A Little Love for Talents

A Villains of Valley View oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Villains of Valley View characters belong to Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, not to me. Not me reading in too deeply to a heartfelt episode, no sirree. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Read, review, and enjoy! *Note: This is set after s1e12, "Showdown at the Round Up."

- ^-^3

Amy still has mixed feelings after the incident with Gem and the tryouts. Then again, she often has mixed feelings these days, and it didn't used to be that way. Amy used to know her feelings a lot better before her family moved to Valley View. But, now that they're here in Texas, her feelings often are a muddled mess, and—really—they're always tied up in something centered on Hartley.

Still, it's hard to hold that against Hartley (try though the villain in her wants to) when her best friend sits beside her on the porch and beams at her like that after the girls finish their first ever duet.

"Why am I not surprised that you can perfectly harmonize with me?" Hartley quips, a chuckle in her voice.

Amy shrugs it off, distracted for two seconds by Hartley's words before realizing the other girl refers to their musical talents. "Really? That's what's impressive?" She pats the guitar's body twice.

Hartley offers her a little smirk (hmm, maybe she's rubbed off on her at last). "Okay, yeah, you've got skills." She sighs happily and scoots closer, leaning back on the bench so she can glance out at the stars. "…you know, I think, more than the Round Up gig, I'd like this."

Amy furrows her brow and does a double-take.

Hartley gestures between them. "I don't think I need a big crowd. I managed to perform in front of a bunch of people once without my nerves getting to me, thanks to my second audition—and thanks for that." She shrugs. "But I like this, you and me. Hey!" she says, and Hartley shoots up without warning, her face too close, her smile too bright. "How about we make this a regular thing?"

"Just—us? Singing together?"

"Yeah!"

"That's kind of a small thing to ask for, Hartley." Amy wants to point out that requests should always be grand things…but she quiets the greedy, villainous voice in her head tonight.

But Hartley's smile never wavers. "Then it should be easy to deliver on it, right?"

Hmm. Perhaps Hartley's more devious than Amy's given her credit for…

- ^-^3

Fulfilling Hartley's request seems like Amy's biggest challenge yet…but, actually, it's not. The girls manage to make it a habit, somehow, but Amy has to put a lot of effort in to make it happen, because Hartley's still got that shy streak and Amy definitely feels more like herself (…and maybe wants to keep Hartley's attention for herself…) when they're able to have a moment to themselves.

But finding those moments? That's hard. And Amy Madden really doesn't do hard. (Except when it comes to Hartley.)

There aren't many chances at school, which is just so…eugh, full of people. But, sometimes, on occasion, Hartley finishes up in study hall early and Amy convinces her that sneaking out when your work is completed ahead of schedule is all right every now and then. They take a stroll down empty hallways, humming tunes together softly, because Amy doesn't care about getting in trouble, but she's starting to care a little these days about her goody two-shoes getting in trouble.

The only other time at school comes during lunch when Hartley doesn't have a Sunshine Club meeting whisking her away elsewhere. Nope, with Amy and Hartley together and the weather still good, they grab a table outside the high school, rounding the corner to one of the tables a little less visited and a little less clean than others. It's gross, to be honest, but it's nothing that a muffled sonic blast can't shake loose (just the top layer of grime, at least!), leaving the rest to be covered by napkins.

And, then, with silence and time to themselves, Amy drums her fingers on her lunch tray, giving Hartley a beat.

Hartley's eyes sparkle as she recognizes the rhythm as the new song she shared with Amy the day before. She sings the few opening bars before Amy joins in, harmonizing while turning the song into a round.

When they finish the first stanza and chorus, Hartley laughs, which makes Amy smile. They pause to eat some of their lunches, drink water to wash it all down and clear their pipes, and there's enough time left to finish the song and cram the rest of what the school calls "food" into their mouths before the break's over.

All this? It takes effort, Amy thinks when she waves as the girls part, Hartley heading to Spanish and Amy leaving to terrorize her history class. But Hartley's kinda worth the effort…

(Of all her muddled feelings, this is the only thing that's clear.)

- ^-^3

At home, it's harder. UGH.

There's no hanging out at Hartley's place, because a) Hartley's room is…still a lot to wade through (literally) and b) Celia seems always to be present. Like, how's that even possible?! (Frankly, the more time they spend around Celia, the less the Maddens understand her.)

Amy's room isn't an option, either. If it were up to Amy, they would've soundproofed her room the moment they moved into this place. But has that happened? Nooo, of course not. Did her father build his secret layer instead? Of course he did!

…but the secret layer isn't a place to hang either, even though it is soundproof. Much as with the rest of the house, there's almost always someone around. And, given Colby's new powers, it's hard to know whether the girls are stumbling across someone even in a supposedly empty room.

So that leaves Amy and Hartley resigned to being back where they started: the porch. Amy heaves her biggest disgruntled sigh yet.

But Hartley offers her a grateful smile and pats Amy's back before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, it's no big deal! I love it out here anyway, Amy."

"You won't be saying that when the temperature drops ten, twenty degrees in another month or two."

"True… But that's what coats, hats, and scarves are for!" She beams.

Amy glares at her…but can't hold on to her annoyance for long. In all honesty, maybe she won't need all those layers this winter. Hartley radiates warmth every time she looks at Amy like that. "Instruments don't like the cold very much, Hartley," she reminds the curly-haired girl.

Hartley's smile falters. "Oh. Right." She pauses and whips out her phone, tapping this and swiping that. A minute later, she turns the screen towards Amy. "Next best thing, then?"

On the screen is a digital guitar. Hartley swipes a finger over the imaginary strings, and a discordant sound comes out. Amy cracks a smile and snorts. "Telling me to make do, Hart?"

"I just want to keep going as long as we can, as long as you want to," she replies.

Amy swallows a strange lump in her throat. In addition to these mixed feelings, she's not used to this notion of someone wanting her around (the Havoc side of her wants to ask if Hartley's ever had her head checked, because wow). Amy fumbles for her actual guitar. "W-Well, it's not freezing yet. Shall we?"

Hartley listens to a few chords first. She meets Amy's eyes before landing on the first song she wants to sing tonight. Then she sings.

It's…been a little while, or maybe that gaze and their chat caught Amy off-guard, but Amy's mesmerized by her best friend's voice yet again. She forgets to come in on cue and decides, eh, might as well let Hartley have this one. When the song ends, Amy chuckles. "You know, your talent is kind of like a superpower, Hartley."

"Hmm," Hartley hums, tapping her finger on her chin while she mulls over the idea. Then she blinks and tucks her hands into her lap, and her eyes dart to Amy. Her words come out cautiously: "Amy, uhm…if your power is sonic-based, then…does your singing come from…?"

Stunningly, Amy doesn't fly into a rage. Actually, she's not offended at all by the question, which really surprises her; she knows she would've smacked anyone else for implying Amy wouldn't have a voice if not for her powers. But…Hartley…Hartley is different. Amy plucks the strings absentmindedly and explains, "You don't immediately come into your powers."

Hartley cocks her head to one side, curious.

"I wasn't born using these powers, if that's what you mean. I was just a little kid who really liked singing. But that didn't foreshadow what powers I would get either." She snickers. "For instance, Jake? He was a total weakling before his powers came in, so."

Hartley pulls a face at that—one sunken eyebrow and that little pout, a nonverbal reprimand which is cute but otherwise lost on Amy—and shakes her head. "Gotcha…"

"Hey, Hartley, look"—she grabs Hartley's nearer arm, snatching back her friend's attention—"even if my powers were responsible for my singing…I'm still glad for this talent."

Any traces of confusion disappear from Hartley's features. That pout melts into a smile, and she's back to beaming adorably at Amy, whose brain finally catches up with what her mouth just blurted.

Mixed, muddled feelings or no, Amy is loath to finish the implied rest of her thought. Because it's still hard to admit that, while singing almost cost her Hartley once, it's brought them closer now—

—and that means everything to Amy, powers or talent or whatever it may be.

- ^-^3

Aww, yay! I thought this was gonna be a drabble—but it turned into a short oneshot! XD After e12, I couldn't let go of this hc that they rly ought to sing together still from time to time, and thus this fic was born. -w- Their chemistry's just so cute? So I'mma ignore Declan for now! *lol* (Altho ngl—after e13, Kai Moya appeared in the newest ep of NCIS: Hawai'i, and I legit went, "OCULON?!" at the screen. XD) Also, I had no specific songs in mind this time (as opposed to in "attuned"), primarily bc most of what I listen to/own is foreign, *lol*.

Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other VoVV fics if you liked this~ And, as with my other VoVV fics, reblog this fic on tumblr to show your support!

-mew-tsubaki :3c