forum Your Worst Nightmare OxO || RP w/ AltrinceTheAsianBean ^-^

Started March 18, 2020 by @Moriarty

tune

(It does belong here （≧∇≦）)

Evelyn was as red as a tomato. She wanted to know more about Nightmare and to not use that in the legal realm. She just wanted to know him as a person rather than a figure. But… should she, a rogue hero, really be inviting him, a ‘villain’, into her home? Figuratively speaking, absolutely not. And though she knew that she wasn’t the best therapist in the world, she just wanted to comfort him. She wanted to show him the more colorful parts of life.
”I-It’s fine… I understand how we shouldn’t be seen together…” she took a deep breath.
”Still…” she managed to mutter ”…I want to at least comfort you for the night… not in that way… of course…” she claimed.

(It's almost 4 am in my timezone, so this may be my last post for a few hours XD)

Zeke felt like he was being torn in half. Part of him wanted to leave, to turn around and flee right now, before it was too late– not from her, but from his own emotions. But some other part of him… didn't. He tried to silence that part, to shut it up, shove it back into whatever dark corner of his mind he could. After all, he didn't have time for this. He didn't have time to contemplate having a sleepover with one his enemies.
Truth be told, he couldn't justify calling her an enemy at this point. Maybe they were supposed to be enemies, but clearly he didn't hate her enough for that, considering the fact that he had saved her twice.
And, well, it was blatant that she didn't consider him an enemy either.
But he was still a villain. Didn't she know he was dangerous? That if anyone else had a say in it, he'd be locked in a major prison somewhere with his powers subdued, surrounded by countless other villains who had been incarcerated over the years.
That was the thing, though. She did know that. And yet… she was still inviting him to stay. And now… what's this about comforting him?
He was bewildered. Confused. Afraid of his emotions.
But– but he didn't need comfort. No. He was perfectly fine on his own. Why would she think he needed comfort, anyway? He'd made it this far just fine, hadn't he?
_{Just admit it boi. You need some comfort.}
He wanted to say no.
He wanted to say yes.
He wanted to walk away.
He wanted to stay.
He was too afraid to stay, but too broken to leave. He found himself unable to do either for several long seconds, until he was feeling awkward from not responding.
"… Comfort me?" he managed finally, trying to sound as controlled as he possibly could, as calm as he could muster– but his mind was a raging storm and his heart a pounding drum. He was far from calm. "Comfort me… from… what?" His voice gave him away a little at the end, revealing only a sliver of the nervousness he felt, wavering only slightly– but more than he ever would've intentionally allowed.

Evelyn was unsure as to how she should explain it. It was an indescribable feeling to her and she wasn’t sure how she could’ve explained it in words to the man.
”Just…” her hands were weak as her suitcase fell onto the ground while she walked closer to Nightmare. She wrapped her arms around the man, burying her face into the shadows that surrounded him. It wasn’t extremely tight, she didn’t have force like that but it was definitely warm. If anything, she wanted him know her intentions. She meant no harm, she just felt like he needed someone who understood him and thought that she could provide that.
Surprisingly, Nightmare’s body wasn’t as cold as she initially thought. He was a bit warm, perhaps even slightly steamy.
She looked up to his face and slightly pouted with her face being bright red.
”A-Are you really going to leave me alone…?”

Zeke swallowed, his entire body tensing at her embrace. He couldn't really recall the last time anyone had bothered hugging him, though the amount of affection he'd been shown in his life was scarce to begin with– leaving him bewildered and unsure of how to respond.
What made him uncomfortable about it all was not necessarily her in particular but rather the fact that she was tearing down his defenses and he knew it. So many metaphorical walls that he had built over the years to lock him in, to keep others away, and within a twenty-four hour period some rogue hero girl he hardly knew had begun dismantling them. Even though many of his walls still remained, he knew that, at this rate, they'd never last.
Which was why panic crawled up his spine and his heart thumped more and more rapidly in his chest. He needed to leave. Right then. Before she compromised him. Before he started down a slippery slope and fell into a hole that he could never climb out of.
He looked down at her, swallowed again. Her pleading expression. Her sincerity. How could he leave her like this? The answer was that he couldn't, and he was even more shaken by the realization that maybe he had already started down the aforementioned slippery slope without meaning to.
A war raged in his head. He couldn't afford to think like that– couldn't afford to entertain the thought. It– he dare not think of the strong emotion inside of him in any other term but it yet, for he was too afraid– was like playing with fire. It looked bright and it was warm at first– but he was afraid that he would get burned.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
There was a chance that this was all an act, he reasoned. That this was a trap specifically tailored for him, just to drag him down. She didn't know him. She couldn't truly care about him, could she? But, by golly, if it was a trap, it was working out far too well for Zeke's comfort.
He felt weak. Like maybe his heart was vulnerable. He hated that feeling. But it had to be a little bit vulnerable– at least to her– or else he wouldn't have said, "No. I… won't leave you."
The words betrayed him before he could stop them, but once they were out, he let them be– because it felt impossible for him to walk away. What was he supposed to do now? Hug her in return? No, no– He was too shook for that. He… couldn't. His body was still tense, and, though unintentional, it was obvious that he wasn't used to being embraced. At all.
But none of this meant they were allies. It didn't mean anything. He didn't mean anything by it. He was just… trying to be a decent person. It had nothing to do with her personally– and– and he most certainly didn't care about her or anything like that.
Except that it did mean something. He did mean something. It had everything to do with her personally and he most certainly cared far more than he was ready to admit.

(Zeke: very cold and almost emotionless)
(Lynn: I’m about to end this man’s whole career~ OWO!!!)

Lynn was way too happy that she didn’t even bother trying to hide it anymore. Her pout morphed into a sincere grin after those words came from Nightmare. She was, though, starting to regret her decision a bit. She felt a bit bad for almost forcing him mentally into her house. If she really him to be comfortable, maybe she should’ve started with making him comfortable mentally. Something came into her head. Hopefully everything will play out as she’d hoped.
”You… you don’t trust me yet, do you?” she asked shakily.

(Also I’m sorry, I’m not used to writing very long replies ;w;)

(Zeke: very cold and almost emotionless)
(Lynn: I’m about to end this man’s whole career~ OWO!!!)

(I'M DYING BECAUSE THIS IS ACCURATE XD)
(Also your replies are perfect! I just have a bad tendency to stretch things out like a crazy person. Your replies aren't short. Mine are just hecking long XD)

"No," Zeke admitted slowly. But it wasn't personal. "I don't trust anyone."
That much was true.
And he said this as stoically as he could, because he wasn't fishing for sympathy. He just wanted to make that clear.
One thing he didn't like, however, was the fact that she had said yet– as if he would be trusting her in the future. Probably because he was afraid that might very well be accurate.
"And you shouldn't, either," he added.

(Ah, alright, good to know that I wasn’t being a very bad XD)

”Hmph… fine…” Lynn had said in a presumably annoyed tone. However, her eyes were on Nightmare almost at all times. She wanted to do something… but of course, that act seemed unnecessary as for now and perhaps even into the future.
”Even if I shouldn’t trust you, I will…”
Yet…
Her mind fought with itself for a bit and…
”You might hate me for this… but…” she wasn’t embarrassed to slowly pull down his mask and tiptoed in order to reach his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in. It was around ten at the time and the moon was shining down on them from almost directly above them. She closed her eyes to embrace this moment as if Nightmare was not into this act, she might never get the chance to do that ever again.

Zeke's eyes grew wide and he stiffened up, not reacting for several long seconds, frozen like an animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He felt like that, anyway. The emotions he was so desperate to suppress were going to hit him like a truck whether he wanted them to or not.
Just like they did here, in this moment. Some part of his brain tried to warn him that this was a bad idea. Like an alarm going off in his head, it told him he needed to get out of there before it was too late.
The other part of his brain realized it was already too late.
His face grew red hot, and his heart was beating so violently that it might as well have exploded, but he managed to relax his tense body slightly. Maybe he even returned the favor as she kissed him. Just a little. Just because it seemed like the right thing to do. Not because he wanted to or anything–
clears throat
But he most certainly didn't pull away.

Evelyn stayed like that for a bit as well. Those moments quickly turned to seconds then to a minute or two. Time was slowed yet it was moving so fast. She eventually pulled back, letting out of soft sigh.
”Do you… believe me now? I don’t want to hurt you…” she asked, giving him a sincere and caring look. Again, she wanted to give him another chance. She had to give it to Nightmare though, that mask was extremely unneeded as it blocked out such a pretty face.
”Come on… it’s getting cold outside…” she stated, taking the man by the wrist and hoping that he would follow.

(I agree. They are suh good. ^〃ω〃^)

Zeke didn't know what to say. He didn't even know why he had allowed himself to do that in the first place. He felt like he'd given in. Maybe he had. And maybe that wasn't such a bad thing? But he was still horrified at the pace everything was going. Last night, they were fighting in a dark alley– he'd had intentions to kill her– and now, a mere twenty-four hours later, they had just–
He blinked a few times. He felt like he was going insane. What was wrong with him? He was falling fast and hard and he had no idea how to stop.
"Okay," was the only reply he could manage to get out, and even that was barely above a whisper. His face was still flushed, his heart still going wild. He allowed her to lead him by the wrist, though, with no objections.
Nothing in the past day had gone as planned. Not even remotely. This morning, he set out to kill her. And now– well, he didn't even know what to think anymore.

Evelyn took him to her ‘house’, which was really just an apartment room. She let out a soft sigh before opening the door. As she invited the man in, her face had gone redder when she realized that the canvas she was working on— one of Nightmare—was the thing that stood out the most in the living room. She quickly closed the door behind her after he had entered and to quickly cover it with a piece of white cloth.
”Uhm… excuse me for that…” she gave a nervous laugh at the end of it, not entirely sure as to what she should be saying after… that.

Her living room wasn’t extremely big but it was definitely bigger than the needed size for two people. Nothing was very out of the ordinary except the flood of art equipment around the room and the white cat beanbag which was the perfect size for Evelyn. There were almost several paintings and drawings of heroes and villains around the room, stuck to the walls with some even framed. One of which—perhaps the most important one to Lynn as it was in a golden frame—was a printed digital drawing of Nightmare himself, in his usual clothes and placing his index on his lips while his other hand held his signature knife. The setting of the scene was clearly a darkened alleyway with the reflection from the knife and the man’s golden colored eyes being its clear focus point.
She sat down on the beanbag and gave the man a grin.
”Please… make yourself home…” she invited, her heart beating centuries a minute.

Zeke would be lying to say that he wasn't impressed, but as he observed the art– particularly the piece of himself– his already red face grew even warmer, if that were even physically possible at this point. He tried not to act it, but after what had just happened, and seeing the art, and everything else, he was flustered big time.
"Oh– Thanks," he responded sheepishly, his eyes landing on the couch– which was the nearest piece of furniture for sitting– and sat down on the edge, folding his hands together somewhat awkwardly. To be honest, he'd… never really been anyone's guest before, and he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. Especially not after their encounter outside. "Nice house." Really? Was that the best he could come up with?
His gaze drifted around the room again, to the various paintings and drawings, and eventually landed on the one of himself again. He didn't comment on it– frankly, he wasn't sure what to say. It was a good piece, no doubt– but he wasn't sure if it's existence made him flustered or flattered or what. Probably both.

Evelyn opened her mouth a bit before it quickly turned to a laugh which she covered with his hand. It was cute how socially awkward this man was though she won’t say that, she’d rather keep that to herself. She had just realized that Nightmare had noticed the drawing of himself… eh… it was too late to hide that one now. She wanted to know more about him… yet, she knew that this wasn’t the exact time to do that. Not after what had happened downstairs. Looking at the clock, the shorthand reached eleven.
”D-Do you want something to drink…? Or perhaps eat…? Hm?” She asked, heading towards the kitchen counter slowly. What. What was going on in her head. She had the sudden feel that something bad was about to happen… yet… she didn’t know what that could’ve been.

"Maybe some water. If you don't mind." Zeke unclasped his hands from one another, though he didn't really know what else to do with them. He rested one on his leg, tapping his fingers against his knee, trying not to feel so uneasy but finding it impossible. Honestly, he was a bit famished, too, but he didn't feel relaxed enough to eat. Plus, he didn't want to impose, even if she had offered.

Evelyn nodded almost immediately, filling a glass with some cold water. She was nervous when she realized that she was in the presence of perhaps the most infamous and the most wanted person in all of the country… yet all she felt was respect for the man. Maybe it was because she understood briefly of what it was like to be him. She had that phase way back as well.
”Here you go—“ she handed the glass to him, giving him a warm and welcoming smile.
She sat back down on the cat beanbag and played with its ears a bit.
A purr came from behind Nightmare so she looked to see what was going on. Just in time, the two cats decided to come out and play.
The adult one seemed calm enough that he already occupied a seat on the couch. The kitten, on the other hand, was not ready for a guest and shook like the nervous wreck he was.

Evelyn noticed this and chuckled softly, standing up to pick the kitten up. She was divided between playing with the kitten herself or…
”Bloop~” she had placed the amber kitten on Nightmare’s lap and placed the adult white cat beside him. She laughed a bit at the scene she had created.
Nightmare, the emotionless and cold killer, surrounded by two adorable cats. Perfect.

"Thanks." Zeke nodded in appreciation when she gave him the water, eyeing it closely– more out of habit than actual distrust– before taking a few sips. He'd likely been drugged before, so it was only natural for him to be cautious.
Though, he wasn't prepared to be bombarded with kitties.
"Oh–" He blinked, glancing down at the tiny kitten on his lap and at the white cat next to him. He wasn't really used to cats like this. He was used to the feral kind you find the alleys. Scrawny ones with sunken sides, wild eyes, and bared teeth. The kind that hiss and arch their back at you when you get too close. Scraggly and rejected. The ones who trust no one. He always felt like he related to those cats on an emotional level.
But these cats were far cuter and more gentle than the ones he had previously encountered. A bit fluffier. A bit more… huggable. And the little nervous one– well, Zeke might've related to it on an emotional level, too. Just not as obvious about it.
He hesitated momentarily before running his fingers over the kitten's head and down its back. He smiled faintly. Not only did he not have experience with pet cats, but he didn't have much experience with pets in general. He never really had time to worry about having a pet when he was younger. He was too busy trying to make it through to the next day. "I've never had any pets, but these guys are cute," he commented. As a "villain," he wasn't sure if it was normal for him to talk about the cuteness of kitties, but– come on. They were pretty darn cute. "What are their names?"

Evelyn was quite surprised that Nightmare was even interested in her cats. Well, the change was happening she’d guessed.
”The white one is named Kao, meaning ‘white’ in Thai. I just thought it was cute. The amber kitter is named Topaz and I adore him” she answered, smiling a bit.
Unexpectedly, she was quite calm with the situation. However… she did want Nightmare to be here for some reasons. One of them being…
”Uhm… forgive me for asking but…” she took a deep breather ”…do you remember how many people you’ve killed? Not the bystanders, just famous heroes and such…”

Zeke raised his gaze from the cat on his lap to look up at her. He kept a record of everyone who died at his hands. He… thought maybe remembering their names was the least he could do since he was the one who took their lives. But he was justified, as far as he concerned. He thought them to be liars and frauds, the people he slew. Killing innocent people wasn't on his agenda. He might not've been a good person, but he wasn't a serial killer of psychopathic murderer. And the bystanders– well, none of them were ever intentional kills. Always accidents. Always regrets.
But, it was no secret that he'd killed heroes– so the only thing that made him sheepish about answering was the fact that she was a rogue hero and that last night he had literally told her he was going to kill her. Should he apologize for that, or did helping her twice make up for it? He wasn't sure.
"Yes. I remember them all. Six famous heroes. Five slightly less popular ones. Eight that were nearly unheard of." He swallowed, glancing down at the ground. He didn't necessarily regret his actions, but he felt a bit guilty saying it to a hero of sorts that he'd threatened before. "Nineteen total." That wasn't counting bystanders, but again– those were unintentional. "Why do you ask?"

Evelyn’s theory was proven correct; this man wasn’t a villain, but he was definitely not a hero per se. It had been quite clear that he killed those people to prove their wrong doings. Honestly speaking, the ‘heroes’—as they claimed to be—preformed crimes which were most likely punishable by law. Nightmare was that balancing figure. He wasn’t like the previously found Crescent and wasn’t like the ‘hero’ named Inferno. He was different but in a good way.
”I… was just curious…” she started.
”You might’ve seen already that I’m quite a big fan and honestly… I look up to you…” she claimed with a small smile on her face.
”You had the courage to step back and dismantled society to find its weaknesses and its flaws and you tried to fix it…” she continued.
”Frostbite, for example, one of the heroes you’ve killed and the kill that made you infamous. He wasn’t a ‘hero’, he abused his family so much that his wife committed suicide while his children practically left him, scarred,” she raised her voice a tad bit when talking about Frostbite. That was one name she hated to remember as he was the very person who turned her ‘Rogue’.
”…I feel like you’ve been having it too hard, working on your own…” she turned to him, looking him in the eye.
”…please let me help you” she stated dead clear.

Though a secret from all of society, Evelyn had always looked up to villains like Nightmare. Her dreams, though, were far from reality as she was born into a family where their entire lives depended on heroic nature. Villainous ideals were not supported at all. That was… until she moved out on her own. And the encounter she had with her idol last night just proved to her that she wanted to do something bigger than just help the ‘innocents’ only to have them backlash at her for some stupid reason. Hopefully, Nightmare would open up and allow her to showcase what she was capable of. A ‘Rogue Hero’ was really nothing more than a villain in the making.

Though his expression remained unchanging, Zeke was speechless for a moment. He could kind of tell that she had a particularly fond view of him, but no one had ever really bothered to care whether or not his intentions were in the right place or not. No one bothered to care about things like the truth about Frostbite– or any of the other false heroes he killed. They only tended to notice the part where Nightmare killed someone carrying the title of "hero."
But apparently Evelyn took note of the other parts of the matter. Apparently she saw his side of things rather than just looking at the whole situation from one angle like most of society chose to.
And not only did she notice, but now she wanted to help him.
"That's all true. I don't kill heroes. I kill frauds," he muttered once she'd finished, though clearly deep in thought. "But… how would you intend to help me?"

Evelyn’s eyes lit up with… happiness? She would guess so. The question was reasonable to ask; how, exactly, could she be any help to the already talented Nightmare? Something then clicked.
”One of the things I might know more than you do is the Heroes’ abilities. I might be able to help you come up with how to exactly deal with them and plan escape routes in case things have gone out of control,” she presented. Being a fanatic, she had listed out almost every single hero she came across so far; what their powers were, what weapons do they use, and such. If she was being honest with herself, she really wanted to fight along Nightmare as well… but that just can’t be reality now, could it? No, he was fine on his own on the battlefield. She would just be a distraction to him, which was unwise…
”I can also help you with the fights sometimes…” there goes her mouth, not working as it should… again.
”I’m not as talented as you are but I can put my abilities to use in certain times. Maybe that could help…” she was low-key nervous. She was talking to her idol her crush and it was an experience she did not dare to forget.

Her shirt was still a light grayish color which meant that one of the things she controlled, at that time, was… concrete. She heard significantly interesting sounds coming from downstairs, in front of the apartment. She wasn’t wrong, it was Inferno again… but he was with another person. She couldn’t remember the other man’s voice immediately but upon feeling a sudden chill up her spine when the said man used his powers, it was clear.
”Speaking of frauds… Inferno and Snowstorm are in front of the apartment…” she mentioned. She had just realized that she zoned out of the conversation when she was focusing on the two downstairs. They were here for her, she was sure. Inferno wasn’t much of a threat… but Snowstorm was. His agile and precise movements were hard to both dodge and predict. His ability was also a problem as it can slow down enemy or even freeze them if he’d activated it long enough. Swallowing once, Evelyn turned to Nightmare.
”Should we just… stay put… or are you feeling like you want to get rid of them now…?”
Inferno’s crimes were clear; taking advantages and corruption. Snowstorm was a different case. He had killed his entire family on purpose and had kept their corpses frozen somewhere in his house. He, though, was not charged for murder and was never charged anything. These two were a problem to society to say the least.

As far as Zeke was concerned, Evelyn was a pretty capable force in battle– she did beat him the night before, after all, and he would not soon forget that. On top of that, her strengths were a lot different than his– his being darkness and the cover it offered, while hers were– well, he assumed anything colorful, but he didn't fully know the extent of her abilities, to be honest. He didn't know a lot about most people's abilities, so she could definitely help him with that, too. Point was– her strengths were different than his, meaning that when he was at a loss or in a position where the conditions weren't in his favor, they'd likely be in hers.
But they would discuss this later. They had other problems to worry about. Namely Snowstorm and Inferno.
"If we stay here, I'm sure they'll come inside after us– and if we're going to fight them, it might as well be on our terms," Zeke murmured, his voice barely above a whisper even though they were nowhere close enough to overhear him. Zeke had only encountered Snowstorm once– and that was a couple years ago. They didn't fight much, really, because Zeke was concerned with hunting down a different hero at the time. But he did recall that Snowstorm was a dangerous foe, therefore he'd have to be more careful with him. Inferno– well, he wasn't too dangerous so long as you paid attention and didn't let him get a hold of you. "Maybe this will be a nice test run to see how well we work together," he added quietly, a faint smile tugging at his lips before he pulled his mask back up over his face and secured it in place.

Evelyn, though subtly, noticed the smile Nightmare gave to her and blushed furiously. She gave a nod before picking both the cats up and placing them on the beanbag, allowing them to rest while they were gone. Lynn had an idea as to how they might start… she went over to the light switch and turned the lights off, allowing darkness to fill the room. She then absorbed the black hue from the shadows.
”I’ll distract them for you, if that’s alright” she stated, her eyes shining past the darkness.

"I didn't know you could absorb the color black, too," Zeke commented in a whisper, though he felt like a dumb idiot for even saying anything about it. She could absorb all colors. Black was a color, after all. He… just hadn't thought about it all that much, really. He vanished into the darkness– not literally, but he was virtually undetectable when there were no lights, because his ability to draw the shadows around himself darkened any visible image of silhouette. Precisely the reason night was his favorite time to fight– or do anything, for that matter. Shadows didn't work well in the day; exposure to light caused them to dissipate, rendering them useless for his purposes. "Let's get rid of your unwanted guests, then, shall we?"

Evelyn had to hide her happiness from the man for now. She was living the moment. She gave a quick nod before stepping to her balcony.

”There she is…” Snowstorm said quietly to the man of fire as what could be interpreted as flames lit up in his eyes. For as much as Evelyn was unfazed, she knew how dangerous one of them was.

”I’ll distract them one way, you can do as you please…” she turned quickly to Nightmare and almost whispering those words ”—alright?” with that, she jumped down from the ledge and… realized one grave mistake she made. What was she thinking when she absorbed black…

There were not a lot of powers that were naturally black that were also useful in this situation. However, that time frame gave her an idea that might just work…
”Blackout…” she murmured as a sphere of complete darkness emitted from her body, blinding the two ‘heroes’ and allowing Nightmare to come in while of course enhancing his powers with the shadows provided. The sphere wouldn’t stay for long though, she needed to do something else later as well.

Warren cursed at the darkness. Of course he did. He was bad about using strong language, apparently. If Zeke had more time to taunt the jerk, he'd cram a bar of soap down the guy's throat just out of spite.
But that was beside the point.
Zeke's immediate goal was to take out Snowstorm. Inferno was an oafish brute, to put it gently, and therefore his threat level paled in comparison to Snowstorm as far as Zeke was concerned.
But the darkness– why, that was Zeke's domain. His expertise. His specialty. He was at an advantage as long as that lasted.
He ran onto the balcony, and from there teleported into the sphere of complete darkness. He could see; his eyes were sensitive enough to see in the dark (hence the reason his eyes were also sensitive to sudden bright lights once his had been adjusted to the darkness).
He swung a fist straight for Snowstorm's throat and grabbed his knife in his other hand– readying it for a kill, if necessary. His fist made contact, but then–
He was forced to leap back as Warren– that moron– erupted into flames, probably in a pointless attempt to light up his surroundings. It was likely that he nearly toasted both Zeke and Snowstorm with his incompetence– though both of them were relatively unharmed. "What the heck?!" Warren hissed when his fire failed to cast any light on the darkness.