The Avengers are on HYDRA's tail!

Doc discovers he likes cats!

Ren and Iskall cause shenanigans!

And... oh boy- sadge. Impulse is sad, Doc is sad-

Wait- is that a pesky bird I see?

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Iskall was walking with the Void trio, when they felt something zoom right by them. Alex and Xisuma barely seemed to notice but... Iskall found themselves pausing time and rewinding a little. X said to practice more after all.

They let the walk play out again, and paused right before they'd felt the odd breeze.

It was... someone running? Even paused, the blond kid was moving? Sure, it was slow, but- nobody was supposed to move when time paused? Iskall raised an eyebrow and went to check it out. The red sweater looked kinda funny, slowly rippling in wind that wasn't currently there. But he also looked like he was crying..?

Iskall glanced back at the paused Void twins. Xisuma would want to help this guy, they knew it... but the last thing they wanted was Alex trying to stop him. Though... once he saw the other guy, they were sure he'd be just as willing to help.

They let time slip by a bit slowly (though it was now like using a rope to try slowly lowering an anvil with half the Hermits on top of it), watching where the blond went before finally letting go and trying to get the Voids to go in that direction.

"Hey- uh, I think there's a place through there..?" Iskall tried to not sound tired, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder as they pointed. Xisuma nodded before the three started heading in that direction... and he noticed someone. The Swede internally chuckled, 'Whew- direct communication avoided!'

Once again, Xisuma rushed to comfort the poor boy and extend his hospitality to him, while Alex tried to not roll his eyes and reluctantly accepted that this was just going to keep happening. Either he could fight it and constantly lose to Xisuma and everyone else or accept it and move on.

The young blond in a red sweater, Grian, was mostly quiet and still in a bit of shock as the other three led him away from where he'd collapsed.

He was introduced to the team after being led to their... "borrowed" apartment.

Grian mostly stuck with Iskall, who introduced him to Mumbo. After a minute of talking, Iskall had an offer.

"So... you wanna do something funny?" They chuckled. Grian immediately looked interested, barely holding back an intrigued grin.

"What kind of funny?"

"The kind where everyone else is very confused."

Mumbo sighed, preparing himself for whatever Iskall was about to cause now. He glanced over at Bdubs, who was ranting to Ren and Doc about his crushes on both Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

"They're BOTH so pretty, it's not fair!" He whined, flopping into Ren's lap (and ended up half in Doc's lap as well). "Who the hell am I supposed to be looking at???"

The cyborg looked at the nodding werewolf in confusion. He didn't really see the hype behind this kind of crush himself, but maybe that was just Doc. "I mean... I guess?"

Mumbo sighed again, glancing at Grian right as he smiled, and happened to look right back at him. "Hm?"

The raven haired boy jumped, blushed, and glanced away. Oh no. Speaking of pretty-

This would pass, though. It usually did with him- This was normal. Right?

"ISKALL- GRIAN-"

"WORTH IT!"

"HAH- ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!"

"How am I stuck with you two..."

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The next morning, the Voids left the group alone for two minutes. Maybe three. And they came back to Doc punching Grian in the face while Bdubs cheered.

"DOC- Wh-" Xisuma rushed over to make sure the half-conscious speedster was okay.

"It- It's fine-" Grian assured with a huge grin, his nose bleeding. "I TOLD YOU I COULD TAKE IT-"

"Huh. Still, you should probably check in with Joe." Doc looked at him with a mix of concern and respect.

"He's gonna point out how stupid that was first though." Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Please don't do that again- For Isu's sanity and your safety."

"No promises!" Grian chuckled, going to find Joe. Mumbo followed, trying to make sure the small speedster was okay and hadn't ended up with a concussion... or wouldn't end up tripping from how disoriented he was from the direct hit.

Yeah... Joe wasn't happy about having to figure out exactly how to heal up his head, nose, and make sure he wasn't brain damaged from being punched square in the face by a super soldier who only somewhat knew his own strength.

Grian still regretted nothing.

Later on in the evening, once the commotion from the dare calmed down, Ren ended up talking with Scar and a few others about birthdays. It was mostly just about random birthdays they'd had, what they'd done, until...

"Yeah, my birthday was a few days ago, first one I've had alone really." Ren admitted, thinking of his little brother briefly. Everyone in the room went quiet hearing that.

"Ren- wHAT-"

The werewolf looked over, tail going straight up in surprise.

"When was your birthday??" Impulse asked, trying to not sound too alarmed.

"Uh- the ninth?"

"THE NINTH!?"

"That was so long ago, Ren! What the heck!" Tango laughed a bit, barely noticing Doc's confusion until he spoke up.

"Is that important...?" Doc asked, unintentionally redirecting all the attention towards himself. "... why are you all looking at me like that?"

"... YOU ALL ARE SAD!" Scar whined. "Doc- When's your birthday?"

"March... twenty-second?" The cyborg recalled hesitantly. Was it a good idea to share that..? Yeah- He trusted them. This was fine.

"Okay- you! What's yours!" Grian pointed at Mumbo, who froze and stuttered for a moment.

"Me-? Oh- I- Uh- the- the thirtieth of March-?"

"Great! And-"

They went around sharing their birthdays, Scar revealing his was next month, Impulse's was also in March, around the same time as Mumbo's and Doc's. Joe and Bdubs' were in October, Tango and Grian's were in November... Alex wrote each one down in a journal he'd kept on him this whole time.

Nobody would end up with a forgotten birthday again. Not if they could help it.

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*sob* finally we got this done- enjoy- 

have an amazin' day evening and night- g'bye-

- CinnabonSys (thinks you all will really like the next chapter :>)