Chapter Text
Morgan sighed as he pushed away from the table he’d been hunched over for the last… few? hours. His whole back popped and crunched as he stretched and he winced a little when his muscles spasmed. Okay it was probably many hours… He glanced at his phone and grimaced. It was well after midnight now. That usually wasn’t a problem but he was supposed to have been home by 10 so he could hang out with Peony tomorrow.
She had really been excited about celebrating his 23rd birthday with him, especially since he’d been MIA for the last 8 months. So he told her they’d get lunch, which meant he couldn’t sleep until noon. “...fuck.” Morgan grunted as he stood up and jammed his phone into his pocket. He switched off the lights above his workbench and he snatched up his keys before double-checking his makeshift workshop. He was going to be so fucking happy when that new property purchase was finalized so he could have an actual workshop with real walls and not plastic sheeting in his soon to be new hideout. The crew had been so happy about the bigger space and the actual kitchen and bunk areas.
But nothing else in the shop was on or running so he switched off the overhead lighting and headed for the makeshift door. The rest of the tweaks to his hologram projector prototype would just have to wait until tomorrow. He pushed through the plastic flap and-
His whole world smeared into streaks of swirling nauseating colors. “ Gah! ” He gasped and staggered, nearly stumbling as the frigid Feberuary wind slapped at his clothes. The gravel underneath his feet crunched as he stumbled, before a hand was steadying him.
As the dizziness settled he glanced up and blinked. He was on a rooftop- not a skyscraper, no they weren’t very high up. The city was bright despite being the middle of the night and Morgan could hear foot traffic nearby which meant they were downtown somewhere. And Alex was standing next to him, holding onto his arm.
“You good?”
“ Don’t do that!” Morgan gasped, hand over his heart.
“Oh come on! I waited until you were done working that time.” Alex complained.
Morgan grimaced but… “Okay fair. Thank you for waiting until I wasn’t working. Still don’t do that without warning. A text- just a text saying ‘hey Morgan I’m gonna rearrange your atoms in a sec’ would be seriously appreciated.”
Alex snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’m not rearranging your atoms, that’s not even how teleportation works. It’s the simultaneous disintegration of matter at one location and its reintegration in another.”
“I… That wasn't even my point.” Morgan sighed and rubbed at his face. “But since I am here why are we on a roof in downtown?”
Alex hesitated for a second. He was… new at this, sort of. He'd had friends before, obviously . But not as an adult or as a villain… And it might have been a while since he's done stuff- planned stuff for friend things. Before Morgan had left for Brazil they'd been… hanging out a lot. And not even for criminal reasons just to… have fun. And then he'd left for months . Over half a year, with only a handful of postcards and a couple of short phone calls from burner phones. And Alex had been… more disappointed than he’d expected.
And he liked hanging out with Morgan. He liked going on burglaries or terrorizing the Conundrum Corporation. But he also liked going to get lunch together or watching movies or playing video games or whatever. The normal people shit. He liked it. And he liked doing that with Morgan. So while his friend had been gone, Alex had… tried to figure what they could do together when he got back.
But now Morgan was back- had been back for a handful of weeks now, but Alex still hadn't- hadn’t done something for Morgan. Hadn't planned something for them to do instead of the other way around. And he didn’t want to fuck it up.
“Well… I planned something for your birthday, kind of.”
Morgan stopped trying to look around to figure out where in the city he was, to look back at Alex. He looked… nervous. Uncharacteristically so. “You… what?”
Alex rubbed at the back of his neck and looked away. “I… Figured you didn’t like- like your birthday very much after last year so I thought maybe we could do something fun to celebrate this year. But it’s not like birthday related or anything…” And he gestured to the tub at their feet. "It'd just be a fun thing we could do- together."
Now noticing it for the first time Morgan crouched down to get a better look at the… weird water balloons. They were definitely water balloons: small, round, and colorful. But they were full of something dark and it dimmed the color of the latex. He poked one and it felt… congealed. And there were a bunch of them. “...what are these?”
“Water balloons.” Alex answered.
“Yeah I can see that… what are they for? And what’s in them?” Morgan asked not sure if wanted the answer to that second question as he caught a whiff of something coppery while he stood.
“Well, I found one of the heroes’ new hidden Theta Conduit portals in the city. I, uh, smashed the other ones so this is the main one now and I figured we could sit up here and throw these at the heroes when they come out. Or something.”
“You… You want to throw water balloons at the heroes with me… for my birthday?” Morgan asked, barely containing his amusement, the giggles were already starting to escape.
Alex grinned back the second Morgan started to laugh, obviously pleased with himself. “Do you like it?”
“Y-yes! HA! Alex- Oh my god- This is fucking hilarous!” Morgan wheezed. “But- but wait- Won’t the heroes see us and come up here?”
“Oh, hell no.” Alex snorted, “I have the whole rooftop shielded from all kinds of sensory inputs, super or otherwise, and blocked from psychic probing. They couldn't find us even if we stood up and shouted in their faces.” He replied looking particularly smug.
“Fuck that’s so cool…” Morgan chuckled as he leaned over the edge to look down into the alley. “Where’s the entrance?”
Alex, still very pleased by how well this was going, took a second to respond, “Uh- see there? That dumpster?” He said pointing as he stepped up next to his friend.
“Yeah?”
“Just on the other side of the graffiti. They’ll come out there.” Alex confirmed.
“Nice~” Morgan laughed as he rubbed his hands together. “So how many balloons do we have?”
“Twenty three. I… sorta figured this would be more fun than smashing bottles.”
Morgan felt his heart tighten for a second, he remembered some of his birthday last year, and none of it was good. And yet here was Alex- Alex the goddamn Devourer, The S-tier Villain, trying to help Morgan have a better birthday this year. It was- jesus- It meant so fucking much. He had Peony back in his life again and a- a real fucking friend. A friend with no strings or work or differing career choices coming between them. And he's trying. Fuck- he's trying to be my friend even though I was gone for so long-
“I… is that okay?” Alex asked after a few beats of silence while Morgan just stared at him. He blinked back to himself and looked away.
“Yeah- yeah, man. It’s- this is fucking incredible, Alex.” Morgan nodded and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Thank- thank you, seriously."
"... You're welcome." Alex replied after a beat. Both of them just a touch awkward about being so… open. But it also felt kinda nice.
Morgan shot Alex another quick smile before clearing his throat, "So. Before we start pranking the heroes-" And he bent down to pick up a balloon. It jiggled unpleasantly in his hand. “... I have to know what in god’s name are in these things?”
“Oh, blood.” Alex answered automatically.
Morgan just put the balloon down and tried very hard not to wipe his hand on his jeans. “-nope. No. Absolutely not.”
“What-”
“No, not a chance. We are not Carrie-ing people for my birthday.” Morgan muttered, gesturing with his hand as he minded drawing a line. “Line in the sand, Alex. No blood balloon.”
“But-!”
“No! It's so so gross."
Alex just crossed his arms, pouting. That had been the best part! He'd really thought Morgan would think it was funny… I mean I think it's funny so why wouldn't he?
“ Please? For my birthday?” Morgan begged, “Just not blood.”
Alex made a face before throwing his head back and sighing dramatically, flinging his hands up. “ Fiiiine! Ugh.”
Morgan didn’t bother to hide his bemused expression, but he did sigh in relief. He loved how dramatic Alex could be- how dramatic Alex actually was, the man, not the villain. It was a genuine delight for Morgan to see his friend grow more and more comfortable with him. Even if his idea of a good prank is trauma inducing. “Thank you.”
“Whatever… Then what else should we put in them?” Alex huffed. "Because just water is boring."
“ Oh ,” Morgan hummed a smirk spreading across his face. “I have an idea~”
~
Perfect Peer stepped out of the Theta Conduit in the west district and squinted around. There had been several reports now of nameless ne'er do wells harassing the heroes who exited from here. Each one being struck with a strange material but none could identify or locate their attacker, they only knew the attacks had come from above. So without missing a beat, Perfect Peer enhanced their vision so they could scan the surrounding building roofs.
Not a being in sight. They tilted their head, the one perfect hair curl staying in place on their forehead, and they listened for any sort of movement or sign of life. Still nothing out of place. They checked with x-ray vision, and then in infrared and ultraviolet, but still nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Odd. But with no one here, they lifted a hand to their earpiece. “Peer to FA-” Perfect Peer started to say. They started to tell the FA HQ that these hooligans must have moved on, that the coast was clear-
When suddenly they were struck in the face by a strange round object that exploded on contact. A light green goo splattered across them, covering their face, uniform, and perfectly styled hair.
And the goo smelled like… pistachos?
~
“ HAAA! ” Morgan wheezed at the top of his lungs, nearly tumbling off the roof as he fell over and completely dislodge the blanket that had been around his shoulders.
Alex also cackling, nearly missed grabbing onto him and dragging him back onto the ledge they were sitting on.
“Oh my god-! Alex- al-EX!” Morgan gauffed, just leaning into his friend as the both just gasped for air.
“I-I know-! Their face-!”
“They- they were so- so shocked- Their mouth made a perfect ‘o’! And- and Pistachio- HA! Pistachio pudding for the Perfect Pain in the Ass!” Morgan laughed and gasped. Which only sent Alex into another round of laughter.
“Perfect Pain- hahahaha!” Alex laughed, hanging onto Morgan as tears of joy rolled down both their faces.
It took quite a while before the sleep deprived pair finally managed to calm down enough to breathe let alone talk.
Morgan, still giggling, swiped at his face with his sleeve. It was well after 4 in the morning now and he was so passed punchy by now, but he didn’t care in the slightest. This was the most fun he’d ever had. Period. He, not in a million years would have ever been able to pull off a prank like this. Throwing pudding filled balloons at A-tier heroes? Fuck no, he’d have gotten his ass beat ten times over. But with Alex- fuck with Alex anything was possible. “ Alex-”
“Hee~” Alex giggled as he leaned back to grab one of their last balloons. “Yeah?”
“This was the best idea ever- oh my god…”
“Of course it was~ I only ever have good ideas.” Alex replied smugly as he tossed the balloon up and caught it.
“Bullshit!” Morgan laughed, “About 2/3rds of the shit you do is dumb as hell~”
“Yeah, but it’s fun. ”
“That doesn’t make it not stupid.” Morgan snorted as he scooped up the red bull Alex had summoned for him and took a sip.
“Any idea that’s fun is a good idea.” Alex countered.
“ Pfft! ” Morgan laughed, “That is absolutely not how the world works, dude.”
“Sure it is.”
“No, no it really isn’t. Maybe for you- or well people like you, it can be. But the rest of us have restraints and consequences.” Morgan replied before laughing and draining the rest of his drink. To hell with it, he just wasn’t going to sleep tonight.
“Is this a ‘you are all powerful and wouldn’t understand’ thing?” Alex asked curiously as he pulled at the latex neck of the balloon while he tried to guess what random pudding flavor this one was.
“Eh, sorta… It’s not just like a superpowers thing though. Just like a power in general thing.” Morgan tried to explain.
“How so?”
“Well you get away with doing whatever you want because literally no one can stop you-”
“Tragically.” Alex sighed dramatically and let the little rubber knot go, it snapped back against the balloon with a satisfying wiggle. “They’re all too pathetically weak to stop me.”
“ Regardless , you can do a dumb thing- a fun one, but still dumb, and not have to worry about the repercusions. Whether it is societal or physical. But other people, people with fame or wealth or beauty can get away with shit like that too.”
Alex snorted, “Okay, I get that to an extent. Sure billionaires and famous people avoid consequences all the time by throwing money at it but just 'cause you’re pretty doesn’t mean you don't have consequences.”
“Yes, it fucking does.” Morgan laughed as he leaned back onto his blanket to protect his palms from the gravel as he looked up at the washed-out stars. “Like- like say you weren’t using your powers to look like that-” Morgan started to say and just lifted a hand gesture at all of Alex.
“I’m… not.” Alex interrupted, giving Morgan a weird look.
Morgan blinked and sat up. [“*Wait… are you saying you’re not using your powers right now?* Like *you’re not* shapeshifted or something?” Morgan asked, a little dumbfounded.
“Noooo…?” Alex replied, staring back at Morgan the same way he was staring at Alex, exceptionally confused.
“Do- do you have like- an illusion or like a glamour or something?” Morgan asked as the bi-panic started to set in. Like he knew Alex was hot- like drop dead- people swoon- fuck you against the wall hot… But up until just this second, Morgan had always thought it was just part of Alex’s powers. Like he made himself look like that- like with the eyes and fangs. Oh- oh god are those just… natural? Oh- oh fuck-
“No. What?” Alex asked still just as baffled.
“So- '' And Morgan’s voice cracked a little, “So you’re saying you just look like that-'' And he gestured to all 6 foot 4 of him. Ripped, with a strong jaw and good cheek bones, a smile that made people want to sin , thick blond hair with soft brown highlights that only looked better when he ran his hands through it, and a fucking button down with the sleeves rolled up. “Like, naturally?”
“...I do naturally look like myself, yes .” Alex answered, squinting a little. And then realization hit, “Unless I’ve accidentally given myself horns again?” And he reached up to run his fingers through his hair to check. “Or a prehensile tail?” And again he shifted to check. There had been a lot of uncontrollable laughter tonight, something might have just changed on him. “That happened once when I sneezed. It was weird.” Alex explained as he looked back up. Morgan however was still just staring at him.
“I- I don’t believe it for a second, *no*.” Morgan finally said, shaking his head and looking away as the denial set in. “Like there is no way you’re this attractive.” He muttered, and went to pick up his energy drink again only to remember it was empty so he set it back down.
“Oh.” Alex replied, startled but at least on the same page as Morgan again. “That’s what this is about…” And something- something warm fluttered in his belly for a second as Morgan pointedly did not look back over at him. He could see just the smallest traces of a flush creeping over the D-tier villain's cheeks. And Alex couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Should I be offended or flattered ?” ]
“Oh shut up. It’s not like you didn’t know you were hot before.” Morgan grumbled and wished his face would stop feeling so warm.
But before Alex could reply he heard the soft whirr as the Theta Conduit below activated once more and he tossed the balloon up in the air again before catching it. He had better things to do just now than be… pleased to know his friend found him to be quite literally unbelievably attractive.
But it was a good thing to know~
A
very
good thing, indeed.