Being a brave, valiant, hero doesn't mean your anxiety goes away, after all [https://img.wattpad.com/e3f6805bfb93b8de83e453362d0df98d57de82eb/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f5462596b4a7379665462444a74513d3d2d313337313839313337362e313737656366336537373234653762303933333831323935323034342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Being a brave, valiant, hero doesn't mean your anxiety goes away, after all.

After sneaking Gannet into his room last night, the villain had helped patch the hero up. With the soft touch of those polish-tipped fingers, of course, things had turned steamy...that was the good part. The bad part was what came after when Jay fell asleep.

Hearing Echo and Frame demand compound Z must've shaken him up, because his dreams were plagued by a nightmare about the duo becoming class-S. It had been bad enough to see the smoldering remains of Neo Houston, but what truly made the nightmare terrifying was when Jay had found Gannet among the rubble.

It was a ludicrous notion, really. The villain is so strong, what situation could he realistically find himself in where he'd be brought so low? But dream logic follows no rules, so seeing the bloodied and bruised form of the dark-haired villain was still enough to startle Jay into consciousness.

So now here he is, staring at the ceiling, heart pounding.

He sighs, turning to look to his left. Gannet is sleeping soundly, looking a little silly with his mouth wide open.

Jay decides to indulge a little and rest his head on the villain's chest, hoping the strong and steady heartbeat will assure the hero. It's fine, right? After all, Gannet was nearly glued to Jay last time. However, his brow furrows as he notices something strange—there is not one, but two heartbeats emanating from Gannet's chest.

Intrigued, Jay sorts through all the possibilities as he listens. Is Gannet a mutant? An alien? A congenital birth defect was possible, but highly unlikely...

"...you're up early."

Jay jumps a little at the sound of Gannet's sleep-rough voice. The action inspires a giggle in the villain, who swiftly reverses their positions.

The blond's heart speeds up as Gannet grins, dark bangs falling like a curtain as he leans over his captive. "Were you listening by my heart?"

"Uh—yeah..."

"Cute," Gannet smirks, "did you notice my arrhythmia?"

"Was that what it was?"

Gannet nods. "Yeah. It's not serious, don't worry."

It's not the first time the villain has lied to Jay, but somehow it stings this time. It makes him wonder, does Gannet ever intend on telling him the truth? What exactly is the villain's goal here? To have his fun with his latest obsession, all the while keeping Jay in the dark?

The thought hurts, so Jay's grateful for the distraction when Gannet pulls the hero's mask up to free his mouth. The blonde sighs, weaving his fingers into silky soft, lavender-scented hair. The villain responds favorably, deepening the kiss with a low groan. The sound seems to zing down Jay's spine, sending heat to his face.

Gannet narrows his eyes salaciously as he rises, grinning sharply. "Feeling up for some fun?"

Jay's heart thuds at the invitation, but common sense wins this time. "Better not...I don't want to shower again."

The villain doesn't seem perturbed by the rejection, still smiling brightly. "Want to make you some breakfast then?"

"Sure, that sounds nice."

Gannet hums, dressing quickly before heading towards Jay's small Network-sanctioned kitchen. The blond pulls his suit on and follows after. He sits at his small table, watching Gannet shuffle around with his condiments and spices.

"Oh, Quickwit! Your chain of hearts is doing so well!"

Jay darts his eyes toward the plant. He hadn't noticed, but it's true. In the months since the hero has put the plant on his windowsill, it has grown several new bushy vines.

"Yeah, I searched up how to take care of it. How is yours?"

Gannet grins as he cracks an egg into a hot skillet. "It looks good! I think I want another."

Jay snorts. "You should take a snipping of mine this time."

"Don't encourage me, I'll keep wanting more! Don't let me turn my apartment into a jungle," the villain giggles.

"Jungles are cool," the hero smiles, "you can take another cutting next time you visit.

"Oh...okay, " the comment seems to cause the villain to flush, pink rising to his cheeks. Jay observes the curious color with interest, wondering why such an innocuous comment would cause it.

But his wandering thoughts are dismissed as Gannet sets two plates down on the table. Jay admires the two perfectly cooked sunny-side-up eggs, a slice of buttered toast, and half a grapefruit.

"This looks great, thank you."

"Oh wait! I forgot coffee! Hold on, I'll make some for us..."

"I can make it if you want..."

"No, you won't add enough sugar to mine. Nobody adds enough sugar."

Gannet returns to the kitchen, hastily searching for instant coffee and mugs. The hero snorts, digging into his grapefruit. However, before he gets too far into his breakfast, a knock at his door interrupts it. Jay trudges over to the entrance of his apartment, wondering who could be looking for him at such an early hour.

Peeking through the peephole, he's startled to see it's the one and only Pixamena.

Jay opens the door a crack, peeking out. "Ahm—good morning...?"

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

The magical girl averts her eyes, hugging A panting Pixiepuff to her chest. "Hi Quickwit. Sorry for the unannounced visit, but I just wanted to talk to you before I had to go to my next fan meet."

"Now isn't a good time but—"

A large thunk, followed by a "fuck!" interrupts the blond mid-sentence.

"Gannet?! Are you okay?!"

Jay rushes to the kitchen to find all his mugs neatly standing in various spots across the kitchen counters. Gannet smiles innocently, the bottom panel of the cabinet suspiciously on the ground.

Gannet smiles innocently, the bottom panel of the cabinet suspiciously on the ground [https://img.wattpad.com/18de78b00ad30f7679c7b43f6322cc8bc1157953/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4979526b47316e564273764a67773d3d2d313337313839313337362e313737616435353139663837393832303235303232343031313933322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"This came loose..." he coughs.

Jay stares for a minute before realizing what happened. That wiggly panel he's been ignoring finally broke and Gannet just used his powers to save all Jay's mugs.

The hero can't help but laugh at the visual of the cups tumbling out, dark ribbons shooting out to save them all. "We only need two cups, Gannet."

The dark-haired man seems to relax a little, seeing Jay isn't mad. His eyes shift to behind the hero—

"Or um, do we need three?"

Jay turns to see Pixamena has followed him in, eyes darting between Gannet, the mugs, and Jay.

Shit.

The magical girl gives a sharp smile. "No need. I just need to borrow Quickwit for a moment—hero business."

"Okay. Quickwit, you want yours black, right?"

Jay nods, trying to avoid Pixamena's angry glare. "Yeah. I'll be right back."

Dreading what will be said next, the blond begrudgingly follows the magical girl out into the hallway.

As soon as he shuts the door, he starts explaining. "I know we aren't supposed to have civilian guests but—"

"I don't give a shit about that," she growls, "I sneak my girlfriend in here all the time. Everyone breaks that rule."

"Wait, really? Then why—?"

"Quickwit, what is going on with you and him? Does he know your secret identity?"

Jay rubs his neck. "No, he doesn't..."

Glittering green eyes narrow. "Are you going to tell him?"

"No—I—why is it any of your business?"

"Because you shouldn't be taking advantage of your fan."

Jay gapes, eyes widening. "I'm not taking advantage of anyone."

"You are if you have no intention of revealing your identity! You really think it's okay to lead him on like this? Making him think that you want a relationship when you don't even intend to show him who really are?"

Jay grits his teeth. "How do you know what he wants? For all we know, he doesn't give a shit about who I am, as long as he gets to fuck his favorite hero!" The blond darts his eyes away, feeling an ugly heat rise to his face. "He's never even asked what my name is..."

Pixamena pauses, anger seeming to melt away into something else. "Do you think that he really feels that way?"

"Maybe. I don't know..."

"Oh shit," Pixiepuff pants, tail wagging. "You've got it bad."

"Pixiepuff!" Pixamena scolds.

Jay glares at the Pomeranian. "What are you talking about?"

"Pixiepuff, don't..." the magical girl warns.

But the space dog doesn't give a shit. "You are in love with your fan."

Jay stares.

"No..."

"You are! I could smell the despair on you as you spoke of him not wanting to know your secret identity!"

Jay's heart pounds. "He's my friend. We're friends..."

Pixamena quirks an eyebrow. "I don't give my friends hickies..."

"Did you come here to interrogate me or what?"

"No, I—" Pixamena sets Pixiepuff down, combing through her pink locks nervously. "I wanted to apologize to you..."

Jay squints his eyes. "For what...?"

"For not believing you. I can't ignore it any longer—Stygian is definitely targeting you..."

The blond tenses. "Ah—yeah. He's got a vendetta against me, I guess. But I don't blame you for not believing me...my um, my other theory about his secret identity was clearly wrong."

Pixamena fiddles with her nails anxiously. "Yeah, um...I guess It was..."

"But yeah...I was an asshole about your methods, so I guess we can call it even."

The magical girl breathes a sigh of relief. "Okay. I'll see you around then..."

"Yeah..."

"Bye Quickwit! Good luck!" Pixiepuff smirks, toddling behind Pixamena as she finally leaves

Jay scrambles into his apartment, firmly shutting the door before sitting on his couch. He covers his face with his hands, leaning back.

"Fuck!" He groans.

This was all too much. He'd tried to repress it for so long and the stupid dog drug the ugly truth into the light; Jay was in love. Head over heels in love with a supervillain...

He's doomed. Absolutely doomed.

Even if Jay revealed his true identity, and it turned out Gannet wanted Jay and not Quickwit, they're still both lying to each other! Is this situation sustainable when Jay is already so overwhelmed trying to save Houston from whatever nefarious force has overtaken the Network?

Jay feels like a failure. On top of all this secret identity fuckery, he hasn't gotten any closer to the answers he's been looking for, and people like Razz are suffering for it...he really is a failure of a hero, isn't he?

"Quickwit...?"

Gannet approaches, looking concerned. For a moment, anger bubbles up...things would be a lot simpler if this villain hadn't intruded into Jay's life!

But the acidic feelings quickly drain away as a warm hand covers his own. Gannet leans into his side, rubbing soothing circles into Jay's glove. "What's wrong?"

"There's just so much bullshit going on..."

The villain averts his eyes. "Yeah, you've seemed pretty busy lately. Especially, um, with Stygian..."

"Stygian is fine. I'm pretty sure they're only keeping me on because of my win rate with Stygian," Jay groans, "it's this shit with Walljumper, Pixamena, and fuck, Razzmatazz..."

"Razzmatazz...?"

Jay sighs, eyes darting down. "It's nothing I—"

The blond pauses as an insidious idea forms in his mind. No hero can help Razzmatazz, Jay is too weak to help her himself, and no one else would be willing to listen to his pleas.

But Gannet would listen...

And Gannet is anything but weak.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

The villain's brow creases as he nods, hand tightening around Jay's. "Yeah, of course..."

"Someone has infiltrated the Network and is tampering with Razzmatazz's medication."

Gannet's eyes go cold, narrowing. "Tampering?"

"They're slipping drugs into her antipsychotics, drugs which worsen delusions."

"Fuck...what are you going to do?"

"I can't do anything. They won't listen to a sidekick. Gannet, I feel horrible for convincing her to go back..."

Jay falters, unsure of what he's about to say next. Is this right? If anyone knew, they would brand him a villain...but he thinks of Razz. He thinks of the fear in her eyes as the hallucinations haunt her...

"Stygian was right about that place."

Gannet pulls away from Jay, bracing his hands on his knees. The hero might've been afraid if he didn't know better, because the rage bubbling off of the villain is visceral and thick; skewed bangs fall over wide eyes as brown irises dangerously near a reddish hue.

Gannet gives an unhinged grin. "Nobody else cares like you do, Quickwit. Don't worry so much...it'll sort itself out."

[https://img.wattpad.com/39dc9a54edbcaa2af798892dc62ea0c57a8af9dd/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4141474a30594f505434316a6b413d3d2d313337313839313337362e313737656366343365616130353634323633353739393333313739342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]