Villain had of course half expected a bunch of police officers to show up at any second or for Hero to brandish a weapon from somewhere and attack them, only to be greeted with a smile and the friendly wave of a hand instead.

Just like that time, when Hero had offered to team up with them to defeat a third party who’d threatened both the city and Villain’s operation. Back then, they’d jumped at the chance to work together, hoping they might thereby find a clue to Hero’s private life or their weaknesses.

In hindsight, that might have been a miscalculation since it evidently cut both ways. That Hero had eventually figured out their identity came as no big surprise to Villain, considering that they’d always thought their foe resourceful and alarmingly clever, ingenious even.

They’d suspected Hero must have known for a while already, and had thus been wondering about the lack of any attempt to blackmail or arrest Villain. And yet, nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened.

Well, apart from occasionally receiving one of those odd little parcels they definitely hadn’t ordered. But Hero did have a peculiar sense of humour.

They also had a sweet tooth. And a strong liking for cinnamon-flavoured chewing gum. Lime green was their all-time favourite colour. They preferred lizards over cats or dogs, which was kind of adorable. Oh, and they mostly listened to songs from the 80s and 90s.

That amounted to all Villain had found out about them. During the long hours they’d spent scheming side-by-side, Hero had never let anything useful slip. And as their truce had come to an end, Villain had been none the wiser.

It was all the more startling to randomly see Hero reveal their face to them now, throwing that priceless advantage they’d had over Villain away so imprudently without ever having used it against them.

Utterly dumbfounded, Villain had blurted the first thing that had popped into their mind. Which happened to be “I can’t believe I finally get to see your face!” of all things, much to Hero’s obvious merriment.

The colourful array of Christmas decorations further enhanced the absurdity of the encounter. Gleaming down on them from all the windows and balconies, their light reflected as glittering rainbows on the surface of the freshly fallen snow.

Never would Villain have dreamt that they’d ever meet up with Hero like this. The two of them peacefully standing only a few metres apart, right outside of Villain’s house, attempting to conduct a civil conversation.

Just as Villain had decided that nothing would manage to surprise them anymore today, Hero had presented them with that most mind-boggling proposition. That insane, ludicrous idea of theirs.

Despite themself, Villain snorted. What was supposed to be a sneer, laden with a pinch of contempt or scorn or something along those lines, had somehow morphed into a look of genuine amusement. They couldn’t help a breathy laugh or the awkward grin spreading on their face.

“Huh? Sorry, I totally must have misheard that.” Villain lifted a gloved hand to their lips to hide that stupid smirk lingering there and glanced sheepishly up at Hero. “Almost sounded like you’d asked me out just now.”

“No, I didn’t!” Hero protested. “Not really.” They mumbled and scooped up some snow, formed a snowball and threw it at Villain who didn’t even try to dodge as it hit their shoulder.

They languidly brushed the remains off their duffle coat and quirked an eyebrow. “So, you didn’t just ask me to be your ‘holiday date’ then?” They purred and could have sworn that a faint tinge of red stole onto Hero’s cheeks.

“No,” The other repeated. “I asked you to pretend to date me. Not to go out with me for real!”

Chuckling, Villain ignored a glare directed their way or the fact that Hero was forming a new snowball, and went on teasing. “Same difference. Though you must have the wrong holiday, Hero. It’s not April Fools’ Day!” They jested.

“Just so you know,” Hero said, making their voice sound deliberately patient. “With the exception of Odessa, April Fools’ Day isn’t even a real holiday.”

In reply, Villain raised their eyebrows and tilted their head sideways. “Wow, if that isn’t fascinating.” They said sarcastically.

With a deep sigh, Hero placed their snowball on the porch landing and swiftly stooped to pick up more snow.  “Villain, seriously, you should at least consider it.” They raised one shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I’m just saying. Wouldn’t it be a good solution for everyone?”

“How on earth-” Villain scoffed and raked a hand through their hair, turning it into an unkempt mess. “What in the world would make you think that the two of us spending the holidays together with your family could somehow be ‘a good solution for everyone’?”

The remark was met with another shrug. “Well, you don’t have any family. Or friends, apparently. Wouldn’t it be nice to not spend the holidays alone?”

“Excuse me?” Villain snarled, puffing out their chest. “I do have friends!”

When Hero arched their brows unimpressed, Villain relented. “I do. They just want to spend some time with their families during the holiday season. But I can meet up with them again after New Year.”

“Right.” Hero said. “Anyway, I’ll have to both show my face at home and keep an eye on you. If you accompany me, I can do all that by myself.” They grimaced. “Otherwise I’d have to ask Vigilante to check up on you again, which I’d rather avoid, as owing them a favour is the absolute worst!”

Now, that was indeed something they could agree on! Villain shuddered thinking about their own experiences with being in Vigilante’s debt. Uh, a true nightmare! They shook their head to chase the memory away. Vigilante wasn’t the main issue here!

Villain hummed pensively to themself, pacing up and down the driveway. A most interesting thought crossed their mind. When they turned back toward Hero, they did so with a smug smile playing on their lips. “You’d really rather owe me a favour than Vigilante? Interesting! What exactly do you expect me to do for you?”

Hero’s teeth caught at their bottom lip. They gave a nervous laugh. “Honestly? Nothing much. I just need someone to show up at my parents’ place, so they’ll finally stop pestering me about meeting the partner I might have mentioned a few times before...”

Villain’s smile faltered. Suspicious, they narrowed their eyes at the other. “I don’t get you, Hero.” A deep frown creased their forehead. “Couldn’t you have asked someone else? I mean, it hardly sounds like a complicated problem and you can’t possibly be so desperate that you’d willingly show me your face.”

Slowly, Hero closed the distance between them. They sighed. “You see, not a single person knows both my hero and my civilian identity. I don’t know, guess I felt lonely?” Their voice cracked and they had to take a deep breath and clear their throat before they could proceed. “And out of all the people who I consider to be close to my hero persona, you might in all honesty be the one I trust most. Foolish, eh?”

A ghost of a smile flickered over Hero’s face, though there was a profound sadness in the lines around their eyes. The odd mix of regret and fondness on their features touched something deep inside of Villain.

All this time, they had admired Hero, although begrudgingly, for being so elusive and unparalleled and invincible! Now they had this strange sinking feeling in their stomach at the realisation that, despite the heroics, all the accomplishments, the uninterrupted winning streak, Hero was still human. Beyond anyone’s reach, and all the more lonesome because of it.

A weird silence settled around them, like the falling snow. Villain studied Hero who’d averted their gaze and affected to look busy, blowing warm air onto their chilled fingers, rubbing their hands with a concentration clearly not required for that simple a task.

The wintry night with its freezing temperatures made their breath curl from their lips in veils of mist.

Wearing civilian clothes, Hero felt like an entirely different person to Villain, unfamiliar and alien. Perhaps that was to be expected, they mused. An outsider would probably think the same thing in regard to Villain’s own private and public personae. However, hitherto it had never occurred to Villain to view them independently of one another. As two different entities, each with their own separate life.

Perhaps both Hero and Villain were someone else in the absence of masks and weapons.

Villain stared at the tiny snowman Hero had built out of different-sized snowballs. A shuddering breath came over their lips. Hero was right; it would be nice to not spend the holidays alone.

They swallowed against the lump that had suddenly appeared in their throat. “Would you maybe like to come in?” Villain offered, making a vague gesture toward the door. “We could drink a cup of tea and discuss that favour you asked?”

Hero smiled. “I might need something a bit stronger than tea.”