@amethystpath-writes / amethystpath-writes.tumblr.com
"I knew you had pitiful interests, Hero, but this show? Seriously?"
"It started out as background noise, okay! I swear I don't plan to watch it again."
***
"You're watching it again."
"I know, I know, but listen! [Character A] fell into a well and [Character B] just walked away! I had to find out what happened."
"Spoiler alert. [Character B] is the one who shoved [A] down a well."
"You asshole! Why'd you tell me!"
P6 V2 here
Have some interaction between Villain and Brother :)
******
"Have you figured anything out yet?" Brother swiveled his chair around, looking at Villain with an unimpressed expression. "Well?" Villain pressed.
Shaking his head, Brother said, "You're a dim-wit, you know that?" He chuckled, finally a show of expression. "You don't pick up on hints very well. Or maybe you do. You understand your little hero well enough."
Yeah, Villain did understand Hero well. It was the whole reason he was in his Brother's 'lab'. It's not a lab. Villain refused to call it as such; it sounded too silly, but Brother thought it made him cool. The kid was a genius, but still had the same aspirations as anyone his age. Either way, Villain needed his little sibling's help in understanding, not Hero herself, but what connection Villain had with her.
It was obvious, perhaps not to anyone else but Villain, that Hero sparked something, the abilities, in him. He never felt a shred of, of heightenedness until she walked into the cafe for the first time. It was from that moment forward that Villain had what people considered 'powers'.
What Villain really got a kick out of was that his powers became suddenly significant when Hero and Caretaker became an item. When it happened, Villain felt like a wall slammed into his body. His coworkers even had to stop what they were doing to lay him down, check on him. A few of them almost called for an ambulance, but he refused. Villain wondered now if Hero had still been there for it. He didn't think so. Knowing her, she would have leapt over the counter to make sure no one was dying.
"Anyway, haven't figured anything out. Don't really talk to her so...not much to find out."
"Then talk to her?" Villain suggested irritably.
Brother shrugged. "What's it to me?"
Of course. Of course Brother was going to play this game. "What do you want? I'm not giving you money."
"Money," the genius laughed. "You think I'm dumb. We have money. I could buy services to get a water slide put down the staircase if I wanted. I could-"
"Not without my permission. I'm in charge while Mom and Dad are out of state."
"Yeah, whatever. I don't want money."
Villain pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jesus, Brother. What do you want?"
He shrugged, turned in his chair and clicked keys on his keyboard, grabbed his mouse, moved it around. Eventually Brother waved at Villain to come closer.
On the screen was the image of a cruise ship. Immediately, Villain said, "No."
"What- I didn't even ask anything yet!"
"You're not going on a cruise. You know Mom would never let you do that on your own. If you were my kid instead of my brother, believe me, I would send you-"
"I don't want to go on the stupid cruise."
Villain took a closer look at the screen. The cursor hovered over a tiny image of men and women standing over a table, a small...robotic-looking thing between them. "A science fair? Haven't you grown out of those yet?"
Brother shook his head, smiled as he turned his chin towards Villain. "It's not a fair. It's a competition." He pointed at the screen. "That mechanism right there? I read about it. It won last year's comp. It's a medical device capable of collapsing into a mobile camera, moves like a bug, a-a centipede kinda." Villain wasn't all that interested, but listened nonetheless. "Anyway, there's a whole bunch of science to it that you're probably too slow to understand. It can heal people from the inside out. It's not widely known. Sure the military knows about it, but otherwise, it's kept on a down-low."
"I'm going to ignore your insult," Villain drawled. It never ceased to amaze him how thoughtless his brother was sometimes. As intelligent as he could be, you'd think he would try to refrain from being rude to someone who could blow him sky high. Of course, Villain would never actually harm his brother. Perhaps that's why Brother did insult him so often. "Why are you interested in this fair?"
"Competition," Brother corrected, then, "I want to go, want to enter an invention of my own."
"Where's it at?"
"California."
If Villain had a drink, he would have spit it out on the screen. Or maybe it would have dribbled out of his bottom lip. "We live in Kentucky, Brother. I'm not taking you to California. I have work and- and Hero."
Brother blew air out of his nose. "One," he said, "you don't have to work. Our parents own a huge franchise. You don't have to work a day in your life unless something crazy like a widespread pandemic happens or something." Villain rolled his eyes. "Two, you could bring Hero with. She could use some exposure. Hasn't even stepped outside since she's been here. I think you're holding a vampire in the house. Did you hear her in the kitchen last night? I don't think she sleeps." Before Villain could inquire about Hero apparently never stepping foot outside of the house, Brother continued. "And anyway. Who said you had to take me? Sister turns 18 in two weeks. She could take me."
"Let me get this straight. I let you take off to California to some secret science fair-"
"-competition-"
"And you'll help me figure out why I reacted to Hero the way I did?"
Brother nodded.
"Fine."
"Shake on it," Brother demanded.
Villain shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Shake on it," he repeated.
"We don't need to 'shake on it'. Just take my bloody word for-"
Brother stuck his hand out.
Villain's lips twisted into a smile. "Alright then. You asked for it."
Before Brother had the time to comprehend Villain's intentions, his hand went numb, then his arm, chest, stomach, right leg, half of his face. It was like he was having a stroke, his body only half functioning.
"Cuh' on!" Villain gave a sly smirk. "Er ettin r-ronger."
"Oh, I know my abilities are stronger. Why do you think I used them just now?" Villain winked. "No worries. You have your deal. We shook on it, didn't we?" Walking out, Villain called one last thing, "You'll get feeling back in- hm- an hour? Maybe? You're the smart one. I'm sure you'll calculate something in your head." Villain shut the door.
Now he was onto Hero, who very much needed a day in the garden.
***
Part 8 here
