Written by request. Anonymous requested Ivan helping Keith give a new puppy a bath, with romantic implications. Enjoy!

To Good Homes

No one can look at each other in the gym the day John dies. Hero TV goes without Sky High for the day, but Keith Goodman has managed to charm even the bloodthirsty hearts of the bosses and no one raises complaint. Keith calls in and apologizes once, then apologizes again for clarity, and the other heroes shift uncomfortably and avert their eyes.

Ivan, for one, has the terrible image of Keith alone at home with his faithful companion in a situation based from memories of his own childhood: he remembers once when the family cat had kittens, and Ivan's mother had made him cradle them in his hands while they died of disease. Ivan can't remember the disease anymore, nor can he remember why he was the one chosen; but his mother, he knows now, was trying to teach him compassion, and so he sat shivering in the fading light, spooning milk into their throats. He was to act as comfort for them in their last moments.

Now Ivan can't think of anything but that—something like Keith in a big empty apartment somewhere, his old dog across his lap. He thinks Keith is probably this type of person, too, that would be there for his John: probably even now Keith is hearing his friend's breath draw short as he strokes the grayed head.

As always, there's nothing he can do.

Keith just isn't the sort of guy to be devastated, though. He returns to work the next day—albeit with a pronounced wilting slump to his shoulders and a remarkable decline in his usual sunny smiles. No one asks and he doesn't tell until around lunch.

Keith brings out his phone and scrolls, a sad, reminiscent smile softly alighting. He says, breaking the awkward silence of the break room, "He was a good boy."

The rest of them are quiet until Ivan responds first. "How long did you have him?"

Keith looks up and positively beams. "Oh, I suppose eleven years by now. Do you want to see?"

Ivan gives him a weak smile and Keith scoots his chair closer to Ivan's, leaning in and showing picture after picture—John sniffing the camera phone, John cuddled up under a heavy blanket while snow drifted outside, John turning his head to give Keith a lick across the cheek, John sunbathing, John rolling in grass—Ivan finds himself laughing once or twice but stifles it, feeling awkward being so loud when everyone else is so unusually quiet.

Ivan jumps about a mile when all of their wrists light up and announce a crime in the happenings. Time for work—

As they leave, Keith seems to linger just one nanosecond longer, grin faded, shoulders slumped once more.

Keith is usually such an unstoppable ray of sunshine that the gloom persisting around him as of late is all the more noticeable and, as it happens, infectious. It's not their dog that died—they can't be anywhere near as quietly sad as Keith—but mostly the death of John upset the balance of their group, and now everyone is on a strange sort of edge.

Karina gives up early on her exercising, dabbing her face genteelly with water from her bottle. Then Nathan says that if she's quit, he can quit, and it snowballs from there. At some point when they sit together and cool off, Karina asks rather bluntly—perhaps more bluntly than usual—

"So are you going to be getting a new dog, Sky High?"

Keith lowers his water bottle in surprise. "A new one? Do you mean, am I going to replace John?"

"What's this about?" Barnaby asks Kotetsu in the background. For some reason that annoys Ivan a bit. How could he not pay attention to someone like Keith? (How could anyone skip over Keith?)

Keith sighs a little but looks at her very honestly. "You know, I've thought about it. It is quite lonely now. When I go home, I am alone, and so I am alone on my jogs as well. I do miss him. I sometimes wonder what I'm going to do with all of his stuff. He's the only pet I've ever had…"

Ivan frowns and watches Keith, watches that terrible little sigh he has now. He hears only vaguely as Karina, doing her best to get things back to normal, tells some anecdote about her own various pets, all invariably more short-lived than John had been. None of it seems to cheer Keith up, but as Ivan does his watching, he remembers a poster in his neighborhood.

He catches up with Keith as the man is leaving at the end of the work day, thinking excitedly, There is something even I can do.

"Mr. Sky High?" he calls timidly. Keith immediately turns, smiling.

"Yes, Origami? Is there something I can do for you?"

Ivan hesitates, taken aback as always by how genuinely nice this man is. "N-no, actually, I wanted to do something for you!"

"For me?" Keith asks, eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

"Well…" Ivan scuffs his sneakers by accident. He had thought about how best to approach this, all his different opening lines and ways to argue his stance—but in the end his plans fail him and simply he says, "If you were looking for a new dog… I know someone."

Keith looks at him, astonished for only a moment, before flashing his terrific grin. "I might as well look! Very well."

Keith follows Ivan back to his neighborhood and they go on a little hunt for the poster. There it is, on the light pole—a new litter of puppies, free to good homes. Keith studies the grainy pictures and smiles, apparently approving, as Ivan dials the number and announces a visit.

"Origami, I would like to ask something of you," Keith says as soon as Ivan has hung up. "Would you mind accompanying me?"

Ivan hadn't been expecting that, but he feels a happy little flip in his stomach and returns Keith's brilliant smile shyly.

The owner's house, which they find fairly quickly, is a quaint little suburban home. The lady whom Ivan talked to on the phone lets them in through the back gate. In the corner of the yard, a little girl leans over a little pile of wood, behind which the mother dog sleeps and puppies gambol. They aren't labs, but Keith grins hugely in any case.

"Ah, so your secret weakness is cute things, eh, Sky—Keith?" Ivan teases gently.

Ivan finds that Origami Cyclone's secret weakness is Keith Goodman and his fantastic damn smile.

"May I pick one up?" Keith asks the lady politely.

"Sure," she nods. "Don't mind if they're a bit dirty—the rain, you know. They all fell into a mud puddle."

Keith laughs good-naturedly and expertly scoops the smallest under the watchful eye of a rather docile mother. The puppy is old enough to have his eyes wide open, and the little guy turns and gives Keith a watery look.

"This one," Keith declares, voice a little breathy. If Ivan isn't mistaken, his eyes are misting up as well. "Look, Origami, he's so small—he fits right into my hand."

The little girl cocks her head. "What did you call him?"

Ivan blanches but Keith laughs it away, though a bit nervously. "Sorry—Ivan, that is."

"You didn't take long to decide," Ivan coughs, hoping to smooth the issue over simply by pretending it didn't happen.

"You sure you want the runt?" the lady asks, pointing to all of his bigger siblings.

Keith definitely is tearing up now. "Oh, yes. John was the runt, but he ended up very strong. I'm sure this one will, too. He just needs someone to believe in him. I'll do it."

Ivan studies Keith's profile and feels his entire body warm despite the chilly breeze running through the yard. Something about Keith's words make Ivan feel a little light-headed, or light-hearted perhaps. He is also suddenly aware of how close he's been to Keith this whole time: Keith, squatting next to the mother dog's nest, and Ivan, leaning over his shoulder. He thinks maybe he can feel the warmth of Keith's body so close to his, and fairly blushes at himself.

When they leave, tiny little puppy clasped in Keith's two large hands, they naturally fall into step. It's not like they usually hang out away from the gym or the cameras—but Ivan really, really doesn't mind it, and neither, apparently, does Keith. In any case, after promising the tearful little girl that he will walk the puppy and feed the puppy every day and give the puppy regular baths, Keith doesn't say another word. He gazes fondly down at the little guy and doesn't tell Ivan 'bye' or 'thanks for your help'.

Somehow, Ivan ends up on Keith's doorstep. Ivan totally wasn't expecting it, but the building is actually a bit older, with big trees and a pet allowance. A charming block rather suited for Keith. Ivan finds himself relaxed and content, and Keith stands aside to let him in the door like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"What are you going to name him?" Ivan asks, just so he can have an excuse to stare at Keith and not stare all around the apartment like a creeper.

"John the second!" Keith responds promptly. "…ah, I could name him something else, but I already have a bowl set and a bed with John's name on it."

Ivan finds out several things over the next hour: Keith likes comfortable furniture; he occasionally plays video games when civilian friends are over; he has two bedrooms so his parents, who are farmers, can visit; and Keith likes Ivan.

Ivan knows this last one in particular because of this: Keith rolls up his sleeves and fills the kitchen sink with water. Ivan helpfully hands over the bottle of soap nearby. When their hands touch, a little breeze runs pleasantly through the house. (Upon double-checking later, just to make sure it meant what he thought it meant, yes, the windows all are closed.) They bathe John the second as a team effort, but Keith doesn't quite scoot over as much as he should so Ivan has to sidle very close next to him (this is one of many coincidences he happens to not mind).

The puppy is generally very calm, but this might just be his first bath; he whines copiously and shakes more than a few times. By the end both Keith and Ivan are laughing, their shirts soaking wet. Keith somehow has soap in his hair. Ivan reaches up and brushes it out, and Keith thanks him—again, thanks him. At last they dry the little guy off and place his sleepy self down on the old John's previously empty dog-bed. As they both wordlessly and fondly watch him drift into puppy dreams, Keith finally speaks.

"You're very kind, Ivan." (His heart speeds up—He said my real name.) "I like you a lot."

Yes, this is how Ivan knows that Keith likes him: Keith tells him so. It's not really rocket science here, but it still makes Ivan's heart beat like a drum.

Keith turns to Ivan. Ivan turns to Keith.

"I would like if I could call you Ivan from now on."

"Okay."

"And if you would come over sometimes and play with John with me."

"Okay."

"Would you like that as well?"

Ivan smiles, lips closed but more broadly than he remembers doing in a long time. "I really would."

"…may I have a hug?"

"Okay," Ivan answers. Keith is quite warm.

Keith says lowly, "Thank you for thinking of me. Now I won't be quite as lonely. Thank you."

There is something even Ivan can do.

.

.

.

Thanks for reading!