Somethings Never Change

Desperation

Tw: chronic pain (Medical inaccuracies, as I do not know a lot about chronic pain)

Villain's scars always ache, especially on his back. 

The scars there littered his skin like raindrops, a reminder of his past. Of the pain.

On good days, they would feel like fingertips ghosting the skin.

On bad days, he would be bedridden for hours as the pounding pain left him gasping for air that never seemed to be there in the first place.

Nothing ever made it better. No matter how many treatments he's tried, everything he's pushed out of desperation, the pain always came back. 

Maybe he ended up on Hero's doorstep out of that same desperation. 

Him. At his nemesis's door.

Hero was going to laugh in his face.

But desperation was one of the most dangerous things of all. 

And Villain was desperate.

He hears the muted cursing of the second knock, footsteps, a pause, and then the familiar click of a gun—muted by the door but most definitely there. 

Desperation really is a dangerous thing.

But to Villain's suprise Hero doesn't automatically open the door and put a bullet into his skull, but instead opens the door, one hand holding open the door and the other leaning the gun against the doorframe, out of sight, but ready to fire at moments notice.

But Hero doesn't look alarmed, panicked, or ready to fight. Instead, he studies Villain, slumped over and leaning against the front porch railing. "How did you get this address." 

Villain held up his hands in surrender. "I-I-"He could barely see through the pain. Hero seemed to pick up on that pretty quickly.

Villain hopes and prays to any God out there that Hero sees that he is desperate and in pain. And he prays that Hero will either help or shoot him. 

Both would take away the pain. 

But Hero, the walking saint, is much more merciful than Villain ever will be. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the gun go into the holster. "Where does it hurt?" 

Villain can barely speak now. "Back."

Hero's hands brush against him, and he can see the frown. "You're not bleeding."

"Chronic." 

"Oh."

Villain blinks, and the next thing he knows, he's lying on a couch in a dimly lit living room while Hero rustles around the kitchen (or, more likely, the medical cabinet).

The pain is pounding now, sending wave after wave of hurting through every part of him. 

Hero comes out of the kitchen holding a foul-smelling rag. "Flip over." There's no malice or anger in his nemesis's voice, but Villain still flinches back. "I can't help you if you don't do what I say. I'm not going to hurt you."

Hero helps him, guiding his shoulders until he's lying on his stomach. There's a sudden pause. "I do need to take off your shirt."

Villain nods absent-mindedly, the pain fogging over every other part of his brain. It goes dark, and then the breeze of the air conditioning sends shivers down his spine. 

Hero wipes the warm rag all over his back, something Villain doesn't realize until-

It stops. 

All the pain. Just gone.

Villain's convinced he's dead. Dead or about to. But no. His heart is still beating, and his mind is still racing.

He's able to feel everything else now. Not the pain, but the wetness on his cheeks, the blanket covering the lower half of his body, Hero using his fire powers to keep the rag at a warm temperature as it goes up and down his back. 

Villain looks up. "How-"

Hero shrugs. "I have chronic pain, too." He said simply. "Took me forever but I managed to find the right amount of herbs to help with the pain. It's a side effect of my powers; my arms cramp up badly. Not many work cause there's literally next to no research on the downsides of powers. Took my years just to understand my own." His voice drops to a whisper. "It never goes away; I just find ways to treat what I can."

Villain pauses, and Hero continues. "You're touch starved, aren't you. You've been leaning into every touch."

There's no reply. Villain can't find it in him. "That's okay," The rag is placed on the center of his back. "You're gonna crash soon, but you already know that don't you. There's always a big crash after every episode."

Yea, he's right. The next morning, Villain wakes up to a bowl of cereal and a bottle of the Hero's herbal serum he uses. 

But he still comes back. 

Later, when he sees Hero having a similar episode in a dark alleyway, he pays it back. 

Somehow, somewhere in the mix, they become close, sharing stories and things that help. Somewhere in the mix, Hero goes from a nemesis to a friend and, a year later, a lover.

It got a lot better after that. 

Villain's scars ached, but Hero always seemed to make it better. 

As always constructive criticism is always welcome. Requests are open! Have a great day/night :)

Announcementish???

I've gotta a good amount of requests to write something similar to "icy blue eyes" (A short story I wrote a couple days ago). I've got a lot in mind for branching off of it, and I've decided to turn it into a series if y'all want. Where should I post it?

The people who requested (yall are amazing :D)

@ayo-evernight (Thank you for the original idea to make it a series!!!)

@cycopompadour

@beee1221249qq

Cycles

Our school has this program where we go and read to the elementary school kids. Earlier I read to these 3 girls around 2nd grade. The way it went was they would bring a book and then I would read it to them. Two of the girls brought the classics: dog man, baby sitters club. The third girl brought a book that caught my eye. Charlotte's Web. Usually you read it in third grade, but the girl loved it so much she brought it to the reading time. So I read a bit from every book, a short story from dog man about the vacuum, that one babysitter book where Stacy and Mary Anne go to the beach. But the two girls didn't seem too interested in Charlotte's Web. I read the chapter where Charlotte writes "some pig" onto her web, and the two girls quickly wanted to continue onto another book. But the third girl? She wanted them to see why she loved the book, why she loved reading this book so much when it barely had any pictures at all.

It's been a couple weeks since then but I haven't forgotten her. In some way, I saw myself in her. That one kid who didn't wanna put down a book even though it barely had any photos in it. And I'm not saying I'm above everyone who didn't enjoy chapter books in any way. Or am I saying that the third girl was above the other 2 girls. I enjoyed comics as well. But watching the girl read the book and imagining everything that was happening in it gave me a sense of deja vu. I saw myself in her, watching each word pop off the page and add a little extra color to the setting.

I wanted to share this because I've seen a lot of people say how the younger generation doesn't have the same passion as they did when they were younger. And I even agreed with that at one point. But watching that girl love Charlotte's Web to death brought some new hope to me.

I hope and pray she continues to grow that passion for reading.

The cycle continues. Young kids still hold that love for reading. I've seen a lot of people call the younger generation "ipad kids" and "Iphone kids" but I want to share how that girl still holds that love for reading.

As long as theres books in the world there will always be people who love reading. People who love imagining every word in their brain.

The cycle continues.

#wait this would be funny asf irl

I had a dream last night that Donald Trump banned ao3 because he was angry about all of the Trump x Biden fanfiction.

Masterlist :)

Hero x Villain

Somethings Never Change

Icy Blue Eyes

Just a Couple Days

Yall how in the world do I write like. I write but then my anxiety takes over and then I can't even look at myself without fearing the backlash if I ever show someone my writing.

Prompt #1

“Man, you wear some interesting clothes while you’re at home.” Villain squinted at Hero. “Pretty sure that hoodie doesn’t go with- ARE THOSE MY SWEATPANTS????”

Hero crossed their arms. “It’s my house. My rules.” “And those are my sweatpants! How? They’ve been missing for a week!”

“Womp Womp.”

“DID YOU JUST WOMP WOMP ME???”

Aka: I'm tired. It's finals week ;-;. New short story is coming soon, just kinda a spur of the moment prompt idea! If y'all want I can turn this into a full story :)

Hope y'all have a great day!!! :D

Icy Blue Eyes

“So.” Supervillain swirled the glass in his hand, watching as the liquid whirled around. Villain stood at attention in front of him, nervous. “Hero, huh?”

Villain could’ve sworn he felt his heart stop. “What about him?” he managed to cough out after an awkward pause. 

Supervillain stopped swirling the cup. “I never told you anything. Yet here you are, looking like you just got caught committing a war crime.” He looked up, swiveling the office chair so it faced Villain fully. “But I’m glad we’re on the same page.” 

Villain tried to keep eye contact with his mentor. Those icy blue eyes seemed to always know every little detail of everything happening. It came with his power, Villain had come to realize. Supervillain’s power was being able to read people’s emotions and manipulate them. This was why Villain was now mentally kicking themselves for thinking they could simply hide their love for Hero from someone who could read minds. 

“I’ve told you about how my powers work. I see colors representing different emotions, and I can manipulate them to my liking. I take, and I give sadness. I can bring people’s worst nightmares out with a wrist flick. But do you know the one emotion I cannot manipulate no matter how hard I try?”

Villain swallowed thickly. “Love.”

Supervillain nodded. “Correct. I can’t make anyone fall in love, and I can’t take away that love, either. Amor Animi Arbitrio Sumitur, Non Ponitur. Love is taken by the choice of mind, not to be put down. Do you know what that means?” 

Villain knew the answer. Supervillain knew that. Supervillain’s Second-in-Command, Henchman, stood behind him, staring with an unreadable gaze that would make anyone squirm. But Villain was too focused on Supervillain to actually shudder. “We uh…” He licked his lips nervously. “We can choose to love, but we can’t choose to stop loving.”

“That’s Hero’s favorite phrase, isn’t it?” Supervillain paused. “No…Per aspera ad astra. Through hardships to the stars.” Villain felt sick. This was all nauseating. The way the phrases rolled off Supervillain’s tongue so easily, how he had managed to say not one but two of Hero’s favorite Latin phrases. 

“Sir, I-“ 

“I thought we were past the formalities.” Supervillain stood up sharply, causing Villain to flinch. “I can see it. I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen the light blue of uncertainty forming a halo around your head. The purple fear forms a chokehold around your neck. I can take those away easily.” He paused, ghosting his fingers around the edge of the desk. “I can’t just remove the love on your chest.”

Villain had to strain his ears to listen to the last part, but he knew deep down that Supervillain was right. 

Supervillain strolled around the desk until he was right in front of Villain. Villain felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Are you sorry?”

He swallowed. “For what?”

“Dating [Hero’s name].” 

Villain’s heart beat faster until he felt it would explode.

When he didn’t answer, Supervillain leaned forward. “Don’t lie.” He gritted out between his teeth. His icy blue eyes seemed to be the only thing Villain could focus on.

“No!” 

The room went still. Henchman stopped approaching them, frozen in place, and Villain was pretty sure Henchman had gone a shade paler. 

Supervillain paused and leaned against the desk, looking…content?

“I understand.” He said, his eyes glancing around the room before returning to Villain. “You’re dismissed, Villain. I’ve seen Hero fall to too many toxic partners before you. I just wanted to make sure.” Villain was honeslty surpised he walked out in one piece. Supervillain hated how corrupt the Hero Agency was and how other heroes only worked for the glamor. That’s what he loved about Hero, Villain had come to realize. How Hero did everything to keep people safe. He never wanted fame; he just wanted to save lives. But the toxic partners? Yes, Hero had had some partners who used him for fame, and maybe Supervillain had uncovered that. But why would he care? 

Villain didn’t understand what he meant until he saw those same icy blue eyes when he met Hero’s father the following week. 

Please tell me if this is cringe y'all I have next to no social skills. But yea! I hope you enjoyed and I am open to requests! Constructive Criticism is great appreciated :)

Prompt ideas?