#heroines x villains

[darklinaforever]

This video :

With this title :

Is a shameful abysmal shit and made even worse by the fact that it's literally a woman making this video.

But the comments under this video are no better :

The day these people will be able to differentiate between FICTION and reality...

Seriousmy, assuming that real life marriages that don't work are because of the romantic trope of villains x heroines is so worrying...

The worst thing is that these people think they are intelligent ?! It's beyond me ! How could they be so stupid ?!

I hate the purity culture...

[neyafromfrance95]

the fact that in trop canon, sauron is written with bearing in mind the fact that he LOVES galadriel??????? L O V E S HER???

imagine being galadriel knowing that the evil incarnate loves you? the abyss that she gazed into with hatred for so long gazed back into her with love!!!

and she is the only thing he is capable of loving? bc there is this cosmic connection between them that is just out of this world, metaphysical, entirely unique??? that they have their very beings bound to one another? that it's something much greater and of a higher essence than anything shallow and common? that they are the light and the dark fated to never unite but being eternally connected in a way that they are unable to with anyone else?

what are we even supposed to do with this information? how are we going to collectively ever be sane again???

THE love story of TV, i'm afraid.

[brotherslayer]

[anetherealpoetess]

i love shipping. it reminds me that childhood wonder can still be found in the most insane of places (my mind).

[tiny-pun]

"Working" together

Hero: Look, our plans keep getting more and more reckless and also not at all glamorous enough for your usual kind of gig. We´re both clearly not in the right mindset to do this, so can we just move it to tomorrow and go home now? Villain: Oh? Have I been keeping you up all night, Hero? Hero: Yes! And not the fun kind! Villain: …Oh? Hero: Not that! - Oh my god! I meant- fuck. Villian: Well, that... can certainly be arranged.

[caker-baker]

Due Diligence

The lights were sickeningly bright, even from behind the curtains.

The hero’s PR manager snapped her fingers in front of their face. “Hey. Hey. Pull it together.”

“I don’t do these.” They felt their heart in their ears, beating rapidly. “I don’t do meetings, the questions, I can’t, please don’t make me–”

“Hero.” Their manager’s voice left very little room for sympathy. “I know. But this is what happens when you get popular, they look to you for information.”

“Popular?” The hero repeated, the sweat on the back of their neck turning cold. “I’m not a celebrity! If I do this, I’m going to screw it up, and it’s like you said, I need to maintain a reputation.”

“Yeah, well, strong and silent isn’t working for the general public anymore.” She looked down at her tablet. “You have ten minutes to get whatever this is together. I’ll get you some water or something, just–” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “fix this.”

The hero had thought they wanted to be alone. They thought so terribly wrong.

They could feel themself begin to struggle for breath, and reached desperately behind for the wall, arms shaking as they slid down.

Press conferences, they asked for no press conferences, and there was an agreement. They would save the day, they would leave the scene. Strong and silent type, sturdy and dependable.

But the minute they opened their mouth out there, they would stutter, they would say something they’re not supposed to, they would mess it up, they knew they would.

Reputation could make or break, and with the hero’s public speaking ability, it would break.

People would stop looking to them for help, would start thinking of them as awful and horrible when all they wanted to do help. Quickly, quietly, just help.

“What a mess.” A voice spoke from the dark.

Though their arms still lacked a sense of firmness, they managed to pull themselves back up.

“Good, very good.” The voice said. “You were compressing yourself, making it harder to get air.”

“You.” The hero managed.

“Me.” The villain grinned, approaching them slowly.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re still tensing your muscles.” Their arms shot out, placing their hands on the hero’s shoulders. “Relax these.”

“Why?” The hero shoved them off. “So you can fight me while I’m vulnerable?”

“No, so you can go out there and speak without losing your head. Do you want that?”

The hero’s jaw tensed, a sign that they didn’t want to hear anything the villain had to say, but they nodded nonetheless.

“Then listen. Unclench your jaw, take a deep breath in, now hold it, very good.” The villain once again placed their hands on the hero’s shoulders. “Breathe out, keep the pattern. You need to relax the shoulders, your back will do the same subsequently. Hey, the breathing pattern, keep it. Yeah? There we are.”

With one final steady breath out, the hero’s arms firm again and their stance solid, they wrapped their hands around the villain’s wrists, and removed their hold on their shoulders.

“I need to return you to the authorities.”

“Mm, no, you need to focus on what you’ll be saying to the swarms of reporters. Believe me, they’ll be asking bait pieces. Just remember that there’s no shame in taking your time to answer the question. They’ll think of you as thoughtful, and that’ll help with the strong and silent thing you have going on right now.”

Stepping back, the hero did a once over.

“Oddly sound advice. Why?”

The villain also took a step back, glancing to the hallway where the manager had disappeared to.

“I did want to shake things up a bit. Scare you, scare the public, but it looks like she,” The villain nodded towards the hallway. “got the scaring you part down. Expertly done, if I may add.”

“But the public?” The hero crossed their arms, eyes blazing. “Still want to try something?”

“Oh, relax. Don’t get yourself worked up. Seriously.”

The hero said nothing, continuing to scrutinize the villain, waiting for them to strike.

A strike never came.

“I appreciate your due diligence.” The villain admitted quietly. “And the people in this city like to tear people like you and I apart-”

“We aren’t the same-”

“But they don’t always think so. I appreciate your due diligence. I…appreciate that it’s tough work. I don’t want to see them turn that, or you, into something perverse.”

The hero raised a brow, then snapped to attention, as did villain.

Quick clicking heels, their expectant manager coming back.

“Breathing pattern, if you need it again, lean back and keep away from the mics. Time to consider an answer is good, and if you can throw in a thoughtful pose during that time, you might end up on the cover of a glam magazine, or get yourselves some very loyal fans who’ll fawn over your looks.”

“My look-?”

“I’ll be watching from the comfort of my home. Break a leg, Hero. Due diligence.”

The villain melted back into the small slips of darkness the studio allowed, very good at that trick apparently, something the hero would have to take note of in the future.

“Okay.” Their manager’s voice cut across the hero’s thoughts. “This is good, this is better.”

Handing them a bottle of water and a rag, she made a motion across her forehead.

“Dab off the sweat. You ready?”

“Strong, silent, and sturdy doesn’t work for the public anymore?” Looking back to where the villain was, the hero nodded. “Then let’s see what does.”

Due diligence.

[robin-evry]

oooooohhhhhh i love the idea of a yuu based on athanasia de alger obelia from who made me a princess or maybe roxana agriche from way to protect the female lead's older brother or keira parvis from actually I was the real one or even Penelope eckart from death is the only ending for a villainess

Since I can't pick which one, I'm gonna do all of them. I'm actually not a big manhwa reader. As well if you notice I've been slowing down. It's because I'm busy or tired from work.

𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐇𝐖𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔

( English is not my first language )

Day 7 : manhwa!yuu

𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 👸🌼

Athanasia de Alger Obelia is the main protagonist in Who Made Me a Princess, and the current Crown Princess of the Obelian Empire. After reading a romance fantasy novel named The Lovely Princess, the protagonist goes to sleep and finds herself reincarnated into the infant body of Athanasia

the princess of NRC, poise and elegant. Many students wonder why they are in NRC, when they should be in RSA. Headmaster umbrigde of RSA offered them a scholarship on RSA. but was rejected by them because they don't want to leave their friends.

Vil favorite. Usually make examples out of them saying to epel that he should act more like them. Epel originally don't like them thinking they are just similar to vil or are annoyed by constant comparison.

One of NRC prodigies, similar to riddle, Azul and malleus. Even tho Athanasia!yuu is known to be a kind person

𝐑𝐎𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🦋🌹

Roxana Agreece is the Protagonist of the Roxana series. She is the daughter of Lante Agreece and Sierra Agreece, and the biological younger sister of Achille Agreece.

The serpent of NRC, Roxanne would be very observant, strategic as well,very calculating. Able to manipulate situations into their favor.

They might appear charming and polite on the surface but always have a hidden agenda. They can easily influence or secretly guide people's decisions to their benefit. Some students manage to recognize their intentions like riddle, Azul and Leona.

Roxanne!Yuu have the ability to control or create poisonous butterflies that are created by their own blood, these butterflies can work as eyes and ears for them, these butterflies can devour anything as well to cast illusion.

𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🗡️🪻

Strong and resilient, kiera!yuu are an independent student. They are very sharp and observant able to pick up on subtle cues and hidden motives,They wouldn’t take anyone’s words at face value and would often find themselves questioning the intentions of others, particularly the dorm leaders and those in positions of power.

Kiera!Yuu might not be immediately outgoing, they would be fierce when standing up for themselves and their beliefs. They would quietly but determinedly pursue their goals, unwilling to back down once they’ve set their sights on something. deep down Kiera!yuu have a soft spot over the people they care.

Even tho not being skilled at the art of magic, Kiera!yuu is very athletic and Mobile they are very strong in managing to suppress many students using their skill, as well as master swordsmanship they are able to head on head with some powerful students like Lilia in martial arts.

𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐄!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🌹🌺

Penelope Eckhart was the original villainess of the otome game Daughter of the Duke - Love Project! in Normal Mode and the heroine in Hard Mode.She was the adopted daughter of Duke Eckhart, her role being to replace the Duke's original daughter, Ivonne Eckhart. She had a bad relationship with her family and was relentlessly abused by the servants which caused her to have a bad personality that earned her a bad reputation. She died in all of the original routes of the game in Normal Mode.

Penelope!yuu would approach relationships in Night Raven College with extreme caution would be thinking several steps ahead in every interaction.they’d be acutely aware of how fragile their position is and would work to secure their place in the school while avoiding conflict where possible.

Though they may come off as cold or indifferent at first, they are driven by the need to survive and avoid the metaphorical "bad ending." Yet, like Penelope, they harbor a secret desire for genuine care and understanding from others, even if they struggle to show vulnerability.

Similar to kierra yuu, Penelope!yuu would be sharp, immediately finding a solution over any situation, as well as a very skilled swordmaster. Have very quick and swift attacks before the enemy.

[hauntedheroines]

Happy Halloween, shippers! 🎃👻

As usual, check out our villain x heroine spooky movie recommendation list.

We have add one more movie to the list this year, and it can only be him, the ghost with the most: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!

[ohwrite]

Heroine grasps the attacking Villainess’ arm, she makes eye contact with her nemesis and, in a flurry of movements, restrains her with only her arms. Villainess squeaks, looking up at the heroine who caught her with rose tinted cheeks.

“Holy shit…” She whispers, daring not to breathe.

Heroine laughs, smiling down at her, satisfied. “‘Bout time someone put you in your place huh?”

Villainess’ face lights up even brighter. She stammers, attempting to get a sentence out before her nemesis places a finger to her lips, shushing her.

“You’re much cuter flustered out of words, so be a dear and be quiet~”

The villain nods, and Heroine giggles. Dragging her away to her home rather than The Agency.

[roseredart]

Decided to make a blog dedicated to fairy tale and fanart, probably only works of the public domain, and with 1920s beauty aesthetic 'cause that's what I like to paint

first post

[darklinaforever]

I get really annoyed by people who think that a problematic / toxic relationship necessarily involves physical abuse. Like it was a pure evidence. And here I am talking about a fictitious relationship.

Sorry, but no.

There are toxic relationships that can completely be written without there being gratuitous physical violence.

Daemyra, in the HOTD version for example (and not for the Fire and Blood version, who Daemyra is not toxic for me) is undeniably toxic, or at least problematic with episode 4 which demonstrates a certain attempt at Daemon's manipulation of Rhaenyra, although it ultimately does not go as far as at the end. But was there a need for him to strangle her in episode 10 ? No. Absolutely not. Besides, it's even rather incoherent.

Or the Darkling who also strangles Alina in season 2, even though he never hits /physically attacks her in the books. And no, the case of the amplifier does not count, because even if it is imposed by force on Alina, the Darkling remains disconcertingly gentle when he puts it on her. He clearly wasn't the type of character to do that.

Same for Lestat with Louis in the Interview With the Vampire show, it doesn't seem to me from my recollection of the book's version for the Loustat relationship, that Lestat ever did such a horrible and violent thing to Louis.

And I'm tired of this kind of bullshit.

Already because it only boils down toxic relationships to being physically violent, which is not the case in real life, and it's definitely not good to have this tendency to always add that when depicting toxic relationships, which can give a biased image of the latter.

The proof why I'm making this post is that I literally came across someone saying "it's stupid for someone to say they like fictional toxic relationships and not like when there is violence so that, well, what exactly did you expect ?".

Except that sorry, but toxic relationship is not always = physical violence. A toxic relationship can be devoid of it.

Then, no, it is not because a toxic fictional character will be physically violent with people that he will also be violent with the woman he loves. Sorry, but can you seriously imagine Cezare Borgia hitting Lucrecia ?

I do not think so, no ! Yet the relationship is clearly toxic !

So yes, we can like toxic things, but depending on certain cases, not appreciate physical violence at all.

And it's tiring to hear the opposite.

Please note, I have nothing against fictitious toxic relationships / toxic ships with physical violence. I have some myself, exemple :

But it must make sense with the characters represented, and not be gratuitous.

Just like we need to stop adding gratuitous physical violence to the adaptation of a relationship that didn't have it in the original material.

All of this frustrates and annoys me immensely.

[my-complicated-pairs]

To be clear: I hate Rings of Power. I have many issues with this show both as the supposed adaptation of Tolkien's work and as its own thing.

However, there's one thing I hate much more: when people insist that shipping a villain x heroine pairing makes you disgusting or a freak. If you ship something, it means simply that you enjoy this kind of stories in fiction, and it doesn't say anything about your moral compass.

Ship and let ship.

Yours sincerely,

a Tolkien fan, a Rings of Power hater and a villain x heroine shipper

[atlaserine]

Get on your knees

warning : suggestive but not too much idk

"Villain" Heroine spoke authoritatively. Straightening her posture, crossing her arms, leaning a bit on one leg. She looks up at him.

The villain pauses, taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor. he stares down at her, "Are you..giving me an order?"

...

The heroine smiled.

Villain narrowed his eyes at her smile, his irritation slowly returning. He moves closer and gripped her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. "Don't be cute, little hero. You shouldn't be giving me orders. You're in no position to do so." His voice cold with promises.

Heroine was, to be frank, scared. Villain had taken her since two days ago, ever since he found out she was hanging out with Villainess. Overprotective brother behaviour, Heroine thought. But she didn't want ro blame him, if her siblings became friends with her enemies, she'd go nuts too. And it was hell here, starting from being tied to a chair, to being interrogated and shocked.

But she has had enough. Enough of being scared, enough of being threatened, enough of being treated like a weakling. Even though, by fact, He is stronger and more serious, basically towering over everyone. She did not care! She is sick of everyone scaring her about how intense and violent he is. Even though what they said were all true- she was going to stand her ground.

...

also because the back of her knees were already hitting the edge of the bed.

But she had an idea. "Really? Get on your knees."

Villain stares at her in shock and disbelief. "Excuse me? did you just tell me to get on my knees?"

"I did" Heroine smiled again. Nonchalantly, she spoke again with a light tone "get on your knees."

Villain continued to stare at her, a mix of annoyance and surprise. He's not used to someone ordering him around like this, especially not someone who is clearly beneath him.

"Little hero, are you serious? You really expect me to get on my knees for you, just like that? Did I hit your head too hard? You do realize I could just snap your neck in half, right?"

Heroine didn't falter. She kept her smile, her posture and her arms crossed as she looks up at him, waiting.

Villain continues to glare down at her, his annoyance growing with each passing second as he clenched his fists. He can't believe the audacity she has right now. She's pushing his buttons and he's not about to let her get away with it.

"You have some nerve, hero. Telling me to get on my knees...you have no idea who the hell I am. I am not just going to bend over and kneel at your command."

However, after a few moments of silently staring down at her, he can feel his irritation slowly giving away. The way she's looking up at him with her arms crossed and a smile, her stubbornness and stupid bravery...goddamn it she's making it hard to resist. Especially since she's standing here, her body pressed up against his in the front of his bed like this.

Heroine still kept her smile silently.

Villain lets out a deep sigh, trying to fight his own impulses. His body is yearning for her, desperately wanting to give in, but his mind is telling him to stand his ground and not let her play him so easily.

"You really are a pain in the ass, you know that? You're lucky I have a high self control or else I'd be teaching you a lesson right here and now..."

Silent.

Villain steps even closer, the anger slowly fading from his expression. He can feel his body responding to her proximity, the heat and desire building up within him. But he's not about to let her win that easily nor show her how much she had an effect on him.

"You think you can just boss me around like this? You think you can just tell me to get on my knees and I'll obediently obey just like that?" He furrowed his brows, making his voice into a mock.

Silent.

Villain furrowed his brows, his mind and body fighting with each other. Some sort of Satan's whisper telling him to just give in to his twisted fantasies. But her damn smile and her commanding attitude were driving him crazy.

"You...you really expect me to kneel in front of you? You really think I would just...submit to you like that?"

Silent.

Fucking hell-

His body is practically screaming at him to give in, but his mind is still trying to resist. It's a losing battle; she has him wrapped around her fingers. He leaned close to her ear, his voice going lower

"...do you have any idea how difficult it is to resist you? To not just pick you up right now, throw you on the bed and show you exactly what happens to little heroes who think they can order me around?" He looks down to her eyes, his own eyes darkening."

Silent.

His self-control is wearing thin. He steps even closer, closing the remaining distance between them. "Muse, you are pushing my buttons here. Do you have any idea how badly I want you right now?"

Heroine smiled, "I'm waiting."

His irritation, anger, and self control has completely faded at this point. He can't resist it anymore, not when she's looking up at him with that stupid smile on her face and giving him commands. So the sadistic, violent villain slowly gets down on his knees in front of her, his eyes locked on hers as he does, placing his hands on both sides of her hips as he looks up to her as if he was worshipping a god.

"...Is this what you wanted, muse? Me on my knees for you?" He spoke, voice low with an unreadable expression.

Heroine tilted her head down at him, her lips finally twitching to a wider smile.

Villain was looking up at her with eyes that were dark and full of desire. He's on his knees, for once, completely at her mercy.

...

and a small part of him actually likes it.

Song inspiration :

The lyric being "you got me down on my knees, it's getting harder to breath" my GOD-

[save-the-villainous-cat]

in the most normal and un embarrassing voice: villain praising and telling hero she’s a good girl please? 🥺👉🏼👈🏼

LOVE YOYR STUFF!!!!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💗

“Do you even know how to use a gun?” the villain asked, raising their eyebrows. She turned around, annoyed and irritated.

“I am kind of in the middle of something here?” she mumbled as she assaulted the keys of the keyboard with her fingers.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. My boss is not gonna like this.” She looked back at the villain who was leaning against the doorframe easily, arms crossed. They smiled lazily, maybe even a little dreamily. Maybe from the alcohol, the heroine didn’t have time to dig into that deeper.

“Oh, poor supervillain. Getting all her data stolen.” She showed off her grimace of fake sympathy. “Tell her I’m really sorry. It’s nothing personal.”

“Hmm, that’s not good enough.” The computer was infuriatingly close to downloading all the data. She had never thought getting into the supervillain’s company was that laughably easy. Being a secretary was good for gathering information and teasing the villain was even better. Right now, however, she was much too stressed for their shenanigans.

Admittedly, it had taken a lot of time for the supervillain to trust her. The hero didn’t blame her.

“I’ve been too soft on you, I think. I didn’t tell her because she is a rather...difficult person and she hired you herself, so questioning her isn’t exactly the brightest thing to do.” The villain walked towards her, coming closer with each step. “But stealing data from her...that is a little far.”

“Why aren’t you celebrating with the others?” she asked. “You know, the company is a family. And five years is a big anniversary.”

They chuckled and the heroine could feel their presence right behind her.

“You’re not there either. They probably think I’m screwing you in the bathroom,” they said, watching as she downloaded everything.

“Not on the big desk in the office?” she asked and the villain actually laughed. It was adorable and a good sound, something that made her heart skip even though she didn’t want that. Their laugh was honest and...pretty.

“I can arrange that.” Download completed. “If you give me that flash drive.”

“Tempting,” she said. “But I’m like super attracted to this flash drive and you’re really not in its league.”

“Oh, really?” The villain’s voice was low, seductive even.

“Oh, really.” She let the flash drive fall into her purse, grabbed her gun and turned around. “Now, be a darling and get out of the way.

“You know I can’t do that. Not this time,” they said slowly.

“This data could save millions of people,” she argued.

“I’m not a hero.” She pressed the end of the gun into their throat and pushed them against the wall. However, the villain only laughed again. “Ah, there we go. Getting me riled up again.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said. Maybe her hand was trembling, she couldn’t tell. What a dumb thing to happen. She couldn’t shoot the villain and the villain would snitch either way. Fuck.

“Press harder, I’m into that.”

“I will kill you one day, I promise,” she hissed and then she did press the gun harder into their neck.

“God, good girl. Following orders so well,” the villain laughed. Their hands grabbed her wrists gently, warm thumbs against shaking flesh. “Fuck, you owe me big time for this.”

Her features softened.

“What?” The villain hummed and looked at her, as if they couldn’t decide if they should kiss her or not.

“Get out of here,” they said gently. “Pronto.”

She would’ve never admitted this but in this moment, she wanted to kiss the villain until both of them couldn’t breathe anymore.

[arealphrooblem]

Kidnapped by the Boss Part 4

Sorry for the wait but surgery went well and I'm back!

Part one here

Synopsis: Civilian is a secretary to the Prime Minster. But when the political summit between the city states goes awry, she finds herself kidnapped by the very boss she tried to protect and nothing is what it seems.

I’ll take it under consideration he said. That was not a guarantee or even a promise. It was nothing. A deep paranoia settled in her bones. It chased her throughout the day and haunted her at night. No matter how still and quiet the room was, she felt watched. It made using the bathroom or taking a shower the most terrifying and nerve wracking experience of her life. She chased shadows in the room like a lunatic before she deemed it safe enough, but even then she never felt entirely alone.

And she was, on the surface. Servants delivered food, books, even a basket of yarn and crochet needles (strange that the Prime Min — the King remembered that silly detail of her life) and then disappeared. Neither the driver or the King made an appearance. It was if she was a toy stowed away in an attic and forgotten all about. It was infuriating, as was her restricted access to news, television, newspapers, anything to do with the world outside this room.  

But the paranoia was worse. She didn’t sleep. She barely ate. She couldn’t read or crochet without having to get up and pace, like a lion in a zoo cage, strategizing for escape plans she didn’t dare enact for fear of her invisible guard.

By the time the driver did show up,  in lieu of the servants who normally served her breakfast, Civilian’s sanity was in tatters. She must have looked insane because he set down the tray immediately and took hurried steps towards her. Panic jerked her backwards, stumbling over the coffee table leg until her back hit the wall. He followed after her, brow furrowed in a mockery of concern.

“Don’t touch me,” she snarled as he lifted his hand up.

He ignored her, pressing the back of his palm to her forehead. She slapped it away, glaring fiercely.

“What has gotten into you?” he demanded.

“As if you don’t know! As if you haven’t been skulking around here just so I can go insane from feeling watched all the time!”

“Skulking?” he barked out a laugh. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Just following you around invisible all day? Like I have nothing better to do?”

Anger ignited, burning up her panic like kerosene. She shoved him with all the force she could muster, sending him stumbling back.

“And how would I know that you’re not? How am I ever supposed to know I’m actually alone when I shower or sleep? You could attack me at any moment and I would never see it! I’ve lived with that fear for days and it's not funny!”

She was yelling by the end of it, her voice ringing in the empty room. The driver looked bewildered in the face of it and she was too angry to be satisfied with it. Her throat tightened with tears of fury and she desperately bit the back. She refused to cry in front of him.

For a long moment the driver studied her, his face carefully neutral and impassive, as she struggled to get her breathing back in check. Then he rose his hands up, palms out, in surrender.

“I have not been here since you last saw me,” he said slowly. “You have been alone this entire time.”

“You expect me to take you at your word that that’s true?” she asked. Even still, the tension in her shoulders relaxed.

“No. It would be stupid to trust me. But my king — for whatever reason — is very fond of you. He entrusts your protection to me and he  didn’t do it so I could psychologically torment you. If you can’t trust my word, then trust his.”

She snorted. “He’s so fond of me that he locks me away in this room like a doll and never speaks to me.”

“We’ve been a little busy,” the driver snapped. “Plans that have been in place for years are finally moving forward. You were not supposed to be here.”

A pit started forming in her stomach. “What plans?”

“An excellent question. One you can ask the king. Today.”

She stared at him. “Today? Today? When?”

“Now. That’s why I’m here — to escort you.” He said this last part with a twist of bitterness, as if such a task lay beneath his skill set. Which it probably did.

“I can’t go now.” New panic flared up. “I’m not ready!”

He laughed again. “Why not — are you busy? Come on.”

She looked down at her rumpled shirt and leggings.  The servants had brought her soft, stretchy clothes that didn’t need exact sizing. “But I look —“

“—Like shit?” he finished. “Yeah. That’s what you get when you don’t sleep or eat. He has breakfast waiting and you can take a nap after.”

“If he’s the king, don’t I need to look presentable?”

“If you were anybody else. With you he doesn’t care. What he does care about is punctuality. So let’s go.”

With a firm hand on the small of her back, the driver guided her out firmly from the bedroom. Civilian smoothed her shirt out as best she could and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. While she had seen the King in robe and pajamas many times, he had never seen her in anything less than perfect professionalism.

The halls of the palace were old and ornate, with lush carpet and intricate crown molding and silk wallpaper. It shared few similarities with the sleek modern buildings of her parliament. Save for her clothes, Civilian felt like she’d stepped inside a fairy tale.

The driver led her through a confusing route of sharp turns and side doors and little staircases, keeping the layout of the castle a complete maze despite her trying desperately to remember her bearings. Finally they passed through a door that led her out into a walled garden.

Flowers in red, gold, and purple bloomed everywhere in immaculately manicured beds. Underneath a huge tree, a table was set up with three chairs and a generous breakfast spread. The King sat, spreading jam on a scone. To her relief he was dressed in soft pants and a sleep shirt. His hair looked slightly rumpled on one side and her heart squeezed at the painful familiarity of it all.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully, as if she had just stepped into his hotel room to badger him into getting dressed. Like she had done so many times.

Her feet dug into the ground, out of instinct, afraid of this mockery of their past relationship. The driver spread his hand over the middle of her back, thumb digging in the muscle as a warning. She walked to an empty chair and sat down, inwardly fuming.

The King’s happy grin faded as he took a closer look at her. Lines furrowed on his forehead and his eyes flickered over to the driver, his gaze suddenly cold and terrifying.

“It’s been handled,” the driver murmured, looking impressively stoic underneath that gaze.

When the King turned back towards her, his expression smoothed out into the warmth she was accustomed to. It hurt to know that it wasn’t real, that he thought he could fool her by wearing the same mask he did as prime minister. She channeled the driver’s apathy in her own gaze.  

“Are you hungry? I have all your favorites,” the King said, gesturing to the table.

Her stomach growled, her hunger suddenly ravenous. But she clenched her fists in her lap and resisted.

“What do you want?” she asked instead.

“For you to eat. There’s peach marmalade, soft boiled eggs, avocado, sourdough. Scones.”

He took a bite out of his rather pointedly. She crossed her arms and glared just as pointedly. Hiding under her panic and fear and exhaustion was the steel backbone that made her hustle the Prime Minister to his meetings and events when he got distracted by every phone and television in his vicinity.

 “I’m not going to be fooled with this fake version of yourself just because it's familiar. I’m not playing games, sir.”

He said nothing, turning his attention to spreading avocado on a slice of sourdough toast. Then he put it on a plate and held it up to her across the table. The gentle kindness from his eyes slid away, replaced with a stubborn, firm gaze.

“I’m not playing games either, Civilian. You’re not well and you’re going to fall ill so you are going to eat this before we discuss your future. Is that clear?”

Never had Civilian seen him so assertive. The Prime Minister phrased commands as requests and backed them up with a smile and doe eyes that few found easy to deny. Now those dark eyes looked at her with the command of a predator.

She dared a glance to the driver, who flickered his eyes to the plate as if to say, I’d eat if I were you.

Civilian snatched the plate from the King and took one muleish bite. It was delicious. Of course it was. As basic as it made her sound, she loved simple salted avocado on toast. She didn’t want to eat because she thought it would be horrible. But the list of things she had control over grew shorter and shorter each day.

Like the clouds breaking on a dark day, the warmth came back to the King’s eyes. “Good girl. You’ll need your strength so keep eating. Meanwhile, I feel like I should start this with an apology.”

Civilian almost choked on her toast.

“I had no intention of leaving you in that room for four days. I can see the toll it has taken on you.” Once again, his gaze flickered to the driver, as if laying the blame at his feet. “You were a  . . .surprise in our plans. And once we had put them into motion we couldn’t stop until certain things were done. I put you someplace safe and out of the way. I should have checked up on you sooner.”

“I’m fine,” she bit out. “I don’t need you to check up on me. I need you to take me home.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “As usual, your definition and my definition of fine vastly differs. But getting you home . . . that can certainly be arranged. However, I need you to make an informed decision and you have missed some crucial developments during your detainment.”

Her heart rose and crashed. Hope hung on a terrifyingly delicate thread. 

"What crucial developments," she asked, a pit forming in her stomach. 

The King leaned back in his chair, his gaze narrowed and business-like. 

"First, we must establish that, due to your stubborn recklessness, your absence is tied to mine. In the eyes of your country, our ambitions, decisions, and loyalties are tied together."

Your country. As if he hadn't helped to run it for the last five years. As if he had no connection or loyalty to a place he had defended and cared for. It chilled her. 

"What does that matter?" she asked. "We were always viewed like that. I worked for you."

Worked. Past tense. She realizes that technically she's out of a job now. Does this situation even qualify for unemployment?

"Yes, that's true. And that relationship will be to your detriment when I invade your country."

The words didn't make sense at first, almost as if her brain refused to process it. And then when the meaning became undeniable, it felt like he had sucked the air from the courtyard. The King continued on, either oblivious to her shock or ignoring it.

"I imagine they will pull you in for questioning when you first return and then arrest you when I invade. You can protest your innocence as much as you like, but I doubt they'd believe you. You ran straight to me during the attack at the summit, after all. They will think you a treasonous spy and they will imprison you indefinitely if you're lucky and execute you if you're not. After all, your absence thus far looks terribly guilty."

The sounds of the garden faded as a dull roar thundered in her ears. All the pieces started convalescing together and it made her feel faint. 

"You did this on purpose," she said, head swimming. "You kept me here long enough to make me look like a traitor so I can't go back."

"Of course you can go back, Civilian. I'm not going to force you to stay here."

"Would you let me leave and tell everyone your plans?"

He smirked. "And what are my plans? What details could you give away? You know nothing and you have no proof."

The truth of that hit her like a kick to the chest. He made sure to imprison her in every way that counts. Suddenly her throat felt tight and breath came in light and restricted. The King cocked his head to the side, brow furrowed. His gaze flickered to the driver. 

"Civilian looks ill. Perhaps you should take her back to her quarters."

He sounded muffled and far away. The driver guided her out of the chair and she let him, feeling dazed and dizzy. The walk back to her quarters passed in a hazy blur. She was grateful for the firm and guiding hand on her back through the maze of corridors. Just as she was grateful for the shut of the door behind her when she finally made it. 

Civilian collapsed to her knees on the lush carpet and sobbed, uncaring of any invisible watchers. 

Part five here

Taglist: @rivalriotrenegade @sunyside-world @fishtale88 @those-damn-snippets @suspiciousmuffin @thats-alittle-gay @girl-of-the-sea-and-stars

[caker-baker]

Placate

The hero wanted to believe it was one of their friends, an agency member, someone else, anyone else, they would have taken a burglar at this point.

But no. No friend, agency member, or burglar would leave the front door open so purposefully, so dauntingly.

They knew this day would come, they just didn’t imagine it would be so soon.

The light turned on.

“Where have you been?” The villain asked from the lounge chair, petting the hero’s cat.

It was very obviously a rhetorical question, the villain knew where the hero had been, because now the villain was here, too.

The hero’s eyes flicked down to their purring cat comfortable in the villain’s lap, back up to the villain’s expectant face.

“I was–am on an assignment.” They wondered how fast they would have to be to get their cat and then get to the panic button.

Not fast enough.

If they needed to be placating, they could be. It would what drew the villain to them, they knew that now.

“An assignment that takes six months?” The villain asked, lazily waving their free hand around. “An assignment that gives you this? It’s cutesy, comfortable. Too small for my taste, but you know that.”

It was a test hidden behind poisonously pleasant words.

Will you be telling me the truth? Are you foolish enough to lie?

A question the hero didn’t want to answer, but there were limited options.

Placate, placate, placate.

“It’s my final assignment.” The hero clenched their fists, nails digging into skin, forcing upon them clarity to think, a reminder not to stutter, not to feel. “Going civilian, for my safety.”

“Oh?” The villain’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “Do tell. What was so dangerous that your little agency felt the need to give you an identity change?

Another test.

“It was noted that the others–other–other villains,” The hero forced themselves to take a breath in, and clenched their fists even harder. “were targeting me, thinking it would hurt you.”

“Mm.” The villain cocked their head to the side, looking at the hero in an indecipherable way.

Disappointment? Amusement? Hunger?

The hero was never able to tell.

“Well. I can admit my faults, but this is an easy fix, my darling. I’ll handle the others. Now, the car’s been running just a bit too long, so if we could?”

The villain stood, still holding the hero’s cat.

“I can’t.” The hero’s fists unclenched, wondering if their cat could be swayed to jump from the villain’s arms. “I signed a contract. If I re-emerge, I could be considered an active threat, measures would be taken against me, um, I can’t.”

The villain smiled. “Now that is a bigger problem, but I could garner a few solutions. Come along, we can even bring…” They trailed off, looking at the cat’s name tag. “Chestnut.”

“I’ll become a public enemy. I don’t own the name Hero, I just use it, I–”

“And that’s the very problem, isn’t it?” The villain let Chestnut jump from their arms, watching the hero’s shoulders relax ever so slightly. “This day and age of heroics and villainy, it’s all very theatrical. We used to do this because of values, morals, plans for world domination.”

They gave the hero a once over.

“The other heroes are good at the limelight, thrive, even, it’s the whole reason they sign the contracts and take the name, but they can’t beat you in character, and the numbers of casualties in their fights versus yours speaks volumes. You weren’t good at the attention, not until I got to you, at least.”

“And I thank you for the help, but I’m done with the cameras, interviews, the saving people.”

“What a shame. You used to talk about being a symbol, about helping people, a hero through and through, not any of that pretending you’re a movie star. It’s what makes you…”

“Malleable?”

“I was going to say unique. No need for the dramatics.”

When the hero didn’t respond, didn’t move, didn’t even look like they were breathing, the villain’s polite mask dropped.

The hero hated that, how easily the villain could switch around their personality. They also hated the villain’s unblinking eyes.

The villain could blink, the hero was sure, but whenever it was just the two of them, the villain always made sure to be constantly watching.

“As I said, I can think of a few solutions to your problems.” They held out an expectant hand. “Shall we?”

“You were using me.” The hero blurted out. “You weren’t trying to help me be better, you were–you were–”

“I was what?”

“Making me into a tool. You would have turned me into a monster.”

The villain scoffed. “A monster? Please. You would have been beloved by the world, no contract or agency could hold you, you would have been second to none.”

“Except you.” The hero noticed that Chestnut was curling around the villain’s legs, slowly realizing that their best option at this point might have been to turn heel. “I would have been second to none except you.”

The villain smiled again, though it looked more like an animal bearing their teeth in annoyance.

“Eventually not. Once we’ve finished with the others, all the theatrics and the celebrity treatment, we could begin the real work. We could be equals, my darling.”

“You were manipulating me so that you could have the perfect opponent?” The hero felt bile rise in their throat.

There was evidence of the villain using them, solid proof shown directly after that scolding from the agency for allowing a villain to mentor them, but to hear it from the villain themselves was something else entirely.

“Twist my words in whatever way you’ll have. We both win. You won’t have to worry about the performance of being a hero, you can simply go out and save the day how you like. Tell me it’s not tempting. Now, it has been a treat tracking you down, my darling, they hid you well, but I must insist we leave. There’s a long drive ahead of us.”

“No.”

Chestnut had wandered closer to the hero.

“Ah, would you prefer we fly? It’s not my favorite, but–”

“I’m not going with you.” They reached down slowly, picking up Chestnut, hoping to make it look as though they were holding her for comfort.

The villain watched, their jaw clenched, anger barely concealed.

“I made you.” They seethed through an unusually quiet voice. “And if I have to, I will break you, and build you up again.”

The hero took a step back. “Find another hero to manipulate.”

With a deep breath, the villain collected themselves, never breaking eye contact with the hero.

“You know, part of the plan was to make you fall in love with me.” They admitted, taking only a step forward to match the hero’s step back. “Or at least have you grow fond enough of me that you wouldn’t betray me so easily. But obviously, it didn’t work. Lucky for the both of us, I can work with fear. You have an abundance of that, don’t you?”

The hero turned heel.

There was no placating a villain.