Chapter Text
"And once again, 'The Eternal Downfall'-better known as 'Eternal', has caused complete chaos in Gale's Bank, where no money was stolen but over 100k in property damage was accrued…"
"…that police are still on the lookout for the secret identity of the most mischievous supervillain in the area…
"-this just in! On the popularity poll of local villains, Eternal has consistently ranked high in villainy, beauty and chaos. Clearly, nobody can tell whether they want to fear him or flirt with him!"
Legundo watched the TV in the hospital room switch from different channels as his patient, Apo, rapidly clicked the remote. When nothing else but news about the supervillain came on, she groaned and turned the TV off. "Why is everyone so obsessed with that guy? We have other villains in this damn city. Ones that are most consistent."
"I suppose everyone likes the fact that he's mysterious." Legundo shrugged as he moved to adjust Apo's cast. "That and they're definitely disconnected from reality. It's easy to pretend a threat isn't real when you romanticize it." He and Apo weren't friends, but they appeared often enough in a hospital bed that he had started to remember them. While it was a little concerning, it was none of his business.
"I guess you have a point," Apo sighed. "But that doesn't make it right."
"It doesn't," Legundo agreed. "And there. You should be good for a while. Just remember to keep your leg elevated."
"Thanks, doctor." Apo looked wistfully at her lower half. "Hopefully soon I can get out of here. Cherri needs me."
"I'm sure she can wait." Apo's face turned stormy.
"No. She needs me." Legundo chose not to question that and instead dutifully left the room. He had other patients to check on, after all.
Legundo considered himself a remarkably average person. He had done his time in the war and while it had left some lasting scars both mentally and physically, he was fine. He was a doctor now and had barely moved from his city in the past ten years.
It had been unfortunate that the city he had chosen to live in had a constant tussle of villains and heroes. It kept him busy with work, sure-what with all of the people getting hurt-but it never pleased him. The villains were only somewhat checked by the heroes' government that had been put into place. However, the government was also prone to letting the heroes get away with collateral. He understood why, of course, but once again, it never pleased him.
But he was never unpleased enough to move away. Mainly because many of his coworkers relied on him at work and needed his guidance.
(There was another reason he stayed-a stupid celebrity crush-but that was one he would never admit.)
"Doctor Legundo?" One of his coworkers scurried over to him in the hallway. "Boss says you're off the clock for today."
"Oh? Are you sure you don't need more help-" The coworker frowned at him.
"Just take it, man. Don't you have tomorrow off?"
"All the more reason for me to stay-" The coworker was staring at him blankly. "-Fine. Fine." He was already shrugging his coat off. "I'll go, I'll go."
He really did love his job too much sometimes.
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Legundo sat on his couch and clicked through the TV channels, upset by the fact that the news was still raving about Eternal. If they weren't talking about Eternal, they were comparing the villains and heroes. He didn't care about any of it.
Legs sighed as he picked up his pasta dinner and started to eat it. He had just wanted to relax with some good TV (and he absolutely refused to pay for streaming services) so social media would have to do.
However, social media was no different. People were ranking their favorite heroes and villains and posting videos of their adventures. Those videos got turned into edits, which turned into fancams, which eventually turned into little cliques fawning over their favorites. People would ship the villains and heroes and write out fantasies about them.
He knew it was their way of coping. Logically, he knew that. But for the love of god, it would be nice to escape it.
To be fair, he had a different mindset from most people. Something along the lines of well if I do get murdered from a villain and hero fight then that's probably for the best. Atypical from the average citizen and thus he had no need to cope with creating fantasies of the vigilantes.
…Although, he really had no place to criticize them. He opened up the search bar of Google.
Scott Goldsmith newest posts
It was something he had done every day for a year at this point. He had come across the model in one of the magazines that had been dropped off for the hospital waiting room and had unfortunately been hooked in ever since. He was not a man who would gain such a silly celebrity crush so easily, but Scott had somehow been the exception. It was safe, easy. He never had to worry about how his feelings would affect their friendship or if he was even into men at all-because they would never meet.
(Even if he sometimes hoped he would catch a glimpse of him on the street or would linger by his ads a little too long.)
The newest photos were absolutely incredible. Scott Goldsmith was two things: a man who constantly reinvented the wheel and a man who had the financial means to do so. He had grown up in a rich family and with everyone in the city recognizing him as being some sort of hometown celebrity, he was probably set for the rest of his life. The recent photoshoot featured Scott in dresses and suits and sometimes a mix of both.
The most stunning thing in every single one was Scott's eyes. They were the focus of every photo and for a good reason; the dark blue pulled one in. They were like an ocean with plenty of hidden secrets beneath.
He sighed and stood up from his couch, ready to head to bed. Tomorrow, he would probably visit the local cafe that he had been meaning to go to for a while. It would be a nice break. Then, the world would go on as it usually did.
(He would end up being so, so, so wrong.)
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Legundo had only been sitting at the nice cafe on the corner for roughly twenty minutes when it happened. He had been mid croissant bite when the cafe had suddenly gone into a hush and he had immediately looked around for the source.
He had not expected the source to be a supervillain leaning on the cafe counter. "This is a quaint place, isn't it?" Eternal mused as he scanned around the room before settling his gaze back on the cashier. While Legs had gotten used to seeing him on TV, it was another thing to see him in real life. He was entirely vampire themed (he committed to the theming so much that some people had suspected he was actually a vampire) with a long, black cape that curled around his shoulders and tall black heeled boots that most people suspected allowed him to jump from rooftop to rooftop. He wore a bright red vest and white shirt and had a dapper red mask to compliment his pale-white hair. The only thing that seemed out of place was his belt filled with weapons; which was likely the point.
Underneath all of that glamour, Eternal was a threat.
"Uh, do-" The cashier was turning red in the face from fear. "Do-uh-um-"
"Do I want to order? Yes, please." He smiled with all of his teeth before looking at the shelf that held all of the orders until the customers were called up to retrieve them. "Actually, I'll just grab and go. Hope you don't mind." He daintily picked up a coffee and donut from the shelf and tapped a finger on his chin. "Now, where shall I sit?"
As soon as it became clear that Eternal was planning on staying, a majority of the customers started to scoot out the door. One of them even screamed.
All Eternal did was grab a gun out of his pocket and aimed it towards the door. "If anyone tries to leave, you're getting shot." His voice turned dark, a difference to the cheerful facade he had on earlier. "Come on. Indulge me. I only wish to eat at a cafe like you all do." Slowly, the customers started to sit back in their seats. Legundo watched as he ate his croissant. Somehow, despite the man with a gun in the room, he felt quite unbothered. It wasn't like he had anywhere to go and while Eternal had a track record of murdering people for seemingly no reason, his visitation wasn't for blood. Instead, it was for entertainment.
Legundo had just been unlucky that this cafe had been the target.
Everybody waited with bated breath as Eternal walked around the cafe, hunting for a seat. Likely, they were all thinking the same thing: if he sits with me, I am going to die.
For some reason, Eternal lingered by his table. It was set for two unlike a majority of the other tables in the cafe, so the doctor figured he would be fine. After all, it made more sense for him to target the larger groups for more entertainment value.
He was surprised when Eternal decided to sit down right across from him, coffee and all. "Hi, there!" Eternal giggled as he started to eat his donut. "Hope you don't mind me sitting here." Legundo found himself more unsettled by all of the eyes on him rather than the manic villain in front of him. He had really just wanted to eat his croissant in peace.
…He probably needed to get his priorities straight.
Regardless, he shrugged and went back to eating. If Eternal killed him, then so be it.
(He deserved it.)
"What do you do for a living?" Eternal asked like they were at a speed date instead of a hostage situation.
"I'm a doctor."
"Oooh. And what is your name?"
"Legundo." He didn't want to entertain this, but he was more afraid Eternal would turn his attention onto someone else and hurt them instead.
"Doctor Legundo." Eternal tested the name on his tongue and Legs felt a shiver go down his spine. His name felt wrong in the other's mouth. "Well, I do love myself a well educated man."
"And I love myself a quiet one," Legundo retorted smoothly as he went to drink his black coffee. He only took about two sips before he realized he probably should've thought his words through. When he dared to look up at Eternal again, the villain's eyes were glittering with intrigue and barely-hidden rage. Legundo figured he might as well continue the hole he had dug himself. "Don't you have anything more exciting to do?"
"I'm in my early thirties." Eternal took a long sip of his coffee. "Dipshit."
"Yeah. Shouldn't you have a wife or kids or something?"
"That's hilarious, doctor, that you would assume I'm into women."
"Shouldn't you have a husband or kids or something?"
"Oh, you're funny and incredibly lucky that I'm not murderous today." He laughed like it was a joke, but it clearly wasn't. "And I'm enjoying my youth. I'm having a nice little escapade at the cafe. I can't help that people are scared of me."
"You like that people are scared of you because you think you're not like them," Legundo stated with an eye twitch.
"I'm not." He smiled again, making it entirely unclear which part of the sentence he was disagreeing with. "What about you? Are you not afraid of me because you wish to be different?"
"While I think conformity is not my style, The Eternal Downfall, I'm not doing this to be different. You're interrupting my meal."
"Why, you're right!" He stood up and brushed the crumbs of donut off of his lip. "I do apologize, doctor, for interrupting your little precious meal. I'll be off now." Eternal waved languidly as he exited the cafe, not even bothering to look back and see if anyone had tried to attack him.
All eyes turned back to Legundo and he didn't like it. Quickly, he packed up his things and left the cafe.
Eternal was free to hog the spotlight. Hopefully he wouldn't be dragged under it with him ever again.
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Legundo blinked twice at the invitation to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It had been tucked into his apartment's door and he had expected it to be junk mail.
Congrats! You have been randomly selected to Scott Goldsmith's fifth anniversary of working with The Shakespeare Press gala! There will be food, drinks and raffles to win, so be there or be square! Wear your best outfit and be there by 8 P.M.
Signed, Scott Goldsmith xoxo
He had compared the signature to the known records of the model's handwriting; they were similar enough to be from the same person but different enough to not be traced. He hadn't remembered entering a lottery-how in the world would he have been randomly selected?
Quickly, he opened up his phone and clicked on Scott's social media profile. Then, he sent him a message.
Doctor Legundo: Hello, I've gotten a letter that has randomly invited me to you and your team's gala and if so, how did I get into the selection pool in the first place?
Scott Goldsmith: Hi! This is an automated message from the Shakespeare Press. Please wait as we send your message over to our team to be approved.
Legundo groaned. Of course it wouldn't be easy to contact the man.
Scott Goldsmith: After a quick review, your message is safe to send!
Scott Goldsmith: Mr. Goldsmith has said, and I quote, "I gathered up the list of residents in the town and spun a wheel." Thank you for messaging and we wish you good luck with the gala! Buy Mr. Goldsmith's new merch at-
Legundo slapped his phone into his lap before he read anything else. (He ignored the fact that he was actually a little interested in the merch.) So it hadn't been a mistake, then. He couldn't refuse to go to a Scott Goldsmith gala. They were known for being prestigious and exclusive.
With a sigh, he walked to his closet. It was time to see if he had anything decent to wear.
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When he arrived at the gala in a formal blue suit and silver earrings, he couldn't help but cling onto the feeling that he didn't belong there. Everybody else was dressed to the nines with expensive clothing and there was nobody he recognized. Sure, he knew who Scott was, but in terms of knowing other celebrities? He was woefully unprepared.
The music was strangely classical and the lights were on, so he could at least be grateful it wasn't like a nightclub.
Not knowing what else to do, Legundo made his way over to the food and drinks table. It was long and was filled with various, extravagant appetizers and lots of alcohol to choose from. His hand hovered over the alcohol.
A little bit was probably fine, right?
"Don't be indecisive, darling, tonight is all about having fun." A voice came from behind him and he shrugged.
"Yeah, you're probably right." He reached for a glass of champagne and froze as he processed what had been said-or rather, who had said it. Because he knew that voice.
He grabbed his drink and slowly turned around, finding himself face to face with Scott Goldsmith. The man himself was wearing a draping gold dress with thin straps, shoulders only hidden by a black faux fur collar. All of it was complimented by his stunning cyan hair. It was intriguing, made a statement, and was completely unlike anyone else at the party who mainly wore soft, warm colors; it was entirely his style.
Then he realized he was analyzing the outfit too much and should probably speak. Scott, however, took notice. "Like it?" He smiled and did a little twirl.
"It's…great," Legundo managed, still having a little trouble reclaiming his voice. He was certain his face was an embarrassing red already and he screamed at his mind to get it together.
"Don't worry, I understand it's probably a little overwhelming being here." Scott flashed him a camera-ready smile as he reached over and grabbed a glass of champagne himself. "But can I tell you a secret?"
"Sure?" God, it was so hard to look directly at the model. He focused on staring at the crowd instead. Scott leaned closer to whisper in his ear.
"I gave everyone a dress code. Why do you think they all look the same?"
"But…I didn't get a dress code." Legundo finally looked at him. Scott swirled the champagne in his glass languidly.
"Exactly. I get to stand out and so do you." He had a wry, thin smirk on his face. "How else would I have been able to find you, Mr. Lottery Winner?" Legundo winced a little.
"That makes me sound like a charity case. Just call me Legundo. Doctor Legundo, actually." He paused. "But most people just call me Legs."
"I'm sure you already know who I am." Scott sipped his glass. "But if I call you Legs, then you can call me Scott. No formal bullshit."
The two were silent for a bit as they watched the gala unfold before them, each sipping their glasses every minute. Legundo felt so out of place that it was painful. Why had Scott wanted to pick him out? Why did he stay here instead of mingling with his guests? Suddenly, Scott sighed.
"Legs, it's getting stuffy in here and I'm going to be frankly honest, if I wanted to even bother looking at the partygoers I would just interact with them." He gingerly plucked Legundo's glass from his grasp and set their drinks aside before grabbing his hand and tugging it. "Come on. Let's get some fresh air."
"Uh-alright? Won't everybody notice you're gone?" Legundo let himself be dragged along. Going outside was probably the best scenario, otherwise he was afraid he'd drink himself into a stupor.
"We won't be out for too long."
When they finally got outside, Scott pulled them over to the bridge. The entire venue was huge and was almost entirely surrounded by a large lake. Nobody was outside except for them. Scott leaned forward on the bridge's rails and sighed. "Now we can actually think, my god. It was so loud in there." Scott fanned his face with his hand. "So, why did you come here?"
"What?"
"Why did you come here?" He tilted his head. "No offense, but I can tell this isn't your scene. So, why?" Legundo looked out at the sprawling lake.
"I don't know. I didn't have anything better to do and….once in a lifetime opportunity, right?"
"So you're here because you were bored?"
"Well, I didn't-" He sputtered. "I mean, it's not really like that-"
"First rule of talking to me, darling." Scott lifted up a finger. "Tell the truth. If you don't tell the truth, I will figure the truth out. It's easier this way." Legundo swallowed.
"Yes, in a way…I suppose I came here because I was bored. However, I didn't exactly expect the gala to cure that boredom."
"Of course. You don't know anyone here, how could you cure it? Thank god I snatched you up before anyone got to you first." Scott's eyes turned up into little crescents and the doctor tried not to think about the implications of those words. How the hell had he gotten into this type of conversation with Scott Goldsmith?
"And I do appreciate your company." Stay formal, stay businesslike. Be normal. "I am aware of your work and I have to say, it's very good."
"My photographers are amazing, I agree."
"I mean, they are…but…" Legundo bit his cheek as he tried to word his compliment in a way that didn't reveal how long he had been following Scott's career. "Your expressions. The poses. Some of that is your photographer's advice, yes, but also your skills." Scott stared at him and he could tell something in his gaze had shifted. Like Scott was seeing him just a little differently.
"Hm. Thank you." Scott reached a hand forward and traced his jawline, causing Legs' breath to be caught in his throat. "I think you could model, if you really tried." Legundo snorted out a laugh.
"Really? Me?" Scott's hand moved to tug on his silver earring.
"I think I could do a lot with this. With you." He murmured and Legundo's heart pounded. "Did you know that it's believed that vampires are allergic to silver?"
"What?" He breathed (What the fuck did that mean? What was he talking about?) but was interrupted by a loud bang. He whipped his head towards the sky to see fireworks being exploded above the venue. His nervous system was instantly on fire.
"Oh, the fireworks are starting," Scott commented as he dropped his hand from the doctor's ear. Legundo could barely hear him over the sound of his own heart racing from fear. Gunshots, gunshots, gunshots-
He needed to get out of there. But he didn't want to leave.
"I have to go," He blurted as he rummaged in his pockets. Where is it, where is it-
"Already?" Scott frowned. "But we were just starting to have fun."
"I know, but-" Legundo grabbed his tiny notebook and pen from his pocket and scribbled down the hospital's address before handing it to Scott. "You can find me here. Let's…let's talk more, if you want. Okay?"
He didn't wait for an answer. Legundo scrambled off of the bridge and headed for the bus stop. He had embarrassed himself enough already.
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Over the next few days, Legundo tried to pretend his strange encounter with Scott Goldsmith had never happened. It was easy when he had plenty of work to do in the hospital he could bury himself in. He could ignore the fact that his celebrity crush had basically been flirting with him.
It had been easy until two of his coworkers stumbled over to him, both red in the face, informing him that Scott Freaking Goldsmith was in the lobby and wanted to see him.
…He had had to ask them several times if they were joking.
When he had finally accepted that they were telling the truth, he made his way down to the lobby. Scott was waving his arms about as he talked to the starstruck receptionist. He was wearing dark sunglasses and a large blue sweater that matched his baseball cap, but it was still very clearly him. It was hard not to recognize him with his bright cyan hair.
"Legs!" Scott waved him over, as if he visited hospitals on the regular. "It took me a little while to break away from work, but I have plenty of time now. How have you been?" Scott entrapped him into a hug and it momentarily stunned him. It was all so weirdly normal.
"I've been…working. Scott, when I gave you this address, I moreso expected a letter or something…" Honestly, I didn't think he was going to talk to me ever again.
"This is easier. Also, I'm taking you out. Take off that doctor's coat." Legundo faltered.
"But I have patients-" Scott started slipping bills to the receptionist. Legs immediately felt guilty.
"…Fine. I'll leave early for the day. Just give me a few minutes."
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If someone had told his past self that, in a few months, he would be eating large cookies with Scott Goldsmith in a small sweet shoppe, he probably would've laughed at them. He would've laughed harder if he had been told that they were sitting on tall chairs that were right by the large window, casually chatting like they had known each other for years.
When he wasn't viciously flirting with him, Scott was actually an interesting person to talk to. He tipped off little secrets about the industry and how he had instantly gone into modeling after his parents had died ten years ago. In turn, Legundo talked about his time in the army (not too much, never too much) and anecdotes about his patients. While Scott may not have been fully interested, he was doing a good job at pretending to be, so it worked for him.
In fact, it was working so well that Legs was starting to suspect they were on a date.
That was terrifying.
"Listen," He started and Scott paused in eating his cookie. "This has been…absolutely wonderful. But…you don't have to…play house with me."
"Whatever could you mean?" Scott dusted the cookie crumbs off of his lips and it struck a chord of deja vu in the doctor, although he couldn't quite remember why.
It seemed he would have to be more clear. "You don't have to lead me on." He finally let the words tumble out of his mouth. "Like I said, I'm not a charity case. I'm sure it's been fun, but we don't have to do this." Scott slowly put his cookie down on his napkin.
"It seems," He said as he looked at Legundo through the top of his sunglasses, "that we have had very different perceptions of this outing." Before he could say anything in response, Scott had grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward before kissing him. Legundo couldn't help but let out a gasp, because holy shit.
1: Scott was a really good kisser.
2: Scott Motherfucking Goldsmith was kissing him.
3: They were in public.
"Scott," He breathed as he tried to push him away. "People are gonna see-there could be cameras-"
"If they do, I don't think we should care. I'll take care of it, regardless." Scott whispered with a giggle. "Can I not kiss a beautiful man?" Legundo kissed him back and he could taste the cookie crumbs he had missed. It was heaven.
Eventually, Scott pulled away and fixed Legs' strewn glasses with a tiny grin. Legundo tapped a finger to his face and yep, he was blushing a horrible amount. Scott handed him a small business card. "Well, I do have to run to my next meeting, but here's my personal number. Call me anytime." He gave him a little wink before swiftly leaving the sweet shoppe.
Legundo sat there for a bit longer, processing the past hour or so. Scott hadn't just been flirting with him. Scott was into him. He had given him his goddamn number.
It felt too good to be true, but he could use a win as of late. So, he let himself float on cloud nine.
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Later that night, he found himself in bed scrolling social media for far longer than he usually liked to (mainly to ignore the new number in his contacts list).
The Eternal Downfall heavily injures The Knight in another explosive fight-that headline had been the main topic of most of his feed. Eternal and Knight were constantly at each other's throats and unfortunately, most people took Eternal's side in the scuffles. Legundo wasn't sure when their rivalry had started-everything he learned about the vigilantes was against his will-but it often seemed like Eternal was the one to goad her on and then separated her from her team in order to corner her. However, most of the posts claimed that she was the one who often started the fights.
In fact, Knight was often a heavily debated topic on social media. It had all started with her debut. People had criticized their soldier theming being paired with their knight name and it had all gone downhill from there. It was all unnecessary and Legs never liked to see it on his feed.
Scott Goldsmith stuns in autumn collection-now that was something he could encourage. Slowly, he picked through the images, analyzing them even more now that he knew the man in front of the camera a little better. He could see the carefully practiced movements and the more genuine ones. Then he imagined the images dragging him in, kissing him over and over until he got dizzy-
He slammed his phone onto his nightstand. Perhaps it was time for bed.
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The next time he and Scott went out on a date outing, Scott's sleeves had slid up just right when they were walking together in a park to reveal a stained bandage. His trained doctor eye had immediately caught it and he grabbed onto Scott's shoulder to stop him. "What's the matter, dear?"
"You're bleeding." He started to drag the man towards a nearby bench.
"No, I'm not." Scott tried to protest but quieted as Legundo rolled up his sleeve and started to take off the bandage. He winced as the bandage was removed to reveal a nasty wound that was practically begging to get infected.
"How did you get this?" He asked as he grabbed a bandage roll out of his pocket. He always kept a few medical supplies in his coat pockets in case anyone needed his help.
"Got nicked on a camera stand or something, I think. By the time it started hurting I was already off the clock."
"…And you didn't notice?" While it still felt weird to be talking to Scott normally instead of staring at him through a screen, he couldn't help but admit that their conversations had a certain rhythm to them that he had never had with anyone else. It was fascinating every time.
"Can you blame me? I was focused on my work."
"Fair enough." It wasn't like he had room to criticize. There had been many a time when he was working that he had forgotten to take breaks to eat or drink water and had paid the price dearly for it. Instead, he started to bandage up the wound carefully and ignored how close he was in proximity to the other. Somehow, however, Scott wasn't teasing him at all. When he looked up, Scott was looking off in the distance at something. "What's wrong?" He finished tying up the bandage neatly. "Make sure to keep that clean."
"Mhm," Scott murmured, not tearing his gaze away from whatever had his attention. Curious, Legundo turned to see what he could be staring at.
Mr. Marvelous was watching them from one of the city's many rooftops. Mr. M wasn't quite a…villain. He definitely fit more in the anti-hero territory but still caused plenty of chaos for the city to complain about. However, he was more like Eternal in the way that everything he did was a show. For him to be silently watching from above was abnormal.
Scott muttered something under his breath that he could've sworn sounded like, "And this is why I don't work with these idiots-" but he was pretty sure he misheard that. Instantly, he stood up from the bench and gave Legundo a quick kiss on the cheek. "I have to go. I just remembered I have an important meeting with a client."
"Already?" Legundo couldn't help but feel sad. He had been hoping to actually get to know the man this time around. It almost felt like they were moving too fast.
"I know. I'll text you whenever I'm free again." And with that, Scott was gone. When Legundo turned around again, Mr. M was nowhere to be seen.
…Weird.
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It had only been a week of talking to Scott when Legundo came back to his apartment late one night to find a light coming out of his living room. He had turned off all of the lights before he had left for the day, so he knew it wasn't from him.
Someone else was in his home.
He tried not to let the fear overtake him, tried to let himself think logically. Perhaps he was getting worked up over nothing and would walk into the room to find that he had left the light on by accident. However, his logic was thrown out the window when he entered his living room to find The Eternal Downfall putting bread into his toaster. "Good evening, doctor." Eternal pushed down the mechanism to start toasting the bread with flair.
Legundo wasn't scared, but he was certainly uneasy. Eternal was in his home. Eternal had intentionally sought him out. "Still mad about the wife and kids comment?" He remarked as he made his way to the living room and sat down on a sofa. It had been a long day at work, after all, and he might as well sit down when given the chance. Besides, if Eternal wanted to act like everything was normal, so would he. It helped that he could still see the villain over the counter from here.
"What a silly man you are." Despite the insulting comment, his voice was thick with affection. It sent a shiver down his spine. "On the contrary, I'm not mad about anything at all." The man leaped over the counter with a click-click-whirrr, landing perfectly in front of Legundo. With the sudden proximity, he could see that behind the mask, Eternal's eyes were a breathtaking blue. He leaned closer to him with his hands behind his back. "I need your assistance."
"I think there's quite a few laws against citizens helping known villains."
"It's not that different from your usual job. I need someone who can patch me up after fights. I'm far too busy to do all of it myself, you see, and I've recently realized that I have zero knowledge on taking care of wounds." He reached out and bonked the tip of his finger on Legundo's nose. "That's where youuuu come in!" The doctor's nose scrunched up.
"No, thank you. I'd rather not waste my time working on someone who puts my patients in my care in the first place."
"The heroes do the same thing."
"I wouldn't do it for them, either." It was only then that Legundo realized how cornered he was, in a chair that was in the nook of the room with only Eternal in front of him.
"Right." The air in the room turned strangely cold. "The thing is, dear doctor-"
"I'm not your 'dear'," Legundo snarled. Eternal only laughed before he snapped his fingers.
"Don't interrupt me. The thing is, dear doctor, I wasn't asking. You have five minutes to pack up anything you need for the trip. You're not coming back here."
"What?" Legundo jumped out of his chair. "No, you're not. I have a job to do-" He couldn't just disappear. Not with his patients, his coworkers, and Scott still needing him.
"And now you have a new job." Eternal slowly smiled as he took him by the shoulders and set him down on the chair again. "Let me make this simple for you, doctor. Either you come with me or I make my next target the hospital. I don't want to hurt anyone there nor you-" He could tell by the glint in his eye that it was a lie, a false reassurance, "-but I will if you force me to. I'm not asking for much, am I?" He laid a hand on his wrist and Legundo imagined them as handcuffs. "I just want you to help. Just…more exclusively."
The sound of the toast popping up in the toaster was the only sound in the room as Legundo contemplated his decision. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. Eventually, someone would find him and save him. It would take a while, but Eternal didn't seem the type to lock him up and torture him for the sake of it. He seemed to enjoy trading verbal blows with him, so at least he could guarantee his wits would be kept about him. Most of all, he didn't want anyone else to be hurt because of him. "…Fine." He managed. "Let me get my things."
"Great!" Eternal clapped his hands and spun out of the way, circling back to grab his toast and taking a bite out of it. "Hm. I should've put butter on this."
Legundo ignored him and focused on packing; mainly his clothes and any old pocketknives or mementos he could fit. Unfortunately, he only had one suitcase, so he would have to make do. The main part that worried him was his lack of medication. Perhaps he could convince Eternal to buy more when the time came under the guise of it being a necessity of his work?
When he finally finished packing, he went into his living room to see Mr. Marvelous conversing with Eternal. That made him even more uneasy. Had the vigilante been watching him to see where he lived? Mr. M waved at him like they were old friends. Legundo was sick of everyone acting like their weirdness was normal. "Hi, Doc!" He chirped. "I'm here to be your transportation!"
"What?" He squinted at the man through his glasses. It had taken him a while to start wondering where he was going and he could feel the doubts clouding his mind.
"We have to keep the location a secret, soooo…" Eternal shrugged and sent Mr. M a meaningful look. He giggled and winked at him before slamming a strange cloth over his mouth. It only took one sniff for Legundo to recognize the sweet chemical and he instantly started panicking. Suddenly, his kidnapping felt a little too real and his body was reacting horribly.
(Not to mention that he absolutely did not trust them to administer the chloroform in a non-lethal way.)
"We'll keep you safe, doctor." Eternal waved at him as the world started to become dark. "Don't you worry."
.𖥔 ݁ ˖
The next few hours were blurry. He could tell that time was passing, but everything felt too heavy for him to process most of it. Conversations were had around him and he could do nothing but try and fail to listen.
When he did finally claw onto consciousness with gritted teeth, he found himself on a gray couch in a room he didn't recognize. A throbbing headache caused him to groan and rub his forehead. He adjusted his glasses and looked around, trying to get ahold of his surroundings.
He was in a rather unassuming area that was themed with hues of gray and cyan. A large bookshelf was in front of him and he could see multiple slightly ajar doors leading off to somewhere unknown. Carefully, he sat up and pushed through the dizziness to get a better look at what was behind him.
Then he blinked. Blinked again. Blinked three times, because there was no way what he saw was real.
Scott Goldsmith was in the kitchen area of the room, humming to himself as he made coffee. Worst of all, his hair was an undeniably striking white. "What is…" Legs managed hoarsely as he coughed.
"I figured you would wake up soon." Scott gave him a warm smile as he waltzed over and handed him a cup of coffee. "This should help with the headache." Legundo greedily snatched the coffee out of his hands and drank it, desperately needing the clarity it would give him. Because this couldn't be happening. How bad was his luck for this to happen to him specifically? It had to be some sort of karma.
A surge of rage burst through him and he threw the coffee cup at him. Scott winced as the cup burst on his arm, burning the skin and embedding shards into it. He made a face at it. "Really that eager to get to work?"
"I'm not eager to do anything," Legundo gnashed his teeth together. "You lied to me." Scott put a finger up.
"Scott didn't lie to you. Eternal didn't lie to you."
"Lying by omission is still lying. I told you to not play house with me."
"I'm not." Scott shrugged. "Although, most who play with their toys will eventually end up with a favorite."
"What the hell does that mean?" Legundo asked as he tried to move, hearing a thunk as he accidentally hit his leg against the couch. He looked down to see a black ankle monitor on his leg.
"Like I said, I wasn't lying when I said I needed medical help. This is my little hideout and if you stay here and don't go anywhere else, it makes things so much easier." He gestured to one of the doors. "That over there is the little medical wing I set up. You should have everything you need in there."
"And if I refuse to help you?"
"You're funny. I mean, you've already accepted. You know what I can do to make you listen to me." He sighed and started to walk to the room he had pointed out. "Now, you're going to fix me up before my next photoshoot in a hour. While I'm gone, I expect you to start getting used to this."
Legundo didn't move on the couch for a bit before standing up and following after him. If he was removed from the rest of the world, the least he could do was help someone.
Even if that someone was the supervillain and sweetheart of the city.