is it hot in here or is it just you?
“It’s so nice.” The hero’s voice sounded robotic against the fan blades. “So nice.”
She was kneeling in front of an oscillating fan and moving with it as it rotated back and forth, letting her hair tangle as it moved uncontrollably in the artificial breeze. Despite the air conditioning and lack of decent clothes, there was a shiny sheen of sweat on her body and bright red flush on her cheeks. The villain’s stare couldn’t help but wander to her bare shoulders and sliver of tummy under her top; why the appearance of a woman in shorts and a tank top gave him the reaction of seeing a woman’s ankle for the first time in the eighteenth century- he wasn’t sure.
“You’ll dry up if you don’t give that a break.” Truthfully, the villain was getting chilly with every fan in his apartment on and at full speed, “That and you’ll be paying for my electricity bill.”
“My apartment doesn’t have air conditioning and I can’t afford a fan,” the hero spared him a glance. “What makes you think I can pay a bill?”
The villain's eyebrow quizzed, “Heroism not paying well?”
“I’m wealthy in applause and honour.” she shuffled left to follow the fan. “Besides, this is you making it up to me after breaking my wrist last month.”
The villain’s lip quirked. “Right. Oops.”
The villain took a seat on his couch near the hero and her designated cooling nest. The floor was strewn with water bottles, ice-filled thermoses and damp towels the hero would rotate through in attempts to get relief from the heat.
“You’d think having fire powers would make you immune to heat. You could be fighting monsters with the power of a million suns”
“I know. I swear I’m being pranked by some celestial force. I’m immune to my heat- but the sun’s evil 40 degree weather feels like I’m in a preheating oven” The hero groaned with frustration, running a hand through her hair. “It’s so hot! Can’t you turn me into an ice cube or something?”
The villain’s ice power complimented the hero very well. Maybe too well, this wasn’t the first time they were in this situation.
“You know you’ll melt it, Hero.”
“Can you… freeze the apartment?” she suggested timidly, knowing the answer he’d give her.
“Yes, Hero. I’ll freeze my entire apartment so you can stay cool.”
“Come on!” She’s splayed out on the floor now, Villain cursed the way her shorts rode up. “Do me this one favour. Please!”
“I think you misunderstand what one favour is.” He gestured to her cooling nest.
“Can’t you use your powers or something? Villain, I’m literally burning up. Please.” The villain didn’t doubt it. He wasn’t sure what would happen if she overheated, he assumed being overheated was the norm for her. The hero stared hopefully at him, and the villain knew exactly what she wanted, what she had wanted everytime a heatwave made its way to their city, why she had come here in the first place. Dejected, he started taking off his shirt.
“I should get paid for this.” He mumbled, the hero quickly made her way over to sit on the couch beside him, a large smile on her face. “You’re shameless.”
“I’m desperate, Frosty.” She inched closer. “I promise I won’t interrupt your heists for a week.”
The villain extended his arms, inviting the hero. “A month.”
As if the act were the most natural thing in the world, the hero jumped on his lap, swinging her legs to his side. The villain automatically (much to his own surprise) wrapped his arms around her, as if preparing to bridal-carry her to the North Pole. Her arms wrapped around his neck, leaning her head in the crook of his neck and comfortably setting herself in place.
“This is demeaning.” The villain said readjusting her for both their comfort, awakening his power to a satisfactory chill. He could feel the hero’s body temperature immediately cooling, he could have sworn he saw steam.
“No,” she cuddled closer, “this is nice. So nice.”
The villain rested his chin on the top of the hero's head and leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes and feeling the pleasant warmth radiating off the hero. Yes, this was nice.
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