#how did i start as a junior and end up as a junior/admin/ceo/photographer/director/events planner

[raineandsky]

#101

It’s six in the evening. The villain knows this from the telltale sound of plastic scraping against the wooden floor. The sound is accompanied by the undeniably incredible smell of food.

They don’t bother turning their gaze from the window—they can see the hero in the reflection anyway. They nudge the tray into the room as far as they dare, lingering awkwardly on the threshold for a moment.

“Finding everything okay?” they ask after an unbearably thick silence.

“Found everything but my morality,” the villain retorts flatly. “Keeping me in here won’t make me a goody two-shoes like you, y’know.”

The villain had expected worse; concrete floors, metal bars. But here they are, in a plush bed, looking out to the beautiful scenery beyond, a goddamn lasagne sitting on a plate for them. 

“Was compassion not a good enough reason to have you in here the first three times?” the hero asks, their voice halfway between confused and joking. “I get the impression you like it though, seeing as you haven’t… left this room.”

The villain scoffs. “Escaped, you mean.”

“Left,” the hero corrects. “You’re not… locked in here, you know.”

The villain finally snaps their gaze from the window. The hero flinches slightly at the speed of it. “What?”

“You’re not locked in here.” The hero shifts on their feet restlessly. “Did you never even try the door?”

It’s too embarrassing to admit that it was too nice here to bother trying to leave. “I like to get my escapes right first time. I won’t try it until I need to.”

“Right.” The hero shuffles again. “Well, there’s a lot of villains who know you’re here and have been wondering where you are.”

“Villains like who?”

The hero smiles, like they’ve fallen into a trap. “Come outside and find out.”

The villain scowls at that. The hero raises their eyebrows expectantly. “Eat your food,” they say casually. “Then come say hi, okay?”

“No.”

The hero sighs, like this is a conversation they’ve had a thousand times. “The door’s always open,” they say gently. “Come see the others when you feel up to it.”

They linger in the doorway for a moment but the villain offers no response, so they simply sigh defeatedly and carefully shut the door. 

Tsch. Does the hero think they’re stupid? They’d open that door and heroes would descend on them.

The day they leave this room, it’ll be as part of their greatest escape yet.