"How the hell did I not hear about this until now, dude? What the hell?!" exclaimed the best friend and current roommate of Havardr, the only Asgardian to leave New Asgard in favor of mingling with the humans. Well, more to escape his horrid family, but that's a different matter. At the moment, his best friend Kuro was huffing and puffing that Havardr didn't tell him about a secret date with some dancer chick in the city.
"I thought we were best buds, Vardy! Why wouldn't you tell me?"
The superhuman being raised an eyebrow. "Because I didn't think it was important enough to tell you about. Besides, it was only once. I doubt I'll ever see her again. She was pretty, but it's not safe for me to stick around people too long. You know that."
Kuro nodded, sighing. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though." He scrunched up his nose and looked away, rubbing the back of his hand against slowly reddening almond eyes. Havardr frowned, scratching at the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry, Kuro. I am. But I can't threaten your safety with my presence."
The dark-haired man waved his hand. "Whatever. We'll talk about that later." His eyes sparked, and not just from the reflection of the morning light. "You owe me details about your date."
Havardr smiled helplessly and nodded. "Fine. But only if you make me that bagel sandwich for breakfast. The one you made for your sister yesterday for lunch."
The other youth laughed, wiping away any stray tears. "Deal."
While Kuro set about making some actual food for the two of them, Havardr launched into his story.
At the end of the tale, the other man just stared at his friend in pin-drop silence. "I…dude, I never knew that accidental dates were a thing until you just said that. You like her?"
Havardr shrugged. "I met her once. I don't know if I do, but something about her made me want to stay and never leave." He frowned and looked down, trying to remember the goodbye after he walked her back to her building. "I think she may have been feeling the same way, but I can't be sure. But I liked how she held my arm. That was really nice."
Kuro scratched the back of his head. "How the fuck do you have so much game already, and you've only been here like three months? I've lived here for my whole life, and I've had fucking horrible luck with dating."
The other man grinned sheepishly. "Maybe you're looking in the wrong place? Also, you're sometimes kinda harsh on girls, not complimenting them and stuff. I think that's what you're supposed to do."
"You think?! Bro, you went out with a chick you met for an hour. How do you not know?"
"Um, I'm not entirely sure how that happened. So uh, yeah. I'm not your best bet for that. Sorry, Kuro."
The dark-haired youth sighed. "Well, not like I can stay mad at you. Eat up."
"HELLO, BOYS~! I'M HOOOOOME!" came a loud call from the doorway of the small apartment. Havardr beamed as Kuro groaned.
"Did she have to come today? Damn it."
A bubbly young woman with dark brown hair and a summery strawberry dress bounced into the kitchen, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Kuro huffed. "What do you want?"
The girl pouted, pink lips scrunching together. "Meanie. Can a little sister not visit her brother?"
He rolled his eyes. "You moved in with my ex-girlfriend. You don't get to just come in without telling me."
She let out a slow breath and hummed. "Still hung up on that, I see. Hasn't Vardy helped you get over her yet? I thought he's some kind of amazing therapist guy."
"It's not his job to help me with my ex's, Monica. You know that."
Monica snorted. "But it is his job to protect you while you go beat the fuck out of people? Right. Great reasoning, dude."
Kuro rolled his eyes. "Moni, seriously. He's the best fighter I've seen in my entire existence. Besides, we're friends now. And I'm not asking him to fight random people with me. I'm asking him to help me find the bastard who took my big brother from me."
The dark-haired young woman gritted her teeth. "How many times have I told you to stop using that word?"
He scowled. "I'm sorry, but you know what I mean."
"I don't care what you mean! Just stop saying that word! You know my history with it, Kuro. Don't start pissing me off now."
Havardr frowned and laid a hand on Kuro's shoulder. The other boy sighed and calmed down, nodding his head. "Fine. Fine, since you guys are clearly on the same team now, fine. I'm sorry."
Monica smiled a bit at her step-brother's best friend. "Thanks, Vardy."
Havardr nodded. "No problem." He gave a mischievous grin. "We all know my charm is irresistible. He has to listen to me. He has no other choice." He and Moni laughed together, shaking hands enthusiastically.
Kuro rolled his eyes. "You seem to like him better than you like me, jerk."
"Can you blame me? Look at that adorable face! And he's nicer than you," she retorted, side-eyeing her elder brother.
The twenty-year-old of Japanese descent simply nodded, putting his hands up. "Touche. Fair enough."
Monica smiled at the other boy. "Are you enjoying Paris so far, Vardy?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure it's lovely, but I haven't gone out much during the day since I spend most of my mornings asleep. Nighttime missions rarely let me sleep easy," he admitted.
She sighed. "Kuro, you gotta let him rest. I know you gave him that condition, but-"
"But nothing. Monica, you just don't get it. You weren't raised with us. I understand, okay? But…" His lower jaw clenched, lips quivering from the tears he was trying to hold back. He met eyes with the daughter of his dad's new wife. "You don't know how it was to watch him die, Moni. I'm sorry, but you don't. I have to do this. I have to know what happened to Yuuto." Monica reached out and held her new sibling in her arms, knowing he needed it. Havardr watched on silently, but she could see his confusion.
With a slow breath, Kuro stepped away from Monica and patted her cheek, smiling softly when she pressed her face into his hand. "You just here to pester me, or do you actually need something?"
She shrugged. "Just wanted to check on you." Her eyes looked to the TV channel that Havardr had been watching before Kuro started cooking for him. Both young men witnessed the obvious tics indicating her worry: her hand clenched around the strap of her bag, squeezing the fake leather to death, the rubbing of her feet against the cold wood floors, the way she kept tucking her baby hairs behind her ears.
"You've been going on missions a lot more often these days, and I know you're low on funding. Are you still working?"
Kuro nodded. "Yeah. The old woman still needs me. You can't exactly run a grocery store on your own, even if it only holds about ten people, max. But these jackass landlords keep hiking up the rent prices, and I'm too broke to contest them, so I'm stuck just dealing with it."
Monica sighed. "And I know Vardy can't work. His situation is a lot more precarious than ours. How can I help?" She gazed at her two older brothers, one by marriage of her mother and the other by friendship. "What can I do to make this easier on you two?"
Havardr was about to refuse all help when Kuro interjected, "Help us find an org that'll fight these rent hikes for us. We can't keep paying for a roof over our heads when we can barely get food or a salary. And maybe advertise a bit for the store?"
Monica nodded. "I can do that. I'll do some research and get you guys whatever I can find that'll work. Just let me know when you need this all done." She strolled to the couch and plopped down, yawning as she stretched her feet out to put them on the long coffee table. "In the meantime, could you make me some coffee, Vardy? You do it better than Kuro. And I would also like a bagel sandwich, please."
"Moni, he needs to eat. I'll just make the coffee. Don't be rude."
She whined, but nodded, grinning when the taller of the two young men pushed his friend to the living room while he made the coffee. "She's right, Kuro. My coffee is better. Go spend some time with your sister. I got this."
"Thanks, Vardy!" Monica squeaked while dragging her older brother into the living room.
He whistled in acknowledgement and set about making the hot, bitter drink. He really couldn't understand why humans enjoyed drinks so bitter and tasteless. He longed for the days where he could have a jug of mead and laugh around with his friends, but Hela had ruined it for everyone by coming back to smite them. How pretentious. Havardr pushed away those thoughts, knowing he would end up thinking about his family and getting a panic attack.
Something caught Kuro's eye on the TV. Monica had changed the channel from the nature documentary the Asgardian had been watching so she could look for her favorite show. Her brother snatched the remote from her hands when he saw something on the news. "Hey, Havardr?"
"Yes, Kuro?" the fair-skinned youth called from the kitchen.
"What did you say that girlfriend of yours looked like?"
An irritated voice responded. "She's not my girlfriend! But um, really long and dark hair, slightly less dark skin. Really pretty, dark eyes. Very sweet, warm features. Why?"
Kuro coughed. "And is she kinda short, but not excessively so? Really strong-looking legs? Like, 'they could probably bend metal if she tried' strong? And uh, bright white teeth? And very scarred, veiny hands?"
Havardr's eyes widened, and he poked his head out of the kitchen to look at his friend, who was still staring at the TV. "Were you spying on me?"
The young man snorted. "I don't need to. She's on TV, dude!"
'Vardy' widened his eyes even further and flew out of the kitchen and ran to the living room. He turned to watch the television screen, and his stomach lurched. Kuro wasn't lying. Not at all. There she was, in all her beautiful melanin-y glory.
Even though he last saw her a month ago after that weird lunch-date-but-not-a-date thing, the sight of her put his heart out of commission for a few seconds. She still had that grin, that excited smile ready to face anything. Those eyes too bright and happy for all she'd faced from that dance company. That voice too warm to a world so cold.
He could hear Monica musing at how nice the girl's skin was and how clear her features were. He couldn't pay attention to that, though. He just needed to hear Sanjeevani speaking. He had to hear her. Otherwise, he would forget her when he left Paris to find a new home.
"…and I know that if I keep pushing on and never give up, I'll find my happiness. I'll reach my goals. It's been a hard month for me. Students joining and leaving like the tides. Parents judging and misunderstanding me. I think I'll be okay, though. I have my current students. These guys are the best students a teacher could ask for. Enthusiastic, kind, caring, hard-working, and more determined than any billionaire that exists in this world. These kids are my pride and joy, and being able to work with them and their parents is the honor of my lifetime. Without them, I wouldn't be here."
Havardr melted a little, plopping down onto the stool beside the singular sofa, and he nearly fell over from moving too fast. She was wearing her traditional dance clothes again, and damn, she looked nice. Not as much jewelry - she probably took it off already - but her eyes were outlined with kohl, and she was in full makeup: lips a deep crimson and face almost glowing from her foundation and highlighter. Even her smile seemed brighter than the last time he saw her. Havardr kinda wished he could see her as he did that day she first danced before him, but this was a formal performance for some kind of dance recital or competition. It made sense for her to wear more fancy clothes and makeup.
He still hadn't read the headline until Monica read it aloud: UP-AND-COMING INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCER GOES VIRAL: FROM ASYLUM-SEEKER TO FAME-SEEKER
Kuro hummed. "She's cute. I see why you like her. But how exactly did she go viral?"
Monica grinned. "You can ask her yourself." She showed him her phone, where she'd been looking up the name of the young woman who took over Paris' news channels for the past twenty-four hours. "She teaches her classes in Parc de la Butte-du-Chapeau-Rouge since she doesn't have a dance studio of her own. According to this article, she always lets the public watch her lessons, so long as they leave a three-meter distance between her teaching area and observers. And she spends a few hours at the park before and after classes to eat lunch and snacks with her students and friends, and sometimes the public, if they want to talk to her."
Her brother shrugged. "Of course, she's not super famous, but she did go viral recently. Probably gonna be a lot of cameras around until the news gets bored of her."
Monica looked over at Havardr, whose face had grown more pale than it already was. "Vardy? Are you okay?"
He turned his gaze slowly to her, eyes panicked and fingers scratching along the inner stitching of his shirt's hem. "I can't see her. I don't- I can't come to see her with you."
Kuro frowned, "Bro, you're the one who said you felt like you had to stay at her side. Why can't you go now?"
Havardr put his face in his hands. "That's exactly why. If I go now, it means I have to stay at her side. I'll want to stay at her side, and never leave. If that happens, she might get hurt. She'd be in danger. I can't do that to her."
"Why would you have to?"
He sighed. "I made a promise to her so she wouldn't be upset about me leaving that if we crossed paths again after that day, I'd stay in her life and never leave her. I don't break my promises, Kuro."
The siblings glanced at one another, and Monica dared to ask, "What would be so bad about letting her be in your life? Maybe she's strong enough to handle the danger you worry so much about. You only met her once. You don't know her enough to make that call."
"Monica, please. She's…she's special. Something about her is just too good. Too nice. I don't want to let my life harm her."
Kuro shook his head and then crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not for you to decide. You made the promise that you'd be in her life if you crossed paths. And you just did. So you will see her again. You're gonna see her. You owe her that, Havardr. You owe her that."
He groaned, tossing his head back. If there was one thing the former guard of the Asgardian Royal Family knew, it was that these two siblings would never let him get out of this. They were just as stubborn as their mom, even if they wouldn't admit it. "Fine, meanies. I'll go see her. But I'm wearing a disguise. And neither of you can convince me to wear anything normal."
Monica giggled excitedly. "Oooh, this is gonna be so much fun! I feel like a kid getting her parents back together. I can't wait to see what her reaction to you is."
Havardr mumbled. "She'd probably scream and run off once she hears what I'm doing. She's too nice. I doubt she'd approve of our missions."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about telling her all that?!" Kuro exclaimed, eyes narrowed at his best friend.
Havardr stared back at him calmly. "I told her my real name. She told me hers. I've kept a bit from her. She's kept a bit from me. If I see her again, I'm staying in her life, and she's staying in mine. She's the one person I'm not lying to. I'm not hiding things from her. I don't care what happens afterward, but I'm not keeping my life a secret from her."
Kuro stared at Monica, who was too busy gushing over how cute it was that her brother's best friend was so 'romantic' to notice her brother's plight.
"Dude, that's secret shit! My own mom doesn't know what we've been doing! How the hell are you planning on dropping that to her without her spilling all the details to anyone else? How do we know she won't tell anyone what we're doing?!"
"Because she and I are both running from our pasts. She's running from a family that hurt her. I'm running from mine. If her family was so horrible that she's running away, she's probably also a good liar and kept many things from them, for her own safety. I'm not as great at lying, but I'm learning. If you can trust me with that stuff, you can definitely trust her," Havardr argued.
Monica put a hand on each young man's shoulders, as they had both stood up quickly in preparation for the verbal fight. "Okay, cool down. No need for all this mess. Three things are decided right now. One, we will go see her. Two, we will let Havardr wear his disguise. Three, we will let him speak to her without any intervention. This is between them. We don't jump in unless something goes extremely wrong, which I doubt will happen. Got it?" At their grunted agreements, she sat down and changed the channel to put on a movie or show.
Kuro dragged Havardr into the kitchen to get the coffee and make some extra food for Monica. He looked at the other man's face carefully. "How do you know she's not lying to you, Havardr?"
The youth paused his work and set down the coffee filter. His chin touched his chest, and he spoke quietly, his words almost inaudible. "Because she spilled her heart and her struggles to me, Kuro. She cried to me when she didn't get a job at one of the lower-quality Indian classical dance schools downtown because of the color of her skin and the mixed-culture household she was born to. I saw her struggles and her kindness in real-time. I know she's good. A person that good can't be lying. It just doesn't happen."
The other man patted Havardr's back and exhaled. "Okay. We'll meet her. You can tell her what you want. But please don't give her names when you tell her about the missions and stuff."
He nodded. "I won't. She also has a few secrets of her own, and I have to ask her before I tell you anything about her too, so you're not the only one trying to keep things hidden." Havardr smiled a bit as he finished up making the coffee Monica asked for. "I'll go give this to your sister. Make her that sandwich and get back to the couch. We need a movie day."
Kuro shook his head, smiling as Havardr headed back to the living room. He groaned and put his face in both hands as soon as the other man was out of earshot. "Why does he have to be so damn oblivious?" He rubbed his forehead. "Can't blame him for liking her, though." He thought of his first reaction to seeing that girl's face. "If I were straight, she woulda been my first choice too."
Sanjeevani took a deep, cool breath. It was odd trying to breathe through cloth and hard silicone, but Ahmed was the fashion genius of the century. He'd installed some ventilation things in her mask that let her breathe easier and not run out of air every time she ran towards or away from a fight. It was hard being a vigilante, especially a nonviolent one. But Paris was stewing in more crime than she realized on her first day.
She unzipped one of her secret pockets and pulled out her tiny calendar. A smile came to her cheeks. Exactly a month ago, she began her journey into heroism. A month of pain and broken bones and constant falls from high places, both literal and metaphorical. A month of terrified encounters with low-level criminals and bad-guys. A month of healing more people than she even knew in her home dimension. And she finally had a stable income. She was slowly going to be able to pay Ahmed back for making that suit for her, and she could get food and clothing and other necessities outside of her residence. Oh, what a glorious world awaited her. And since she finished her shift for the day, she could go home and take a nice shower and sleep before her classes began the next morning.
"And here she comes, the hero of the day~!" crooned a slow, sweet voice. Sanjeevani sighed.
Goddammit.
"What the hell do you want, Wicker?"
A young person in a dark shimmery-purple bodysuit with a creepy 3-eyed, smiling mask strolled over, joining her on the rooftop. "Just wanted to say hello to my favorite girl. Nothing wrong with that, right?"
"Uh, there is if you're trying to distract me again," she retorted.
Wicker sighed. "Oh, you pretty girl. You'd do so much better working under me than doing all this off-the-grid vigilante work." She amended her words, "Working under and sleeping under me would be better, but I suppose you're not into all that stuff."
The girl cringed under her mask. "Why do you always feel the need to try and woo me into your bed every time you come to annoy me?"
"Why do birds scream their lungs out every morning? It's what they do. And this is what I do." Wicker got close enough to grab the heroine by the waist and spin her around to press the two of them together, one arm wrapped around her hips and the other hand tilting her head up. "Now, what do you say we let go of all this silly trivial enmity and have some fun? I know how tired you are. You deserve a break, beautiful."
Sanjeevani rolled her eyes and redirected her body's strength to her right foot and stomped on Wicker's foot hard enough to crack bone. "Because I'm not about to keep fucking around with some random person I don't know. Also because you are literally my enemy. You stole from broke people and beat up some random innocents for information. You're the definition of 'bad guy', basically."
"Awww," the semi-evil figure hummed in fake-sadness while trying to not hiss at the severe pain in her foot. "You don't like me? Even after all that we've done together? All that I've done for you and told you? Now, that's just cruel." She smirked under her mask. "I think you should be much nicer to me, especially considering how much information I could give you about those two twin lunatics trying to burn down Paris and the strongman attempting to break your every bone. And a huge new threat that's going to enter your life." Now she had the heroine's attention. Sanjeevani stared at her frenemy and bit her lip.
"You really have all that information?"
Wicker smiled. "Yep."
"How can I be sure that you're not making it up?"
Wicker's smile turned to a scowl, and she grabbed the heroine by the collar, holding her over the edge of the roof they both stood on. She watched the other girl struggle to find footing on the ledge. She sneered. "I do not lie. I never lie. And the implication that I lie offends me more than anything else you could have said. Say that again, and you won't have to worry about fighting off any more villains because I'll make sure you can't even fight for your life. Understood?"
Sanjeevani grunted. "Fine! Fine, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Wicker growled and set the girl down again.
"Well? Is that a yes or a no?"
The young woman sighed. "Do I even want to know the price?"
Wicker hummed, cornering the heroine to the railing again. She pulled up her mask to reveal the bottom half of her face, her lips curved up into a devilish grin. "One night."
Another groan. Sanjeevani had to think about this one. Wicker had done this a lot. Practically since the second week the healer had been in business, helping heal the homeless and poor of Paris, Wicker had found her at the end of every hero-work shift and tempted the other girl into her bed in exchange for information no one else could ever know because it hadn't happened yet.
Wicker was something of a psychic and mind-reader. She could see the future and distant past and read minds, but only for a price. Sanjeevani was new to the field and had asked the other girl for help. The prices started off easy. A kiss. A long hug. A few love bites to the neck.
The prices got heavier over the past few days, escalating to makeout sessions or oral sex. This was a huge price. Bigger than anything else Sanjeevani had been offered in the whole three weeks she'd known the somewhat-villain. "How much can you tell me?"
Wicker's smile only got bigger. "Two and a half hours ' worth of info." Sanjeevani took a deep breath at that. That was massive. Absolutely insane. But was it worth giving up an entire night of her body to this woman?
She thought about it. The secrets of three supervillains and a new threat? That was a lot of stuff. A lot more than usual.
And if she could protect her new home better after knowing all that stuff? Well…how bad could one night be?
Sanjeevani knew she would regret it the next morning, but not the next night. She sighed, massaging her temples. The scratching sound from her suit's fabric rubbing against itself filled the crisp air around the two youths. She let out a slow sigh and grunted. "One night only. If you try to keep me around longer, I'll shatter your feet this time."
Wicker's smirk kept getting bigger, even as she pulled down the mask. "Always a pleasure to do business with you, Miss White Witch."
"Is that what the media's been calling me these days?"
"Is it any surprise? You look like you're doing magic and give off white light, even though you're wearing that fancy ultra-black stuff. You look like a witch. Too bad you don't have a hat or a broom." Wicker hummed, guiding the heroine off the roof and to the dark alley below so they could walk back to Wicker's apartment. "But I certainly have a broom. And a hat."
Sanjeevani scowled. "I'm not doing roleplay for you."
"Mean."
"Fuck off."
"The term is 'fuck you' which I will, but be patient, for goodness' sake!" Sanjeevani groaned at the horrible joke.
She huffed. "I pity whoever has to date you."
Wicker only smirked. "I do too."
Okay. That was unexpected. And depressing. The heroine didn't comment on that, choosing to just let her body get some warmth after that particularly long nighttime shift. "You gonna drive me home again?"
Wicker sighed. "Can't. Work tomorrow morning."
"Lucia's Deli is still killing you? Why don't you leave?"
"Because I'm broke."
Sanjeevani hummed. "Valid point. You could look for a job somewhere else, though, right?"
"Where? The psychics here are stupid and would judge me because my powers let me do actual, accurate predictions. They're just all smoke and mirrors. I'm not about to stoop so low as to offer my services for money."
The other girl snickered. "But you would offer them in exchange for sex?"
Wicker huffed. "Shut your mouth. It's different. Anyways, I don't want to have to use my powers for that. You know exactly what young superpeople like us deal with. I don't want to get experimented on."
"…Can't disagree with that." Sanjeevani sighed. "You know, there are heroes who would love for you to help them. You could join the Avengers."
Wicker looked away, the chrome of her mask reflecting the dim yellow streetlights as the two walked along the lighter side of the road. "They just use people for their abilities. And I don't want to have to deal with the UN. I'm not trying to become an international sensation. I just wanna do what I want how I want when I want, with no one but me telling me what to do. For that I need money. And for money, I need a job. And for a different job, I need skills that I don't have."
Sanjeevani said nothing, leaning her head on the other girl's shoulder. "You could live with me. I mean, I'd end up trying to make you a good person and make you repent for all the shit you did, but…"
Was this chick serious? Was she offering a part of her home to her supposed enemy? Wicker laughed. "You're definitely a good guy. Bad guys don't make offers like that to people who nearly kill them."
"Maybe it's my kink or whatever you were talking about last time."
"Goodness as a kink? Now I wanna see you in an angel costume."
Sanjeevani rolled her eyes and snorted. "You try that, and you lose all the fingers you put on me."
"Fine, fine. Relax."
The two walked into Wicker's two-bedroom cheap apartment, shutting the door hard behind them because the faux-villain still hadn't gotten the locking mechanism fixed.
"Seriously, Wicker, I don't want people walking in on us when we're doing this stuff. What the hell would happen to my rep if I was seen fucking around with a villain?"
Wicker smirked, peeling off her rain-and-sweat-drenched suit as she watched her bed partner do the same. "Either people would make you into a fake-hero who asked other villains to tear up Paris so you would look like a good guy or they'd make you out to be some kind of sex idol, or both."
Sanjeevani sighed. "Exactly the problem. Get the fucking door fixed. I'll even get you some cash to make that happen."
The other girl strode forward and hugged the heroine from behind, smooth golden arms curling around her waist. "Oh, my~! So you imagine this happening again~?" Sanjeevani smacked the girl's arms.
"Oi! Hands off! I'm not done changing yet! And no. Well, yes. Look, you have info. This is the method of payment. I'll do what I gotta do to protect my new home, even if it means doing things I would never do had I not started this whole hero thing."
Wicker's lips curled into a frown as she pulled back. "So you wouldn't do this with me if you didn't need my powers?"
"Um, no. Why would I? I wouldn't have met you if it weren't for my decision to be a hero. And I wouldn't have agreed to all this stuff if I didn't think your info would help me keep people safe and happy. And if you didn't ask for all this and just gave me the info freely and of your own accord, I would absolutely never even imagine doing this."
The psychic didn't know how to feel about hearing that.
Sure, she'd done some horrible things, but it was to help a friend. A friend who'd lost his only family to the worst company to ever exist that now made millions upon millions of dollars. She knew that, but it wasn't time to tell anyone yet. And those innocents weren't innocent and those homeless weren't broke. They were spies and secret assassins sent to kill her and the others that were a part of her friend's mission. She would do whatever she could to stop people from stopping him. He had to win. And for that, she had to hurt a few people.
This girl just didn't understand. The White Witch could afford to be perfect and nice and an angel because her job was fairly simple. Heal people and protect people. That was it. But Wicker had to think more carefully about who she helped and who she hurt. Her bed partner would never get it…or maybe…?
Sanjeevani turned around at her partner's silence, frowning softly.
The two always took their masks off during their nighttime shenanigans. They'd both seen all of one another. If one did anything to jeopardize the other's safety, the other could spill all the information about them and leave both of them in trouble. Their whole relationship was founded in trust and fear.
"Wicker? What are you thinking about?"
The girl responded with a sigh. "Just…you're the only one to not look at me like I'm a total monster. The only one to see the potential for redemption in me. But…I guess I'm just feeling a bit lonely because this all wouldn't happen if I wasn't indispensable to you."
Sanjeevani nodded. "That's true." She moved forward and took the other girl's face into her hands, smiling at clever almond eyes and pursed red lips and a hooked nose that was becoming progressively pinker with each day into autumn. "But this could change with the snap of your fingers. Switch sides. Help me protect people. Help me save this city. You'd have me all the time. Not this kind of having, but I'd be there for you all the time. I could help you find redemption or goodness or whatever you want."
With a soft sigh and an amused chuckle, Wicker tucked a strand of long wavy hair behind the other youth's ear. "You have that easy, beautiful. You're allowed to say that with ease and lack of worry. But my work is more than just hurting people. I'm hurting specific people who would try to stop my mission. I'm doing this for a friend. You're doing this for Paris. Our interests and goals don't align. Not yet, at least."
She shook her head and leaned in for a kiss, smiling against the dark-skinned woman's lips. It was so nice how Sanjeevani always melted into her, always let her lead and let her take control. She always fitted herself to the taller girl, and oh, it was so good.
With a soft smack, the two broke the kiss, sharing weak grins. "Let's worry about all of that later." The taller of the women wrapped both arms around the other's waist, grinning against a smooth, dark neck. Sanjeevani clasped her hands behind her partner's neck and squeaked when she was lifted up easily and carried to the bed, only to be dropped like a sack of potatoes. Wicker laughed as the girl tried pushing her away to stop the barrage of ticklish kisses to wide shoulders and a warm chest.
"Not tonight you don't!" she announced to Sanjeevani, who only giggled and rolled her eyes, dragging the girl down on top of herself.
"Keep it down, stupid! People will hear!"
Wicker smirked. "Oh, like they heard you absolutely screaming last week?"
Dark brown eyes narrowed coldly. "I hate you."
"I dare you to say that to me when I've got four fingers in you, sugar."
Sanjeevani snorted. "Challenge or promise?"
Wicker crooned, pinning the healer's hands beside her head. "Both. I'll make you scream again. But even louder this time."
Wicker was actually right. Sanjeevani did scream. In fact, she screamed so much she lost her voice the next day, which she regretted because she had classes starting at ten in the morning, and they only ended at six in the evening. Fuck, that was a mistake, she thought to herself as she dragged her body out of bed the next morning. Wicker is absolutely dead the next time she tries to fuck me that late and that hard again. OUCH! Shit, I can't even stand! She groaned. I hate this.
She hobbled to the bathroom to start her day. This was going to suck. Worst day ever. Spongebob, she growled in her head, you're a liar of the worst kind.
Sanjeevani calmed down enough to heal herself before getting to her morning routine. Brush, shower, dress, and pack. Finally, after an hour, she headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. The others hadn't woken yet, but Alvin and Sonia sat peacefully at the group's usual table, having a calming conversation. They waved after spotting their dancer friend nearby.
"Hey, guys. Up early this morning, I see. Any special occasion?"
They shook their heads, chuckling. "No, but you're already off to classes? It's only nine."
Sanjeevani sighed. "Yeah, I have a new student, and he's busy later today, or so his parents say. So, he asked to come in at nine-thirty."
Alvin raised an eyebrow. "Boys can do classical dance too?"
"Of course! Many male dancers are extremely talented and are teachers themselves. Not as common, but they are allowed to dance and perform just like female dancers," she explained. "Although," came her rebuttal. "Most Indian families don't let their boys dance because they see it as a purely feminine art not meant for manly men. Which is dumb."
Alvin beamed. "Like ballet?"
She snorted. "Yep. Like ballet. Dudes do it too, but people have such fragile views of masculinity that they don't wanna admit that men should be allowed to partake in pretty things too."
Sonia giggled. "Not sure if Jacques fits into that realm, but I agree that it's dumb to keep people out of things if they enjoy them." Sanjeevani nodded in agreement with a laugh of her own.
Hugging her friends, she bid them goodbye. "Well, I'm just gonna grab some breakfast for the ride and head to class. See you guys later." She hurried off to grab a carrot cake muffin, a croissant, and a little cup of fruit, packing them into her backpack while walking out to the sidewalk to get a taxi.
One stopped near her, and she smiled sweetly, asking in her best French to the driver, "Puis-je me rendre au parc de la Butte-du-Chapeau-Rouge, monsieur?"
He nodded and motioned with his thumb towards the backseat. "Oui."
She climbed in, keeping the payment for the ride in hand so she could get to her lesson without delay. The man asked for the fare after stopping near the sidewalk outside the park, and she paid quickly, practically running out of the car to get to her class on time. But Sanjeevani did make sure to close the car door before leaving.
She grinned, waving at the young man about six years her junior wearing leggings and a sash over his left shoulder that he brought down to his right hip before tying it around his left hip.
He raised an eyebrow upon seeing her. "Ms. Rao? The dance teacher?"
"That's me! How are you today, sweetie?" She asked while setting down her bag on a bench and getting out the materials she needed for class.
The boy frowned. "I thought you would be older."
Sanjeevani snickered. "Yeah, I get that a lot. But I have many years of dancing experience."
"Really? How many?"
The woman grinned. "About fifteen."
He huffed. "Yeah right."
She smirked to herself. "Don't believe me? Okay, fine." She stood straight and put a hand on her hip. "Dance battle."
He stared. "You're kidding."
"Ten minutes, no stopping. Whoever stops first and has the most breaks between moves is the loser."
An older man walked up to the two of them, smiling playfully. "Dance battle? I'll time you. That okay?" Sanjeevani was shocked at his American accent, but nodded. Something about him was familiar. Either the scruff on his jaws and chin or the cocky, smooth tone of his voice or the crinkles of his eyes.
"Thanks!" She turned to her new student. "Well? Are you on, or are you chicken?"
He squinted his eyes at her. "Fine."
They stood opposite one another, making sure each had enough room to move freely.
The man pulled up the collar of his leather jacket and grinned, revealing a broken upper tooth. "Okay. Three. Two. One. Start!"
Sanjeevani went through all the bharatanatyam performances and then kuchipudi performances she could do in ten minutes. She tried to not give too much pause between moves, but she was so tired. Wicker used up the last of her energy last night, and she hadn't even eaten breakfast yet. It was going to be hard to continue without passing out.
Somehow, she made it through the ten minutes. The boy had stopped after eight and a half minutes because he was out of breath and couldn't remember more dances. He sighed and nodded. "Fine. You win. Can we start now?"
She groaned, bent over at the waist to catch some air and not strain her back muscles. "Not yet, buddy. I need some breakfast. Did you eat something before coming here?"
He nodded, a bit better now after having gotten some rest. "Yeah, I ate. Did you not eat?"
"Unfortunately, not. I was up late last night and didn't sleep until like three. And I didn't have enough time to sit and eat breakfast before coming here." Sanjeevani plopped down on the bench beside her bag and reached in to grab her food. "Mind if I get some nourishment while you run me through all the things you've learned so far?"
He shook his head. "It's fine."
Sanjeevani smiled at the man. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."
"No problem at all, sweetheart."
She stood and moved closer to shake his hand. "Sanjeevani Rao. Nice to meet you." She paused and raised a curious eyebrow. "Sorry for being so forward, but have I met you before? You seem really familiar."
He chuckled. "I guess being a famous reporter in the US doesn't get you many points in France. But you don't sound French, so I guess you just don't know who I am."
She gaped. "Wait. Hold on. Eddie Brock?! From the Brock Report? You got scorched by the Life Foundation's rocket or whatever. How are you alive?!"
Eddie smiled. "Magicians never tell their secrets, and neither do reporters." His face lost its smile quickly. "I need to speak with you about something. Something important. And I have a feeling you won't like it. Sorry I came here so randomly. I heard you were teaching here and had to see you. When can we meet?"
Sanjeevani frowned. So that was unexpected. "Um, I take a lunch break with my students around twelve. Is that fine with you? We can speak at Tito's Pizzeria. He always lets me get private places to speak with friends and others since I've been in the public eye too much as of recently."
He nodded, smiling dimly now. "That's fine. Thank you. I'll see ya later." And he walked away without another word.
She sat and ate her breakfast while her newest student explained everything he'd learned from his previous teacher. Sanjeevani tried her hardest not to wince visibly. That teacher was horrible. Barely taught this kid the basics before getting him into performances and recitals. "Alright, buddy, I have to let you know that your teacher sucks. Your previous one. She didn't teach you anything you needed to know before you began performing. We'll start from the basics. That okay?"
He sighed and nodded. "I probably should have expected this, but yeah. That's fine."
After she finished eating, the two stood and got to work redoing everything from the start. The tālās and foot positions and flexibility training. Everything Akhil needed to learn before beginning any actual dance forms. As the two separated after the lesson ended, Sanjeevani reminded him that these topics would continue for a few more weeks before she would teach him real dance moves. With a pout, he agreed and hurried off to find his parents' car.
As planned, the young woman headed out of the park and made her way down to Tito's. Finally, the media attention was quieting down. It was a stressful few days trying to teach with a bunch of people staring at her and her students. Not uncomfortable, but definitely an inconvenience.
And considering she had done plenty of recitals and performances in her dimension, she probably shouldn't feel so weird about the attention. But media attention is different from audience attention.
She smiled at Tito and waved once entering the restaurant.
"Hello, my dear! Good day today?" he asked with a warm smile.
She nodded. "Yep! New student today, so that was fun. The kid didn't believe I'd really been dancing for fifteen years, and he lost in a dance-off against me. Great ego boost. Did anyone come here saying they needed to meet with me?"
Tito hummed in affirmation. "A very handsome man said you told him you both could speak here." He raised a dark eyebrow at the young woman.
When she nodded, the chef probed further. "Is he a friend of yours?"
Sanjeevani laughed. "No, sir. Just someone who needed to talk to me about a serious matter. Not sure what it is, but he's famous in America. A reporter who now does investigative journalism."
"Hmm. Interesting. Very well then. He's waiting in the back. I left some meringue cookies and lemonade as a little refreshment. Have as much as you'd like." Tito chuckled when the girl hugged him briefly and hurried to the back room. "Stay safe!"
She called back while opening the door, "I will!"
And when Sanjeevani stepped in, she held back a burst of laughter. Eddie Brock looked so uncomfortable on his tiny little footstool as he nibbled at the meringue cookies Tito had left on a kids' play-table. The dancer couldn't help but giggle at the sight. The man just sighed. "Please let me have the last of my dignity. I've already been pooped on by two birds."
The girl snorted and sat down on the other stool opposite from the reporter's. "Two?"
"The first bird pooped on me without me noticing. I kept an eye out after that, and I still got pooped on. The universe won't let me win."
She snickered before taking one of the cookies and eating it quickly. "Oh man. That sucks. What a shitty morning you've had, Mr. Brock!" She laughed harder at her own pun and grinned when her companion groaned and rolled his eyes.
"That was so bad that I don't even have words. And my whole job is talking to people and writing."
"Ouch. Anyways, you like the cookies? Tito is an amazing chef. Seriously, I don't know how he isn't getting more business."
Eddie gave her a weirded-out look and shrugged. "I guess? A bit crunchy for my taste."
Sanjeevani set down her bag and such and took a sip of lemonade to clear her throat and met eyes with the scruffy older man. "Okay, Mr. Brock. You said you had to tell me something. Let's hear it."
His posture straightened, and he pulled a photo out of his pocket and placed it right in front of her on the table. "Do you recognize this person?"
With an eyebrow raised, she looked down.
Her heart just about stopped.
In the photograph, a young woman with dark skin, black hair, and shining dark eyes laughed while she hunched over, arms tossed around her mother and baby brother. Presumably, her father was taking the picture. In the background stood the Eiffel Tower, tall and bold under a brilliant blue sky. Both the girl and her mother had smile lines around their mouths and eyes, which were nearly closed from grinning so big. Even the little boy's face seemed to glow with joy. There truly never existed a happier family in the whole world.
Sanjeevani stared at Eddie Brock. There was no way that photo was real. No way on Earth. She lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar. Her lips contorted into a sneer. "What game are you playing, Brock?! What is this?!"
He gently grasped her hands and pried them off of his shirt before asking her to sit down.
"I know. I saw you for the first time on TV and was just as confused as you are. This girl has the same name as you. Sanjeevani Rao. Same face too. But she died about six years ago. I was hoping you knew something about this, but I guess not…"
She shook her head and sighed. "I do. But before I tell you that, you tell me something about yourself. Something that if it got out to the public, your life would be on the line."
Brock frowned at her. "What makes you think I have a secret like that? And why would I tell you about it if I have one?"
The girl rubbed her temples with her right hand, left hand cradling the right elbow as she tried to massage away her fast-approaching migraine.. "Brock, information always has a cost. This information, if you tell anyone, is going to get me into serious trouble. As in, I might die kind of trouble. So for insurance, I need you to give me similar information so I know you won't tell this to anyone."
The man nodded slowly and tilted his head to the side as if listening to someone who wasn't there. It was weird, but she had a feeling it was from the creature occupying his body. She knew his secret, but she needed confirmation.
She'd been healing people as a superhero for a month now. She knew what most people's bodies looked like on the inside from a kind of indirect X-ray vision she developed in her time making contact and healing her fellow residents of France.
"Pretty smart deal, kid. Alright. You keep my secret, and I'll keep yours." The reporter took a deep breath and met her eyes. "An alien inhabits my body and we sometimes turn into a ten-foot monster that eats bad guys."
She scrunched her nose. "Okay, that's disgusting and kind of horrifying. Why do you have to eat people?"
"The thing needs a chemical only found in the human brain in order to survive. I'm its host. So yeah. Sometimes we eat people, but only the worst of the worst. Like, scum of the earth that deserve to die bad. Child traffickers, rapists, people like that."
Sanjeevani frowned. "Not great. But I have no control over you." She looked down and then back up at him. "Can I meet the little guy?"
Eddie yelped when Venom pushed through the skin and cloth of his arm to reveal his bulbous head, white eyespots shining under the fluorescent light like opals. The girl gaped and watched the creature with abject fascination. "Holy shit." She reached a hand out to poke at Venom's fangs, only to laugh when the alien hissed like a cat and retreated.
"It's okay! I won't hurt you!" She smiled warmer and this time turned her hand so her palm faced up. Venom, like the feline-esque bitch he is, rested his lower jaw in her hand and let her stroke the back of his head. Eddie shivered awkwardly.
"Could you maybe pet my alien later?"
Venom laughed like a snake would, little raspy hisses mixed with a terrifyingly deep tambour. "Wow, Eddie. Your alien? Are you proposing to me?" he joked. Eddie Brock groaned.
"Shut up, man. I'm trying to do an interview about a weird thing right now."
Venom licked the girl's fingertips and let out a rumble of approval before retreating into Eddie's body. "Okay. One more time. What do you know?"
She sighed. "That is me. But she's the me of this universe. This reality. I'm from a different reality. Superheroes, magic, evil scientists, all that stuff exists only in comic books and movies for us. Dr. Strange, one of the Avengers, brought me here to help heal Tony Stark. Tony had died to save the universe by killing Thanos, that big purple bitch who killed off half the human race. With these fancy rocks, Dr. Strange and I brought Tony back to life. I'm not from this universe."
Eddie muttered under his breath. "Does that make sense to you, V?"
Venom rumbled out a reply. "It does. The concept of other worlds, other universes is not beyond the realm of possibility."
Sanjeevani sighed. "One more secret of yours or one more bit of information in exchange for one of mine."
The man nodded and rubbed his hands together. "There's another company in Europe that was like the Life Foundation that is doing horrible things to teens with superpowers, but nobody knows about it because they're paying the media to keep silent about their crimes. They may be responsible for this kid's death."
She nodded and sniffled, tears rising in her eyes from the pain of knowing that this version of her didn't even get to be a kid or even a teen before she was killed. "I'm the White Witch. The one healing people who gives off white light and wears all black. That's me."
Eddie grinned. "Guess I knew something about you, after all. Venom was saying something about you having unnecessarily high metabolic rates for a normal human, based on how much heat you were giving off."
She smirked. "You're not the only one. I knew about your little buddy since you came to speak with me. I've healed hundreds of people since I started my work. I know what the inside of the human body looks like in real time. Most people don't have a goo creature hanging around their organs."
The two chuckled and then sobered quickly after remembering the photo on the table. "Any clue of what happened to her?"
Eddie shook his head. "None. But that's what I'm investigating. Care to help out?"
She nodded. "I'd love to. I never got justice for what my parents did to me. I want to give this version of me justice. I want her soul to find peace. I'll help you." She gave him a steely gaze, and the two shook hands.
The reporter-turned-journalist smiled. "Glad to hear it, partner."
And with that, they went their separate ways.
Sanjeevani returned to the park to finish lessons for the day. Unfortunately, she had some unexpected, but welcome guests. Too bad for her, she didn't know that ahead of time.
"No, no! That's all wrong!" she groaned. She stood up from her seat at the front of the group and held out one hand, drumming the rhythm on her palm with the other. "It's not thaka-dhimi-thaka-thom. You guys are landing flat when there's still two beats left! Thaka-dhimi-thaka-dhimi. One more time!"
The class consecutively grumbled and got into position. "Okay. Go!" At her behest, the eight tweens tried to follow the steps she performed for them, only to stop when their teacher went completely stiff. Her face slacked, and they stood like boards of wood, awaiting her orders to keep going. But they never came. She remained unmoving, almost paling in the morning light.
Each student looked at the others before the two at the front moved forward to tap their teacher's shoulder and ask what was wrong. No one else except the young girls noticed the fear and heartache in her eyes. "Ms. Rao? Ms. Rao! Are you okay? What happened?"
No response. The youngest of the group, an eleven-year-old named Aditi began panicking. She bit her lip and sniffled, and one of the older girls, Samatha, moved closer to hug and console her.
Sanjeevani only moved when the three girls in the second row rushed forward to pull at her arms and called for her attention. She gazed at them with terrified doe eyes. The girls watched back in terror, only relaxing upon seeing her smile softly and sigh. "I'm sorry, girls. I'm sorry I got so lost. I'm okay now. Get back into your places."
Siri clutched her hand and squeezed, as if seeking comfort from a parent. "A-Are you sure? You froze, Ms. Rao. Are you okay?"
The young adult smiled and patted the girl's hand. "I'm sure, sweetie. I'm perfectly fine. I just have some visitors. You girls go back to your spots and sit down for a bit. Get some rest, some water. I'll be back in five, okay?"
Unsure of her state, the younger girls did so without too much dissent. Sanjeevani wasn't the kind of teacher to scream at her students, but she was still strict and expected respect and obedience. Now, that didn't mean she taught similarly to the boring old women who wouldn't do anything outside of the regular dances and moves the class had to do.
She would perform Indian pop and dance songs for the students and would even dance with them for the public, but she still had to teach the basics, and that required discipline and obedience within bounds. (A good teacher only becomes a great teacher when they learn to take criticism from everyone, including their students.)
Sanjeevani walked towards the trio: a young woman in a stylish pea coat and leggings despite the warm weather; a tall young man wearing a large hat and long dark overcoat; and a shorter man who had on just a simple white T-shirt, black jeans, navy blue Vans, and a bunch of long fake-gold chains around his neck.
She stopped in front of the man with the dark coat, looking up at him from under the rim of the floppy hat. He tried to tilt his head down to press his chin to his chest, but she smiled and reached up, taking his jaws into her hands.
He flinched, and she pulled her palms back quickly, but sighed when he leaned forward into her touch. His voice quivered with tears when he spoke. "Hi, Sanjeevani."
The girl sniffled and smiled through the tears. "Hey, Havardr."
Kuro glanced at the students before turning his eyes back to the two of them. He didn't know what to think. Why did they look like they'd been forced to stay apart until now? They really were so dramatic.
Monica simply grinned, her excitement for her brother's best friend getting ahead of her. "Aren't they so cute together, Kuro?"
"They barely know each other. What the fuck are you talking about?"
The subjects of the siblings' conversation hadn't noticed the exchange and moved in for a tight, reassuring hug, needing the contact for some kind of reminder that both were alive and near one another again.
"I missed you," Sanjeevani murmured.
Havardr sniffled and nodded, replying just as softly into her neck, "I missed you too."
They moved apart, and the girl rubbed away her tears. "Why are you here? How are you here?"
The young Asgardian shrugged, doing the same thing. "I'm here because I took a taxi with my friends to come see you. As for why, I told them about the promise I made to you, and they wouldn't let me avoid you after they learned you were teaching here."
She tossed her head back and laughed. "I guess fate isn't as mystical as I thought. Sometimes fate is two good friends just trying to help us find one another again."
Havardr allowed himself to smile and hold her face in his hands like she did to him just now.
Sanjeevani closed her eyes when he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you've come back to me." She groaned and covered her face, flushing a faint red from embarrassment. "Wow, that sounded dumb. Sorry," she apologized with an awkward grimace. He just tilted his head a little to the side and kissed her forehead again.
"I don't know why you're saying sorry, but it's okay. I'm not upset."
She hummed and rubbed her face, chuckling at the feeling of Aditi poking her shoulder. "Ms. Rao? Are you coming back to class now? It's been five minutes," the girl whispered in her ear.
"Yes, dear. I will. Before that, do you want to meet my friend?" the young teacher asked. Aditi nodded slowly and stared up at the man in front of her instructor.
"H-hello, sir." Havardr took off his hat and got down on one knee so he could look up at the child and not scare her. "Hello," he introduced himself with a soft grin. "I'm Sanjeevani's friend. What's your name?"
Aditi gave a soft smile in return and shook his hand, giggling at his rough grasp. "Aditi. How about you?"
Havardr's smile quickly became sheepish. "Sorry, sweetheart. It's a secret. I can't tell you."
"Oh, okay! That's fine." She looked up at Sanjeevani. "Ms. Rao, are you coming?"
The dancer-turned-superhero beamed. "I will! Let me just say goodbye to my friend, and I'll be there ASAP, okay?" Aditi hummed and strolled away, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. Sanjeevani looked at Havardr as he got to his feet and put on his hat again. She reached up and rested her fingers on his cheek.
He sighed slowly, closing his eyes until she wondered, "When will I see you again?" The royal guard of Thor's old home bit his lip before watching her face with premature longing.
"I don't know. Genuinely. But if you want me to, I'll come watch your class every week. Same time."
Sanjeevani shook her head and sighed. "No. The media will be watching you. They're like bloodhounds. Some of them are worse than others: they like making up drama. They'll try to pry and might end up figuring out who you are. I don't trust them to let you live peacefully."
Havardr's lips curved into a frown, but he nearly choked at hearing her almost inaudible secret. She got up close to his right ear and spoke softer than air. "I'm the White Witch. Come find me around midnight. I'm usually near the Eiffel Tower at the start of my shift. Highest vantage point in the city. If I'm not there, come back to the asylum housing, and we can talk there in secret. There are no cameras anywhere near there."
He forced himself to not react to that, fearing people would take notice and try to listen in. Sanjeevani was right. People really couldn't be trusted with stuff like this.
The young Asgardian turned to Kuro and tilted his head down, as if asking permission to share. If his friend really insisted, he wouldn't have shared anything about their secret mission. leaned down and whispered to her in reply, "I've got a similar situation. I've been working with my friend Kuro here to help him find and confront the people who killed his brother."
She nodded solemnly. "It's incredible that you're helping him with that. And do convey to him my deepest condolences."
Havardr smiled. "I will. We work solely at night. I'll come find you at midnight today. Well, technically tomorrow."
She grinned, tossing her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "It's a date. Wait." Havardr tried to keep the heat out of his face. Not just from the summer sun, but also from the last four words his friend had just uttered. We're they dating now? Is that how it worked? Did she get to decide? Isn't it supposed to be that both people have to agree for it to be a relationship?
Sanjeevani frowned. "What would you be wearing?"
He sighed and smiled. How did he forget that critical detail? "Full black suit. Reflective biker helmet."
She nodded. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind. But I should really get back to class. I don't exactly get paid for chilling with my friends during the lesson, ya know?" Havardr nodded and laughed awkwardly.
"Um, yeah. For sure. I'll see you tonight, then?"
With a smile and a hum of agreement, the girl kissed his cheek softly, almost imperceptibly, and hurried back to her students while calling back to him,"Bye! Thanks for visiting me!"
Havardr, Kuro, and Monica left the park casually and got into a taxi to head home.
"What did she say, dude? No, first of all, how much did you tell her?"
"I only said I'm helping you find and confront the people who killed your brother. She commended me for that and said to convey her deepest condolences. And then I told her we only work at night and promised to find her at midnight. She said, and I quote, 'It's a date!' I'm confused, though. For it to be a date, don't both people have to agree?"
Kuro gaped while trying to process all that he just heard. And once he understood his friend's question, he responded with, "It's kind of just a figure of speech. People say that after making plans to meet with people they know. It doesn't literally mean that the person intends for it to be a date. Depends on context, though."
Havardr nodded. English really was such a strange language. And human communication and interaction as a whole still beguiled him. "Okay. In what context would it be intended to express the desire for a real, literal date?"
Monica piped up from the opposite side of Kuro, where she scrolled endlessly through Instagram. "If the other person expresses to you that they like you and want to pursue a romantic relationship with you, it is intended to mean a real date." She elaborated when Havardr made a more-confused face.
She nodded. "Like, for example, if I decided to ask out Kuro's ex-girlfriend," she laughed at her brother's angered expression. Riling him up like this was the best part of her day.
"I'd have to show my romantic interest by doing things with her that she likes, caring about what she says, trying to learn about who she is as a person, learning to understand and accept all parts of her, and being there for her when she's in difficult times. You've done all that with this girl, right? Well, most of it?"
Havardr tapped his lips, biting his index fingertip nervously. "Well, I watched her do an audition thing for a dance school. I don't know if she likes dance, but she's really good at it. I do care about what she says. She's shown me I can trust her, and I'm pretty sure she trusts me. I haven't known her long enough to accept all parts of her yet, but I was there for her when that school rejected her. They weren't even a good school. They were the worst Indian classical dance school in Paris, and a rejection from them meant to her that she wouldn't get into any other school, and she really cried hard about it. I thought she could still do it, but maybe she didn't have enough hope left."
Monica shrugged. "She sounds like either an amazing friend or someone who wants to love you. Either way, I'd say don't worry about it too much. Just figure out the mission, stay safe, and find her when you know you won't attract more danger than she can handle."
He nodded. "And she told me her secret too. I'm gonna find her at midnight. She said I should come to the Tower at that time."
Kuro's lips pursed in concern. He really didn't like the idea of his best friend going out to find some pretty girl he didn't even know. Sure, Sanjeevani was a teacher who's been under the media's microscope for a few weeks now, so she'd have to stay well-behaved to still get students, but what did they really know about her? And then Havardr told them her secret when the three of them returned to the boys' apartment.
Havardr checked for any secret mics or video cameras before telling the siblings, "Sanjeevani is the White Witch."
"Holy fuck. Are you serious?"
Havardr nodded. "I know it's true. Remember when I ran off that one time after we argued?"
"Yeah…" Kuro replied slowly.
"Well, Sanjeevani was the one to heal me from all my sunburns and heart issues. She's the only person who could be the White Witch."
Monica raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms. "Kinda ironic, isn't it? The White Witch has dark skin, hair and eyes? That's so fun!"
"You have a weird idea of what's fun, Monica," Kuro retorted. "So, what? You're gonna go look for her at midnight and what?"
Havardr smiled widely. "What if we asked her for help with our case? She's a healer. She's been here for a little while. Maybe she can figure out how to help us find who we're looking for!"
Kuro shook his head with a scowl on his face. "Absolutely not. We don't know this girl well enough. We give her the same policy we give anyone else who wants to ally with us. Two months and two weeks. If anything goes wrong, we cut her off. I have my doubts because she's new at this whole hero thing. But if she proves herself to Paris and to us, maybe she can join in."
Havardr, still enthused and hopeful, rushed forward to hug his best friend and lift him off of the ground. "Thank you! Thank you, Kuro."
The smaller man just huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Set me down, you gentle giant." The Asgardian smiled like the sun and let Kuro stand on the ground again.
"Thank you, Kuro. Truly." Ever the positive and affectionate, Havardr rested a hand on Kuro's shoulder and squeezed it before releasing him to go get some rest, preferably in the form of a dangerously long nap.
Monica smirked. "How much longer will you keep the gay yearning thing up?"
Kuro couldn't even argue with her, he was so flustered by the genuine kindness in his friend's eyes. "Don't start with me, Moni. He's precious. There's such goodness in him. I'll yearn until he finds someone else or until I find someone else. I'll just be the sad gay you never even try to be."
She sighed. "Lesbians have a lot more luck in this city. What can I say?"
"Just try not to rub in my face that you're fucking my ex, how about that?"
"No can do, bro. She's too much of a catch for me to not brag about how much I adore her."
Kuro groaned and walked to the living room to flop onto the couch, Monica mocking him the whole way there. How great would it be to have someone like Havardr as his sibling? Wait no, that sounded like a nightmare. Bad idea, bad idea!
Ahmed flopped back onto his bed, both hands covering his face as his friends surrounded him, all amused at his confession. "Why are you all like thiiiiiiiiiis?"
Sanjeevani just giggled, squeaking when Olivia pulled the dancer into her lap. "Because we can! And because it's funny to see you get flustered," she admitted with a smirk.
"This one's got the right idea!" Olivia declared with a snort.
Sonia clearly had grown exasperated with the teasing. "Come on, guys, leave him alone. Having a crush is a normal thing to experience!"
Olivia grinned. "We just like his reactions. Frankly, I don't think I've ever seen Ahmed look bashful or embarrassed before!"
"Come on, man! Is he cute? What does he look like? What's his name?" Jacques pestered and poked at the tall Sikh man.
The shapeshifting youth grumbled and sat up, sticking his tongue out at Sanjeevani before shaking his head. "They go by they/them pronouns, but yes. They're very attractive. More handsome than cute, if that makes sense."
Sanjeevani beamed and moved out of Olivia's arms to join her best friend on the edge of his bed. "When did you guys meet, and where?"
He smiled softly, eyes turned down in wistful reminiscence as he spoke. "I was visiting my mother and making sure my relatives were well because one of my great-aunts had the flu, so I had to check on everyone. As I was coming back here, I decided it would be a good idea to get some pastries for us and went into a cafe. They work as a waiter there and asked for my number after we chatted for a bit."
Sanjeevani cooed like a kid, hugging Ahmed's arm. "Awwwww, that's so romantic! I'm so happy for you! Any pics?"
The young man rolled his eyes. "Invasion of privacy. No. You'll meet them when you meet them. How about you, heartthrob?" he asked. "What happened with that cute boy you met a while ago?"
The girl grinned sheepishly and looked away, face bright with excitement. "I'm gonna meet him today! At midnight at the Eiffel. Of course, I'll still be the Witch, but he's coming in a disguise too. Can't share why." Everyone seemed a bit confused at that but let her continue her explanation.
"He visited me during my classes today, and two of his friends were there too. I felt bad about not speaking to them, but I only had a few minutes to talk, and I didn't want the media getting on his ass to try and wheedle out his information. They've been on me for weeks now. It truly is exhausting, and I don't want them prying into his personal life just to get a buck. That's not okay."
Ahmed nodded slowly, patting her back. "You did the right thing. Is he okay? Does he need to come here for housing? He's always welcome to. I trust who you trust, Sanju."
She smiled and nodded. "He's okay. He lives with one of the two friends. I asked him, and he said he and his friend have a deal. Havardr watches the friend's back in fights, and the friend houses and takes care of him."
Helen frowned. "Do they get into a lot of fights? What kind of a deal is that?"
Sanjeevani rubbed her chin. "I don't know how much I wanna say to not spill their secrets, but basically, they're trying to find the guy who killed the friend's brother. That's why they're in so many fights."
Sonia sighed softly, tilting her head down. "What a sad world. Truly. A person can't even find peace even after tragedy. I hope they find what they're looking for."
"I know. I do too. I'm gonna be helping them."
And then came the yelling.
She groaned. "Guys, please. He asked for my help. You guys have no idea how hard it was being away from him for that long. She put her head in her hands and took in a shaky breath. "It was like half of my soul was missing. And when I found him again? When he held me? It felt like coming home…"
Her face steeled, and she leveled her friends with the best teacher stare she could manage. "I will help him, and there's nothing you guys could do to stop me."
Ahmed huffed. "I could turn into a dragon and keep you in my hands forever. You wouldn't be able to escape."
She pouted. Ever since Ahmed had come out to the others as a shapeshifter, he flexed his ability at her constantly. "No fair, dude. No fair at all."
Alvin reached up and patted her knee, giving the girl a gentle stare. "I understand you care about this guy. But do you trust him? Will you be okay if or when you end up joining his mission? We want to help and protect you, Sanju. You're all of our friend, and we can't afford to lose you after we've known you for so long."
Her smile warmed. "Okay, I've only known you meanies for like a month. Chillax. And yes. I do trust him. He was the one to comfort me after that school rejected me. He understood me and made the effort to try and help me when he saw how down in the dumps I was. And when he hugged me today?" Sanjeevani sat down beside Alvin and rested her head against his shoulder, humming when her quietest friend to date patted her knee again.
"When he hugged me, I felt like everything would be okay again. I had hope and relief because he came back into my life. I've never felt like that for anyone. My heart doesn't lie, guys."
Olivia snickered. "That's the cheesiest thing you've ever said." Her jubilant expression dimmed slightly. "But if you think this is what needs to be done…" A deep breath. "We'll support you. We may have only known you for a month, but you're very important to us. And not just because you can heal our bumps and bruises," she joked.
The group unanimously chuckled and rolled their eyes at that. "Shut up, Olivia," they chorused.