Civilians - Blog Posts
Cousins came to help!
Priority Target
Secrets - part 2
part 1 here
The morning light peeks in through the slightly ajar curtains, the rays making Adrian's blond hair look almost golden. Ash just woke up, then trudged half asleep to the kitchen for a glass of water when the sight made them stop in their tracks.
"Good morning!" , Alex announces, coming out of their room sporting a big yawn and the moment just breaks. Ash is just... standing there, in the middle of the hallway, doing practically nothing, staring at Adrian's sleeping figure which only just now twitches a little because of the sound. How were they supposed to explain this?
Ash decides to start with a "Good morning", taking quicker steps to the kitchen and hoping that Alex did not notice the tiny stutter in their voice.
"So, did Adrian finally complete their work?" Alex asks, aggressively poking the sleeping figure on the chair. Ash winces at the sight- that's definitely not the way to wake someone up.
Ash clears their throat with a low hum, "Not really, but they only have one more page left to complete. I was thinking about waking them up in another fifteen minutes-
"WHAT?! THEY STILL HAVE A PAGE LEFT!" Alex screeches, successfully waking up Adrian who jolts awake in their chair, staring at nowhere in particular, a hand coming up to rub their eyes. Ash just sips their water, staring at the scene taking place in the living room from the kitchen. Alex sure was lively in the morning, a little too lively for their personal taste. Adrian didn't seem to mind though, as they patiently answered to any of the questions that Alex had regarding their work. I guess this is a way of caring too, Ash thinks. I wouldn't know, since no one cared for me like that.
Adrian's eyes flicker to theirs for a moment during the conversation, and their face breaks into this bright grin and Ash feels like they're seeing the morning sun all over again. They're too bright, but I can't look away. No... I don’t want to.
"Hey Ash, good morning!"
Ash chokes on their water a little but somehow manages to utter a coherent "Good morning" in return. They make a mental note that Adrian’s morning voice has super high destructive powers - those husky undertones to that already attractive voice didn’t help calm their erratic heartbeats at all.
"What, since when did you both become such good friends?!" Alex asks, sounding almost jealous.
Alex’s voice is nice too, a little high, but calming all the same, Ash notices.
"Since last night. " Adrian replies, winking suggestively, earning a punch to their shoulder.
"Ow!"
Ash swears that they tried, tried to keep in the laughter that threatened to tear out of their throat, but they knew that they failed miserably when the first syllable of a chuckle tumbled out of their lips. That chuckle multiplied and soon they're full blown laughing, hand clutching at their stomach.
Adrian and Alex stop their playful banter, all attention trained on their new friend who seemed to be having a good time.
Laughter is a contagious thing, and soon enough, the three of them start cackling, and it's a start to a pleasant morning.
Well, at least until Adrian remembers that they still had their essay to complete.
"Oh shit-
-
Adrian put each of their arm around Ash and Alex, in an attempt to give them a group hug. Alex seemed like they didn't mind for a whole minute, and then they pull away, spouting something along the lines of, "Don't think you can pay me back with just a hug Adrian, this is not going to happen every time-
But Adrian and even Ash, who had just properly met the two of them yesterday can literally see the same situation happening again, like deja vu, but in reverse.
"Well, do you also expect anything else other than a hug from me?" Adrian asks Ash with a cheeky smile, who has been silent for the most part. They could understand that Ash was a person of few words, unlike their noisy roommate.
Ash chuckles, "It would be great if I could hang out with you both more often, if that's okay with you both of course."
A chorus "Of course you can!" is the next thing that Ash hears, making their spine tingle pleasantly.
"You both are so loud, you know that?" Ash says, faking annoyance.
"Well, that's kind of our specialty." Alex grins.
"More like your specialty Alex." Adrian teases.
"Okay, you're going to pay for that Adrian!"
Ash just snorts, watching their first friends ever bicker happily.
Maybe if I'm with you both, I can forget that I'm a villain. Just for a little while.
-
It's been a jolly few months after that, both hero and villain not having much on their plate. But that instead only succeeded in causing immense worry for both the sides (from the villains side, probably only Ash was worried), because not having much to do could only mean one thing-
The villains were planning something big.
Adrian wished that this was like the other jobs, where getting less work was actually a good thing. They find themselves growing restless, looking down at their sweaty palms, even though the night breeze is pretty chilly.
"Adrian, thanks for waiting! Let's go home."
Adrian had come to the grocery store to accompany Alex on a small errand. They said that they were going to buy ingredients for dinner and Adrian thought that it was only right for them to come along, since Alex was cooking for them and Ash. Ash had said that they would drop by later.
It was pretty late in the night, but they weren't worried for themselves, they were the hero, they could manage if anything were to happen. They were however, concerned for Alex's safety. They were a normal civilian and thus had no idea of their other hero persona, about the world of violence and bloodshed that hero was a part of. And they wanted it to stay that way.
Heroes and villains always wore a mask to protect their identities, so there was close to no way for their enemies to find out about their real identity.
At least, that was what Adrian had believed, up until then.
But before Adrian can understand what’s happening, they feel something hard connect to the back of their head, making their vision swim.
No... no... stay awake!
Alex screams their name out, and Adrian suddenly feels so helpless.
Why is all this happening?! Why are they hurting Alex? They have nothing to do with this!
Adrian's ears ring painfully and they just want all of this to stop. They want to stop hurting.
"Stop it... please!"
The last thing they see before everything goes black is a knife pressed to Alex's neck.
Here's the second part / *slides some drama in here* / a little more drama in the next part / ash is still waiting for dinner and they have no clue, the poor thing / adrian knew that grocery store trips were tiring for a reason, but boy were they not expecting this / alex is in for a ride
Secrets - part 1
Note : Adrian, Ash and Alex are all unisex names, so you're free to imagine your preferred gender in your head ^^
Adrian groans, staring at the blank notebook in front of them. They were supposed to write an essay which is to be submitted tomorrow but they can't seem to find the thing called motivation for the life of them. They've just been feeling so lazy and they can't figure out why.
Even though they may just look like any normal college student who's struggling with their classes, they had another, quite major role to play in society- they were the Hero, and as the title suggests, their job description consists of fighting off villains, rescuing normal civilians, smiling, and more smiling. Adrian wouldn't admit it, but it did get tiring at times. And recently, they've been having to go to these night escapades a lot, since their nemesis, Villain, true to their job description has been causing mischief the entire past week, making Adrian bite off more than they can chew. Thankfully they weren't any serious crimes and most of the time, Adrian felt like they were dealing with a child seeking attention.
And thus here they are, tired of being productive and procrastinating like tomorrow doesn't exist. Oh how they wished that being a hero gave them some leverages in college, but their superiors would bite their head off if word got out. Being a hero was sworn to secrecy, kind of like a secret agent, except in this case, Adrian has to play an entirely different persona.
They groan again, just in time as their friend /roommate walks into the room. "Hey, what's up? Did you get that homework done?"
Adrian gives them a look like they're staring into the void, "You think I'll look like this if I did?"
Their roommate Alex sighed, clearly to them it didn't look like Adrian was going to be done anytime soon and it was already 12 am. They just wanted to sleep, without having to listen to Adrian's groans of agony throughout the night.
"Okay, you clearly need a change of pace so I'll call up this other friend of mine who's great at studying. I met them during a group project and they're like so good!"
Adrian scoffs, but allows Alex to do whatever they want to. It's not like they were bad at studying, they just didn't feel like doing it right now.
Adrian almost dozes off when they hear a loud knock. Alex literally skips over to the door, opening it and eagerly welcoming their new friend into the room. Adrian manages to sit up, still groggy and shakes their head, trying to get themselves to wake up. Once their eyelids cooperate enough, they look up to find two pairs of worried expressions thrown towards them. They immediately whirl around, facing the opposite way, embarrassment eating up their cheeks.
"Uhm, are they okay?" A voice that Adrian has never heard before speaks up. They guess that they're the friend who studies oh so well.
"Well, they're generally better than this, just on lower spirits today." Alex tries to speak up for their roommate.
After explaining the situation to the newcomer, Alex disappears into the quarters of their room with a friendly, "just call out if you need anything!"
Adrian sighs, wanting nothing more then to curl up in their blankets and fall asleep while watching something on their laptop. They were so inside their head, that they failed to notice soft footsteps approaching them and nearly jumped out of their skin when they felt a gentle touch on their shoulders. The said person immediately took a few steps back, clearly flustered by Adrian's reaction.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." They speak out, voice sincere.
Adrian immediately felt guilty. They were here for their sake, to help them finish their assignment and here they were, being most possibly the rudest person on the planet. "No no, it's my fault, I wasn't really paying attention."
The newcomer smiles at that and Adrian feels their chest tighten in a way that it has never done before. What the hell?
"I'm Adrian, by the way," they say, desperate to keep the conversation going, "and you are?"
"Ash. I guess Alex didn't tell you much about me?"
"Not much except for the fact that you study really well and that's why you would be the perfect inspiration for me to finish this essay."
Ash laughs at that, "I do handle my studies okay, but I don't know how good of an inspiration I can be, but I'll try my best."
Adrian looks at them, face soft, "You're really a nice person you know?"
Ash almost chokes on air, "Huh?"
Adrian realises that that was probably a really random thing to say, voice spluttering as they try to figure out a way to make this conversation less awkward than it already is.
"N-no, I just meant that you really have no reason to be here, you don't even know me and here you are, willing to help me with my essay and everything. "
Ash chuckles shyly and Adrian has to mentally punch themselves to remind them not to stare at how fine they look, standing under the yellowish lighting of their dorm, the shadows painting their face just right. And not to mention that silky voice... oh God.
" -ping people."
"Huh?" Adrian has to ask, as they just returned to reality from inside their head.
Ash just smiles, repeating again, "I guess it doesn't feel so bad helping people sometimes, and that's why I'm here."
Now it's Adrian's turn to smile, and they tell Ash to sit down and get comfortable, while they pop into the kitchen to make two cups of hot chocolate, Adrian and Ash falling into easy tunes of conversation soon after.
-
It's almost half past two and Ash is staring at Adrian, who is peacefully dozing off on their desk. They sigh, eyes fluttering close for a brief moment, just enjoying this tiny moment of peace. Life is anything but peaceful for Ash because of their other secret identity- they were a villain, and its been days since Ash has felt so at peace. It was getting harder to just stay alive every day, and it didn't help that the other villains around town just keep getting greedier, making them take part in reckless missions. A distressed sigh leaves their lips, as they force all the depressing thoughts back down. They didn't want to think about that right now. Right now, they were safe. For some reason, staying like this besides Adrian made them feel some sort of a familiar warmth settle in the pits of their stomach, though this is the first time that they've met them. It made Ash feel good.
I'm just overthinking this whole thing, as usual, they sigh, giving their head a little shake. They stand up from the couch and tiptoe over to the table where Adrian's sleeping to check on how much they've completed. They still have a page left, their eyes flicker to the clock that reads 4:45 am, so it'll be fine if I let them sleep in a bit more right? Ash did walk over to Adrian's desk with the intention of waking them up but after seeing that peaceful smile, and the way they're sleeping comfortably even on an arm chair, Ash guessed that maybe they really did need their sleep.
Okay, I'll wake them up a little later, and with one last glance, Ash walks back over to the couch, deciding to get some sleep of their own.
This is going to have two more parts I think / so stay tuned! / I was procrastinating so decided to let hero procrastinate too lol / well at least they have villain helping them out / I'm soft / also I played around with tenses for this snippet (you'll see in the upcoming parts) / I hope you all like it anyways:)