Curate, connect, and discover
"So, what do you say we run away together?" The villain suggested to the hero with a grin, that was way too wide. The hero sighed. The villain had asked the same question every time they fought together. It was getting tiring. But with the way the villain was now pouting while looking at him expectantly, made it harder to say no. He was too cute.
"I-" The hero started. However, he couldn't say anything else before the villain interrupted him.
"Don't object this time. Listen, I have a plan. A. Foolproof. Plan." The villain emphasized, confidence. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and then strolled to where the hero was standing.
"And, what plan would that be? The last time we were planning, you got too distracted and we ended up doing something entirely different. But, go ahead. Tell me." The hero muttered as the villain came face to face with him.
"How about we fake our death?" The villain whispered, his hand moving to trace along the jaw of the hero's. The hero raised his eyebrows.
"You said you had a foolproof plan. This is your plan?" The villain's fingers went down and down until they were resting on the hero's shoulders.
The villain nodded. "Yeah. We get to fool people about our deaths, so fool-proof, get it?" He chuckled at his own joke. The hero just kept his straight face. This wasn't something to joke about, honestly, what was the villain thinking? He'd never know. "And anyway, it would be pretty believable. Think about it, we could plan a fight and act like we both died during it. And then poof! we disappear. We could go to another country and get different identities. Sounds very good to me."
The hero gaped at him. Was the villain serious?! This was below believable. If anything, the hero's agency would seek him out from the depths of hell. And if they did hide their identities, it was only a matter of time before someone recognized them. It would be too dangerous and too disastrous. He was not ready to take that risk. So, he shook his head, letting himself get away from the warmth of the villain's hand, and shuffling to the window on the left.
"It's not as easy as it sounds. We can't do that. There is too much of a possibility of our lives being endangered. I can't let us get hurt. See, no one knows about this, about our secret relationship. So, how about we keep it that way for now? I'm going to retire in a few years either way." The hero said, turning around and searching for the villain's eyes who was still frowning. He went to him and put their foreheads together. "I want you to be safe, my love. I can't afford to lose you. Ever. Do you understand me?"
The villain grimaced, followed by a groan. He buried his face in the hero's neck. "But I-I can't do this anymore. It's so intolerable when the whole world is wanting to marry you and I can't tell them that you're mine. That we belong to each other and no one else. That, I love you." He confessed, kissing the hero who kissed him right back.
"I know, I know. But you don't have to worry, because I love you too. And, I would never leave you for anyone else. I would never even think about it." The hero mumbled in between the kisses. The villain brought him closer by his waist, and kissed him again, deeply.
Perhaps, someday the hero and the villain will be able to tell the world just how much they love each other. How they belong together with each other, like pieces of a puzzle.
By @writingpromptsworld
A forming of thoughts seethed into the hero’s head, whilst he watched the villain flirt with their sidekick. Perhaps, a feeling that he wasn't quite ready to name it yet. An emotion that he so long ago buried inside of him that was menacing to rise again. He watched as his sidekick blushed, hearing the villain's words. What words, the hero didn't want to know.
When he first arrived at the location, he didn't expect their sidekick to be with the villain. But now what? The sidekick is with the villain, what was he to make of that? Was the sidekick betraying him? He shook his head, trying to get it out of his head, even though he failed to do so miserably. He was hiding behind a building, watching the villain and the sidekick still talking about something without a care in the world. He decided to slowly move out from where he was hiding, and just face him.
The villain and the sidekick didn't notice the hero until he was literally in front of them, with a gun in his hand pointed at them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The hero sneered. The sidekick's eyes widened, as the villain looked between them.
"Listen, it's not as it seems, okay?" The sidekick attempted to say, the hero advanced towards him, slowly. Almost like a predator.
"Oh, yeah? I knew you'd betray the company. That you'd betray me-"
"I was just-", The villain cut him off, as he too, daringly walked to the hero.
"He's here on my request." The villain murmured, his voice deep. The hero hated himself for shuddering at it. He kept his hands steady around the gun, but he didn't know if he could do it much longer, because the way the villain was watching closely while walking toward him, made him want to go weak on his knees. A beast awakening inside of him, wanting more. His breath halted, when the villain took the gun out of his hand, tossing it aside, carelessly. "You're not as mighty as you think, hero."
The sidekick stood where he was, stunned.
The villain's scent was so strong, the hero had to move his face away. The other continued, "You know, your sidekick is too loyal to you, he deserves more appreciation rather than your doubt. He'd never betray you, from what I've learned over the past few years fighting you both."
"You don't know him." The hero willed himself to say.
"Well, clearly, you don't either." The villain threw back, arching an eyebrow at the hero.
"It doesn't matter. He-,"
"Look, he came on my request to the superhero. You can ask him, to confirm it. Now, be a good boy and apologize to the sidekick, yeah?" The hero stubbornly glanced away, silent. If someone needed to apologize, it was the sidekick, not him. He should've told the hero about this beforehand, shouldn't he? He scoffed, shuffling his feet to the sidekick.
"You don't have to. It was kind of my fault, too. Should've informed you about this." The sidekick muttered, a little sheepishly. The hero exhaled.
"I'm sorry, still. Sorry for doubting you." The hero said, the sidekick smiled a little and ruffled his hair. The hero bit his lip, shy all of a sudden. The sidekick knew just the right buttons to push to make the hero all coy and whatnot. The villain stood there, smiling.
The real reason the villain had summoned the sidekick was to discuss the hero's birthday party, which the villain planned to throw at his house, but the hero didn't need to know that. At least, not before his birthday.
"Your dad's not home?" The villain questioned, an eyebrow raised at the boy standing at the doorstep of the hero's house. He looked so much like the hero, with a square face and black hair.
"No, he's out. I believe he should be back soon." The teenager said, tilting his head as he continued, "Are you his friend?" The villain chuckled.
"I'm his boyfriend." The villain responded, and the other one frowned.
"Oh. He didn't tell me he had a boyfriend." The boy looked a little suspicious, his awkwardly placed on the door handle.
"Well, I'll come back wh-," The villain cut himself off as a car came on the pavement, and stopped. The hero came out and froze in place. He glanced at the villain, and then his son, and then back to the villain. He grimaced.
"Dad!" The younger one exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" The hero asked, shifting his feet to the villain.
"I was just-"
"Dad, you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!" The boy cut the villain off, and the villain's lips went in a straight line, waiting for the hero to say something.
"Yeah, I’m sorry. We just started dating like 2 weeks ago. Can we go in and then I can explain?" The hero suggested, pulling his hoodie closer to himself, it was so cold. The teenage boy nodded, and the villain followed quietly. It was going to be a long night.
The hero screamed in agony as the blood oozed out of his body, and into the pool of liquid beside him. His voice echoed in the empty vast sky, and then nothing. An anguished silence. And then, a thud. He fell on his back, the villain going out of his vision for a second.
As if on cue, or maybe it was just mocking him, it started raining. Heavy droplets made his eyes so heavy, he fought to open them. The villain stayed where he was, a knife dripping blood mixed with the rain, onto the wet ground. The hero's breathing slowed.
"Why." He choked, his body nearly tearing itself apart by the force it took to say that. He shivered, the coldness of the raindrops getting to him. He tried inhaling. His lungs hurt, and his heart more. The villain dropped to his knees, his eyes filling with tears. He bawled. The hero's ears rang with the noise.
"I love you, but...but I couldn't. I couldn't be better for you. Loving me comes with a price." The villain rasped, he dropped the knife and walked to the lying figure. His gaze crossed with the hero's as he continued, "This is the price." The hero's heart clenched. He had failed. Failed to change the villain. Failed to save him. Failed to save himself. Failed himself. He breathed out last time, before his body gave up.
(Not me listening to "Stalker's Tango" by Autoheart while writing this. The song goes perfectly with it though)