Snippet 1.5
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An accumulation of Henchman's nerves, curiosity, and isolation left them reaching for the TV remote and flicking on the news; if they were supposed to stay here, they may as well figure out what's going on outside. They weren't quite sure what to expect when they flipped to the right channel. At worst, they expected a detailed account of how Hero had beaten them to a pulp the previous day, and at best a dull prediction of the weather.
What they hadn't expected was a picture of the hero's face: bruised, blood, and scared. It was such a surprise Henchman merely blinked in silence for the first few moments, utterly failing to digest any of the words coming out of the reporter's mouth. Villain had to have been the one to do it. They hadn't heard of any other villains causing Hero so much trouble, and they knew they were incapable of doing that themself. Hell, in the previous battle, they'd barely managed to land a single hit on the damn Hero.
The TV flicked off suddenly. Henchman turned around, confused, until their focus settled on Villain's face in the doorway. They held the unplugged TV cord in one hand, and a small bag in the other. "We need to speak. In my office, if you don't mind." Henchman nodded numbly, and within a blink they were sat in Villain's office again.
"Hey," Henchman said, then immediately kicked themself, but Villain's lips quirked into a small smile, and when they drew closer, Henchman couldn't help noticing how they smelled of night air and coconut-vanilla body spray, which was their second favorite perfume, but very similar to one Henchman always wore.
"Hey," Villain responded, a teasing light in their eyes as they stopped within arm's reach of Henchman. "Are you feeling alright?" They asked softly, folding their hands together behind their back after dropping the TV cord and placing the small paper bag on the bedside table.
The proximity brought a faint burning to Henchman's cheeks, which prompted them to break the silence. Sitting up straighter, they spoke with a croaky voice. "I'm sorry--"
"Wait."
The Villain's soft voice was all it took to silence the breath in Henchman's lungs and steal the rest of their words off of their tongue.
"If there is an apology in order, it is one of me to you. I believe my anger was misdirected when we spoke earlier." Villain's cheeks were pinker than usual, though Henchman wasn't completely sure they weren't imagining it. Villain cleared their throat. "I... I wasn't angry with you; just frustrated at the situation. I didn't mean to cause you panic."
Henchman wasn't imagining it; Villain was absolutely blushing. Which was good, because so were they. Met with silence, Henchman floundered for something else to say in reply. They should probably attempt their own apology again, or accept Villains, but their mouth was full of marshmallows and their tongue was made of lead until,
"Did I misread anger for anxiety?" Villain offers, and they look embarrassed with themself.
---
I thought I knew them better than that. Villain knew they were making a horrible mess of the entire situation, but Right Hand made it clear on no uncertain terms that if they had to watch Villain beat around the bush with Henchman anymore they'd shave off their eyebrows in their sleep, then make them confess, which was an infinitely worse situation that Villain was doing their best not to image.
Henchman shook their head slightly, then their eyes widened a little as they shook off the silence they'd fallen into. "No, not at all. I just--I wasn't expecting you to say that. I was pretty sure you were pissed at me."
It's a herculean effort to stop the sigh of relief from swooshing out of Villain's lungs, and the burning blush they were hoping Henchman hadn't clocked faded just the slightest bit. Maybe this wasn't completely hopeless. With another slight clear of their throat (a nervous tick they'd been trying to loose since childhood), they unfolded their twitching hands and offered the bag to Henchman. A peace offering, and an apology.
Quick, sharp footsteps passed in front of the doorway, and a flash of Right Hand's silvery hair was all it took to prompt Villain into their next words, uttered so quickly their tongue tripped over itself. "I was angry at Hero because I was worried about you." They were blushing furiously, and focused their gaze to the ceiling because any eye contact with Henchman would absolutely send them sprinting out of the room to take the easy way out. Or, in Right Hand's words: The coward's way out. It was even worse knowing their right hand was most likely listening as they dug themself deeper and deeper.
"It was the whole reason I wanted Hero down in the first place; they showed an interest in you--they attempted to target you, and I'm not sure if it was to hurt me, because they knew I cared about you, or if it was of their own accord, but I put you in danger and probably encouraged you to run out and fight them."
From what they could tell, they'd stunned Henchman into silence once again, though they couldn't tell if that, coupled with the blush on their ears and cheeks, was a good thing or meant Villain was just making a fool of themself.
"I thought I'd pass out on the spot when Right Hand told me where you were, especially when I saw Hero trying to call for backup. I wasn't sure what they'd do to you if they got you in custody. I went back as soon as I could to deal with hero, but they'd already gotten reinforcements and I couldn't get more than a couple good hits in--"
Their phone buzzed on their desk and lit up with a notification from Right Hand. [Slow down]. The bastard was listening.
Villain took another steadying breath, fixing their uniform and closing their eyes for a moment, clearing their throat and running one hand through their hair, bruised knuckles still aching. Henchman's voice broke in before Villain could continue their poorly planned speech. This was supposed to go so much smoother.
"I... I'm sorry, for worrying you. I didn't realize you held that kind of concern for my safety."
Villain collapsed onto their chair, holding their head in their hands as if that could make this entire situation go away. "I'm sorry, for dumping this on you so suddenly. I just... I would hate to see you get hurt again. I really don't know what I'd do without you."
"And Medic being so weird...?"
"I wanted to make sure you took proper care of yourself while I was gone. I guess they went overboard--but you do have a tendency to neglect your own needs in favor of work, and last night was no different."
Henchman blushed a little bit, and Villain felt themselves sliding into a more relaxed cadence as the conversation eased from "confession" to "take care of yourself, you idiot".
"You're one to talk."
That knocked Villain into another bout of silence. "I'm Villain. It's my job to go out and fight heroes--and maybe sometimes with Right Hand, but you're... you're different. Even considering my other employees, you are different. If you were hurt... If you'd died last night... I don't think I would be okay without you. I... really... I really care about you." Wow, great job genious.
Henchman didn't give Villain time to fret about what their expression meant as they replied, "I don't wanna loose you either, Villain."
-- Thank you all so much for all the attention and support on this series! It means the world to me. I have so many ideas for future posts, so stay tuned! Also, I have very little idea of how romance is actually supposed to go, so any specific requests are very much appreciated.
Tagging: @nameless-beanie @crow-with-a-typewriter @mylovelyme @21fandom-shipper21 @gooberlad @cassidysinferno (If you wanted to be tagged and weren't please just poke me with a stick)
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"What if I fade?"
Soap lifts his head from his journal, looking up at Roach who is eerily floating near the ceiling. The slow movements almost make him look like he's in water. Kind of ironic given the way he died.
"What do you mean?" he asks, confused.
"What if I move on, what if I disappear," Roach elaborates, refusing to meet his eye. "Not everyone is a ghost, right? We'd be overly crowded. The fact that we're not also means that not every ghost stays."
Soap forces his dry throat to swallow. He honestly didn't want to think about that. He still needs Roach, he probably always will, but he hasn't even told him that he - he takes a deep breath in to calm himself.
"I don't know how it works," he admits quietly, bouncing his leg absent-mindedly. "You're probably right, like most of the time. Even if I really want you to be wrong about that."
Roach finally looks towards him.
"Maybe I should move on," Roach whispers. "It's not healthy, Johnny. You have no idea the things I want, what I wish for, that I'll never get."
Soap doesn't stand up, just keeps staring into Roach's eyes.
"I think I might have an idea, actually," he whispers back. Roach flounders for a moment. Soap really wishes he didn't get that wrong. He's pretty sure Roach meant that he can't have Ghost, and he himself can't have Roach. So... It's pretty similar.
"I've been feeling less like myself recently," Roach insists, deciding to ignore that comment for now. "I find myself wishing one of you would die so I wouldn't be alone. I never thought like that before, I fear that I may have stayed too long, that I'm starting to lose myself."
And he looks scared. It's written on his features so clearly and it breaks Soap's heart.
"You're not alone," he swears. "I'm here with you, and I'll make sure you stay you, however I can."
Roach looks at him, examining his face, looking for... something. Whatever it is, he seems to have found it because he exhales through his nose like a very soft laugh and averts his eyes, almost... blushing? It's a bit hard to tell from the distance and his left cheek being covered in burns while his right is covered in freckles, but he's pretty sure his ears are red.
"You can't look at me like that, Johnny," he says almost coyly. "I can't do anything about it, it's not fair."
Soap's face is burning and his eyes are wide. Was he too obvious? Did Roach understand or is he joking?
They probably look stupid, both of them redder than a fire truck, avoiding the other's eyes, regretting their words. Or at least he supposes that it's what's happening, because he's sure not looking up.
"If it makes you feel better," Roach finally says, sounding like he's smiling, "you were right for once : I am right most of the time. Judging by your reaction, you did indeed have no idea what I want."
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Time for another Limited Life graph and data table! This time, I took the data from my previous graphs, which effectively had time stamps for every time someone changed colour, and added together the total time everyone was at a particular colour, and then graphed it.
This data above shows everyone in order of most to least time total, and below the cut I also have this data as percentages, as well as ordered most to least time for each colour.
First, the data as percentages:
It’s fascinating that Skizz was the only person to spend a full 8 hours as a single colour - both times he dropped a colour was naturally and without death, and while he was yellow he only died once (falling down the elevator Impulse hadn’t finished making), and killed twice (Bdubs during the duel, and Tango as the final green sacrifice), which means they exactly evened out. This means he’s also the only person to have over 50% of his time in a single colour, and he is only one of two people to spend the greatest percentage of time in yellow rather than green.
The data in order of time spent green:
The data in order of time spent yellow:
The data in order of time spent red:
It’s fascinating that Martyn spent so long in red, though it makes sense - he was the third to fall red, and then won the whole thing. Impulse and Scott were the last to fall red (and indeed both accidentally became yellow again after everyone else was long red), so even though they survived as long as Martyn, they didn’t have nearly as much time on that final colour.
Scar is also the only person in the top 7 (top half) of time spent red, who didn’t also make it to the top 7 of total time, which I also find interesting. Equally, this makes Scott the only top 7 total time person in the bottom 7 red time list... though he’s only red for ten fewer minutes than Impulse (lowest of the top 7 red time), so it’s less striking than Scar’s inclusion where he is.
There’s so much interesting to extract from this data, but I’ll leave this here for your perusal. If there’s anything else anyone would like to see graphed from my data, let me know!
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saw a tiktok of someone assembling "proof" that kageyama doesn't hate hinata, and i'm gonna say this so kindly, but if by episode 4 of season 1 it isn't blatantly obvious that kageyama does not, in fact, hate hinata, then i'm gonna need you to go back and try again.
yes, kageyama calls hinata a dumbass and insults him and fights with him n shit, but he also boasts about/praises hinata's ability every chance he gets, albeit in his own Kageyama Way (ex. s4 ep13, atsumu and kags talking while karasuno is getting warmed up/changed, saying to atsumu "yeah, hinata sucks, but i don't, and he's really not all that bad either, so i think we'll be alright.") a better example would obviously be when kageyama is outright complimenting hinata's speed and jumping ability in s1 episodes 1, 3, and 4, and there's also ofc the "what have you been doing the last three years?" which i'm counting as a compliment as well.
not to mention the fact that kageyama is only physically aggressive with hinata. kageyama dislikes tsukishima (although 'dislike' is a strong word because i don't feel like kageyama really truly Dislikes anyone. he's not the type to hold a grudge. he's still chill with kindaichi and kunimi. he even still holds respect for oikawa after almost being backhanded by him), but he doesn't ever try to hit or kick him or anything. yeah, kageyama will insult him sometimes, but it's never anything more than that. the only one kageyama fights with is hinata.
and i guess the insane way to phrase this would be "Hinata's the only one Kageyama deems worth fighting with," but the more normal way would be that he can be himself with hinata. he trusts him enough to let his guard down. kageyama is respectful to others (ex. literally anyone other than tsukishima and hinata, but it can almost even be said that kageyama has at least a little bit of respect for tsukishima via asking him for help when it comes to studying), and hinata's really the only one he can completely relax around. he can let himself be vulnerable around hinata, hence why he's the only one he fights with.
i feel like it's easy to forget that kageyama (in the anime) is a 15 year old boy. he's going to fight with his friends. if hinata's being an idiot, kageyama's going to smack him upside the head. that's just what he's going to do. there's no deeper meaning to it.
i'd almost go as far as to say that it's a way of showing affection. it's a way of showing hinata that he cares enough to swing back at him. but i also might just be utterly insane, who knows.
those two match each other's freak in a way that makes me feel so physically ill and i hate them forever <3
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