Thx for 1k+! This is a lot longer than anything I've ever written.
It had been a long day after work.
Hero didn't like that just being a hero didn't fulfill the requirements for getting paid enough to do their bills. It was annoying, yes, but after a hard day at work and finally finishing their taxes, Hero decided to reward themselves with something to eat.
Although it was raining outside, the curry stand in the neighbourhood was one of the best. They've been craving it all week.
Hero sat at the end of the table on a stool. A small shabby canopy spread above them, hiding them from the pelting bolts of the rain.
"Thank you." Hero took the plate of rice and lamb curry, their favourite. The teen behind the stand smiled at them and left to continue working on their homework at the back.
With cold hands, Hero picked up the spoon and immediately savoured the taste of the curry. It was an intoxicating flavour they couldn't get out of their head.
Within minutes they found themselves enjoying their time.
"Alone, Hero?" A cool whisper came from behind them. Hero froze in their spot, recognizing the voice instantly.
"Villain…" they whispered back.
Villain sat on the stool next to them, eyeing their face and enjoying their reaction.
"I'm impressed you know who I am. I thought I'd have to identify myself to you." They gave a crooked smirk; their clothes were covered in drops of water.
They weren't sure how the other found them. Though they always knew they were strategic when they made their moves. It shouldn't have surprised them the way it did when Hero locked eyes with their worse nemesis in the most unexpected of places. Yet, it did.
Villain tapped their knuckles onto the table. "Hey, let me have whatever they're having." Villain gestured in their direction. An older gentleman behind the counter glanced over and gave a curt nod.
Hero swallowed timidly. They weren't sure what Villain planned to do with them. Honestly, it should be evident that they were at risk as soon as they decided to become a hero. Hero regretted not bringing a weapon. It seemed after weeks of hard labour, they didn't consider themselves more than their weighing bills.
They hesitantly looked at Villain.
Their eyes shot down to their plate. Their appetite slowly disappeared for fear of getting attacked.
"So, where have you been, Hero?" They heard the stool beside them creak and sensed them lean in.
Hero considered playing dumb and pretend they had mistaken them for someone else, but quickly shut that idea down when they realized they already said Villain's name earlier.
"Look, I don't want to fight here." They shakingly whispered, "If you want to take this somewhere else, that's fine. Just not here."
Villain chuckled, the sound of thunder seemingly echoing the laughter. For some reason, at that moment, Hero felt more fear for Villain than any storm.
Large waves of hot smoke seeped out from the food stand. It clashed with the frigid air, and usually, it was a lovely atmosphere, but today they feared associating a time like this with their encounter with Villain.
A plate set in front of Villain, they averted their attention to the server. "Oh, and uh… I'll take their bill too." Villain gave Hero a quick pat on the shoulder and slid the server a bill.
"I don't owe you anything." Hero spoke.
They shrugged, unconcerned, "I didn't do that because I want a favour. I only did that to show you I mean no harm, really."
Hero doubted it. Villain picked up the spoon and dipped it into the curry hesitantly. "What is this stuff anyway?" They smelled it lightly. Hero felt amused at their findings, and the look of confusion from Villain had reminded them that even their worse enemy was still a human in some aspects.
Hero pushed their rice to one side. Villain curiously peeked over at them as they began scooping the rice and curry into a piece of naan bread. Hero picked it up with their hand and ate it calmly, still trying to devise a plan to evade Villain.
"What are you doing?" Villain asked.
Hero let the taste simmer in their mouth for a moment before replying. "Eating. What do you want me to do?"
"You don't have to use your hands."
Villain looked down at their plate and lifted the flatbread. They tore a piece from the corner and bit into it.
Hero signalled their eyes down at the curry and back up again. Villain picked up their spoon and ate the curry. They took a few seconds to evaluate what they were eating.
They sat together, eating until the rain lightened up. By the time they were finished, Hero could still smell the spices on their fingers no matter how often they wiped it off.
Villain turned to them. "Alright, let's go" They stood up, and Hero saw them pat at their pocket. It was likely some weapon they kept on themselves. They didn't take Villain as someone who'd hurt them, but the eerie deliverance of their words was unsettling enough to get them to follow Villain.
They strolled toward a dark, sleet car parked beside the busy road up ahead. The clouds were just about dispersing, and as far as Hero could tell, it was late into the evening.
Villain opened the passenger side door, an arm blocking them from behind. Probably to prevent them from running away, although they didn't have the energy to do all that after eating so much. They tilted their head, and Hero took that as a command to get inside.
From the passenger side compartment, Villain removed a pair of handcuffs.
"Are you serious?" Hero wondered what they had gotten themselves into.
"Sorry," they opened the cuffs, "hold out your hand for me."
They scoffed but did so accordingly. They lifted their right hand. The cuffs locked their wrist loosely with a small click, and the other side clipped onto the side of the chair. "This is ridiculous."
Villain shut the door and walked to the other side. They slammed their side shut and turned the engine on. "No seatbelt?"
They looked over at them. Hero shook their wrist with the cuff.
"Right." They sheepishly laughed and moved across them to fix their belt. Hero sunk in deeper into their seat to avoid contact. Their face lit up brightly at the proximity.
Villain smelled of cinnamon. Despite sitting at a curry shop for an hour and a half with them, despite the overwhelming spices and despite the sweet rain surrounding them, Villain smelt like cinnamon. Hero's hands stilled when they felt them slightly brush against their own.
Hero struggled for words. They had never noticed Villain looked so different without their mask. After all, they'd never been this close. Hero never felt the need to get personal with Villain. Their features threw them off, and for a second, they felt embarrassed for acting as they did at the stand. They instantly regretted all their snappy comebacks and swallowed.
Why were they still so close? Didn't they know they didn't want them to hear how hard their heart was pounding? Had Villain always looked this good, or were they just confused?
It might've been the time or the food, but whatever it was made them sleepy. It had to be late into the night, but Villain kept driving, on and on and on… Through endless stretches of road.
"Where are you taking me?" They finally said.
"You'll see when we get there."
That wasn't much of an answer. They sighed deeply and stared at the dark sky with beads of colourful lights around the city and car headlights.
"Anyway," Villain tapped on the steering wheel, "where have you been? Haven't seen you out fighting crime, never mind the newspaper."
Was this what it was about?
"Yeah, right, like you can get me to believe it's nothing."
Hero looked down at their knees. They didn't know. They didn't have an answer.
Yes, they've been working, but they lost the thrill of being a hero a long time ago, and part of them convinced themselves they were never interested in returning.
There did exist a time when they had fun doing the protecting, but that excitement… died.
That, of course, wouldn't be an acceptable answer for Villain.
"What did you do? Stay at home? Or…" they continued.
They did stay at home. It was less mentally straining than whatever the public was getting them to do.
"How about… you tell me where we're headed, and I tell you where I've been."
That seemed fair. The only problem was they still hadn't found an excuse elaborate enough to hide their days of mind-numbing boredom and emptiness.
Villain came to a red light and faced them, "Okay. I'm… don't get scared, but I'm taking you to see my boss."
They licked their teeth and glanced at the red light. The windshield wiped away at the small speckles of rain, blurring the window further. "Yes."
Villain's fingers tapped rhythmically on the wheel. "I don't know what else to tell you." The light turned green, and they continued driving.
"Do you think I'm some kind of idiot? Tell me where the hell you're taking me."
"I'm telling you the truth." Their eyes never left the street.
"Like a criminal would do that." They mumbled. The other gave them a look that shut them up. Hero leaned to the window and looked outside, their sleepiness returning.
They didn't like being trapped inside this car. They hated how the road looked so depressing and lonely.
Exactly what they needed. Getting kidnapped and possibly killed for some stupid villainous act. Hero's leg anxiously jumped up and down, waiting for this mysterious location.
The moment their eyes opened again, they caught sight of a dim blue sky. It was still raining.
Curry. It still smelled of curry; Hero felt homesick already. They didn't feel like going home, though, as there was nothing for them there, but it still gave them the anxiety to be out this long.
The jacket over their body slid off.
They didn't remember this. It didn't belong to them. Was this Villain's? Hero lifted it off their body and started at the soft knitted edges and long sleeves. They didn't expect them to be considerate. They had thought they would only use them for intel later on when they got to meet their boss, but being cared for?
It made them blush. They pressed the jacket up to their nose and took a whiff of it shamelessly.
Kidnapping wasn't supposed to be this much fun, but it was. Hero smiled warmly, their heart singing with excitement. Had they always been this nice? Was this something Villain did for everyone?
They slowly set down the jacket onto their lap. Yeah, it might've just been a moment of consideration; it was best not to look into it too deeply. Not a lot of people would consider Hero popular or a favourite among the crowd of other heroes. It was probably a thoughtless action that wasn't meant to feed into their fantasy.
The seat next to them was empty; Villain was now where to be found. Although the car sat running and kept them warm. The light rain from earlier still drizzled against the windows. Hero caught the sound of an argument.
Their eyes squinted as they looked around. Eventually, they saw Villain and a group of others through the rearview mirror. They stood in front of the well-lit gas station. Hero could hardly tell what they were saying through the rain, but only about a minute later did Villain turn around.
Should they fake sleep? Were they supposed to be up?
In their panic, Hero froze. Villain opened the car door and clamoured in. "Oh? Good morning." They whispered.
Hero thumbed the jacket. Their eyes were sorrowful for treating Villain negatively all the time when all they received were pardons. Hopefully, they would see the end of their bad behaviour; karma would hurt.
Perhaps this was just a decisive plan to guilt-trip them into following Villain obediently.
"You can hold to my jacket, for now I won't need it."
Villain pulled out of the lot and back onto the road again.
It would be another long silence until they pulled up to a large building with a sign next to a line of other stores. Hero, confusingly, stared out at the place. It didn't look anything like a villain's lair.
"I don't think you answered my question," Villain turned the engine off.
Hero held their ground and remained silent. Villain clicked their tongue when they realized Hero wouldn't give in yet. "I heard you quit."
It shouldn't have hurt when they heard that, but it did.
Hero loved their job. They never meant to leave the way they did, but it hurt to hear that speculation of them quitting had reached Villain.
Hero held onto tears. The last place they wanted to cry was in Villain's car out in God knows where.
"You know, I was hoping you would just talk with me. I didn't mean to kidnap you but uhh… I really didn't have any options."
The rain sounded outside a bright ray of light flickered across the sky. "I knew you lied to me." Their voice came out much more wavering than they wanted to. Hero still refused to make eye contact with their nemesis. They rubbed the palm of their hand against the tears streaking down their cheeks.
They took a moment to catch their breath though it was clear Hero was crying now. Their breathing was sharp as they tried to relax their nerves and take control futilely.
"You know it's pretty damn hard working 8-9 hours of shifts."
Villain let them speak and listened attentively.
"I waited all my damn life to- to- to what?" They whipped their head around to Villain, their face red and wrists flicking the air. "To what, Villain? I don't even know what I want!" They sniffled and leaned back into the seat. "And here I am, getting my life screwed over for little reward."
Hero lifted their sleeves to wipe at their face roughly.
Villain awkwardly waited; they never encountered someone crying before. Usually, someone else did the comforting. They weren't used to that, but it was worth trying.
They reached out and placed a hand on their shaking shoulder with some reserve. "Uhm… I don't know how to do this stuff, but I didn't mean to lie when I said I was taking you to my boss. I just wanted you to tell me what was going on. It's unusual for you to disappear for this long."
Hero looked up at them, their eyes still watery and adjusting to the dark setting. They could barely make out Villain's face, but their words were clear.
"I had thought… nobody would realize if I had just… stepped out of the picture." They licked their lips. "It seemed like no one wanted to care anymore." Hero choked on their sob, a pain held tight onto their throat.
"Hey, hey, hey. Look at me, Hero." They moved their hair to the side. "I'm here, Hero. I care about you. You don't think I wouldn't have come if I didn't?"
"I don't know why I always feel… isolated."
Hero smiled at them, ease blanketing over them at last. They weren't sure for how long they would stay this way until Villain asked, and to be fair, that's all they wanted to hear, even if it was just one person asking. That was enough, maybe even too generous of them, but that was just the afterthoughts talking.
