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gbee-writes · 1 year

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Henchman pushed open the door to the boss’s office with her hip, trying not to tip the tray in her hands too far. The last thing she needed was to spill the tea balanced on top.

As per usual for the mid-afternoon Villain was lazily reading through slogs of paperwork. When he heard the door creak open Villain trailed his eyes up before jolting upright with a bright, sunshine smile.

“Henchman! Thank God, I needed a break.” Villain was quick in clearing a spot on the desk for the tea tray. “Hero has been driving me up the wall with the new surveillance attempts. She’s so bad at being sneaky, you know what I mean?”

She hummed as she poured a cup for Villain and turned to leave. “Make sure to let that cool a bit before-”

“Where are you going?”

“I have a lot of applications for the guarding position to go through.” Henchman took a step away from the desk but, as per usual, Villain was having absolutely none of it.

“You've been working hard all day Henchman. I admire your dedication but I need you to sit down and let yourself rest a little, okay?”

She held her own against his puppy eyes for a solid three minutes. Somehow she always found herself backing down when it came to Villain and his oddly caring nature towards her. He managed to light up further as she sat down and poured herself a cup of tea as well.

They drank in silence for a while. Or as silent as it could be with Villain humming his appreciation of the drink. Henchman would be lying if she said she didn’t find it gratifying. Of course, she wouldn’t admit it out loud.

Soft sunlight streamed in from the floor to ceiling windows. Villain had chosen a beautiful forested area for his base, right next to a river that he could be occasionally found fishing in.

Memorably one of those times was in the dead of winter with no protective gear. He had laughed off her lectures on hypothermia and frostbite. The cold was ‘refreshing’ he had claimed before promptly getting sick. Like a moron.

A contented sigh escaped her. Immediately her superior was turning his attention over to her. “I gave you some extra vacation days. You deserve a nice long break from everything. I don’t think you’ve even taken a sick day since I hired you on!”

She chewed the inside of her cheek. “Thanks boss but I’m fine. You’d probably get arrested if I left for an hour.” Her flat tone did nothing to dampen Villain’s jovial nature.

“We could go on a vacation together! It’s been ages since I’ve gone on one myself and I would be overjoyed to have such wonderful company.”

Henchman might have blushed if she weren’t trained to keep her emotions down so well. How was he always saying things so sweet about her? Without any sarcasm? It was unfamiliar...it was...well it was kind of nice actually. Then her heart stuttered.

A vacation with her boss? Maybe he just didn’t think of the implications when he offered. Yeah, probably that; he wouldn’t think of the subtext behind a suggestion like that.

...Would he?

Either way she wasn’t sure how to decline without sounding rude.

“Well Sir, I suppose I could accompany you on your vacation if you wanted.”

Villain looked as though he’d conquered the world. His eyes shone in a triumphant way she hadn’t seen before. “Where would you like to go? I know a beautiful beach resort, or a cabin in the woods? You always seem more at peace near the trees.”

“Oh! I feel you would love the big city; so many different food stops. You always bring interesting foods for lunch so I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t mind a cuisine tour, huh?”

Henchman blinked a few times. He wasn’t going to choose a place based on his own interests? “Oh...uh, whatever you want boss.”

For a moment he stared at her expectantly.

Of course.

He never took away a choice he had given her. The problem with that was that she hadn’t ever taken a vacation and wasn’t remotely sure what she would enjoy. After a pause spent scrambling for an answer Henchman shrugged. “Uh...I’ve never been to a beach before?”

“Have you been swimming?”

Recreationaly? No. For survival training in a pool that simulated devastating storm conditions? Yes.

Maybe agreeing was a mistake...was it too late to back out?

“I know how to swim, yes.” Why did she say that?

Why did she say that?!

---

Henchman really wished she could go back to the day she agreed to this vacation and slap herself.

She had to buy a swimsuit (a mortifying ordeal with overly giggly workers that were more than happy to try and put her in the least fabric possible after hearing she was going with a man. Why did she tell them that?), she needed to arrange someone to keep the place running while her and Villain were gone, and most awful was that Villain had so much excitement over taking a trip with her that he looked about ready to pop with it.

“I can’t wait for you to see the waters at this beach. They’re so clear it’s like looking into glass, you can see all the fish and coral. The reef is stunning.”

Henchman forced a weak smile. “I’m sure.”

Villain finally seemed to notice something was wrong. His brows knit together tightly. “Do you not want to go?” A wounded tone. She couldn’t help her flinch at it. His eyes widened. “Oh, no Henchman I’m not trying to guilt you. I just, if you felt like you had to go with me you really didn’t.”

“Saying no would have been rude.”

“No, it would be setting boundaries. If you want we can head back or you can go by yourself and I’ll head back. I won’t be upset with you.”

The thought of going was awful in the first place, the thought of going alone? Henchman’s skin prickled. “No! No, I don’t want to be by myself there.”

Villain studied her face, his own bursting with concern.

Something seemed to click.

“Have you...never gone on vacation before?” Henchman didn’t need to speak for him to know the answer. “Oh. Overwhelmed?”

“A...a bit, yeah...”

“How about this,” His gentle tone eased the tensions she hadn’t noticed building in her shoulders. “We can give it a shot and if you don’t like it we can go back. Yeah?”

Henchman nodded. Villain’s smile could have blinded her. “Okay, because I was really hoping to spoil you this trip, give you the thanks you deserve for being the only thing keeping my base together.”

Maybe it was her already shaken nerves that caused her blush to make it through her defenses. If Villain noticed her burning cheeks he didn’t comment on it, thank god.

---

Villain had been right.

The reef was stunning.

Henchman stared at the colors rippling beneath the waves in a strange sort of trance. She barely noticed Villain stepping up beside her. His arms lazily draped the balcony of her frankly overly luxurious hotel room.

A part of her had been worried he’d book only one room, but no, a gentleman as always he had booked two. Well, gentleman with her at least. He was still a villain after all.

The wind held traces of flowers and saltiness. Henchman couldn’t breathe in enough of it.

Her skin prickled and she turned to see Villain watching her. The expression on his face was completely unfamiliar. Half lidded gentle brown eyes, a soft subtle upturn of the corner of his mouth. Her heart skipped.

“What are you staring at me like that for boss?”

“You’re so beautiful when you look this way.”

Henchman flapped her mouth uselessly. “Li-like what?”

“Tranquil. Happy.”

With that statement Villain pulled himself off the railing and went to go to his own room. She couldn’t call him back. Did she want to? No of course not, why would she want to, he was just being nice...right?

Oh god.

He had definitely known the implications of inviting her with him.

Her heart pattered a little bit. Perhaps...perhaps there was a chance he even meant them.

No. No god no. She wasn’t about to get sucked into this fantasy. Henchman was a subordinate, not a potential romantic partner. Her job was to do paperwork, keep heroes off Villain, and hire more goons.

Somehow she managed to get her legs to budge again. She went to the bed (those covers were fine silk, how much money had he spent on her?) and was startled to find a gift box at the foot. There was a small card tied to it with a yellow ribbon. Her favorite color.

‘Got you something to wear to dinner. Only if you want though, wear what you’re comfortable in! ~Villain’

Henchman was met with yellow fabric as she slid the lid open. When she pulled it out to see what it was better her breath caught.

A beautiful 50′s style sundress.

Her dream dress.

She vaguely remembered offhandedly mentioning liking them around Villain at one point, bringing up their lack of practicality in her chosen field as to the reason she didn’t have one. He had remembered...

After absorbing that revelation Henchman changed into the dress. A part of her was deeply worried it wouldn’t fit. Most dresses didn’t accommodate for larger muscle mass and she certainly had plenty. It took her a moment to remember Villain had her measurements from getting her uniform fitted and that almost guaranteed the dress was tailored to her.

A flutter of giddy joy popped into her chest as Henchman looked in the mirror. Maybe she had chosen a less feminine field but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a lady, or at least didn’t want to be. She just didn’t have reason to dress up really.

A glance back at the box revealed matching flats. She was quick to put those on as well. Then she took the ribbon that was on the note and tied half of her hair up into a bun, letting the ends dangle into the rest of it.

She wished she had jewelry to match. Oh well, she was just happy to break away from her work wear or at-home sweat pants for once.

A knock at her door caught her attention.

Henchman opened the door to Villain. Her face nearly caught fire when she saw that he was wearing a very fine button up shirt that was definitely a few buttons open lower than an appropriate professional amount.

Ignore that, ignore that.

“Time for dinner boss?”

“Call me Villain while we’re here, yeah?”

“Okay.” Henchman definitely didn’t make a weird wheezing squeak, she was very collected as always. “Uh...time for dinner then...Villain?”

His smile sent butterflies loose in her insides. God what was this vacation doing to her? “Yes it is, Querida*.” She took his offered arm with a nervous smile.

Was that a pet name? It sounded like Spanish, regrettably a language she didn’t know (she knew French, German, and some Italian but hadn’t the time for Spanish yet), and the way he said it was so warm.

“You look lovely by the way.” Villain pulled her from her thoughts. “I’m glad you liked the dress.”

“I can’t believe you remembered.” Henchman had managed to gain composure back.

A soft chuckle, “Of course I remembered. You seemed so sad about it, I just couldn’t forget. I’ve been waiting for a good chance to have one made for you.”

And with that her composure was gone again.

---

Dinner had gone well enough, though Henchman had to really struggle not to stare at Villain too much. She had seen him comfortable back home plenty of times but this vacation brought a whole new level of relaxed that she found dangerously distracting.

If he noticed her jerking her eyes away several times he didn’t mention it.

Thank god.

Before she knew it they had ended up sitting on a towel together on the beach as the sun bathed the sky in blankets of orange, reds, and pinks. The gentle lapping of the waves was so serene.

“You’re wonderful Henchman, you know that?” Villain’s words were barely a whisper but they seemed to boom in her ears.

She turned to him with a start. “Bo-...Villain?”

“You are.” He pushed. “You’re brilliantly smart, strong and dependable, you’re capable of moving mountains if you wanted to. It’s wonderful.”

Henchman didn’t know how to respond. She’d gotten compliments before but none that felt quite like this, even coming from Villain. This felt more like he was baring his soul than just appreciation of her work.

Villain smiled and her head spun. The way he looked at her was so overwhelmingly, startlingly impassioned. No one looked at her this way.

“Villain-” Her words caught.

“Thank you. For applying at my base, for staying, for tolerating my...eccentric-ness.”

A moment.

“For coming with me here.” His eyes were filled with an odd longing sadness that she hadn’t realized was for her.

She’d seen that look before of course. He made it when he lost fights and she bandaged him up, or when she shared food with him that she’d made for herself if he forgot his own, or when she would use herself as a shield fighting against the heroes without a second thought-

His hand brushed her cheek. Henchman’s lungs faltered as Villain’s face came so tenderly close to hers. “May I?” He breathed out.

Slowly she pushed forwards and their lips connected in a gentle kiss. Villain let her chose when to pull away, ever the gentleman. Even though it was so small a kiss Henchman’s lips tingled a little. Was that normal?

...Oh she was blushing.

She was blushing hard.

Embarrassment swept over her. Henchman was normally so much better at controlling her emotions, why was she struggling with it now?

“You don’t need to be composed and professional here Querida.” Villain rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone. “It’s a vacation; please let yourself enjoy it with me.”

Henchman forced a deep breath. Gentle as she could she took his hand from her cheek. For a split second he looked worried but she only shifted so she was leaning back into his chest, keeping his hand in hers so that his arm wrapped her shoulders.

It felt a little strange with the gifts and the tender words. Henchman didn’t understand why her...but maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe she could just let herself be loose around someone for once, enjoy the unfamiliar but not unwelcome attention.

Yeah, maybe she could let herself be happy with him there.

“Thank you Villain.”

“Of course, Querida.”

____________

**Querida is a spanish term of endearment. Thank you so much to @/redbircl for giving me the proper word to fit the context!

I don’t write romance much? And I don’t know how well I did honestly but I think I’m pretty proud of this. I was going for Sunshine Villain (who adores henchman) and Emotionally Constipated Henchman (who secretly enjoys the attention) so hopefully that’s what it comes off as.

(Edited to fix translation error, changed “Estimado” to “Querida”, and to add a read more because I don’t like long posts clogging my blog lol)

#my writing #villain x henchman #henchman x villain #one shot #henchman I do adore #<- that's the title

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