#this is me belated celebrating my blogiversary and first snippet post lol

[world-of-fire-and-flight]

Herro! It I, SleepyAnon :DDD

It is past 5am and I am really sleepy—

BUT! What if hero/villain really likes to cook and bake as a way to relax and have a lot of leftovers, so they give some to their neighbors. The neighbors being villains/heros and vigilantes and everyone doesn’t know their alter ego— (think it’ll be cute if most of them really like hero/villain and have an unspoken agreement to not mess with the block they live in)

((And idea of how they can find out is by smell or little smears of ingredients, along with behavior—))

A/N: SLEEPYANON THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE PROMPT EVER (which you’ve granted me a lot of amazing prompts and I happen to follow a lot of awesome prompt blogs but this one is such a MOOD for me) <3 In other news, I really should be baking pie but here I am, writing instead 😜

Warnings: some violence, reference to fainting (no actual fainting occurs in this fic😊), me avoiding my responsibilities, unedited

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Hero tapped their fingers patiently against their knees, leaning over themselves as they sat staring into the oven and watching their perfect pie bake. It didn’t matter that there was flour streaked in their hair or crusty pie dough caked underneath their fingers, all that mattered was the apple crumb pie baking in the oven and filling their home with a warm buttery and cinnamon scent.

Inhaling deeply, Hero sighed. They sagged against the back of the kitchen chair they sat in and leaned their head against the back of the chair.

All was quiet and still after an afternoon full of washing apples, whipping up pie dough and rolling it out, then peeling and slicing the apples, and finally putting together the pie filling. They weren’t entirely convinced there wasn’t pie dough in their hair too or spiced apple juice dried into their hair either, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

This was heaven.

Sure, they were sore from being on their feet all day and from struggling to roll out the pie dough and getting it sit just right on their pie plate and delicately crimping the edges, but it was worth it.

And it would be all the more worth their while when it was done and cooled enough to bring to their new neighbor to say “welcome to your new home!”

After all, Hero knew just how awful the city could be and how quickly a good day could turn rotten. That, and moving was such a headache. Hero certainly wouldn’t have minded if someone had brought them a pie when they’d moved into the row of brick townhomes.

As it was, the few times their neighbors had tried to reciprocate the small acts of kindness from Hero’s baking habit, hadn’t exactly gone over well. If Hero had learned anything about their neighbors, it was that none of them could bake. Some of them could cook—which was a lovely surprise when a full meal had shown up on their doorstep moments after they’d gotten home from their shift—but it seemed like they were then only one on the block capable of baking anything.

It was the thought that counted though. They’d happily accept another tray of over baked cookies (not burnt, Hero would never say that unless the whole cookie was as hard as a hockey puck) if it meant knowing that someone had thought of them just as they’d often thought of their neighbors…

Hero laughed to themselves.

So maybe their baking wasn’t that righteous. In truth, all they cared about baking and getting their mind off of their work and whatever troubles had crossed their mind thanks to the meddlesome actions of whatever villain they’d fought. Too often, Hero would bake a whole batch of cookies or cupcakes and realize they couldn’t possibly eat them all by themselves. They couldn’t even save everything in the freezer (they really should try to work on their stash of previously baked goods to make room for new desserts or at least some ice cream but they often couldn’t wait for their pick-me-up treat to defrost).

But today, they were truly baking from the kindness of their heart and not their stress or frustrations about being one of the city’s shining saviors.

They bit their lip.

Hopefully their new neighbor liked pie.

***

Villain grabbed their mask and slipped it on. Even though it’d been a few good minutes since they’d set their fork and plate aside, they could still taste the sweetness of the apple and the warmth of the cinnamon. What they wouldn’t do for another piece, but staying home didn’t pay the bills. They didn’t know what they’d do if they missed this opportunity to rob the City Bank.

For month’s they’d surveyed the bank, its security, the employees and tellers. If they didn’t hit it today, they didn’t know when the next opportunity would come around and they couldn’t wait, not if they wanted to pay off their debt to Supervillain.

As they slipped out of their townhome, Villain wondered what their sweet, precious, innocent neighbor would do if they ever found out just who their new neighbor was.

Chuckling to themselves, Villain imagined they’d faint. They seemed like the sort of too-good-to-be-real person that somehow manifested straight out of a T.V. show or a book. There was no way their neighbor, who they’d learned from a few of the other neighbors who’d stopped by to say hello, had a habit of baking and sharing their treats with the neighborhood would survive the news of living next door to a villain.

Villain’s lips set in a grim line. They’d have to make certain their neighbor never found out, especially if they could bake a pie that delicious and habitually share their homemade baked goods.

***

Villain huffed, finally pinning their nemesis down on the lobby floor. Leaning closer, they meant to sneer in their face, but something gave them pause. Sweet apples and cinnamon? Villain sniffed again, trying to be discreet as they leaned even closer and squinted down at their nemesis. Something white streaked through their hair, along with something slightly yellow in color.

“Excuse you, creep,” Hero said, squirming and managing to flip them both over so Villain was the one pinned down to the gross bank floor. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t sniff me.”

Villain couldn’t even manage a glare, catching another whiff of what could only be apple pie. “Were you baking?”

Hero froze, their grip loosening just the slightest bit.

But it was enough for Villain to shove them away and jump to their feet.

“I-I don’t know what—”

“You’ve got flour in your hair!”

Hero rolled their eyes, crossing their arms. “All right so I was baking! Unless you’re about to go into anaphylactic shock, I don’t see how what I was doing before you decided to ruin my day by robbing a bank matters!”

Villain scoffed. “Yeah like some flour and crusted pie filling is going to do me in.”

Hero’s hand erupted into flame. “I never said what I was baking.”

Villain froze. Cursing silently to themselves, Villain’s eyes darted to the bag full of money they’d collected from the bank drawers and from breaking into the ATM machine they’d dropped when Hero had flung a ball of fire at them earlier to announce their presence.

“Yeah well…it’s apple season?” Villain tried in vain to lie their way out of the bind they’d wrapped themselves in. “Anyway, it’s always nice to not be burned after one of these little—”

Villain flung themselves to the floor, dodging the ball of flame Hero threw their way. Twisting around in time to see the flames die out before the fire caught on anything flammable, Villain was absolutely certain.

Hero was their new neighbor.

“How did you know I was baking pie?” Hero hissed, bouncing a ball of flame in their hand.

“Because…” Villain hesitated, searching their mind for an excuse. They saw Hero raise their arm like they were getting ready to throw that ball of flame. “IMYOURNEWNEIGHBOR!”

Villain braced themselves, shielding their face with their arms.

Nothing.

No heat hissed against their suit. There wasn’t any light flashing behind their closed eyes from flames hurtling toward them.

Villain peeked open an eye and lowered their arms. Hero stood, their body slack and without a single spark of their flames.

Well, they hadn’t fainted.

No, instead Hero was staring at them with a mix of bafflement and slight horror. “You’re what?”

“Yeah, uh, unit 6?” Villain slowly shifted toward the bag of money. “The apple crumb pie?”

“What a waste of a perfectly good pie,” Hero pouted. Sighing heavily, Hero pinned them in place with a harsh glare. “Take the money,” they said, “Pay your debt to Supervillain, and don’t ever tell a soul about any of this.”

“That’s it?” Villain sputtered. “You’re letting me go? With the money?”

“I’m hoping to buy your silence,” they explained, walking away. Embers sparked from their clenched hands. “It’d be a real shame if I had to move because you found out who I am.”

“Well I wouldn’t have,” Villain muttered, “if you’d only taken a shower when you were done baking.”

“I would’ve!” Hero shouted across the lobby, lobbing a cold ball of flame at them that tickled their face. “But someone decided to rob a bank!”

“Well, I’ll be more considerate next time,” Villain smirked, strolling toward the gaping hole in the bank wall that they’d blasted through earlier. “Especially if it means more pie in my future.”

Hero scoffed. Calling after them, Hero’s harsh made Villain chuckle. “As if.”