Hero Caretaker - Blog Posts

Desperation

Tw: chronic pain (Medical inaccuracies, as I do not know a lot about chronic pain)

Villain's scars always ache, especially on his back. 

The scars there littered his skin like raindrops, a reminder of his past. Of the pain.

On good days, they would feel like fingertips ghosting the skin.

On bad days, he would be bedridden for hours as the pounding pain left him gasping for air that never seemed to be there in the first place.

Nothing ever made it better. No matter how many treatments he's tried, everything he's pushed out of desperation, the pain always came back. 

Maybe he ended up on Hero's doorstep out of that same desperation. 

Him. At his nemesis's door.

Hero was going to laugh in his face.

But desperation was one of the most dangerous things of all. 

And Villain was desperate.

He hears the muted cursing of the second knock, footsteps, a pause, and then the familiar click of a gun—muted by the door but most definitely there. 

Desperation really is a dangerous thing.

But to Villain's suprise Hero doesn't automatically open the door and put a bullet into his skull, but instead opens the door, one hand holding open the door and the other leaning the gun against the doorframe, out of sight, but ready to fire at moments notice.

But Hero doesn't look alarmed, panicked, or ready to fight. Instead, he studies Villain, slumped over and leaning against the front porch railing. "How did you get this address." 

Villain held up his hands in surrender. "I-I-"He could barely see through the pain. Hero seemed to pick up on that pretty quickly.

Villain hopes and prays to any God out there that Hero sees that he is desperate and in pain. And he prays that Hero will either help or shoot him. 

Both would take away the pain. 

But Hero, the walking saint, is much more merciful than Villain ever will be. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the gun go into the holster. "Where does it hurt?" 

Villain can barely speak now. "Back."

Hero's hands brush against him, and he can see the frown. "You're not bleeding."

"Chronic." 

"Oh."

Villain blinks, and the next thing he knows, he's lying on a couch in a dimly lit living room while Hero rustles around the kitchen (or, more likely, the medical cabinet).

The pain is pounding now, sending wave after wave of hurting through every part of him. 

Hero comes out of the kitchen holding a foul-smelling rag. "Flip over." There's no malice or anger in his nemesis's voice, but Villain still flinches back. "I can't help you if you don't do what I say. I'm not going to hurt you."

Hero helps him, guiding his shoulders until he's lying on his stomach. There's a sudden pause. "I do need to take off your shirt."

Villain nods absent-mindedly, the pain fogging over every other part of his brain. It goes dark, and then the breeze of the air conditioning sends shivers down his spine. 

Hero wipes the warm rag all over his back, something Villain doesn't realize until-

It stops. 

All the pain. Just gone.

Villain's convinced he's dead. Dead or about to. But no. His heart is still beating, and his mind is still racing.

He's able to feel everything else now. Not the pain, but the wetness on his cheeks, the blanket covering the lower half of his body, Hero using his fire powers to keep the rag at a warm temperature as it goes up and down his back. 

Villain looks up. "How-"

Hero shrugs. "I have chronic pain, too." He said simply. "Took me forever but I managed to find the right amount of herbs to help with the pain. It's a side effect of my powers; my arms cramp up badly. Not many work cause there's literally next to no research on the downsides of powers. Took my years just to understand my own." His voice drops to a whisper. "It never goes away; I just find ways to treat what I can."

Villain pauses, and Hero continues. "You're touch starved, aren't you. You've been leaning into every touch."

There's no reply. Villain can't find it in him. "That's okay," The rag is placed on the center of his back. "You're gonna crash soon, but you already know that don't you. There's always a big crash after every episode."

Yea, he's right. The next morning, Villain wakes up to a bowl of cereal and a bottle of the Hero's herbal serum he uses. 

But he still comes back. 

Later, when he sees Hero having a similar episode in a dark alleyway, he pays it back. 

Somehow, somewhere in the mix, they become close, sharing stories and things that help. Somewhere in the mix, Hero goes from a nemesis to a friend and, a year later, a lover.

It got a lot better after that. 

Villain's scars ached, but Hero always seemed to make it better. 

As always constructive criticism is always welcome. Requests are open! Have a great day/night :)