Here is a 🎁 for @haxfume that was inspired by his art. I am writing Emufxah for the Emufxah fans. I shall now provide you 1,100 words of Emufxah Hero/Villain AU.
The frozen concrete was awfully cold against the back of Hax's neck, but he could barely focus on the temperature.
Above him, Void was leaning down with all his weight. Void held both of Hax’s wrists pinned securely over his head using just a single, wide, gloved hand. It was an ridiculously efficient display of strength, and Hax’s heart was beating way too fast in his chest. He was thankful for his bangs falling into his eyes, to cover how flustered he was. Void was the #1 villain, and Hax-- or Flurry, the #1 hero-- was supposed to be trying to freeze him into an ice cube right now. But Void's stupidly OP nullification was active, making Hax's ice useless.
And, well, to be honest… Hax was kinda way too into being pinned down like this. Void’s hand was obviously bigger than his own, wrapping around Hax's wrists with terrifying ease. Hax bit the inside of his cheek, trying his best to keep his face neutral.
"So, are you going to try hitting me again, Flurry?" Void asked.
"Maybe," Hax wheezed out, trying to sound cool and heroic and failing miserably. "If you let me go, maybe I will."
Instead of answering or attacking, Void let out a heavy sigh. With his free hand, he reached into the pocket of his black hoodie and pulled out a small, slightly battered paper catalogue. He held it up right in front of Hax's face.
"I need your opinion on something," Void said seriously, completely ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a high stakes battle. "I-- um, I'm trying to buy a gift for my roommate, but I… need help."
Hax blinked behind his bangs, entirely thrown off. "Your... what?"
"My-- my roommate. It's his birthday in three days," Void grumbled, tapping a finger against the paper. "Choose one. The cat-shaped silicone desk lamp, or these mini cat keycaps."
Hax stared at the catalogue. His powers were still nullified, and he didn't know why Void was asking him anyway, but if it meant possibly impressing Void, he had no reason not to help. "Oh, uh, you should probably get the silicone lamp."
"Because keycaps are risky!" Hax explained, forgetting that he was currently defeated in battle and pinned on the ground. "This guy is probably, like, a gamer or maybe someone who types a lot, right? What if his keyboard uses low-profile switches? What if he doesn't like the texture of ABS plastic under his fingers while he types? A silicone nightlight is universal! It's squishy, so if he gets stressed, he can poke it or whatever, and it gives off warm ambient lighting which helps with, like, visual fatigue during late night work. Plus, it's cute. Everyone likes cats, it's sorta just optimal… even if the keycaps have cats as well!"
"Okay, okay," Void interrupted, stuffing the catalogue back into his pocket. "Dude, that's enough. You don't need to keep talking."
"I'm just explaining my reasoning!" Hax protested, wiggling his pinned hands just a tiny bit. "Bro-- why the fuck are you asking me for gift advice anyway? We're enemies, no?"
Void grunted, tightening his grip on Hax's wrists just enough to make Hax's brain go fully blank for a second. "You two seem similar. You both yap constantly about useless shit."
Hax felt a sudden surge of curiosity. "What is he like? Your roommate."
Void went quiet for a second. His head tilted slightly, staring down at Hax through his navy ski goggles. "He's... a little annoying," Void muttered, though his tone softened in a way that made Hax's stomach twist with a weird, ugly jealousy. "He cooks terrible dishes and burns them, and he-- well, he talks about stupid hypotheticals for hours when I'm trying to focus. But he works really hard at his uni stuff, and he has a really nice laugh, I guess. And he always stays up to make sure I'm doing fine when I'm stressed, even if it comes at the cost of his sleep schedule."
Hax's chest felt heavy. Void was talking about his roommate like he was the most special person in the world. Hax wished desperately that Void would look at him like that, instead of just seeing him as some random rival to fight on rooftops.
"Your roommate sounds stupid," Hax said, turning his face away childishly.
"Hey," Void snapped, his tone returning to something sharper. "Don't talk about him like that! He's not stupid." Void released Hax's wrists suddenly and stood up, brushing snow off his black shorts. "Hurry up and get the fuck off the floor, Flurry. I gotta go and buy this lamp before the store closes."
Before Hax could even stand up to restart their fight, Void vanished down the alleyway, disappearing into the shadows.
Three days later, Hax was sitting at the kitchen table in his normal civilian clothes, shivering slightly even though he was wearing a sweater and sweatpants. His hair was pulled into a low ponytail, and he was staring miserably at his laptop while working on a paper.
Infume walked into their flat, wearing his usual white hoodie and carrying a plain brown gift box. "Happy birthday, Hax," Infume said bluntly, dropping the box right onto Hax's desk.
Hax's eyes lit up, a massive grin splitting across his face. "For me? Really?"
Infume's ears turned bright red instantly. He looked away, pulling his hood down further over his messy hair to hide his embarrassment. "Yeah. Just open it."
Hax pulled off the tape eagerly and opened the box. Inside was a squishy, cat-shaped silicone lamp. Hax gasped, incredibly pleased with the gift his friend got him. It was the exact same lamp he had told Void about three days ago! Huh, what a coincidence. I guess Infume and I have the same taste, though Infume doesn't know that. Or he's just good at guessing what I like. He brushed over the odd coincidence, since there must be plenty of people getting cat lamps due to how great of a gift it was.
"Infume!" Hax beamed, holding the cute lamp up to his chest. "Thank you. How did you know I wanted this exact one? It's literally perfect!"
"Uh," Infume stammered, scratching his beard awkwardly. "An annoying guy from work helped me pick it out."
Hax giggled, setting the lamp down proudly on his desk. Infume really is the best roommate ever, Hax thought to himself. He felt so lucky to live with Infume-- unlike that stupid roommate that Void lived with, who was probably some unbearable chud.
amandla
stormborns
yousharknotpass
areudirty
titsay