Chapter Text
When the villain opened their eyes, they were shocked. The first thing they were shocked by was that they opened their eyes in the first place. After everything went black, they were pretty sure they’d never open their eyes again.
The next shocking discovery was where they were. Instead of the cold stone of an alley or jail cell or even the bed of a hospital, they were snuggly tucked under a blanket on the couch of a warm, cozy looking living room.
The villain went to sit up, and was immediately hit with a wave of agony from their abdomen. They let out a cry of pain, hands flying to where they remebered the injury being, only to come in contact with some kind of fabric. They lifted the blanket that was draped over them, realizing that while they were still in the same pants, they were wearing a new shirt. Apon further investigation, their abdomen was well wrapped in gauze and cleaned of blood. The slice across their chest didn’t hurt nearly as bad, and while they couldnt see through the bandages, it felt like it had been properly stitched and treated.
Did… did the hero do this?
The memories of before came crashing back, and suddenly they were flooded with panic. Where were they? Were they under arrest? Did the hero treat them?
Panic turned to horror at the realization that if the hero had changed their shirt… they would have seen all the scars…
It felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice onto them.
Suddenly, as if this situation couldn’t get any worse, they heard footsteps approaching.
They sat frozen, watching as the door opened and the hero walked in.
Their eyes immediately lit up as they landed on the villain in bed.
“Your awake!”
The villain’s mind raced, “What’s happening? Where am I? What-”
“Shhh,” the hero soothed, as they came to sit down next to the other on a foot rest. The villain subconsciously leaned into the couch, wary of the hero being so close. They clenched the blanket in their hands, pulling it up to their chest like it could protect them from the world.
They pinned their eyes shut, clenching their fists tighter .
“Hey,” the hero said softly, resting a hand on the villains shoulder.
The villain responded with a violent flinch, making the hero jump and retract their hand for a moment, only to put their hand back on the villains shoulder again, only gentler.
“Hey it’s okay, I brought you to my place and patched you up. Nobody is coming to arrest you or anything, you can relax, I promise,” they explained, before reaching over to the table. They handed the villain a glass of water, “here, this should help,”
The villain took the glass, but simply held it in their lap.
The hero didn’t say anything about it.
“Why would you help me?”
“I’m a hero,” they responded as if it was obvious, “helping is kinda what I do,”
“But why would you help *me*”
“because I wanted to. Because I care. Because I don’t like seeing you hurt,”
The villain just looked away, unsure how to respond, how to tell the hero how stupid they were for caring about someone like them.
They shivered.
“Please lay back down, you’ve got a fever, you still need to be resting,”
The villain didnt fight the hand that guided them back down onto the pillows.
“Wait, how long was I out?”
“Almost 4 days, you lost a lot of blood,”
The villain looked away once more, clenching the blanket in their fists again.
“I don’t mean to pry, and I won’t force you to answer…” the hero started. The villain braces themselves. “But based on how many other still healing injuries or scars you have, this isnt a once off thing. You… you wouldn’t have survived loosing much more blood. I know we fight but most of those scars… aren’t from me,”
“You not so full of yourself you think your the only one I fight are you?”
“Easy,” the hero soothed, taking one of the villains hands into their own, stopping it from clenching the blankets more. The villain’s breath hitched at the contact. “I’m not trying to start a fight or anything, I just want to help,”
The villain pulled their hand free of the heros, holding it close to their chest.
“Okay, we can drop it for now. I have some soup on the stove I have to go check on anyway. I’ll be back with some soon,”
With that, the hero up and left, the villains gaze fixed on them untill they were gone.
Back with some? Did… did that mean the hero was bringing some for them?
They felt their stomach grumble at just the thought. They hadn’t realized how hungry they were until now.
Now that the hero was gone they had a chance to look around the room. The room they were in wasn’t big, but it wasn’t tiny either. It was perfectly cozy, a small fireplace on one wall toward their feet with a TV above it. There was an end table and lamp above thier head with a second couch adjacted to it. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were full of books and a couple of potted plants.
Suddenly something landed on their shins and they jumped, looking down to see a… cat?
A large grey cat with black stripes and a fluffy tail had jumped up onto their legs and was making it way up. The villain sat frozen, unsure what to do as the cat curled up on their lap, purring like a motorboat happily.
A small chuckle came from the doorway.
“I see you’ve met Silver. Though it’s not the first time shes met you. She’s barely left your lap sense I brought you here. She really likes you.”
The villain stayed quiet, blushing slightly, unsure how to respond to such a thing.
“Here, you must be hungry,” the hero said, offering a bowl of steaming soup to the villain who took it awkwardly, as if they weren’t used to things being handed to them.
The villain took a small sip, thankful for the excuse to not have to talk. They could feel the ever so slight vibration coming from the purring creature in their lap. The sound was soothing, and something they weren’t used to at all.
The second the warm broth hit their tounge, they were shocked.
“Did… did you make this?” They asked quietly.
“Oh, yeah, I hope it’s all right, its one of my own recipes and-”
“It’s good…” the villain muttered quietly. Good was an understatement, it was delicious.
“Oh you don’t have to say that just to be nice. I didnt have many ingredients in the fridge but I didnt wanna leave you alone so-”
“I’m not just being nice, it’s really good… it’s… well, it’s delicious. You’re… you’re really talented,”
The villain glanced at the hero quickly, who was sitting on the couch eating their own bowl of soup. They were blushing furiously, staring at the villain in shock.
“I- really?”
The villain huffed and glared “it’s already hard for me to give compliments are your trying to make me say it again?”
The hero laughed at that, “ok, ok, sorry, thank you,”
Things were certainly different for the villain after that.