*19*
Suguro Crane had established very specific parameters for his workspace over the years. The laboratory was organized with meticulous precision—chemicals arranged by molecular structure, equipment positioned for optimal workflow, documentation filed in chronological order. Every surface served a purpose. Every object had its designated location. Order was necessary for the kind of complex research he conducted.
Then Ivy Pepper had joined Crane's Wings, and order had become… negotiable.
It started subtly, a small vine here, creeping along the wall near his chemical storage, A small flowering plant there, which she positioned on a shelf where it wouldn't interfere with his work. She created some bio-luminescent vegetation growing along the walls providing soft ambient lighting that was actually more pleasant than the harsh fluorescents he'd been using.
Suguro had noticed of course, he had a habit of trying to notice everything, but the plants didn't interfere with his experiments, and Ivy had been careful to position them away from anything that might produce fumes or heat that could damage her flora and wouldn't interfere with his work. So he'd said nothing, allowing the encroachment to continue thinking its best to give some appeasement to maintain a powerful ally.
Then the plants had multiplied.
Within two months however, the main base had transformed. Vines climbed the walls in intricate patterns, their leaves filtering air more efficiently than any ventilation system.
Bio-luminescent flowers bloomed all throughout the abandoned factory, and she had created some type of moss that carpeted the floor that had previously been bare concrete, surprisingly pleasant to walk on though.
His office had undergone a similar transformation, the small room where he reviewed data and planned operations was now more greenhouse than workspace. Plants grew from every available surface, creating a living canopy overhead. The air smelled of earth and chlorophyll rather than the chemical staleness that existed when they moved in almost a year ago.
And Ivy herself had become a constant presence.
She'd appear in his laboratory at random hours, sometimes asking questions about his toxin quirk, other times silently tending her plants while he worked.
Then she began to push even further. She'd sit on his desk, directly on the surface, cross-legged, displacing whatever papers he'd been reviewing and ask about his Quirk's mechanisms, about what the group had done before she joined, and she would tell him about new plants she was able to create with her quirk.
Suguro found himself answering these questions more thoroughly than he typically would, explaining concepts in detail, engaging with her questions, even asking some of his own about her quirk when she brought it up.
The conversations were… tolerable.
Then she'd started spending nights in the office.
He'd been working late, making sure everything was planned and under control, a lesson Mr Freeze taught him, when he'd noticed Ivy hadn't left. She'd created a nest of sorts in the corner, plants growing and weaving together into something resembling a bed. She'd curled up there, surrounded by flowers that bloomed as she slept.
"You have your own assigned quarters you know," Suguro had mentioned the first time, not looking up from his plans.
Ivy yawned, settling deeper into her botanical nest. "This is better."
"That makes no sense."
"Does to me." She'd closed her eyes, vines wrapping loosely around her limbs.
He'd continued working through the night, occasionally glancing at the corner where she slept. There was something peaceful about her presence. The office felt less isolated with another person in it…
The pattern had continued, Ivy would appear in the evening, work on her plants or assist with his plans, then sleep in her nest while he continued through the night. Sometimes she'd wake around three or four in the morning and watch him work, asking quiet questions about what he was doing and how he should get some sleep.
Then the physical proximity had increased.
Ivy had always been casual with her plants, running her fingers along leaves, pressing her palms to bark, maintaining constant physical connection with the botanical life surrounding her, but she'd started extending that same casual touching to him.
A hand on his shoulder when asking a question. Fingers brushing his arm when pointing at something, leaning against him when they reviewed data together, her body temperature slightly cooler than a normal human, her skin carrying the faint texture of vines or something he couldn't pinpoint.
Suguro had no framework for understanding this behavior, physical contact with others that wasn't violence was something he never really experienced in life.
But Ivy's touch didn't feel threatening…
Jaina noticed first, which was inevitable given that she had a hundred duplicates providing comprehensive observation of every corner of their territory. She'd approached Suguro directly one afternoon while Ivy was testing new plant species in one of the secondary safehouses.
"So," Jaina said, her primary form settling into the chair across from his desk. "You and the plant girl. What's happening there?"
Suguro looked up from his work, expression neutral. "what?"
"She sleeps in your office. You allow her to modify your spaces, spaces you previously kept meticulously controlled. She touches you constantly and you don't get all defensive"
"Because you like her." she pointed at him
She moved toward the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, she's good for you. You're less…" She gestured vaguely. "Less like a robot pretending to be human and becoming more like an actual person. It's an improvement."
She left before he could formulate a response.
The most significant confrontation came three weeks later, when Rhea visited from Mr. Freeze's laboratory.
She'd arrived for a new batch of materials for her uncle, her ice-white hair and blue-tinged skin standing out even in Crane's Wings' collection of unusual individuals. They'd been discussing the cryogenic preservation of her aunt when Ivy had entered, casually wrapped her arms around Suguro's left arm, and settled in to listen to the conversation.
Rhea had frozen mid-sentence, literally, ice crystals forming in the air around her as her Quirk responded to emotional distress. Her eyes had locked onto where Ivy was touching Suguro, where she was pressed against his side with comfortable familiarity, and something in her expression had cracked.
"I need to speak with Uncle Victor," Rhea had said abruptly, standing. "Just a short call ill be back to collect the materials in a few minutes or so."
She'd left quickly, the temperature in the room dropping noticeably as she passed.
Hearing this Suguro left to speak with Grundy about recruiting a potential new ally, something about a man with a mask fused to his face by his last employers.
Rhea returned to the room a few minutes later only to still see Ivy and the two young women had looked at each other in silence.
Ivy studied Rhea with predatory assessment. "You're Freeze's niece, right? I heard from Jaina you're the one with feelings for Crane."
Rhea's eyes narrowed, ice forming on her fingertips. "So you're the plant girl"
"How long has this been happening?" Rhea's voice was cold, her Quirk making the words like frost in the air. "How long have you been… doing whatever this is?"
"A few months," Ivy said casually. "He's interesting, and doesn't lie to me or pretend to be something he's not, I like that."
"He's not yours."
Ivy's smile didn't fade. "But he lets me close, lets me touch him, and stay in his spaces, that means something."
"It means—"
"It means he wants me there," Ivy interrupted, vines beginning to grow from the floor around her feet. "Whether he understands that yet or not, I can feel it when he's around me."
Rhea was quiet for a long moment, ice spreading across the floor around her. The temperature in the room had dropped at least fifteen degrees. "I've known him for years. Since we were both teenagers working in my uncle's laboratory. I've watched him grow, helped him more than you ever could."
The two women stared at each other, ice and vines spreading across the floor, neither willing to back down.
**Crane's Wings Main Facility - Suguro's Office - a few hours later**
Suguro had received a message from Victor later that night. "My niece is upset Crane"
"That was problematic," Suguro said aloud when Ivy entered his office as she was settling into her nest of plants, preparing for sleep. "We can't afford to damage the alliance with Mr. Freeze over… whatever this is."
Ivy had moved to where he was sitting, abandoning her nest. A vine wrapped gently around his arm while her hands settled on his shoulders from behind his chair. "Fine. I'll be more careful with people who matter to you. I don't want to damage things that are important to your work."
She leaned forward slightly, her chin resting on top of his head. "But I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not pretending I don't want to be close to you, that would be lying, and I don't lie."
Suguro sat very still, aware of her hands on his shoulders, the vine around his arm, her presence surrounding him.
He felt… something. Something warm and unfamiliar in his chest, something that made his breathing change slightly, made him acutely aware of everywhere they were touching.
For the first time in a very long time, Suguro Crane felt something he couldn't recognize, couldn't categorize, couldn't file away in his mental documentation of human behavior.
It wasn't fear. It wasn't anger. It wasn't the cold detachment he wore like armor.
It was something warmer. Something that made him want Ivy to stay exactly where she was.