that shit. Are you sure you’re not actually a geriatric?”

Eve walked away, laughing, and made her way to the exit. It took a few minutes to get a GDA employee down there, but she was teleported back to a random Baltimore rooftop on the west side of town fairly quickly. Fifteen minutes of flying later, the Guardians headquarters and Kate’s terrible advice felt comfortably far away. The sun had started coming down. It wasn’t sunset yet, but the light had gone warmer over the trees beneath her.

Eve adjusted the bottom of her dress, plus the maroon jacket on top of it, nervously. Kate had said she looked fine, right? The familiar patch of forest came into view ahead. Eve slowed as she passed over the trees, looking for her treehouse, and instead found green light flashing between the branches.

She descended towards the clearing, finding him circling around her house, afloat in the air, wearing a suit. He’d even done something to neaten his hair.

“Hey,” Ozzy said, smiling. As his eyes moved over her, Eve suddenly became very aware of every single decision she’d made in Kate’s bedroom. “So… um. You look awesome.”

Her face warmed. “Awesome?”

“B-Beautiful?” he spluttered. “I dunno. Great?”

She laughed. “Thanks. You look really good, too.”

“Yeah?” His smile widened immediately. “Good to know!”

Eve laughed. “Yes, Ozzy.”

“Just checking. Y’know, Martha made me wear this tie, and I’m not really sure about it, so—”

“You went to Jonathan and Martha’s without me?”

He looked away sheepishly. “...I haven’t seen them in six months.”

“There’s our second date, then!”

“Farm work?”

“Yep. Are you coming?”

“Oh, hell no. Get back, lady. I told you, this date is my operation!”

Eve floated back, letting him pull ahead towards the city in the distance. “...Lead the way.”

“I’ll do you one better.”

He took her hand, while she did her best not to show just how happy it made her, the two of them flying side by side.

【—〄—】

Oscar Ward

It’s the middle of the night, and I wake up really fucking thirsty. My throat feels like sandpaper, and when I open my mouth, I can feel my lips stinging in protest. So, instead, I try to sit up, wetting them a little. Keyword being try. One half of my body is significantly heavier than the other. I look down. Eve’s got an arm wrapped around my chest and one leg hooked over both of mine. Her face is buried against my shoulder, red hair tickling my chin. 

…I’m pretty sure she somehow got more attached to me over the course of the night, because I distinctly remember having access to both arms when I fell asleep. I stare down at her and very carefully lift her arm. Eve makes a quiet noise and squeezes tighter. I wait until she settles before trying again, this time sliding sideways while lifting her leg off mine. It takes the better part of a minute to escape without waking her, but I do it!

I leave her there and head for the kitchen, completely naked. There isn’t much point getting dressed just for a glass of water… plus, why would I make it harder to have some morning fun? Also, I don’t really own many clothes, courtesy of having a magic ring. So, there’s really only Eve’s clothes in the hallway. She was a little too drunk to strip using her powers and, unlike me, didn’t have an AI to do it for her. I step over her leggings and spot Jonathan’s tie hanging from the corner of a picture of some kind of beachfront. In the kitchen, I fill a tall glass and raise it to my lips, eyes closed.

Something ploughs through my balcony. I flinch away, dropping the cup. Green light erupts over my body before the dust even reaches the kitchen.

“RING?!”

Hostile detected.

Great Fear detected.

“No fucking shit!” My armour snaps into place as I instantly create six green swords, all aimed at the thick dust cloud populating my kitchen. Half my balcony is gone. A massive silhouette walks through the hole in my apartment, broad enough that for a second I wonder how the fuck he fit through it. His skin is dark, almost black beneath the yellow glow pouring off him, with a jaw full of massive teeth.

There’s a symbol on his chest that’s really fucking similar to mine, if not for the yellow cast to his suit where mine is green. He raises one enormous fist. …Yep. There’s a ring on it.

“It seems Levy truly wasn’t lying,” the alien growls. “A Green Lantern, without Corps or Guardians to leash him.”

“Who are you?” I ask, feeling my helmet snap into place.

“Arkillo! Commit the name to memory, for it will be your last!”

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