Been thinking about a healer in the heroes/villains world who refuses to take a side and brings in anyone who shows up injured at their doorstep. Doesn’t matter what uniform whumpee is wearing, Caretaker only cares about nursing them back to health.
Villains, of course, show up often, wounded and grateful for Caretaker’s asylum. They know they’ll be treated with respect and allowed to leave freely. Heroes, on the other hand, flow to Caretaker’s place more gradually. Heroes who are too ashamed to get help back at HQ, or that are severely injured and found on the street. Almost all civilians in the area know exactly where Caretaker is.
Most significantly, Caretaker enforces neutrality at their place. If a hero and villain happen to be there at the same time, they can’t fight each other. At the very least, civility is mandatory. But in more urgent situations, they’re frequently asked to help the other one that’s more seriously injured.
Both heroes and villains constantly try to recruit Caretaker to their side. But Caretaker always refuses, saying they’re already doing their part. And in the end, it’s because of their work that the fighting ends. So many heroes and villains have passed through Caretaker’s doors and been forced to get along, or even heal each other, that they can no longer see each other as enemies.
the hero going into battle and a General, who always gave them shit for being inexperienced, sees a big pimple on their face, reminding them that the hero is still going through puberty
an afab hero getting their first period on a mission and freaking out, getting help and products from an older healer, who offers some kind words with an aching heart
a comatose hero being visited by their normal school teacher and classmates, which hits their hero mentors like a slap
at a victory celebration, the hero is denied alcohol as they are not of age
hero making a joking remark like never having even paid a bill or not having a credit card (or something equivalent to the setting)
after a late night strategy meeting, the hero falls asleep on the table. the room falls quiet when a team member picks them up, and looks like a parent carrying their kid to bed
the hero’s voice cracks in the middle of giving a speech. the hero is embarrassed, everyone else is silently looking down
a traitor/spy goes through the heroes stuff and, instead of just weapons or important documents, mainly discovers crumpled notes from friends, doodles, and half-finished sheets of homework
hero sees kids their own age playing, arguing, or laughing somewhere safe, and pauses. someone has to call their name to bring them back to the mission
[Prompt Calender: April 30th, National Youth Violence Prevention Day]
A defeated enemy bound and forced to kneel in the centre of the camp/base, left like that until someone decides what to do with them, all too aware of the many hostile eyes on them.
"I hate to see you this way, baby," Villain addressed the shivering hero, curled into a shaking mess. "So I'll ask you this one more time,"
They leaned closer and carressed their cheek. "Either you can sleep chained up in the cold for one more night," Villain's hand was so warm. Warmth. Hero needed warmth.
"Or you could fall asleep in my bed, and let me get you all warmed up, hm?
Villain watched as Hero leaned in to their touch, and smiled.
"It's your choice, Hero. Choose wisely." They said.
Caretakers having to unmask a whumpee whose face they’ve never seen before in order to properly treat their injuries.
Whumpee has made it abundantly clear in the past that they don’t want anyone to see their face. On every mission, they wear some sort of mask or helmet, and if they ever meet with Caretaker on a casual basis, they still find a way to subtly obscure their face.
But their injuries are severe. They likely have head trauma that Caretaker needs to treat quickly or else they’ll die. No chance to wait for Whumpee to gain consciousness to give permission, or for someone else to arrive so that at least it doesn’t have to be them.
Of course, Caretaker feels horrible. They’re betraying Whumpee’s trust and they’ll surely hate them after this. But they have to do it, they have to save their life, even if it means losing Whumpee’s companionship. They’d lose it anyways.
Bonus points if this reveals something very crucial about Whumpee. A scar that implies a life of far worse injuries than this that Whumpee has had to crawl through. Signs of an illness, curse, or magic clear on their skin or eyes. Maybe Caretaker knows Whumpee without the mask, and never put two and two together that their friends (or enemy) were the same person.
That makes it worse for Caretaker, because now they have to live with the fact that they just forced Whumpee to reveal something about themself that they’d been adamant about never telling.
I just lovelovelovelovelovelove when a whumpee is SO persuaded that caretaker is gonna treat them the same ways whumper did. In any sphere of whump, really!
Found family, living weapon, religious whump, royalty whump, pet whump (caretaker new master my love), hero whump, medical whump, whether the whump has been going on for years of 20 minutes, really, anything!
It has been almost a week since those words left Superhero’s mouth, firm and no room for argument or otherwise. Hero was more than a little reluctant but Hero followed orders, they had to.
So all Hero could do as they shook Villain awake for the sixth time in the past five minutes was scrunch up their nose slightly.
“… Hero… p-please... Just let me close my eyes…” Villain’s slurred dazedly.
Hero didn’t say anything instead just pulled Villain to stand up straighter. “Don’t lean” Hero said their voice not betraying their unease and dread. “If you lean you’ll drift off.”
“H-hero…. Please” Their voice cracked in the way that made Hero’s ribs ache.
“If you just told superhero the coordinates you can sleep” Hero mumbled finding it harder and harder to keep their voice steady.
Villain flinched looking at hero as if they had just kicked a puppy. “Why are you being like this?”
Hero didn’t answer.
Villain swayed on their feet even with the Hero’s hands gripping their arm to keep them steady.
The temptation to let Villain fall asleep on them was just starting to creep up in to Hero’s mind, when the memory of what Superhero did to Hero the last time flashed in to their mind. Retraining was brutal, and Hero had just gotten out of it. They didn’t want to go back to that hall.
The stench of antiseptic and the burn of the ropes were still engrained in to the memory of their senses. So when they looked back down at Villain’s shuddering form they knew there was nothing they could do for them. It didn’t reduce the way their throat ached when Villain sniffled though.
“Just tell them the coordinates” Hero said a bit softer than they would have if Superhero was there with them. “Then you can sleep, I’ll personally find you the best bed we have to offer.” They coaxed.
“Go shove that bed up your ass!” It was more of a sob than a taunt.
Hero frowned. Even without sleep for the past one hundred and fifty or so hours Villain was still mouthing off. It comforted them slightly – only slightly - to know that Villain was at least still Villain. They were still themselves.
“Hey now I don’t think I can shove a whole bed up my ass” Hero tried to keep Villain’s mind off the heaviness of their eyes.
“Give me the bed, ropes and thirty minutes I’ll show you exactly how I can make it fit” Villain snarled.
“Give us the coordinates and I’ll make sure it can be arranged”
“Arrange yourself to go shove the coordinates up your ass too”
“Can you stop telling me to shove things up my ass? Be a bit more creative”
“Let me sleep and I’ll show you how creative I can be”
Hero sighed, they were just going around in circles. “Look. I have orders to not let you sleep until you spill”
The sound Villain made could barely be called human. It was a sound of a creature in pain and despair, a groan of sorts. “I don’t know okay?!” They wailed. “I don’t know the coordinates! I’m not the one calling the shots.. please… please just let me sit down for five minutes…”
“Who’s calling the shots then?”
“I don’t know….” They said. “How many times do I have to tell you?”
Villain broke into a fit of sobs.
“What do you mean you don't know” Hero's brows furrowed.
“I mean I don't know!” Villain half shouted half sobbed, words coming in a slurred jumble. They leaned on Hero. “Jus lemme…. Lemme close m’eyes…” they mumbled eyes fluttering closed.
Hero cradled the back of Villian's neck. “Stay awake Villian. C’mon… tell me what else you're gonna shove in my unmentionables.” Hero coaxed gently.
Villian didn't say anything, just leaned in to the touch more heavily and started to drift off until Hero let go of them.
“Villian…” Hero sighed. There has to be a way. A better way. To get answers. This wasn't it.
This was wrong.
“You're the same as them now…” The slurred words stabbed Hero in the heart. Hero softened further after all this was their Villain.
“Villain I-”
“Are you letting that stubborn thing lean on you Hero? I thought you'd learnt better by now.” Hero didn't even hear Superhero walk in.
“S-Superhero I-”
“Enough. We'll be talking about this little stunt later.” Superhero sauntered forward. “For now… open your damn eyes. Tell me what I need to know Villian or we'll resort to something else to… encourage you”
Villian whimpered “I don't know… I don't know what you want I don’t know the coordinates I don't know anything!”
Superhero was silent for some time the silence broken by villains hacking sobs.
Superhero was across the room in a blink of an eye grabbing Villian by the front of their shirt.
“Do I look like I'm buying your pathetic lies Villain? You're connected to this. And you're going to regret keeping this information from me.”
Villain was trembling, breaths coming in gasps and huffs. All hero could do was look at the floor and try not to show the fear in their own eyes.
“Hero. Get the shots.” Superhero snapped.
Uh oh… that's not good. Hero twisted their fingers behind their back hesitantly shifting their weight from foot to foot.
“Don't make me ask again.”
Hero flinched ever so slightly at the steele in superhero's voice before rushing out of the room to get the shots.
_
When hero came back, they wished they hadn't. Superhero had Villain pinned to a wall by their neck as they kicked around screaming obscenities while crying.
“No! No! Please! I don't know! I don't know! Get your fucking hands off me! NO!” Villian's eyes darted to hero.
“HERO! HERO PLEASE STOP THIS! HELP ME”
Hero gulped down whatever it was that clogged their throat and looked away. They couldn't stand to look at Villian. If they had a choice they wouldn't even be in the room to listen to Villian's screams.
“Hero. The shots.”
Superhero held out one hand, with an almost bored expression, while the other kept a firm grip on Villians neck. Villian's screams of protest continued with the thrashing.
Hero froze.
They couldn't. They couldn't move, they couldn't give Superhero the injection. They couldn't. They couldn't.
“Hero.”
Superhero’s tone sent a chill down Hero’s spine and Their legs moved on their own.
Hero didn't dare look up. They couldn't look at the Villian's eyes. Couldn't look at the betrayed expression that was surely etched in to their features.
“You've gone soft hero. We’ll have to fix that.”
Hero gulped.
“But one problem at a time.” Superhero said as they pressed the needle against villains. If Villain was thrashing before hero didn't know what to call this. Villain let out a shrill scream.
“NO! NO DON'T! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! PLEASE!”
Superhero didn't stop though. They kept on going. They held villain down and pressed the syringe to their neck slowly pushing the liquid in. Villain screamed and cried out while hero could only stare at the ground wishing they were anywhere but here.
The screams was what hero couldn't bare. The screams that turned in to sobs.
Superhero pulled back. “You can sleep now if you want. We're not going to stop you. When you wake up, what that drug does to you will… encourage you to talk to us.” Their voice deceptively gentle.
Villain slumped against the wall, shoulders wracked in sobs but superhero paid no mind to them anymore.
CW: noncon touch (non-sexual), intimate/obsessive villain, injury, threats, established history between characters
@juneofdoom
*~*~*~*
There was nowhere left to run; the alley ended in brick, and Villain blocked the exit with infuriating ease.
“Go on,” Villain said, spreading their arms slightly and smiling mockingly. “Try.”
The bait was obvious. They both knew it.
Hero still lunged sideways anyway.
Villain's arm snaked around their waist before they'd made it two steps, dragging them effortlessly back into reach. A harsh shove next and Hero was sent crashing into the brick wall hard enough for stars to burst across their vision.
Before they could recover, Villain’s hand slammed beside their head, caging them in.
Hero sucked in a rattling breath.
Villain stood too close for comfort now. Rain clung to their lashes. Hero could smell smoke and steel and the faint copper tang of blood.
“You know,” Villain said thoughtfully, “I was actually starting to feel insulted.”
Hero swallowed hard, throat bobbing. “—What?”
“All that running.” Villain clutched at their chest in mock offence, wearing the smile of someone thoroughly enjoying their own performance. “After everything we’ve been through?”
Hero shoved at them.
Villain's hand closed around their wrist.
Hero jerked back. The grip didn't budge.
Without looking away, Villain lifted their captured hand and pressed their palm to their own cheek.
Hero tried to pull free.
Villain's fingers tightened.
"See?" they said softly. "Was that so difficult?"
Hero yanked uselessly against their grip. “Let go!”
“But you’ve finally stopped pretending.” Villain practically purred, tightening their hold just enough to make Hero wince. “I’ve been waiting all night for this part.”
Hero hated the way their breathing hitched.
Hated that Villain heard it too.
The alley felt unbearably narrow now. Villain seemed to fill it entirely, leaving Hero nowhere to look but at them. Hero couldn’t think around them properly when they got like this—soft-voiced and intent and terrifyingly patient.
Villain leaned closer. “Tell me something,” they murmured. “When did you realise you weren’t winning?”
Hero glared at them silently.
Villain smiled again. “Was it when I dislocated your shoulder?” They brushed their fingers lightly against Hero’s arm and Hero flinched violently before they could stop themselves. Villain’s expression sharpened with delight. “No, wait. That was later.”
“Go to hell.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Hero’s knees nearly buckled as another wave of dizziness rolled through them. Villain’s grip steadied automatically at their waist before they could fall properly.
Hero scowled. The bastard was right, but they didn’t have to rub it in!
“And yet,” the bastard Villain continued anyway, voice deceptively soft, “you’re still trying so hard not to beg.”
Hero stiffened.
A slow smile spread across Villain’s face, sharp with satisfaction.
“Oh, you hate that word, don’t you?”
Hero’s face burned with anger despite the cold rain. “I’m not begging you for shit.”
“No?” Villain asked mildly.
Their hand slid up slowly, fingers curling around Hero’s throat. Not squeezing yet, just resting there possessively enough to make Hero’s pulse jump beneath their palm.
“You always sound so pretty when you’re desperate.”
Hero’s stomach dropped.
“Don’t—”
“Do you remember last winter?” Villain interrupted, malice dancing across their face. “Warehouse district. You had a collapsed lung.” Their thumb brushed lightly against Hero’s pulse. “You could barely breathe. Kept looking at me like you thought I might actually let you die.”
Hero looked away.
Villain caught their jaw immediately and forced them back.
“Ah-ah. Stay with me.”
Their voice had gone warm now. Interested.
“You said please six times that night.”
Hero’s face twisted with humiliation. “Shut up.”
“And then,” Villain continued like they hadn’t spoken, “you grabbed my coat and said—”
“I said shut up.”
“‘Please don’t leave me here!’”
Hero shoved at them again, weaker this time. More irrational than forceful.
Villain barely moved.
“Oh, that hit a nerve.” Villain sounded delighted. “You remember.”
Hero wished they didn’t.
Villain watched the shame crawl slowly across their expression and looked damn near reverent about it.
“That’s the thing about you,” they murmured. “You act so righteous until you’re cornered.” Their grip tightened slightly against Hero’s throat. “Then suddenly you remember how badly you don’t want to die.”
Hero’s breathing had gone uneven now. They could hear it themselves. Fast and shallow and humiliatingly frightened.
Villain could definitely hear it too.
They leaned closer still. “Go on.”
Hero stared at them.
“Ask nicely.”
“No,” Hero said too quickly.
Villain’s smile turned vicious.
“Oh, that was pathetic.”
Hero’s chest tightened painfully.
They hated this.
Hated how Villain could peel them apart piece by piece until there was nothing left except raw fear and instinct and the desperate need to get out.
Villain studied them for another long moment before sighing softly.
“You know,” they said, “I was going to break your ribs.”
Hero looked up sharply at that. Villain, meanwhile, appeared far more interested in tracing the line of their throat.
“But now I’m reconsidering.” Their thumb traced Hero’s pulse again. “Because this is much more entertaining.”
Hero swallowed against the hand at their throat.
Villain watched the movement with open interest.
"Go on," Villain said quietly. "You already know what I'm asking for."
Hero closed their eyes.
The rain continued to fall. Their shoulder hurt. Their legs hurt. Everything hurt. Standing felt difficult. Thinking felt difficult. Villain's voice seemed to fill the entire alley, leaving no room for anything else.
“Please,” Hero said finally, the word scraping out broken and quiet.
Villain closed their eyes briefly like they were savouring it.
Hero immediately hated themselves for saying it.
Villain looked positively euphoric.
“Again.”
Hero’s face burned.
“...Don’t do this.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The rain hammered against the alley around them. Somewhere far away, sirens wailed faintly through the city.
Hero’s legs shook harder.
Villain waited patiently.
They knew they’d win this eventually. The absolute certainty of it was unbearable.
Hero looked away first.
“Please,” they whispered again, voice breaking. “Just—give me another chance.”
Villain went still for half a heartbeat.
Then they laughed softly, the sound warm with genuine pleasure.“God,” they murmured. “I could listen to that for hours.”
*~*~*~*
Scribbled this in the dead of night under circumstances that my lawyer has advised me not to discuss 😡😤 am gonna whack him with his damn hammer
this was supposed to be June of Doom No. 3, but according to several unreliable sources, including "the date," it is June 7.
We are ignoring this. Anyone attempting to inform me that a week of June has already passed will be launched directly into the sun. it all leads back to that glowing bastard eventually
General taglist (lmk if you want to be added or removed! <333): @stars-hide-our-fires
