Part two to Day 2 hope y'all enjoy! Here's some more from our Hero caretaker and Villain whumpee ;)
Hero places Villain in the backseat of his car, buckling him in as gently as he can, before shutting the door. Hero hops in the driver seat, then looks back at Villain who is staring at the seat in front of him blankly.
“You okay back there Villain?” Hero asks, trying to figure out what Villain is doing. Villain continues to stare blankly, so Hero repeats himself, “Villain?” He reaches out to touch Villain’s shoulder, but Villain flinches away before Hero can even get close.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Villain ducks his head, “What did you say?”
“I asked if you were okay.” Hero wants to reach out again, provide some physical connection, but decides against it when he notices how skittish Villain is.
“Oh.” He weakly responds, “Ye-yes I am okay.”
Hero isn’t sure what he was expecting, so he instead just turns around and starts the car. As he drives away from the prison, he hears Villain whimper slightly, and a quick glance in the rearview mirror shows that Villain is looking out the window at the prison that is quickly fading into the background. Hero takes in a deep breath, then puts on his persona he usually saves for Damsels in Distress and reporters.
“You’re safe now.” Villain continues staring, as if he hadn’t even heard Hero speak. Hero decides to leave it for now, not wanting to stress Villain out more by trying to force conversation. Thirty minutes of driving in silence pass before Villain speaks up.
“Wh-where are you taking me, uh Hero, Sir?”
“No need to call me Sir, Villain. We’re beyond that, or at least I’d like to think we are.” Hero forces himself to laugh, hoping it’ll lighten the mood. “We’re going back to my place. I don’t have a lot of stuff there to help take care of you, but springing you from the prison was kind of an impulse decision. In case you couldn’t tell.”
Take care of you. The words echo in Villain’s head as he racks his brain over what they mean. Take care of as in kill? Or torture? Villain looks down at his hands which are covered in various cuts and bruises and are shaking. He couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. A tear falls down his cheek as he balls his hands into shaky fists. He feels his breathing pick up, suddenly the loose seat belt has become tighter, binding him to the seat. Villain wants to cry for help, but air is struggling to make it into his lungs. He feels hands gently touch his arms, which he flinches away from despite wanting to lean into the touch. He finds himself coming back into his body as he notices Hero at his side. When did the car stop?
“There we go.” Hero whispers as Villain forces his hands to unball. “Now breathe in, and out.” Villain follows Hero’s hands as he gestures for Villain to breathe in and out slowly.
Hero waits until Villain seems to be breathing normally before saying anything. He can’t help but be mad at himself for not immediately checking in with Villain, only stopping when he heard ragged breathing coming from the backseat of his car. “Want to talk about what just happened there?”
Villain shakes his head, he doesn’t want to share, but his mouth opens anyways. “Y-you said take care of me…and I’m-I’m sorry for assuming otherwise but I thought you were rescuing me.” Villain sobs, tears free falling down his face, “A-are you gonna kill me or lock me up again or-”
“Woah woah woah Villain!” Hero cuts him off, raising his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you, let’s get that out of the way right now. You are safe with me. No one is ever going to hurt you, understand?” Villain nods while trying his best to stop crying. “I’m sorry for not being clearer, by ‘take care of you’ I mean, well, just that. I’m going to get your injuries looked at by my friend who’s a healer, and then we’re going to get you all healed up, okay? And then from there, we’ll see. But no matter what happens, I swear on my parent’s grave not to harm a hair on your head, or elsewhere. Sound good?”
Villain solemnly nods, “I-I’m sorry for doubting you Hero.”
“Tt, don’t say that Villain. I used really bad phrasing, that’s on me okay? Not on you at all. Do you think you’ll be okay if I keep driving?” Villain nods, then forces himself to take a deep breath. Hero rubs Villain’s shoulder briefly before closing the door and heading back around to the driver’s seat. Before driving, an idea flashes in Hero’s mind. “What kind of music do you like Villain?”
“Me?” Villain nervously laughs, his eyes shooting off to the side. “I like whatever music heroes like…” His head drops, but he does his best to keep focused on his breathing.
Hero laughs, “That’s a good one, honestly there isn’t a right or wrong answer.”
“Alternative,” Villain almost whispers, scared to fail the test he thinks Hero is giving. “I like alternative rock music.”
“Then that’s what we’re gonna listen to!” Hero smiles in the rearview mirror before pulling up a music app on his phone (Sorry Spotify/Apple Music no sponsorship is happening today), “Any band in particular?”
“I mean you can’t go wrong with Nirvana, or Radiohead.” Villain shakes his head, “But we don’t have to do that.”
“No, I want to!” Hero quickly types in Radiohead, then shuffles when the artist's profile pops up.
Slow music begins to play from the speakers as Hero drives off. Not what he would have expected from a genre called alternative rock, but today has been chock-full of surprises so he should’ve known better. He glances down to check the song name and has to hold back a laugh when he sees it’s called “Karma Police”. Irony never sleeps does it? Hero considers skipping the song, worried that Villain might take it as Hero implying he deserved what happened to him. He takes a second to glance back at Villain, only to notice that he is mouthing the words to the song.
“D’you like this one?”
Villain blushes slightly, “I do, yeah.” Hero watches Villain mouth the words ‘This is what you get’ over and over with the song, and his heart drops.
“We don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to Villain.” Hero reaches for the button, but stops. “You know I didn’t know what they were doing to you there right? If I had known- god I put you in there twice.You didn’t deserve it, okay?”
“Maybe I did,” Villain shrugs, “I did destroy a lot of stuff and ruin a lot of people’s lives.” By now the song has ended, a new song is playing. Villain turns to stare out the window without continuing, signaling to Hero that he is done talking.
Five songs later and the car pulls into Hero’s driveway. He stops the car and unbuckles, then turns around to talk to Villain. “Well, in case you couldn’t tell, we’re here.” Hero turns back around then gets out of the car so he can help Villain into his house.
As Villain sits in the car unmoving he can’t help but look down at his hands which are shaking again. He steals a peek up at the house in front of him and his heart begins to race. As far as Villain can tell, they aren’t near any other houses, which means Hero could do anything and no one would hear him scream. The car door opens, shaking Villain from his thoughts. He accepts Hero’s hand, then shakily leans on him as they walk into the house. No matter what happens, I can survive this. Don’t let them win.
Taglist: (Lmk if you wanna be removed!) @everynameistakencarrots
Is it to much to ask, that when someone notices my hand visibly shaking, that instead of mocking me for it, they'll wordlessly take my hand in theirs, and help me keep my hand still?
I have pain problems that cause tremors in my arms and hands some days. It makes drawing really frustrating because most of the artists I admire have bold, smooth lines. I am realizing that I can't physically replicate that style. My lines go off kilter and I get really down on myself about it and digital just doesn't feel as good as paper. So I'm going to try to draw looser, let the shake happen and find I style I can do and feel good about.
I had such a hard time trying to control my hand... The last few days my hands have been shaking more than I’m used to... But I didn’t want to wait anymore.
