#puddleslimewrites

Oh god, they were struggling. Hero squeezed their eyes shut and tried to focus. This was the last civillian they needed to save and they were almost fully healed. Come on, come on. What did Hero love? Hero loved...Hero loved-

Hero loved the sky. And how the colors changed with the weather and how the moon and stars shone across it. Hero felt their heart fill with adoration for the image in their mind, and then relief. The bleeding finally stopped. Their job was done.

But where had that sudden burst of emotion come from? Hero looked around and saw nothing new. The paramedics were already gone, having left this civillian in Hero's care. They looked up. The night sky was completely clouded over, not a single star in sight. Had they really loved the sky that much?

Unbeknownst to them, Villain stood on a roof nearby watching Hero struggle to fill themself with enough love to heal at their full capacity. They'd figured out Hero's power not all that long ago. Hero undoubtedly healed faster when they fought in view of the public, though they rarely healed themself unless absolutely necessary. Villain suspected it was to conserve energy for emergencies like these.

Villain contemplated. What would happen if Hero fell out of favor with the public? They could use that against them. Hero certainly didn't love themself enough to provide all the energy they needed for this job. It wouldn't be hard to ruin their career in such a way...

Hero didn't shrink under Superhero's gaze. They stared back, expression firm. "I know I messed up. But I did what I could to fix it and no one got killed."

"There are three civilians in critical condition in the hospital. You don't know no one got killed yet."

"What else do expect me to do? I did my best to make it right."

"I expect better from a hero of the agency!" Superhero tried not to raise their voice. They and Hero were standing in one of the agency hallways, this argument was far too public.

"Hey."

Hero startled, nearly jumping off their perch at the edge of a rooftop they'd stopped to rest on.

Villain rolled their eyes in amusement and thrust a small box towards their nemesis. "Here."

Hero eyed it warily. Villain shook it. "What? Never seen a gift before?" they teased.

Hero looked up at Villain. "No…but why would you give me one now?"

"It's the holiday season. That's when you get gifts for people you care about." Villain gestured broadly towards the street below. "Do you not see all the annoyingly colorful lights and cheerful music that's been going on for weeks?"

Hero shook their head slowly. "No. No, it's only…" They stopped, realizing they actually weren't sure what day it was.

Villain sat down beside them, feet dangling through the bars of the rooftop railing. "You've been busy, Hero. I've hardly seen you lately."

"I saw you yesterday."

"You mean three days ago."

"Same thing." It really was at this point.

Something was roughly shoved into their hands. Through bleary eyes, Hero could barely make out the shiny bow on top.

The sound of heavy boots retreating drew their attention back to their companion. "I don't care for festivities, but there's no fun in terrorizing the city at this time of year. Get some rest, Hero."

Hero stared down at the city lights below. They could actually see the lights now, shops decorated with wreaths and tinsil. If they strained their ears a little, they could make out the faint sounds of familiar songs.

"You've got to be kidding me." Villain didn't have the energy to muster any emotion as they expressed their disbelief. At least the hero seemed just as distraught.

"This can't be happening."

Villain looked up from the red string tied around their pinky and rolled their eyes at the look of panic on Hero's face. "I'm not happy about this either, but there's no need to look like that." It would make things inconvenient, that's all. Soulmates or not, Villain had work to do.

"This can't be happening," Hero said again. Villain would have made another retort but paused when they noticed the other's breathing pick up.

"Hey," they said sharply. They were never good at calming people down but they got the hero's attention. "This doesn't change anything. Got it?"

Hero stared at them with wide eyes. Then, after too long a moment, nodded slowly. "R...Right." They just had to...ignore that their soulmate was a villain if they wanted to keep their job. That would work. That would be easy.

...Except for the fact that their string would be visible to everyone now. And if the villain was ever close it would pull them towards one another. Great. Fantastic even.

Hero knew what happened to thsoe who had villainous soulmates - they were either 'relieved' of their dutues for 'associating' with a public enemy or they left of their own accord. If any of their coworkers found out, they'd be screwed.

"Hey, Hero! What's the hold...up?"

Both the hero and the villain whipped around quickly as Hero's sidekick finally came to join them. Sidekick looked at the string, looked at Hero, then Villain, then back to Hero.

"Did you just throw a plane at me?!" Hero screeched.

(GOD SENDING ASKS IS TERRIFYING)

Hi anon! Sorry for the long wait, but here you go c:

~

Part 1

"What are you doing here?" "Why are you here?"

The two looked at each other, now caught in a stand still.

Hero pointed at Anti-Hero. "You. You're not supposed to be here."

Ignoring the accusatory pose, Anti-Hero repeated their question back at them, "What are you doing here?"

Hero dropped their arm. "There was an unusual disturbance so I was called to check it out. Was it you and Villain?"

"No, Villain's not here. This is my sector to patrol today, is it not?"

"So what's the-?"

An explosion behind Hero interrupted their conversation. Anti-Hero tackled their partner to shield them from the falling rubble. When the shaking stopped, they got up quickly. "We need to get out of here."

"But-" Hero coughed, fanning at the dust cloud that took its time settling around them. "But there's people I need to save."

Anti-Hero grabbed Hero's arm and hauled them to their feet. "They can save themselves."

"Anti-"

"No one's getting saved if you die here," they cut in. As reluctant as Hero was to go with them, they didn't stop the other from dragging them along to find an exit. Thankfully they were only on the second floor and soon found an opening in a large gap in the wall.

"Wait." Hero stopped Anti-Hero from going through it as soon as they caught a glimpse of the crowd outside. They took the lead and leaned over the edge of the gaping hole.

"Hero!"

Below them, Sidekick called out as soon as they saw Hero poke their head out. Hero swore and backed away, pushing Anti-Hero behind them.

"What? What is it?" Anti-Hero hissed.

"It's my team."

Their partner made a face in confusion. "Ok? They know me, I'm not a threat to them-"

"They have Villain."

"Shit."

"Yeah…"

The two sat in the rubble, weighing their options.

Eventually Anti-Hero sighed and clapped their hands together. "Alright. Time to be the bad guy."

Hero frowned at them.

"Don't look at me like that." Anti-Hero tugged Hero close enough to place a kiss on their forehead. "You distract them and I'll take care of our dear Villain. Then when we get home Villain can tell us why they're on the other side of the city from where they said they'd be scheming today."

Hero frowned. They signed with their hands as they spoke. "They don't have this on record."

Villain shrugged and signed back, "I doubt they think this is something 'important'."

"Of course it's important! There's such a huge difference between everyone thinking you're an asshole or just quiet and shy when you literally can't verbalize things." Hero abandoned their signs, hands waving in the air as they expressed their frustration.

"...I can speak."

Hero was startled. They turned to face Villain again. Their voice was so low they barely caught the words.

"I can't hear myself too well, but I can speak."

Hero blinked. "Oh. Oh. Hard of hearing, not mute?"

Villain nodded.

Part 1

Villain sat down across from Hero. As per usual, they picked up a random sheet among the scattered papers on Hero's desk and began looking it over. "This is...new."

They knew they'd been gone for a few weeks but these formulas were entirely different.

"New professor," Hero sighed. "New semester. New everything." They looked more tired than usual. Villain almost pitied them. With a silent hum, Villain set to work with them again.

About half an hour in, they leaned back with a groan.

Hero shot them a glare. "No. You don't get to complain. You don't have to do this, but you're doing it anyway," Hero growled.

Villain sat up, hands help up and open in a show of peace. "Alright, cranky aren't we?" But Hero was already looking at their homework problems and muttering to themself again.

"The electric field- no, the electric flux...ugh." Hero's forehead hit the desk with a low thunk.

Villain leaned back in their chair, looking smug. "Sounds like break time."

Hero reluctantly picked their head back up. "Can't. The quiz is tomorrow. I have to at least get through some of this."

Villain hummed, frowning. They rocked in their chair, balancing on the back legs. "Want me to kill them?"

Hero's eyes shot up quickly. "What? No!"

"Just give me the name." Villains started looking through Hero's notebook. "Ah, Professor Erwi-"

The book was snatched out of their hands. No matter. They had what they needed, anyway. Their chair slammed down, a loud thump on the library carpet.

"Villain. Sit. Down."

Villain actually paused - not because of the command but because of Hero's tone.

They smirked, truly amused. "My, my. I didn't know you could sound so vicious," they crooned. They took a seat in the chair next to Hero instead of returning to the one across from them.

Hero glared at them with bloodshot eyes, then sighed, shoulders sagging with exhaustion.

Another hour passed in relative silence. Hero squinted at the back of the worksheet they were on. "Current? When...when did we get to current?" They'd been so focused they didn't even realize the topic changed.

Villain held the notebook up with both hands and tilted their head sideways as if to make better sense of the scribbled notes. Maybe they should help their nemisis with penmanship instead of math. Giving up, they set the notebook aside and snatched the sheet Hero was currently working on. "Resistance is measured in oums, not amps," they corrected. "Otherwise, this looks good."