#sidekick and hero

[avvail]

prompt #84

“You’re annoying,” the hero groans, turning away from the sidekick as they cut them off abruptly. “Just stop talking for two seconds.”

The sidekick pauses, the words drying in their throat. They look down, shifting on the spot.

“Right, okay,” they murmur softly, disheartened. “I’m sorry.”

The hero doesn’t respond, and the sidekick’s lips curl into a soft frown. They stand there, wondering if the villain had been right about this all along. It was getting harder and harder to keep their mind straight.

[epiclamer]

HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS, DEEP IN THE SPRUCE, ON THE SHORE OF THE LAKE, IT’S CAMP LITTLE MOOSE!!!!

High and Mighty

The villain had been debating entering the hero’s cell for what? Ten? Maybe fifteen minutes now? Graceful footing, yet awkward stance as they hesitated in front of the iron door.

It seemed like a terrible idea for the most part. But on the other hand, they owed the hero a visit.

When villain had been imprisoned, Hero had visited them more than once. Engaging in daily conversations and making sure they only received the best of treatments from the guards and other guests.

Yet after eight months of Hero’s capture, Villain couldn’t afford to visit even once?

They hated the feeling of owing a hero, but they hated the guilt of not showing up even more.

Villain braced themselves, placing a hand on the large metal handle. Whatever state the hero was in on the other side was not going to be pretty, eight months locked in an abandoned warehouse at whomever’s mercy was guaranteed to be a nightmare.

Even Villain felt sick when they saw the message shared throughout the villains community. Free use, Hero; tied up in a room full of tools, address is 2509 Pine Street, warehouse on the left, do what you please.

No note of who had caught them nor a tally of who had used them. Villain, honestly, did not want to know.

With one deep breath, trying their best to prepare themselves, and one steady push of the door, they were in.

The first thing to reach them was the smell, metallic and bitter. Bile rising to their mouth before they could see a thing.

Once their eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, they noticed the stain on the floor. Maroon and sticky, not dried. Then the tools, shelves upon shelves of tools, ranging from dusty and never used all the way to dripping of fresh blood.

Villain wanted to swallow, but they couldn’t. Everything just got worse the longer their eyes stayed open.

“Hero…?” Their voice was tentative, like they weren’t even sure whether or not the person in front of them was who they thought. In the light, they definitely didn't look like their Hero.

The other didn't respond, lifting their face up slightly to catch a glimpse of the newest intruder, of their new torturer. But when their eyes landed on the villain--despite their multiple beatings--they couldn't wipe the grin off their face.

"F-Finally... took y-you a while, h-huh?"

Out of everything the villain had thought the hero might say, this was nowhere near their list. And the comedic aspect that they still managed to bring to the table only confused the villain further.

"What?"

Hero smiled even brighter, leaning their head back. "T-took you a while... 've b-been waiting~"

Villain didn’t trust their voice enough to respond. They were afraid it might crack or they might breakdown completely if so much as a sound escaped their lips. Guilt bubbled up inside them and seeped through their muscles into their bones, into their brain.

It hurt to see the hero like this. They couldn’t help but recoil even if just slightly at the sight. They had done this. They had allowed this to happen. And the hero had been waiting for them all along.

Unawarely, the villain’s eyes avoided the hero, it felt like the longer they stared, the more real it became. By a pure accidental movement, their eyes landed back on the many tools surrounding them. Hero flinched when they saw where the other’s attention had gone, but steeled themselves back over when the villain noticed.

“R-Ready?” Hero waggled their eyebrows jokingly, blood had crusted over them which took any and all lightheartedness from it.

“For what…” As soon as the villain had asked they regretted it. They didn’t want an answer. It was just out of habit to question.

The crime-stopper looked even more exhausted at this point. Having to explain to villain everything while trying to keep the mood light killed what little energy they had left.

Villain noticed for the first time just how small they looked, not all heroic anymore. Dragged by the hair off their pedestal to be ravaged by violent villains from all over.

“Kill me, Villain.” Their eyes began to water as their bottom lip shook. “Please, I-I can’t take this a-anymore—”

Hero kept talking, kept rambling through their emotions. Letting everything slip. Their steeled expression, cocky tone, hidden tears, everything.

Finally letting everything go.

The villain on the other hand, did not have the same idea in mind. “No.”

The mindless rambling stopped. Shutting Hero up so quickly that every word jumbled on their tongue. They looked shocked, but mostly betrayed. They had waited eight months for the villain, knowing they were the only one who would be willing to end their suffering.

And they had said no.

“I won’t kill you.” I can’t. “I’ll do you one better, I’ll kill whoever put you in here.” The villain stuttered, trying to get their thoughts in order. “You don’t deserve to be here.”

Villain took a step forwards, the way Hero flinched only fuelled their anger; their hunger to avenge. “Who.”

“Please, Villain…”

“Was it Supervillain? Superhero? It has to be one of the supers, you’re impossible to catch otherwise.” The criminal scoffed, discussing their thoughts out loud in hopes of the hero’s aid. Meanwhile, their hands got busy with untying the chain that restrained the other. Fiddling with the massive padlock at the end, they searched for something to pick it with.

Hero let their head fall, avoiding the villain at all costs despite having begged for their attention just before. Despite having waited for months for their arrival. Now they couldn’t face their own shame.

They didn’t even notice when their bonds fell to the floor, releasing them after so long. Only coming to when Villain’s hand gently took their chin and tilted their head up. “Who brought you here, Hero?”

Every muscle in their frail body tensed, tensed with shame and failure. The name felt like a bullet to the heart, “Sidekick.”

[whump-in-the-closet]

"N-no, please, I don't want-"

"You know, it's funny that you still think you have a say in this..."

Sidekick muttered an apology they didn’t mean.

Hero stood with his back to them but whirled on them when he heard this. “What’s that?”

Sidekick kept their eyes on the tiled floor. It was an ugly shade of yellow, further emphasized by the blood splattered at random. “I said, sorry for sneaking out last night.”

Hero towered over them and Sidekick shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Hero’s breath was hot on their face when he snapped, “When I accepted you as my apprentice, I was under the impression you would dedicate your motivation and time to my work. Our work.”

Sidekick hesitated. “I…I am!”

“I was under the impression that my training was tiring.“

“It is!”

“Then you,” Hero’s voice dropped to a hiss. “are clearly not dedicating yourself fully to this mission if you have time for little escapades like last night.”

Sidekick’s head swam. This was not what they expected and this was not the bright smiling Hero of the press and billboards.

Hero grabbed them by the back of their collar, twisting it sharply. “Your life is your training. Do you understand me?”

“Yes!”

“You will address me as Sir.”

Sidekick didn’t wait to be prompted. “Yes Sir!”

Hero smiled like he did in commercials and when shaking Senator’s hands, but Sidekick saw now how it didn’t reach his eyes— an empty grin. A terrifying one.

“Consider this part of your training,” said Hero and dragged Sidekick to a side door.

He opened it and hauled them inside a white room. Barely larger than a closet, with white walls and floor.

Sidekick panicked even as Hero let go of them. No no no no—

“Please, I’m sorry!”

Don’t leave me—

Hero paused at the door.

“P-please, no, I don’t want—” Sidekick hadn’t realised they were crying.

Hero only laughed. “You know, it’s funny that you still think you have a say in this. Don’t worry, kid, we’ll make a hero out of you yet.” He locked the door behind him.

Sidekick curled up into a ball and let the white room crush them.

[oopsiwhumpeditagain]

villain has been watching hero and sidekick for some time. villain knows that sidekick is young, and doesn't know better than what they were told so they purposefully make sure to avoid hurting them. however, villain starts to notice many injuries on sidekick, ones that are supposed to be from villain...

they investigate a little and realize that hero isn't who they say they are, and who is really good?

[blackrosesandwhump]

March of Pain 1: Depression

CW: emotional whump, guilt

It’s almost midnight, and hero can’t find sidekick anywhere.

His first thought: villain. Villain must have done something. But his gut tells him no, and he listens to it, combing the mansion through, searching. Nowhere. Sidekick is gone. Maybe he ran away? No, he wouldn’t do that.

And then hero remembers: the panic room. He hasn’t checked there yet. That must be where sidekick is hiding.

He punches in the code. The steel door opens slowly, revealing a huddled form on the floor, his head buried in his arms.

“You’re really hard to find when you want to be,” hero says, forcing a laugh to cover his subsiding concern. But the look on sidekick’s face when he raises his head brings the concern right back again.

“I’m…I’m not good enough, am I?” sidekick asks.

“Not good enough?” hero echoes, sitting down next to him. The panic room is cold.  “What are you talking about?”

“The other day,” sidekick continues, his voice a little uneven. “I messed up. I made you get hurt. You could have—”

“Well, I didn’t, so don’t beat yourself up. Besides, you’re learning. It’s all part of training.”

“It’s still my fault,” sidekick mumbles, turning away. He wants to be alone.

Hero gets up, walking back out into the brightly-lit study with a reassuring smile over his shoulder. He thinks he hears through the open door of the panic room a final mutter from sidekick.

All my fault.

@marchofpain

[amethyyst]

injury

cw: injury, hostages

Sidekick finished wrapping the civilians leg. "There, done."

The woman looked up at them, tears in her eyes. "Where's my son?"

"He's safe, please don't worry." Sidekick sat back on their heels, forcing a smile. "He's with hero,so please, try not to wordy too much. Try to breath."

The woman looked around, her gaze wandering around the warehouse. The fight was going on outside, at the edge of the forest.

A villain had been spotted at the campsite, so sidekick, hero and a trainee had observed them for a while, until the villain had noticed them and taken two people as hostages.

Two other civilians had been injured. Sidekick had dragged the woman off. Her injury was worse than the other persons and needed to be treated.

Her hand clawed at sidekicks sleeve. "Please. My son."

Sidekicks heart broke at her tone. For a second they wondered if their mother would act the same if they were in this situation.

No, no time for that train of thought.

"Miss, I promise you that we will try our very best to keep your son - and everybody else - as safe as possible. If you son ended up hurt in any way, I'm really sorry. But please," they tried, putting a hand on her shoulder." If you could please try to stay as calm as possible and not move, you would really help us a lot."

The woman stayed silent.

But then, she nodded. Her voice shook. "Please keep him safe."

"We will try our best."

[skylersprompts]

DC x DP Prompt *24*

Something has changed. Everyone in the hero community could feel it, even the ones outside of the Justice League.

Over night it seemed like all of them got stronger, faster and more resilient when they were trying to protect someone.

On the other hand, if one of them tried to use their skills to do something unheroic, it was harder to use them and other heros seemed to be able to sense their betrayal easier.

It took some time for Zatanna and the rest of the Justice League Dark to figure out what was going on. Mostly because they didn't think of this specific thing.

A new god had ascended. Something that happened rarely, especially nowadays. But the magic users were sure. Every hero they had checked, had a divine blessing from a new patron god. And every former hero who had fallen to villainy in the last few month had a curse put on them.

The god of super heros had ascended and was watching over them. While some heros got paranoid, others felt some sense of pride and relief.

And maybe it wasn't a bad thing, if something else was making sure that evil wouldn't take hold of them. As soon as they knew their name, they could properly worship them.

[nelkcats]

A Little bird told me

Danny knew his dimension didn't need him. It had been a long time since it stopped needing him, a long time since he had to be content to spend most of his days in the Infinite Realms. His sister and friends were too busy these days to pay attention to him; Danny understood, it's not like he could work or have a job, considering he'd stopped growing at 21 and people would start asking questions eventually.

Honestly, it was a relief that he'd even been able to grow up to that age, Clockwork's knowing look told him he had help with it.

So, he distracted himself by learning things from the other ghosts in the Realms, who were definitely as bored as he was. He even managed to get Vlad to teach him duplication, but it wasn't that interesting after a while. Though he had become interested in the different dimensions that Clockwork watched over.

The problem was that there was one dimension that had caught his attention (one full of heroes and magic) but they always made the worst decisions. There came a point where he decided to interfere, Clockwork seemed amused so he figured he wasn't going to stop him.

As he thought about how to infiltrate (definitely not as a hero, he loved his retirement, thank you very much), he remembered a rather...odd power he had recently discovered.

Danny had discovered that he could shapeshift. The problem was that he could only shapeshift into dead animals and well, while it was fun to scare others, he didn't know how well people would take a ghost crow with ectoplasm coming out of it's wounds.

Figuring it was better than nothing, he transformed into a bird and flew through the portal; he flew towards John Constantine, who seemed fed up with his life. Constantine knew the bird was fucking weird the moment it sit on his shoulders but he had better things to take care of, like the demon in front of him.

Said bird apparently knew the way to defeat the demon, because he started naming the ingredients needed to banish it. Constantine saw it with narrowed eyes and asked if he wanted his soul, the bird pecked him, looking annoyed.

From there, seeing that the dead bird was doing no harm, Constantine let it stay. It was oddly useful and he had sold his soul for less.

Danny spent his days whispering things to Constantine to defeat enemies and the hellbazer gave him cookies in return (the halfa really wanted to be offended), when the League saw Constantine with a dead crow on his shoulder they wondered if he had finally lost his mind.

John commented that his name was Ghosty (he was pecked again) and that he was useful, unfortunately for the superhero community, Constantine had never been that useful and therefore they couldn't complain (but why did he suddenly know all the existing gossip?, he kept bribing them with it! His crow looked amused too).

Every time Constantine won a battle without explanation, someone would make the mistake of asking how he did it. With a shit-eating grin, Constantine would point to his shoulder and say "a little bird told me."

Danny was so tempted to shape-shift just to bite his head off, but the cookies were good.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

So sidekick is like the protective younger sibling (or younger sibling figure) of hero and they find out their older sibling is having a thing with the villain so they go and confront the villain and is all like “you don’t deserve to date my big sibling you sick, nasty villain”

But then villain pulls out the reverse uno card and is all like “oh please as if i don’t know you’re secretly seeing my henchman at the club every Friday night 🤨” then sidekick is like “😦😦they’re your HENCHMAN?-“

“I swear, if you touch them—”

“Oh please, they beg me for it.” They took a sip of their drink and leaned back, satisfied by the entertainment the sidekick gave them.

They were a lot like the hero, the villain realised. An angrier and smaller version of their nemesis.

“Ugh. Ew. Argh— I mean it, if you hurt them, you’re done.” The sidekick raised their finger but the villain couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you gonna do? Uninvite me to your birthday party?”

“You—”

In a sense, it put the villain’s mind at ease. To know that someone was there who was just as worried, just as protective over the hero was comforting. The hero needed to be protected with all their hot-headedness and impulsive decisions.

They could get into a lot of trouble, into a lot of fights. The villain had seen the scars.

“Listen, kid. You’re worried. But I promise, I don’t have any ill intentions.” They tapped their fingers against their glass.

The villain couldn’t get their mind off the hero. It was an actual problem at this point. It was more than a crush, more than dating. The villain was so helplessly devoted they found themselves pathetic.

A few months prior, they would’ve loathed this. But it was easy to forget everything when the hero’s hand was on their arm. When their fingers intertwined. When the hero held onto them when they got scared.

“Sorry, but I don’t exactly trust a villain. Do you think I’m dumb?”

“No. You’re clever and that’s why you’re going to believe me,” the villain said. “If I wanted them dead, they would be. Instead, I am stitching them back together.”

“That’s my job.”

“It shouldn’t be. You’re a kid.”

“I’ve been taking care of them my entire life.”

The villain tilted their head, smiling sadly.

“And that’s rather sad, don’t you think? The amounts of blood you’ve seen, the variety of wounds someone can endure — no child should see something like that.”

This time, the sidekick didn’t say anything, they just stared at the villain’s desk rather angrily. It was frustrating, the villain was fully aware of that.

It must’ve been difficult for the sidekick to realise something was changing, that their role as a caretaker was shifting. It must’ve been difficult not to feel replaced.

“I know you don’t agree with my methods. Neither does my lover. But I can promise you to take care of them, whatever it takes. You don’t have to carry this burden anymore.”

“It’s not a burden,” the sidekick snapped and the villain realised that the sidekick could’ve become a villain easily. They were angry and didn’t know how to handle that anger. They were frustrated and didn’t know how to express it. If they had been around the wrong people at the wrong time, they would’ve made a perfect victim of manipulation.

The villain wasn’t going to let that happen.

“They talk about you all the time,” the villain said. “Brag about your grades and awards.”

The sidekick looked up, eyes wide.

“What?”

“Oh, yeah. You play the violin, don’t you? And you’ve been obsessed with this new video game, aren’t you?”

The sidekick nodded. Suddenly, they seemed a little embarrassed.

“But you also get into a lot of trouble at school. Can’t stand bullies?”

The sidekick shook their head.

“They couldn’t be more proud,” the villain said. For a second, all was quiet. The villain was reminded of a lost childhood, of tears and fear. Of feeling alone, of losing everything. “Listen. They love you more than anything and I cannot change that, even if I wanted to. And I don’t. I guess I am trying to say that there’s two people now who can protect them. Plus, they’re not completely helpless.”

Now, the sidekick smiled softly.

“They’re stupid, though.”

“Oh, totally,” the villain agreed.

“They need me.”

“You need them just as much. They can’t give you that when they’re exhausted and need stitches all the time.”

“…I guess you have a point.” The sidekick let out a big sigh and rubbed their face with their hands. And that was the moment the villain knew they had changed their mind. It wasn’t easy to let go of habits and the villain was fully aware that this wasn’t over, that the sidekick would try to slip back into their role every now and then.

But this was a great start. That kid needed more free time.

“I always do.” The villain grinned. “They’re in good hands, don’t worry. I’ll take over the bloody parts and the tears, you do the video games and laundry fights, alright?”

“Ugh. Fine. That doesn’t mean I like you,” the sidekick said. They stood up, false annoyance all over them.

“Mmm, don’t worry. That’ll kick in later. Now get lost, don’t you have a science project or something to take care of?”

“You’re so annoying.” They were heading for the door but the villain had one last sideswipe. They couldn’t help themselves.

“Oh, tell my henchman to do their work on time when you see them tomorrow, will you?” They tried not to smile when the sidekick turned around.

“Excuse me?” The villain stood up, walked around the table.

“Tomorrow at the club, I mean. I’ve heard you’re quite the wildcards together.”

“Hey, what do you mean, your henchman?”

“Just try not to devour each other in front of other people, I don’t want to hear anything about that.”

The villain gave them a smile and pushed them gently out of the room.

“Woah, wait, hey—”

“Bye bye.” They closed the door of their office with a cheery demeanour. They’d always been a sucker for a little drama.

pt. 2

[some-messed-up-writing-for-you]

Short Prompt #1123

“Your abilities are simply incredible!” The villain exclaimed, ranting as they walked in a circle. “How in the world did Hero ever manage to get you on their side?!”

The sidekick paused lockpicking their cuffs. “...You think my powers are incredible?”

[satoshy12]

Maddie, Danny and Jazz Slade Jazz x Dick

After Danny turned Phantom, Maddie and Jack saw him out of the portal. They just thought he had awoken his metagene, and Maddie left to call her father. That was why Deathstroke was in Amity Park. And started to train Danny. Making sure the boy is ready for it and doesn't hurt the rest. But imagine his confusion as Slade learned he somehow became a hero of Amity Park. Yes, he was a hero, and Respawn was not happy to be called a sidekick.

The years went by, and Jazz returned from Gotham and wanted to show her family her boyfriend. And that was how Dick Grayson met Deathstroke at the dinner table and learned he was a hero!

a few weeks later in Gotham. Dick to his family as Jazz and her family wanted to visit Gotham, and the doorbell rang: "Somehow I became Slade's grandson-in-law. So he will be part of the family dinner. Don't be surprised."

[avvail]

prompt #61

minor character death, minor blood

“Sidekick,” Hero breathes, pushing past them. “Sidekick, shit.”

The sidekick was trembling, lungs squeezing their chest and making their breaths shallow. They watched as the hero knelt down, checking the limp wrist for a pulse.

They watched their expression tighten, and something flash in their eyes, before they grimaced and cursed sharply.

Sidekick was horrified. “I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay, Sidekick,” Hero cut in, gently levelling their gaze. “Just...Just go back. I’ll deal with the fallback right now, okay? Just go.”

The sidekick’s vision felt blurry as they pinched their eyes, forcing their eyes away from the bloody scene. They turned and fled, feeling shaken to the core along the way.

[whatthehellami]

"Can we like, reschedule today's fight? I have an exam?"

"YOU'RE IN SCHOOL?"

[kagekitsuneoflight]

It’s kinda funny that Jason is, in every sense of the word, the most normal Robin. Unironically, there wasn’t anything uniquely special about him before he was Robin. He was a street kid. His dad was a goon (which makes sense for Gotham. It’s a goon breeding ground) and his adoptive mom was a girl who fell in love with the bad boy, got disowned by her upper middle class parents and adopted her boyfriend’s infant son. Even his biological mother isn’t anything special! She was just a doctor who ended up becoming corrupt.

Jason Todd was no circus kid who could do an impossible signature trick. He wasn’t being scouted by some evil hidden organization.

He wasn’t the rich boy genius who lived next door.

He’s not the son of a supervillain (as lame as cluemaster is, he still *counts*).

He’s not the secret son of Bruce Wayne.

And he’s not a metahuman, nor did he led a whole organization of teens to fight when Batman couldn’t.

He’s the most regular boy to ever enter become a hero in Gotham. He wanted to do good things for the sake of doing good. He grew up poor with regular parents, where bad things happened to them. The kinds of things that could happen to *any* person living in Gotham.

There is nothing about him, pre-Robin and as Robin, that makes him Not Like Regular Kids.

His dad was a goon (who, depending on the run, was either killed by Two-Face OR. Just sent to prison and killed in prison! Which makes his backstory even PLAINER-) and his mother was a drug addict with cancer. Jason ends up homeless, and almost steals the bat mobile tires. The only thing that makes him stand out from any other tragedy befallen kid in Gotham is the fact he was bold enough to do that, get Batman’s attention, and continue to be bold enough to go against a crime lord (who was apparently his grandmother, the most interesting person in his family, but since she’s almost never brought up, she’s likely no more significant than a one-issue villain in the crime lord power hierarchy). Batman realized that Jason wasn’t going to really stop, and honestly he kinda grew on him, so he decided to adopt Jason, and eventually allow him to become Robin.

There just isn’t anything amazingly special about his backstory. The few moments where something could have been done to make it more interesting (like his biological mother) but ended up taking the most boring option. You can’t do much of anything now to enhance his past without upsetting much more well established canon, and not without making people wonder “well if his grandmother was such a big name in crime, why hasn’t she been brought up before?”

Jason Todd was a wonderful Robin (providing that he actually has a writer who likes him). He has a golden heart, he’s the voice of reason. He’s everything that a Robin needs to be for Batman. But compared to everyone else, he was nothing special. In a way, his lack of Not Like Regular Kids makes him stand out in a much more subtle way.

As if someone asked the question “Do I need to be someone special to be Robin?” And the answer was “You don’t need to be someone special, you just need to be brave, like Jason Todd was.”

[the-modern-typewriter]

You're writing is amazing!! <3 If possible, is it alright to do something focusing on an embarrassed/shy sidekick that got injured in battle, and has to let the (flirty) hero tend to their wounds/wash hair/feed them because of how weak they are at the moment? Bonus points for a very touch starved sidekick, and some tension.

"Sit down."

"It's fine, I can-"

"Sit." The hero met their eyes. "What sort of mentor would I be without giving you the appropriate post-battle aftercare?"

"You don't have to phrase it like that," the sidekick mumbled. They did sit, though.

"What?" The hero grinned, opening up the first aid kit. "Aftercare?"

The sidekick looked down, horribly aware of the heat radiating off their face.

The hero laughed quietly; warm and fond.

"The injuries aren't that bad," the sidekick said. "I'm just tired." So very, very tired. Their limbs felt like melted marshmallows; pitiful goop.

"Mm, no wonder. You were very impressive out there."

"Just doing my job." They shivered as the hero began to make quick work tending to their minor wounds, touch warm and strong and confident. They tried not to lilt into it. They blamed the exhaustion in the fact that they did.

"And now I'm just doing mine, hotshot."

The hero pressed closer, shifting so that they could take the sidekick's weight. They stroked their fingers, entirely unnecessarily, entirely lovely, through the sidekick's hair.

The sidekick's eyes fluttered closed. A small, embarrassingly needy sound left them. "S-sorry."

"Don't be. You're sweet."

"I'm useless like this."

"I think it's adorable." The hero placed the last plaster over a cut on the sidekick's temple. "You never let me look after you normally. I like it."

"Well, I'm supposed to be supporting you...."

The hero pressed a kiss to the sidekick's temple.

The sidekick's eyes, for all of their tiredness, snapped open. They glanced up at the hero.

The hero smiled again. "Kissing it better. Did it help?"

The blush returned full force. "You're ridiculous."

"I could kiss the rest of them too. Just one might be a fluke. It's not scientific."

"So stupid." The sidekick covered their burning face with their hands.

"So cute."

"Don't tease me." It was another mumble; torn between the delicious squirming feeling that the teasing left in them and the sheer horror of it, that the hero might be mocking them.

They didn't think the hero was mocking them, though. They weren't the sort. Did they flirt with possibly everything? Yes. Were they unkind? No. But that didn't make it real. That didn't make the desperate rise of hope in the hero's chest any easier to bear.

"You are cute." The hero did a last check over the scrapes and scratches, before moving. They pulled the sidekick up into their arms, cradling them like they weighed nothing. "My cute little absolute devastation of a powerhouse."

"It was nothing." The sidekick clutched hold, stomach swooping.

"You saved my life."

"You save them. I save you. It's nothing."

"Hey." Some of the flirting dropped. The hero waited for the sidekick to meet their eyes. "It's not nothing. Thank you."

The sidekick swallowed, but managed a nod.

The hero carried them through to the spare bedroom, and for all of the sidekick's flittering nerves, they were half-asleep by the time they arrived. Sapped of strength and energy. It made it easy to go along with the hero for once, to let them tuck the sidekick beneath the sheets.

The world felt lulled.

The hero caressed their cheek, taking another moment to study them, gaze intent.

The sidekick slid theirs away, breath catching.

"I'm not teasing you," the hero said, softly. "I'm quite genuine in everything I've said or done. I wouldn't tease you. Not like that anyway."

"Oh."

"Get some rest, hotshot. Good job today. I'll be in the other room if you need anything."

The sidekick wanted to stay awake. They wanted to tug at the string of the hero's earnestness, whatever the hell it all meant. Their eyes were already closing again, the room tunnelled at the corners.

Their last act was to reach out, woozy and weak, and take the hero's hand. It felt like the bravest thing they'd ever done. Far bolder than that day's fight.

The hero stopped. They mattress dipped with their weight.

"Okay," they said, stroking their thumb over the sidekick's knuckles. "I'll be here."

And, even when the sidekick woke up hours later, they were.

[faeriekit]

#Danny Fenton is so done

In light of your recent repost, I'd like to see what you do with the above tag, please!

"I DON'T NEED A DEAD GUY!!" Danny howls, ice swirling around the room. "What the hell???? I'm already dead?? What's a dead guy going to do for me that I can't do for myself?!?!"

"My Lord—" the cultist chokes out, voice rasping with cold. His fingertips and lips are slowly turning black. Danny can't find it in himself to feel badly about it. The body in his arms is slowly cooling— but if Danny can get it cold enough, maybe, just maybe, his heart will slow down enough to get him some help.

Please. Please let it be in time.

"I'm not your lord!!" Danny shrieks— some of his wail slips out, and human cultists go flying. Some of them are smart enough to flee.

Not all of them, though. Those, Danny freezes in place with his eyes, because he can't let go of the bleeding teen in his arms.

He can't. He can't let go.

This summoning will be the last one. Most of them before this had been sleepovers and slumber parties and silly games and backyard rituals— but if that implied that he was summonable, if that caused this, they will never happen again.

Danny feels something pull on the injured teenager. There's someone in front of him, and Danny doesn't know them, and they're not in medical gear. They're a threat.

He opens his mouth and SCREAMS.