- Do You Play Any Instruments? If So, What Do You Play?

🌊 - Do you play any instruments? If so, what do you play?

I don’t play any instrument. I used to be able to play parts and pieces on the piano, but it never went very far.

Asking Courtship

It was almost pretty, the view that was—not Villain. Villain obstructed the view with his massive ego, and you know, the whole dangling Civilian over the city. Well, dangling wasn’t the right term either. Villain carefully held her in his arms as they flew over the city, bathed in an orange glow from the sunset.

“Let me down, please—slowly,” Civilian said.

A half-smile graced Villain’s face when they looked down at Civilian. “Don’t worry,” they said, “We’re almost there.”

She groaned and hoped that whatever scheme Villain cooked up this time, would wrap up quickly. She had to get home soon and finish getting the apartment clean. Still, she considered Villain far better company than her parents, so perhaps this would be a good excuse. Being kidnapped by a villain was the best of excuses, right?

Even without the excuses, Civilian couldn’t deny that she always found flying with Villain an interesting experience at the least. Well, interesting and slightly apprehensive were close enough to each other that it didn’t matter what description she used.

While the wind was nice and they never flew too fast, enough hero-centric horror stories had been told that she developed an entirely healthy fear of being sucked into a plane turbine or something equally gory. It didn’t help matters that Villain wore a cape, but, somehow, there had never been mention of a single cape incident in any of the records.

Not that Civilian had looked them up. Never. She maintained her rationality. And no, her fear was not paranoia. See, she was flying without panicking or any flight risk movements. She was perfectly fine up here. Besides Civilian could tell that the view was pretty. See? No paranoia here. Nope. Not at all.

Civilian clung to the view, hoping to erase the height from her mind. Pretty. It was pretty. If she focused on the scenery or her evening plans, she could forget about being in the air where planes could easily hit them before they ever saw a hint of Villain.

Relief flooded her as he finally set them on the rooftop—slowly and gently like Civilian had asked. Not that she chose to dwell on that. She merely took it in observation.

“You okay?” Villain asked, rubbing their side. “You were hanging on a bit tight. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have a new bruise tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you’ll handle it,” Civilian said, taking in his smile and joking tone. She shouldn’t be in the mood for this. She twisted her face up into a scowl proving just how much she disapproved of him deciding to kidnap her today of all days.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Villain said. “Are you okay?”

Civilian heaved a sigh, “I’ll be fine. I just need to get my bearings.”

“You’re always so calm. Are you sure everything is okay?”

She rested her hands to open her lungs more. “Yeah. So, what’s the plan for today?” She ran her hands down through her hair and pulling it tight against her neck. “You don’t often fly around that long. What? Is Hero standing you up?”

“I thought you’d like the view.” He shuffled and gestured towards the sunset. “And you looked like you were having a bad day.”

“And Hero?” She asked, trying to determine how she fit into the picture today.

Villain shrugged. “I don’t need her to do this. It’s not like I exist for her. I have my own life, you know.”

Civilian laughed at the thought of him dressed in white collar clothing and working in some cubical. “And so many friends to prove it.”

“Well, I have you, don’t I?”

“Sure thing, Fabio.”

“Fabio?”

“I don’t know, it’s something my Pops would say.”

Villain turned towards her. Huh, she hadn’t noticed how soft his face was tonight, but his smile shown just as bright as usual. “You know,” he said, “Every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you surprise me.”

“Oh?”

“I mean, ‘Fabio?’ ‘Pops?’ Who says those things anymore?” He started laughing for some reason. “Anyway. You sure you’re okay?”

Civilian shrugged, “I mean, I did just get kidnapped.”

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“I’ve got company coming tonight.”

His face froze. “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

She waved her hand off. “It’ll be okay. The view is pretty.”

“Pretty’s what you say when you aren’t serious.”

She waved him off and sat down on the ledge, taking in the sunset in all its glory. “It is beautiful. It’s amazing how much color there is in the clouds. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?” He sat down beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched.

“My parents are coming to visit.” She stretched her arms, trying to subdue the tension that had built up in her.

“Didn’t you say you had a good relationship with them?”

“Yeah, but they’re so nitpicky… They’ll clean the house for me and talk about the best way to cook and clean and everything.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I mean, I’m an adult now. You’d think that they’d let me do things my way.”

“It sounds like they’re just trying to help.”

“They are,” she gestured towards the city below. “That just makes everything harder. I can’t get upset with them about it because they’re so nice about it.”

“I’m glad you have someone looking out for you.” He nudged her with his shoulder. “I was getting pretty worried about how easy it is to pick you up off the streets.”

“Well, sorry that I’m don’t have defenses against supervillains.”

He acted all bashful at the term though he was clearly trying to play it off in that melodramatic persona he put on for Hero. “Please I don’t deserve the honor.” For a long moment, they sat there in silence admiring the scenery before Villain spoke again. “I lied. I wanted to talk with you tonight.” He brought his legs up to the roof and sat, crisscross applesauce, facing her. “You’re a good friend. Probably the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Civilian adjusted herself to look at him.

“I’m serious! I mean, I know we didn’t get off to the right foot and everything, but you’ve become really important to me, and I don’t want to lose you, even as a friend.”

Oh, Civilian knew where this was going. She couldn’t keep her heart steady.

“And I know that I’m a villain and everything but, I’d like your permission to pursue you? Like, romantically?”

She knew her face flushed at the question. “I would like that on one condition.”

Villain’s posture snapped up, almost as though he were at attention. “What?”

“I get to pursue you too.”

Villain’s eyebrows scrunched up, “You can’t do that if I’m trying to pursue you though. That doesn’t make sense. It’ll be like running at each other.”

He was going to make her spell it out for him, wasn’t he? “I think I like you too. I’m not sure if it’s like-like or just like though.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine then. We can try to pursue each other and see where it takes us.”

A small smile came to Civilian’s face, now feeling more comfortable. “Thank you.”

“I should probably take you home then. Need help cleaning?” He’d brushed off his pants as he stood up and offered his hand.

“How good are you at dishes?” She took his hand.

“I’d make a 5-star dishwasher.” He pulled her into his arms and took to the air once more.

“Great.”

🌎

🌍 - Whats something that you like about yourself?

Well, I think I like my photo/video taking skills the most!

I mean, wouldn’t y’all be proud of this?

*squints at the last 6+ items that have shown up in my inbox*

Writing Prompt #9

Tw: future murder

“Where’s the holster? Supervillain is about to blow, we gotta get out of here!”

“That thing has a holster?! Why would you need- nevermind, just give me that thing. I’m taking them out before this gets any worse.”

The Tragedy of Sleeping Beauty

Tw: themes of manipulation, implied coma, poison, angst

“Mentor says I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Your mentor has been saying that to you for months, we’ve been friends for months, wouldn’t I have done something to you by now?”

Villain was right. At this point they could do anything they wanted to them. They knew almost all of their secrets, been with them through so many tough moments, and Hero couldn’t explain it but they felt so drawn towards the villain.

“Does Mentor even know you're out?”

“No, and it seems they haven’t noticed yet.” Something flashed in Villain’s eyes after their answer, but it was too brief for Hero to tell what it was. 

“Well uh..” The villain wrung their hands, “would you, I don’t know, like to come to my place for a bit? There is nothing happening today- we patrolled for a while, would you like to just watch a movie or something instead?” 

They seemed so genuinely nervous, it was almost cute in a way. Despite that, they didn’t like seeing the Villain so nervous about a simple question.

“Of course, no need to work yourself up about it,” they put on a beaming smile, they loved movies.

The villain smiled softly, so happy the Hero trusts them enough to enter their home. “Um, you know this already, but I can teleport us there if you would like? It’s kinda a long way- I wouldn’t want you to have to walk so much and-“

“Shh shh, Villain, it’s alright,” they gave them a look of reassurance and took Villain’s arm in theirs, “let’s go, okay?”

Villain’s response was a simple nod then an immediate teleport to which Hero was not prepared, feeling dizzy, their vision spun in circles until they finally landed in their living room.

Villain noticed the dizzy Hero and was quick to bring them some water, handing it to them they dumped a spew of apologies, “Oh I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking! I totally forgot people don’t teleport all the time-“

Hero was sitting on the ground when they returned. They shakily stood up accepting the water, “please don’t apologize- I promise it’s okay. I’m sure you were excited.”

Villain pressed their lips into a thin line but nodded. They were quick to change the topic in the direction of movies. They gestured to the television at the far side of the room. “Earlier- I uh, was watching the original Sleeping Beauty- I like Disney classics, but I didn’t finish the very end, would you like to finish it, or um should I turn on something else?”

“No no! We can finish it. That’s perfect actually, I love this movie, it’s practically my childhood.”

Villain beamed brightly and moved to sit on the couch. Their couch was very worn in with quite a few fuzzy blankets covering it. The couch was very inviting, it seemed so cozy. They quickly sat next to Villain and cuddled up with one of the many blankets, causing Villain to laugh. Their dizziness a few moments ago was quickly forgotten. The scene in which Prince Philip arrives at Aurora’s castle covered in thorns plays quietly in the background.

“If I would have known you liked fuzzy blankets so much I would have been able to bring you here a while ago.”

“What do you mean?”

They glanced left and right around the room almost as if a child were playing a game of pretend or if they were in a cheap movie, “I brought you here to watch a movie, but.. to also tell you a secret.” They shifted their gaze away from the Hero, the tips of their ears becoming red.

“Oh yeah? I promise I’m good at keeping secrets!”

They leaned towards Hero’s ear as if they were to tell them a secret, but all they felt was a poke in their arm and a foreign liquid entering their system. “You are so fucking gullible Hero.”

The nervous appearance they were so keen at keeping plastered on their face was replaced by a cold malicious grin. They stood over Hero’s suddenly weak figure. Hero distantly thought they had to be so disgustingly proud.

Villain started to laugh, but instead of the faux warmth from a few minutes earlier, it was only scornful. “You should have listened to your Mentor dear Hero~ I guess the allure of the spinning wheel was too great, now look where it landed you. Couldn’t have gone more in my favor, this whole ordeal.”

Hero wanted to retort, they wanted to move, they wanted to do something to cause a grievance to the villain, but they could hardly string thoughts together in a sentence. Their vision was starting to blur, their body was so heavy and numb. Hero tried to gasp but there seemed to be a lack of air to gasp for. 

“Welcome to your century long slumber Hero.”

They felt nothing, they couldn’t feel anything any more. It was all a void, it was all dark and heavy. They thought they heard yelling or talking but it was as if there was a cotton ball in their ear, the noise was foggy.

Surrender was now the most alluring thought on their mind. The pull of sleep was growing stronger every second until they could no longer take it.

They fell unconscious to the scene of Prince Philip kissing Briar Rose, waking her from her slumber.