The joint operation begins in 15 minutes.
Hero gulps nervously. Their hands are sweaty, body jittery. They're pretty new to this whole hero thing, and this is just their second operation, and already the hero organization wants them to work on a joint operation with a vigilante.
Hero doesn't understand, are they evil or not? Should I be scared or no? Their mind starts spiraling. If they're cooperating with the heroes, they can't be that bad right? Hero shakes their head a little, as if to stop thinking. I'm just being silly, I'll know if I meet them.
Hero takes brave steps, making it to the rooftop to get some air first and then they would meet vigilante-
Oh no, they're here too.
It's hard to miss them really- wavy raven curls, a lean but muscular build, and their costume... hero really likes it. Hell, they want to take them to the support people who engineer hero costumes right now and show them all this masterpiece. Hero unconsciously lets out a tiny squeal and immediately puts both hands on their lips, wanting to just disappear into the ground.
Vigilante whisks their head around- eyes sharp, muscles tense, registering someone else's presence on the rooftop. Their body goes lax when they see it’s only the newbie hero.
"Hey, hero."
Hero drops their hands to their side and gives them their brightest smile. They knew that headquarters didn't really want the heroes having much contact with any person on the other side of justice, but this is a joint operation after all, so there's no harm right? Plus they did have to work together, so a good first impression is vital.
Vigilante freezes momentarily. A hero is smiling at me? They almost want to laugh. This is new, all of them generally snarl or sneer. They look into hero’s eyes - it’s such a straightforward gaze, one without any sort of ill intent, that vigilante feels the need to look away. How long has it been since someone looked at me like that? They can’t remember.
Hero walks over and sits next to vigilante. "Hey", they say in a quiet voice, still not over their embarrassing episode. Vigilante pays no mind to that though, thoughts still reeling with how to deal with this new hero.
"So," vigilante begins awkwardly, "did you need something?"
Hero just blinks at them, trying to register that question in their head. Then it finally hits them. If the heroes before them didn't talk to vigilante, of course vigilante wouldn't have talked to them beyond necessities either. That's not nice. Hero wants to change that.
"No, nothing. I just wanted to talk with you."
Talk? They just want to talk with me?
"So... you don't need anything from me but you just want to talk with me."
Hero tilts their head adorably, as if thinking about that statement. It does unspeakable things to vigilante's chest.
"Yes, is that... I don't know, against the rules or something?" Hero tries to joke, but it comes out a little shaky.
Vigilante smiles, secretly praying that it looks like one, "No, it's not. It's just... different."
Hero didn't need to look at the shape of their lips to know what vigilante was feeling. They could hear it in their voice- a tinge of pain.
Hero doesn't know anything about vigilante yet, but you don't have to know someone's history to make them smile right? Every person deserves to smile, at least that's what hero thinks. So, they're determined to do that, again and again.
"So, is this different, in a good way or a bad way?"
Vigilante thinks about it for a minute.
"In a good way." Their lips curve happily this time and hero secretly takes pleasure in it.
Vigilante definitely looked so much better with a smile on their face.
Hero’s smile matches vigilante’s - happy and satisfied.
-
The alarm goes off. They have to get in position now.
But there's something still bugging vigilante. They swallow a bit of their pride to ask, what's probably the most silliest thing that they've ever wanted to ask someone-
"Hero, wait."
Hero stops in their tracks, a few feet away from the exit door, turning back to look at vigilante.
"Why, um, why did you... smile?"
Hero chuckles heartily and vigilante's cheeks turn redder by the second. The tone is soft and sweet, not condescending, so vigilante doesn't mind at all. In fact, they think that they could even get used to hero’s laughter, and maybe, they’ll end up liking it someday.
Hero’s eyes don't leave vigilante while they think of an answer in their head. The hero organisation must be crazy, because how else can they label this person as evil?
" You don’t really need a reason to smile, you just smile if you feel like it, that’s all. But if you really want to know, smiles are something that reflect one another- that’s the nice thing about them. So I smiled, because you did.” They pause for a second. “ But even if you didn’t, I would have smiled anyways, because I wanted to.”
Hero grins as if to reinstate their point and vigilante smiles back, only then realising that they've been doing it unconsciously. It just felt foreign, but in the best way.
Vigilante looks like they’re trying to understand a math problem and hero thinks it’s the cutest thing. "You're right. That makes sense."
Vigilante holds out their hand and hero looks at them questioningly.
"Come on, this way is faster", they point towards the edge of the rooftop.
Hero feels like their heart is going to fly right out of their mouth if they don't close it, so that's what they do. They keep their lips sealed as vigilante effortlessly scoops them up in their arms and jumps off the rooftop, their powers immediately coming to life. It makes hero wonder just how many times they've done this.
Hero can literally see their superiors in their head, hurtling curses at them for allowing a situation like this to happen. They look at vigilante's face from the corner of their eyes, and it's small, but that's definitely a smile there. Hero smiles wide, a feeling of pride filling up their chest. They know it's funny to feel that way, but feelings are feelings.
As they land safely on the ground, hero thinks,
I'll just leave this part out of my report.
I'm letting the spotlight shine on vigilante for this one, because hurray to morally grey characters who just pretend to be evil and don't actually go around causing chaos xD Hope you all will enjoy this one^^