“That’s okay,” He hummed softly, settling his head in the crook of her neck, holding her close. Well, now she’d definitely know if he left or not. Though he actually wouldn’t mind going to bed with her every night. Her bed certainly was very comfortable.
"Hey," she whispered, her voice rough and low, "damn the world, right? You don't care that your a villain, right? Because I obviously couldn't give less of a shit."
James bit his lip a little and turned his face neutral before looking up at her. He thought for a couple moments before inhaling shakily and answering: “If you don’t care, I don’t care. I’m happy with you.”
She smiled, a full, real smile, the statement sending pleasant shivers up her spine. "Well, good," she said. "And I know I don't apologize a lot, but I do want to say I was never happy with lying to you."
James smiled one of his big smiles, nodding. “It’s good that you just told me the truth.” He set his head back down, hugging her tighter around her waist. He really could sleep at that moment, but it was late in the afternoon.
"It feels good to tell you the truth," she sighed softly. She wasn't one to nap –in fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd taken a nap– but she felt so comfortable and at peace in James' arms that she could feel herself drifting off.
James nodded a little, sighing with her. “It feels good to hear it, Nyir,” He murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek and smiling at her dozing face. She was so cute, honestly. He leaned back down and relaxed, yawning.
(hmm what should ruin this lovely moment, Nyir's PTSD or an attack from some heroes…)
She yawned as well. "Quit yawning," she protested, "you're making me sleepy. We should…get up…" She sounded unconvinced, cuddling into his side with yet another yawn.
(>:O NOTHING though it would be super dramatic if James got injured after a hero attack. Though they are very naked so idk)
“Nooo let’s not get up. Let’s just cuddle together.” He cuddled her closer. There’s no harm in a nap, baby.” He kissed along her neck and jaw like she did him earlier, smiling into her skin.
(so,,, both then! PTSD when they fall asleep, and then hero attack once they're clothed lol)
"Baby," she repeated. God, she usually hated pet names, but something about the gentle, hesitant way he said it made butterflies appear in her stomach. "When you put it like that, I guess," she smiled, gasping a bit as he kissed her neck.
(Good enough!)
James giggled faintly into her skin, relaxing against her again after tensing up. “You guess? Your bed’s super comfy, and I don’t wanna leave it. If I knew it was this comfy I would have joined you ages ago,” He murmured jokingly into her skin, smiling.
"You know I would never have let you," she said, her words a bit unintelligible as she drifted between wakefulness and slumber. "But I'm glad you can enjoy it now." Her eyes fluttered shut.
James giggled faintly and his eyes shut slowly with hers, pulling her closer. He started his slow decent to a nice, blank sleep. Yet he didn’t expect the opposite from her.
The moment she drifted fully into slumber, she was enveloped in darkness. Flashes of the day her boyfriend was murdered, mixed in with images and scenes from her imagination. She saw her dead boyfriend sit up, covered in blood, James is next, you could never protect him, she saw James fall from a building, his neck breaking on impact, his beautiful eyes empty and lifeless. She could've saved him, why didn't she, why not, what was wrong with her, she was so useless, he was dead and it was all her fault and–
Her eyes flew open and before she was fully conscious, she had shoved James off of her and stood. She felt exposed and disgusting. She yanked back on her clothes, her heart racing.
James had only just started to snore when he was torn out of his pleasant sleep when he was thrust away, sitting up and blinking rapidly, looking confused as she pulled her clothes back on. James followed suit, just looking confused as ever.
“Nyir? Are you okay?” He asked, trying to step around her to get her to look at him, sort of afraid to touch her.
"I'm fine," she said in a monotone voice, hurrying to her window and peering out of it. Her nails scratched against the window sill as she gripped it tightly. She could hardly think past the blinding panic that threatened to consume her. "I'm fine, could you leave please?"
“Um… yeah, okay. I’ll be in the living room?” He slowly backed out of the room, concern covering every inch of his face as he shut the door. He sighed and turned heel, trotting into the living room and pausing. Something felt off with it. He swore he saw something move as soon as he walked in, but he could have been kidding himself. He was still pretty tired.
She heard him leave, closing the door softly behind him. Damn it, she ruined everything she touched. Her eyes burned. She needed to think, she needed to plan, but her stupid brain refused to work. She stormed back over to her bed, yanking open the bottom drawer of her side table, where she'd stashed a bottle of whiskey for emergencies. There were a few pill bottles down there as well –medications she should be taking but wasn't. She took a shot of the whiskey, letting the familiar burn bring her back to reality. Another shot, and she started to feel more like herself.
James rubbed the back of his head, gasping as he felt an unfamiliar presence suddenly appear and grip his face. He was brought down quietly to the ground rather than getting slammed. He looked confused but scared as he realized it was not Nyir who had appeared behind him and started to struggle. Suddenly there was a flash of blinding pain from his right leg, and a pinch to his nose stopped him from screaming.
“You will stay completely silent,’ Hissed an unfamiliar voice.
Slowly, her heart rate returned to normal and her breathing slowed. She could think again. She needed to secure her locks, check the perimeter, make sure things were fine. Rechecking the locks always calmed her down. She took another long swig of whiskey for good measure, hiding the bottle in her drawer again and throwing her door open.
A second pair of hands grabbed James and hauled him away somewhere else in the house, as the first hero straightened up to deal with Nyir. Apparently this was supposed to be an easy job. As soon as Nyir stepped out of her room, she was kicked hard in the stomach and pushed back onto the ground, where she was pinned.
The second pair of hands on James was much stronger and more controlling. What he assumed to be a knife was ripped out of his thigh and lodged into his hip. His nose was pinched again, so it stopped him from screaming again at the pain.
The moment she appeared through the doorway, someone kicked in in the gut, right where her stitches were, which sent her reeling backwards. They pinned her to the ground. It was the same hero who'd stabbed her, and he grinned down at her, holding a knife to her throat. "Nyir Viann, is it?" he said with a smile. "You're under arrest for harboring a wanted villain in your home."
"Get off of me, asshole," she spat, teleporting out from under him and slamming her elbow into the side of his head. His skin sank in, absorbing her blow. "What the hell is your ability?"
He stood up, grabbing her by the neck. "You like it? Shock absorption." He slammed her against the wall, bringing his fist into her face. She dodged it narrowly, teleporting rapidly around him and firing off rapid-fire blows. She needed to get to his knife. Get the knife, stab the idiot, save James. Easy enough.
She disoriented him with several quick blows to his eyes and nose, places that she quickly recognized as being weak points on his body. She felt a satisfying crack beneath her knuckles when she drove them into the bridge of his nose, and he let out a snarl. She reached for his blade, her hand wrapping around the handle. His other hand came around to grab her wrist, stopping her from teleporting easily. She used her weight to push them both to the ground, and the knife clattered from his hands and slid towards the other hero and James.
When the second hero realized Nyir had broken free of the other, they started rapidly slamming James’ head onto the ground, no longer holding his nose but not allowing him to scream because of the action. They reached for the second knife and smirked a little, standing up and dragging James’ heavy body with them, pointing the knife along his throat.
“Just let him go,” They said in a heavy Russian accent. The person was a heavyset man— far too heavy— and they were holding James as if he were a teddy bear. “Let him go and we might kill him somewhere else.”
James was panting heavily, his head lolling a little as blood leaked into his eyes from a wound in his forehead. His blood from the thigh wound dribbled quickly onto the ground, draining out. He felt weak and about to pass out. His lids were heavier than what they were… he was tempted to slip away from all of the pain into sleep.
Nyir teleported to the knife, grabbing it and driving it into the first heroes gut. "Payback," she mumbled before turning back towards the Russian hero. She could hardly see past the angry red haze in her eyes. James looked like he was ready to fall over, and the thought that someone had done that to him made her feel angrier than she'd felt in a long time. Her hands flexed around her newly acquired blade. "Fuck off, commie," she spat, teleporting towards him and slightly above him, slamming her elbow into the back of his skull. She didn't know his ability, or what would happen once she did it –she only knew that she wanted to cause him pain.
The Russian hero dropped James like a bag of potatoes very intentionally, the other falling heavily to the ground. He threw his hands in front of his face and made a small shield in front of him, evading most of her attacks, but not making a counter attack. Though, when she teleported above him, he too collapsed onto the ground, knocked out. Now there was a dead guy, a knocked out guy, and a barely breathing James on the ground.
Nyir stumbled to the ground beside James, cradling his head in her lap. "Hey, you're okay, stay with me," she mumbled, checking his pulse and breathing. His pulse was steady but his breathing was wheezy. He was losing a lot of blood. She hefted him to his feet and staggered over to the couch, laying him down. It was just like the first time she'd met him, but this time, she had infinitely more to lose. She set to work, first stitching up the wound on his thigh, then bandaging his forehead.
James stirred faintly, moving his hands towards the knife in his hip with a deep gasp, shaking his head. He was practically asking her not to remove it by shaking his head, unable to find his voice or his breath. Everything still hurt and his breathing was all kinds of wheezy and heavy. His pulse was actually sort of slow from all of the blood that he lost from his thigh. His vision wavered and he felt heavy. He was confused and felt ready to just pass out.
The amount of blood he'd lost was no joke. She was surrounded by pools of the bright red liquid. He might need blood, but how would she manage that? She finished patching him as best she could, secured the unconscious hero with duct tape and tossed him in the bathtub, then made a quick phone call to a doctor she trusted. She'd have to get him to a hospital without altering the other heroes of their presence.
"Hello?" Asked the familiar voice after a couple rings. He didn't sound too busy. The doctor's name was Dr. Kramer, and he was always available for heroes or villains in need. He was a great Healing super, actually, but he went off to a field where he'd be safe away from all of the feuding. So far it was working out. He was living off of the charges of the normal patients, while helping supers as a side, basically.
Nyir took a shaky breath. "It's Chaser. I need your help, but first, you have to promise that you will tell no one about any of this."
