It’s cloudy. It’s the perfect weather for a murder. It's the perfect weather for running around outside without caring about who's looking.
No one's looking anyway, but they don't think about that either. It's eleven p.m., and Remus is bored and not tired at all.
There's a Starbucks on the corner. It's open 24/7.
That's new, they think.
Remus doesn't like Starbucks (too many choices, none of them fun), but they go in anyway.
It's full, and everyone looks bored. The barista massages their temples when they see Remus, and they're almost about to walk out again when they see someone sitting at a table in the very back.
Remus smiles and walks up to the counter. "One of everything in a grande cup."
The barista blinks at them a few times. "Anything else?"
For you to lick it off me. "No." They raise their eyebrows and smirk.
The barista rolls their eyes but gives them their order without complaint, and Remus locks their eyes on the person they spotted earlier and walk confidently towards them. The person doesn't look up, not until Remus is already seated with them.
Remus puts their elbows on the table and stares at them intently. They tilt their head and blink.
"Hi." The other person smiles. "Is there something on my face?"
"If there were, I would've--" Eaten it. "--said something. I just wanted to talk to you."
“I'm Patton!” The other person laughs. “He/him.”
“Remus." He looks covertly around the room. "Like penis. They/them.”
Patton smiles when he hears it, and Remus’s heart skips a beat. They wonder how many skips it would take for them to die.
“I don’t think a lot, actually.” Patton places his arms on the table.
“Ooh, you’re actually listening to me! That’s new.”
“Aww, you’re giving me too much credit. I just like new people.”
"And you listen to them! And don't screw them over!"
"I might. You don't really know me, Rem."
Remus swings his legs. "I want to."
"Then let's talk." Patton looks at the cup and smiles. "Right?"
"Right!"
And they talk. They talk until it's midnight and they barely remember why they came here, until nothing matters but the two of them. Until Patton glances at his watch.
“Oh! Looks like we’ll have to cup this one short!” He giggles. “That was fun, Remus. You’re fun.”
He almost trips over the carpet as he rushes out the door, and Remus smiles. Someone actually likes them.
Does he? He didn’t just want to get away?
Remus imagines smashing a hammer on Patton’s face, and they regret it immediately.
“Well, I like him!”
It's twelve hours and five hours of sleep later that they call Jekyll and tell him about it.
For once in their life, Remus wants to keep a secret.
summary: Sometimes, Jekyll regrets becoming a superhero, especially when a flirty new supervillain shows up and he has to deal with the fallout of their all-too-true words.
pairing: pre-romantic roceit
word count: 816
cw: stealing
taglist: @acanvasofabillionsuns @art-chive
Jekyll slams his head into his philosophy book.
“How can someone take a topic as interesting as philosophy and make it so dull?”
He glances out the window. It’s cloudy, but not so cloudy that it casts a heavy shadow over everything. Maybe it isn’t the best for his powers, but it’s excellent for his mood. Maybe it’s time for a break.
That, and he didn’t want to get a phone call from Remus about whatever new idea he had in the library. Jekyll could turn down the volume without even blinking, but Remus had a tendency to open up yelling about the “most interesting” (read: most disgusting) part of the idea. Good ideas all around.
Really, the only problem with that idea is the supervillain.
The jewellery store is pretty much the bane of Jekyll’s existence. It represents most of the things wrong with capitalism. The only reason he even goes remotely near there was that it’s on the way to the bookstore.
They’re wearing an elaborate black masquerade mask and a gold crown when they show up. Jekyll’s seen more bizarre things from rich people before, but he follows them into the store anyway.
They walk through the store without really looking at anything, stopping only to pick up some sort of scepter.
“Excuse me?” An attendant taps their shoulder. “You need to pay for that.”
They whip around dramatically, nearly hitting the attendant in the face. “I do not!”
“No, I’m pretty sure you do.”
Another scepter appears in the villain’s hand, and they raise it dramatically.
“Well, you still need to, but I’m not gonna make you.”
Several of the other customers scream, and the villain smiles. “Life is about achieving your hopes and dreams, and how are you supposed to achieve your hopes and dreams when all your money goes toward this sort of decadence?” They drape themselves over a display case. “It’s simply too much!”
Jekyll sighs. Can’t believe you’re right. Can’t believe this is happening right now.
The store goes dark and silent, and Jekyll takes the moment to project his holographic costume. It’s certainly a better idea than carrying around a costume in his bag. He stands up and raises his arms.
Wait. No. He lights up the room again. The villain is staring at nothing curiously.
“And who do we have here?” The villain turns their head to him, and Jekyll can see they’re wearing bright red lipstick and their crown is shaped like something he can’t quite place. “The Ultimate Hope.”
“That is right.” He places one hand on the glass case, pointing his fingers in the villain’s direction. “Would you mind…”
Let’s see, dramatic, possibly Robin Hood type, definitely a “screw the rich” kind of person, I can already see the interviews, I should have an opposing but not too opposing opinion.
“...telling these glorious civilians who you are?” He spreads one arm out, angling it gently toward the villain so he can flash a beam if necessary.
“Anything for you, Mr. Brightside. I am Rose Candle! He/him. And I am here to strip the lining from the pockets of the rich!” He smashes the display case and picks up a necklace. Copies upon copies of necklaces fly out of his hands to the floor.
If you can copy things, why steal them in public? Jekyll takes note of where the necklaces are and sends a burst of light in his face.
When it faded, both scepters had been thrown to the floor, and Rose Candle had been knocked to the ground, hands tied with necklaces.
“You’re moving so quickly, my dear hope,” whispers Rose Candle. “But you’ve missed one thing.”
Jekyll raises one eyebrow. “You will not win.”
“Not today!” There’s another flash, and it fades along with the villain.
Jekyll swears mentally, but he sighs and shakes his head.
The attendant looks at him carefully. “Is he right, Ultimate Hope?”
Jekyll bites his lip. “He’s stealing your store’s jewellery. That can’t be right.” But what he said? That’s too right for my liking.
“What about everything he said?”
Jekyll presses the tips of his fingers together. “That’s for you to decide,” he says finally. “We must move in the right direction. And we absolutely shouldn’t let people like him happen. Society’s not perfect, I’ll give you that, but this shouldn’t happen.”
The attendant looks at him boredly, but he slips away before they can ask any more questions. He really should stop making things up on the spot. It’s probably half the reason they call him the Ultimate Hope. They all believe in him.
His phone starts ringing. Shoot, he forgot to turn it off.
“Jekyll and Lies!” squeals Remus. “Guess who met a cute boy today?”
“How did you meet him?”
“Coffee! He didn’t even find my dessert disturbing. Ooh, double D’s!”
Jekyll sighs. Obviously, he won’t get any studying done.
Jekyll Hills is so done. He’s done with the elaborate plans of the pair of supervillains he fights. He’s done with his partner's hopeless crush on one of them. And he's absolutely done with all the flirting.
That is, until someone else shows up and changes their entire system.
main characters: jekyll (deceit), remus, roman, virgil, logan, patton
minor characters: remy, ocs
pairings: roceit, intruality, background mutual pining losleep, platonic dark sides
cw (general): stealing, manipulation, poor self-care, further warnings by chapter
