Alistair :"Did you know there's actually a scientific name for when you can't sleep and need to eat?"
Shego :"Seriously? What's the name?"
Alistair :"It's called insomnomnomnomnia."
Shego wasn't impressed.
--------------------------
"N-no! NO! S-stay away f-from me!" Zombozo screamed, mortified and trembling in fear as he was carried away by the police in chains after having a one on one session with Eve :"K-k-keep that m-monster away from me!!"
Shego tightened her lips as she watched him go :"I guess not even crazy clowns can handle Eve's insanity, huh?"
Alistair snickered :"As if anybody could. You do realize that he's literally my unhinged insanity, right? As if a clown of all people could stand up to my insanity."
"True, I guess." She shrugged. Alistair glanced at Ben, who despite being relieved that he didn't need to fight what he was scared of, looked like he was feeling guilty.
He smiled :"Hey, Ben, wanna see if there's any food stalls that still sell something? I'm really hungry."
"Huh? Oh, okay." Ben nodded, mood down as the two walked away. "Hey-" Kevin was going to follow, but Shego's hand covered his mouth. When he looked up, he met her glare :"Learn to read the mood, kiddo."
He looked confused, but didn't ask. As the two walked, searching for any functioning stall, Alistair asked :"So what's the problem? You look kinda down."
"Oh, it's nothing..." Ben looked even guiltier, but Alistair urged :"Come on, you know you can tell me anything, Ben. If something's bothering you, you don't need to keep it in."
Ben looked reluctant, but sighed in defeat in the end :"It's just that... I think what I did was wrong?"
"What did you do?"
"Leave all the fighting to you. Yeah, I'll admit since it's you, clowns freak me out. I was scared of him, so I decided to just run away from the fight."
"I don't think that's something to beat yourself up for. You know that handling something like this is nothing for me."
"Yeah, I know. And it's not that I'm feeling bad for leaving all the fighting to you, it's that I ran away from the fight. I was scared and didn't want to fight at all. It's just that... I suddenly thought of what would have happened if you weren't there to take care of the fight for me... and I got scared of what would have happened to the others if I was too scared to fight that clown... I don't think I'd be brave enough at that moment..."
As he hung his head low in guilt and shame, he felt Alistair's hand gently stroke his head :"Ben, being afraid isn't something shameful. Everybody has a fear, no matter what species they are.
Sure, we two aren't the most common of the bunch, but we're still living beings with emotions. Fear is as natural as happiness or sadness."
Stopping, he got down on one knee to hold Ben's shoulder :"You said you don't know if you'd be brave enough, but being brave isn't about having no fears. It's about being able to stand up to those fears when the time calls for me."
He smiled as Ben's tense face eased up :"And besides, you're a strong kid, Ben. I'm absolutely sure that if it's you, no matter what fear it is, you would face it like a true hero. I don't need the intelligence of any of my transformations to prove that theory, because I know what kind of a person my partner is."
Ben could feel the tension leaving him. He hadn't ever said it out loud, but Alistair's opinion, as the only person who could understand his sense of responsibility, was probably greater than anybody else in his life.
He was in the same boat as him. He was his partner, and the person he knew he could lean on for support anytime. Out of everybody else, Alistair's acknowledgment was probably more important than anybody else's.
So hearing his trust and faith in him made all the doubts disappear. Ben finally smiled and nodded :"Yeah, thanks, Al."
Smiling back, he patted Ben's shoulders :"You're welcome, chump. And remember, if there's anything that's bothering you, you already know you can always talk to me about it."
"Yeah!" Ben smiled brightly, making Alistair chuckle :"That's right. And it seems like there's no food stalls working anymore, so I guess we gotta go back empty-handed."
"Hahahaha as if anybody would be stupid enough to stay here after what happened inside."
"Hahahaha, true. I'd be concerned about their mental health if they did. Anyway, let's go back now."
When they returned, Shego smirked at Alistair while the others were talking :"So I assume you talked it out?"
Alistair nodded with a smile :"Yeah, it was nothing. He just needed some words of encouragement, that's all."
"Well, I'm glad that it worked out."
He grinned :"Gee, what a caring teammate you are."
She rolled her eyes :"Yeah, whatever. So much for a good circus show."
"Eh, the circus didn't sound entertaining anyway. What tricks can they pull that we can't do a hundred times better?"
"Touche."
Max smiled at the two :"Alright then, shall we hit the road again?"
Alistair shoved his hands into his pockets :"You guys can go, I'm gonna go and spend some time with Jen in her universe."
Shego raised an amused eyebrow :"Gee, missing your girlfriend?"
As he rolled his eyes, Ben didn't look impressed :"You know that I'm still conflicted by you dating a female version of me, right?"
He rolled his eyes again :"Oh, come on! And we have the argument of what —you— would do if you met a female version of —me—, so I think I'm justified!"
Ben crossed his arms :"Just because you've got a point doesn't mean that I'll be 100% okay with it! It's weird, dude! Wouldn't you be weirded out if I dated a female version of you?"
"Nah, that would just prove that you've got good taste. Come on, look at me. I'm the peak of the human race, you think my female version would be any less? You're bullshitting if you say you wouldn't do what I did."
"Oh, whatever!" Ben turned away grumpily, refusing to admit he was right. Gwen turned to Alistair :"By the way, when are you going to have us meet each other. The fact that there's a universe where our genders are reversed sounds like an interesting place to visit."
Alistair shrugged :"Don't worry, you'll meet them eventually. But not right now though! Anyway, bye bye for now!" As a portable appeared next to him, he walked in :"Adios!"
Ben groaned :"Geez, he really spends a lot of time there, huh?" Making Gwen smirk :"Just admit that you're jealous you don't get to spend time with him anymore."
Ben glared :"That's not true!"
"It so is!"
"It so isn't!"
"It is!"
"It isn't!"
As the two glared at each other, Max shook his head in amusement before they walked towards the Rust Bucket.
- (Jen's universe)
As the portal appeared, Alistair walked out to stand in front of Jen's house. A tendril moved from the Techtrix to his ear before turning into his phone and calling Jen.
When she answered, he smiled at her cheerful voice :"Hey, Al! What's up?" He chuckled :"Why don't you open the door and see for yourself?"
She gasped behind the phone :"No freaking way..." And he heard loud footsteps from the phone, and then from the inside of the house before the door swung open to reveal Jen with a giant smile :"Al?!"
"The one and only." He spread his arms as she threw herself into his chest :"You're here! I missed you!" Making him chuckle :"But it's only been a few hours since I went back to my own universe."
She scoffed, grinning mischievously at him :"I don't care, I still miss you." Chuckling again, he hugged her back :"I missed you too, babe. I came right here after taking care of a villain."
"Oh? Which one?" She smiled in interest :"Wait, hold on! I don't have anything to do today, so wanna have a little date and tell me about it?"
"Sure, I'd love a date." She let go and ran back in :"Alright then, just let me get my stuff and we'll go!"
After waiting for a bit, she came out :"Alright then, let's go!"
"Go where?"
She grinned :"Do you even need to ask? To Mr Smoothy's of course! Come on, we'll go with my car."
"You have a car?"
Jen got smug :"Yup! You haven't seen it since Kevina is the one who drives us everywhere, but I've got my own ride."
When they got to the car, Alistair nodded, impressed :"Damn, Jen, nice ride! She's cool!"
Swinging the keys around her finger, she smirked :"You've got that right. Her name's Mark 10. Courtesy of Kev. She made it for my birthday!"
"Damn, that's cool! Making an actual car, huh? That's pretty cool as a birthday present."
"Exactly!"
"So what did you get for her birthday?"
She coughed into her fist awkwardly :"Some chili fries..."
"Wow, Jen, wooow..."
"Oh, get in the car already!"
Unlocking the car, she didn't miss a second before getting in and smirking behind the window :"Get in already, pretty boy!"
He chuckled in amusement before getting in :"Alright then, let's go on our car date."
"Sure thing. Just get comfortable and let me take you out on a casual ride while we enjoy some smoothies!"
As she hit the road, she glanced at him just to see him already staring at her with a smile. She smiled back, face heating up slightly at the adoration in his eyes :"What's up? Why are you staring at me?"
"What, I can't look at my girlfriend?"
"Sure you can, but it's not fair that only you can look while I need to keep my eyes on the road!"
"Hahahaha, that sounds like a you problem."
"Wooow, what an amazing boyfriend."
"Hahahaha, don't act like you don't do the same. You stare at me all the time!"
She smiled mischievously :"And I have every right to do so, pretty boy! I wanted to see the dreamy view of your hair moving with the wind just now while you're looking out! Why do you think I opened the windows right away?"
Alistair chuckled, his own face reddening as he shook his head in amusement :"You dork."
Jen smiled at managing to make him :"Say whatever you want, but I stand corrected. It's worth it if I can see the always confident you blush."
"Alright, I guess."
"Yeah, that's right. I'll even do things like this!" Her slender hand suddenly landed on his thigh, making his leg jolt as she gave it a nice squeeze :"Damn, baby, you thick!"
He couldn't help but facepalm, wheezing at her antics as she just smiled at his reactions. He was always so cool headed and calm, so seeing such reactions had become Jen's favorite thing to do.
When they reached Mr Smoothy, they went in right away. Jen really loved her smoothies after all. Not a day without one. But when Alistair was getting his wallet out, she stopped him :"It's on me."
He put his wallet back into the Techtrix when she pulled out hers :"Alright then, thanks." After she grabbed their smoothies, she made a dramatic offer when they got up :"Here, you can have the honor of being bestowed with a smoothie by me."
Chuckling at her antics, he took it :"I'm honored."
Jen smirked :"You should be. You may not realize it, but bestowing smoothies is the highest honor I can bestow upon someone. So yes, you should be honored."
Laughing together, she smiled :"So how about you tell me about your day while we're just riding around the city?"
Smiling, he tapped her smoothie with her own :"Sounds like an awesome plan to me. Then let's go and have some fun."
(A/N: Next chapter will be Alistair x Jen smut! Plot: Alistair finds Jen's porn and hentai collection, and that's where they'll begin exploring all kinds of kinks in the future chapters! Thanks for the amazing idea, Wolf_King_Fenrir!)