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viceroysimp · 16 days

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reunions and opportunities - chapter one

gary x fem!reader

both of you didn't get the ideal high school experience it would make sense that you both would be dreading the reunion.

little did you know how many doors would open after that.

ao3 version here - chapters on tumblr are slightly rewritten and restructured.

content warning: fic contains smut in later chapters. discussions of mental health including trauma and potential ptsd (aka gary is traumatized).

chapter one - reunions

You assessed your appearance in the mirror after sliding into a dress, not accustomed to dressing up unless it was a special occasion. Messing with the skin-tight material, you huffed, adjusting the front of your dress to make sure it looked right. Blinking in surprise at the nice amount of cleavage the dress had given you, you quickly checked the time on your phone.

'Fuck... I really don't want to go to this.' You groaned, taking a seat in front of your vanity and making sure your hair wasn’t a mess after wrangling the fabric over your head. You glance over at the invitation to what every person in their adult years dreads - your high school reunion.

The day had come for you to face the peers you had honestly forgotten about once you stepped foot into college. You had no real enemies, you didn't carry any drama with you from high school - but that was because you were an unknown, practically blending into the scenery of your high school walls.

You were a bit too bookish to really fit into the popular crowd. Freshman year, you had joined a comic book club but when the eager freshman that started it left all of a sudden and most of the guys who took over were quite alienating towards the girls in the club, you left promptly. You made acquaintances obviously due to projects and assignments, but you never really fit into any group after sophomore year.

No sleepovers, parties, hangouts.

No late nights spent on the phone making memories.

You skipped pretty much every major event the school hosted bar the ones required like graduation.

Hell, you were pretty sure there were no photos of you in the yearbook other than the awkward school photos taken at the beginning of each year.

School, work and home was your routine for those four tedious years.

"At least, no one will bother you... just get in there, drink to get the nerves out, make small talk if anyone approaches you and get out." You mutter to yourself, applying your lipstick carefully.

---

"What the hell do you mean you can't help me arch tonight?"

Gary winced at his leader's sharp and harsh tone, rubbing the back of his neck. Ever since the Monarch had lost all of his henchman and the Cocoon, and his wife had more pressing issues to deal with as a new Council member, Gary or Henchman 21 was left solo to help the Monarch on his escapades to try and arch Dr. Venture again.

However, tonight, he had to ditch his henchman outfit and wings and put on a nicer outfit - a white button up and slacks from his Kano costume - to attend his high school reunion.

"Why the hell are you going to your stupid high school reunion, 21? I'm sure it's just going to be a bunch of popular kids who fucking peaked in their teenager years and need this night to be validated. Besides, those pricks probably picked on you too and that's a whole can of worms you do not want to open back up." The Monarch scoffed, waving his hand dismissively as he propped his legs up on the table.

Gary questioned why he even wanted to go too. He missed out on most of his high school years after being kidnapped to join the Monarch at age fifteen. Sure, he got his GED but none of it involved being around the people he had to see tonight. There were a few people he kept up with here and there - mostly his Dungeons and Dragons buddies - but they hadn’t seen him since he transformed into Two-Ton 21.

"I dunno, I missed out on a lot of high school since I left to become a henchman. I didn’t go to prom or any dance… I figured I would make up for lost time. Besides, half those idiots there wouldn’t try to mess with me now.” Gary shrugged, running a lint roller over his white shirt that bulged at the arms from his muscles.

The Monarch sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Alright, I’ll let you have this, 21, but all of tomorrow we are doing reconnaissance on Dr. Venture! My wife is out of town for some stupid Guild conference and since she’s still pissed at me, I’m not going.”

Gary nodded and saluted to his boss before heading out the door.

“Just get in there, drink to get the nerves out, make small talk if anyone approaches you and get out….” He muttered to himself.

Your face scrunched up as you took a sip of the punch, immediately pouring out the drink back into the bowl and tossing the cup. “You think after getting out of high school, they would serve quality drinks and not spiked punch that tastes like peppermint schnapps.” You sigh, running a hand through your hair.

As you had expected, you were still blending into the background. No one had approached you or even noticed you were there. They even stopped you at the door, not believing that you went to school there until you showed them the invitation, told them your name and presented a drivers license.

“Well, this turned out to be a drag…” You mutter, crossing your arms and leaning against the gym bleachers. Your eyes observed your surroundings: everyone had yet again separated into cliques, seemingly discussing how their lives have been since graduation aside from the jocks and preps reminiscing in the glory days, already wasted from the spiked punch.

Gary began to wander around the gymnasium, already having made small talk with a few guys he kept up with from the comic book club although it was difficult to identify him as he had clearly bulked up and gotten fit since his high school days.

He was relieved that at least someone had taken over after he left though he was a bit disappointed to hear how much the club had derailed from his original vision.

As he continued to make his way around the entirety of the compact gym, he stopped in his tracks as you came into his line of vision. His eyes took in how the dress clung to your body, accentuating every curve you had. He gulped, not having been this attracted to someone since Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

However, after snapping out of his fixation on your body, he noticed you were all alone. ‘Huh, that’s odd… figured someone as gorgeous as her would be with someone’ He thought to himself, his eyes gazing over the sea of people mingling. He bit his lip, wondering if he should approach you.

‘Come on, you idiot. She’s all alone, now’s the perfect chance to swoop in!’ The voice of Henchman 24 echoed in his head. Gary rolled his eyes, ‘Oh my god, will you ever leave me alone?’ The echoing voice persisted, ‘Maybe I will if you make a move.’

Gary sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering under his breath, “Fine, fine…” He took a deep breath and approached you with a warm smile. “Hey… thought you were looking lonely. Did your friends not show up to the reunion?”

You freeze as soon as Gary approaches you, not ready to make conversation given how sober you are currently. Your eyes quickly darted to the side, “No … I’m… really not close to anyone here to be honest.” You admitted, pushing a stray piece of hair behind your ear and shrugging.

Gary’s eyes widened at your response, “Oh man that totally blows, dude.” Your face dropped at his answer and he quickly noticed, stammering out a clarification while rubbing the back of his neck. “W-Well, you’re not alone! Honestly, I don’t know anyone really here either. I left like sophomore year… just know a few guys from the comic book club when I used to run it.”

Your eyes lit up at the mention of the comic book club and your gaze immediately snapped towards Gary. “Wait… you were the one that ran the comic book club that year? Oh my god, I remember you. That was the one year I was in it… well, I was one of the only girls so it was kind of hard to miss me. You did such an amazing job covering different comics outside of the Marvel and DC franchises and it was so nice to hear about new series!”

His eyes widened and he looked quite taken aback at your sudden enthusiasm. Internally though, he found your passion so attractive, almost screaming in excitement at the news that you were a geek like him. You quickly noticed, taking his silence as a bad thing, ‘Shit... I just geeked out on this complete stranger…’

You quickly apologized, “S-Sorry, if that freaked you out.”

Gary quickly snapped out of his state of shock and shook his head, “Oh no, no! I’m just shocked that you were a part of the comic book club. I kind of don’t remember a lot from that year and honestly... I wouldn’t expect someone as pretty as you to be into that kind of stuff…” He admitted, chuckling nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. He quickly put out his hand, smiling awkwardly, “I’m Gary, pleased to make your acquaintance, m’lady.”

A pink blush spread across your cheeks and you giggled softly at his quirkiness, “Pleased to make your acquaintance as well, I’m [y/n].” You took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

‘Talk to her. Preferably not here, it’s totally killing the vibe and you’re practically screaming over this lame music.’ 24’s voice echoes in Gary’s head.

Gary held onto your hand and smiled back at you, “Hey, it’s kind of getting stuffy and crowded in here and I really don’t want to yell over this music just to talk to you. Wanna ditch this lame thing and grab something to eat? My treat.” You nod eagerly, a wide grin across your face. His expression brightens as he takes you by the hand out of the stuffy gymnasium.

‘Maybe coming to this lame reunion wasn’t such a bad idea.’ Both of you thought as you got into your car and headed towards the nearest diner.

#henchman 21 #henchman 21 x reader #venture bros #the monarch #dr mrs the monarch #gary fischer #the venture bros #venture bros drabble #gary x reader

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