Chapter Text
It was finally Friday, and Roxanne felt like she had just gotten through the longest week in the history of ever. It seemed impossible that her adventure in the industrial sector was just earlier this week. It felt like forever ago.
Roxanne leaned back in her office chair and checked the time. It was a little past 4:00 PM, meaning she was good to head home whenever. She eyed the time in the corner of her computer screen as another minute ticked by. Ideally she would like to wait for Mayowa to finish proofreading her last report of the week so she could send it to their boss, but she was itching to get out of there.
Biting her cheek, she looked away from her computer and grabbed her phone from where it was laying face down on her desk. She clicked into the message chain with her brother and Ezra, scrolling up a bit to look back at their previous messages.
Hayden and Ezra lived in the suburbs of Metro City, a good hour or so outside of the inner city where Roxanne’s apartment was. They texted her yesterday morning asking if she was free that weekend, as they wanted to come into the city to do some wedding shopping on Saturday and were hoping she was around to meet up for lunch or coffee or something.
Roxanne jumped at the opportunity. It had been so long since she had seen either of them in person, so she asked if they wanted to come in to spend Friday in the city too.
The three of them excitedly made plans for Hayden and Ezra to drive in after work and spend the night at her apartment, then they would split off the next day to do whatever shopping they needed to do.
Roxanne smiled at her phone while reading the texts Ezra sent about liquor options and bars to go to. She knew was in for a fun night whenever he was around. He used to live a few blocks away from where her apartment was, so he knew about all of the good places to hit up when going out for the night.
It was also so fun to see the foil of her brother with someone like Ezra. Ezra was a huge party animal, very spontaneous, and thoroughly go with the flow. Hayden, on the other hand, was very type A, very much a planner and organized to a fault. They balanced each other out perfectly though, Roxanne thought.
Plus! Plus they were finally going to get the chance to celebrate their upcoming wedding with her, so she knew her brother was also going to be getting a bit wild tonight too.
A knock on the corner of her cubicle made Roxanne jump.
“Sorry to startle you, Rox,” Mayowa’s voice sounded as Roxanne swiveled her chair around. She met Maya’s grin with a smile.
“I just wanted to let you know I emailed your report back and it’s all good to send to the bossman!”
“Thank you Maya! I really appreciate you doing that,” Roxanne smiled in return. They had a great system of sending each other their reports for a quick peer review, which had saved both of them multiple times from using dated statistics or misspelling an important city official’s name.
“You sure you can’t come out tonight?” Roxanne tilted her head up towards her friend.
Maya shook her head. “I wish, I have to catch a flight to Philly at like 4AM tomorrow so it’s an early bedtime for me.”
Roxanne nodded her head in understanding, though she did wish she was able to come out with them. Maya was her only coworker she enjoyed seeing outside of the office.
“You throwin’ down tonight Roxaroo?” A voice came from behind the both of them. Speaking of coworkers she didn’t want to spend any time with, let alone outside of the office.
"I’m having a party tonight, you should totally stop by! There’s gonna be chips and dip and-"
“Not tonight, Hal.” Roxanne curtly responded, only half trying to subdue the irritation in her voice.
“C'mon Roxaroonie, it’s gonna be a rager!” Hal shoved his way into her cubicle, shouldering Mayowa in the process. She gave him a nasty look that he was completely oblivious to.
“No. I have plans with my brother tonight-"
“Perfect! I’ll meet you at yours then!”
It took everything in her not to lose it on him.
“I said no, Hal. Now I was having a conversation with Mayowa-"
“But-"
“Get out.” Roxanne was beyond fed up with Hal and his complete inability to understand the word no.
“Fine, it’s your loss, maybe we can do something on Saturday-"
Maya stepped in front of him, blocking him out of the cubicle.
“So Metro Man is picking you up from the office?” She winked at Roxanne.
“Oh yeah, he should be here any minute! He really hates it when people at the office hold me up, I feel really bad for anyone who gets in the way of Metro Man and Roxie time.” She nodded solemnly.
Hal’s eyes widened a fraction. He definitely wasn’t scared of the city’s defender, he just didn’t want to get in his way.
Roxanne and Mayowa continued chatting about Metro Man as Hal turned away, muttering under his breath.
Maya peaked around the corner. “We’re good, he’s gone.”
Roxanne sighed in relief. “Thank you for that, you’re always so quick on your feet.” She grinned at Maya. Maya was one of the few people that knew Roxanne and Wayne weren’t actually dating, and Roxanne loved how quick she was to use the lie to their advantage.
“I take it that reporting him still hasn’t helped at all?”
Roxanne threw her head back and sunk further down into her chair. “Nope. HR said that he hasn’t technically ‘done’ anything so there was nothing they could do.”
“That’s such bullshit, he’s done more than enough to constitute a warning at least.”
“You’re telling me.” Roxanne shook her head and sighed. “You’re absolutely sure you can’t come tonight, even just for a bit?” She pleaded, changing the subject. “I love my brother and his fiancé and all, but having you there would make it a hundred times more fun.”
Maya gave Roxanne an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry, we should plan to do something next week though!”
“Deal!” Roxanne happily agreed.
“Damn it’s almost 4:30, I gotta get going,” Mayowa said, checking her watch. “I still gotta pack,” she wriggled her eyebrows at Roxanne.
Roxanne rolled her eyes and laughed.
“Don’t stay too late, and I hope you guys have a fun time tonight!” Maya said while turning to leave.
“Thank you, have a good trip to Philly! Roxanne called after her.
She turned back to her desk and opened the email Maya returned with edits on her report. Only a few grammatical errors, and Maya went ahead and already fixed them for her. Roxanne made a mental note to bring her a coffee on Monday.
She quickly sent the finished report to their boss, then gathered up her things and all but ran out the building. It was nearing the end of spring, and the air was the perfect temperature for a walk back to her apartment.
Roxanne pulled out her phone.
Just left work!
She quickly typed in the group chat with Hayden and Ezra.
Perfect
Came the response from Ezra.
I'm off work and Hayden should be finished in the next hour or so! We should be there around 8
Roxanne sent back a thumbs up, then picked up her pace to get home quicker.
As she briskly walked she absent mindedly wondered what Megamind was up to that weekend. Did he even have a weekend? He didn’t work a normal job so maybe Friday was just another day to him.
It occurred to her that she had never really wondered about that before.
For a brief second she considered texting him to ask, but something about that felt weird and wrong and like she would be overstepping. She had already harassed him enough this week, she could leave him alone for the weekend.
At least sober Roxanne could.
Drunk Roxanne better be on board too.
As she made her way through the lobby of her apartment and into the elevator, something was nagging in the very back of her mind.
She waved hello to Carlos as she pressed the button for her floor, biting the inside of her cheek in thought.
Why was she wondering what he was up to this weekend? In all six years of knowing him she rarely thought about him outside of their kidnappings. Sure she always enjoyed kidnapping days and she loved teasing him with their flirty banter. But banter was all it was.
Right?
She shook her head to clear it as the elevator doors opened to her floor. She had too much to do to prepare for her guests to be preoccupied thinking about the annoying supervillain, whom she was decidedly still pissed at for the other night.
She sighed as she unlocked the door, looking around at the dirty dishes in her sink and unfolded laundry in a pile on her couch. She wished that she would've stolen a brainbot instead of her fruitless attempt with the watch. Surely he wouldn’t notice one brainbot out of the swarms he had, and one brainbot would make a world of a difference for her.
Oh well she thought as she put on some music and got to work cleaning up her apartment and setting up her air mattress for Hayden and Ezra.
Megamind was sitting at his work bench, absentmindedly staring at the blueprints for his next plan that were laid out in front of him.
He had not stopped thinking about what happened the other night since he returned from Roxanne’s apartment, pulling out his metaphorical hair over it.
Flying there was impulsive, he shouldn’t have done that in the first place, but then he had the chance to leave and he didn’t. Why didn’t he leave?
It was because Roxanne invited him in, and he was incapable of denying himself a single second around her.
Well no, “are you coming in” was what she said. And “are you coming in” wasn’t an explicit invitation. He had more than enough chance to hop right back on his hoverbike and fly his sorry ass back home.
Megamind had no idea what was going through his head for the entirety of that interaction, especially the whole waltzing-in-front-of-her thing. That was something he kept under wraps from everyone except for Minion. And in fact nothing was going through his head! He practically blacked out the minute he stepped off his hoverbike until he was halfway back to the Lair.
And what the hell did she mean when she asked him to teach her? He obviously knew she wasn’t serious, he certainly wasn’t going to allow himself to live in that delusion. He invaded her space and was practically creeping on her, of course she would say anything to get him out of there. He was a monster.
His face twisted as his stomach flip flopped.
A beep from his watch, which he still could not believe was in Miss Ritchi’s possession a few short days ago, pulled him out of his head. He was supposed to meet with one of the Red Light District’s head pimps in a few short hours - another meeting he did not want to attend.
Joey Honch was a fine man who listened well and respected Megamind’s leadership, though he was a bit sleazy and too much of a party animal for Megamind’s taste. He knew he was in for an eventful and unfortunately public night that night if he was going to be seeing Honch.
Megamind’s eyes were glazed over in thought as he absentmindedly fidgeted with his watch, flicking an array of stranger’s faces across his own. He had always considered the watch one of his greatest inventions, as it allowed him to blend in for the first time in his life.
The general public took advantage of being able to walk down the street in broad daylight, invisible to those around them. He was sure they never acknowledged the absence of horrified gasps, the quiet of no babies crying at the mere sight of them, the lack of people scrambling to get as far away as possible.
Megamind didn’t like the dishonest and unnerving feeling of wearing another’s face, so he tended not to whenever possible. But for public meetings such as the one he would be attending that night it was an unfortunate necessity. He didn’t need to draw the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t quite gotten the clothing overlay to function properly yet, so that meant he had to actually change out of his leathers and into something that a normal person would wear out to a bar.
Megamind used to really enjoy the process of getting ready and dressing up, excited to get out of the Lair in hopeful suspense of what the night might bring. As of late though, it only made him depressed. He had started to really feel the isolating weight of knowing that people only accepted him when he wore a face that was not his own. Instead of the expectant thrill of anticipation he now only felt the sickening dishonest facade he was building every time he got ready to go out. Not even his delusions in his maladaptive daydreams worked anymore.
He pushed away from his desk and stood up, dragging a hand over his tired face as he turned towards his quarters.
“Coming!” Roxanne shouted as she pulled up her black leather mini skirt and zipped it over her lower back. She grabbed her matching black faux leather thigh-high boots as she skipped down the stairs to answer her door.
She had just enough time after getting home to clean up her apartment, set up Hayden and Ezra’s air mattress, take a much needed shower, and get her whole ensemble together. As she was rushing to pick out her outfit before they arrived, she inadvertently put together an all black, mostly leather outfit comprised of her mini skirt, thigh-highs, and a form fitting black tank top. She finished the look with a brown smokey eye and sharp, black eyeliner.
She thought she looked hot when she looked at the ensemble in the mirror, she should wear leather more often. There was definitely absolutely positively no part of her brain that even questioned for a second what Megamind’s reaction would be if he saw her in that outfit.
Nope, no, definitely not.
Supervillain she had to remind herself.
There was another knock at her door just as she reached the bottom of her stairs, plopping her boots down by her entryway.
“You’ve never been the patient one,” Roxanne tried to glare as she opened the door, but couldn’t help the smile creeping up the corners of her mouth.
“Sasquatch!” Hayden dropped his bags and threw his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.
“I’m so happy you guys could come and spend the night,” Roxanne responded as she reciprocated the hug.
“And oh my god,” she peeked over her brother’s shoulder at his fiancé still standing in the hallway, “congratulations you guys!” She motioned for Ezra to join the hug, which he did after also dropping one bag and carefully placing the other on the floor.
“Don’t wanna break the liquor bottles,” he laughed as he joined in on the hug.
“God, I missed you guys,” Roxanne said as she pulled away. “I know it actually hasn’t been that long but it feels like it’s been forever.”
Her brother nodded, “Yeah, between your reporting and Mega-” Roxanne shot him a nasty watch-what-you-say-next glare, “meg-mega workload,” Hayden recovered with a sheepish grin, “it’s hard to get a hold of you.”
“It’s hard to get a hold of me? You’re the one that voluntarily works on weekends-”
“I’m too sober for this, I’ve had a hell of a day and I’m ready to get drunk,” Ezra cut in, knowing full well Roxanne and Hayden could go on the entire night once they got into it. “Or at least let me in to get started while you guys continue out here.”
“Yes! Shots!” Roxanne lit up, stepping aside to let them into her apartment.
Hayden made a face at her as he picked up his bags and brought them into her living room. “I don’t know if I can handle shots anymore.”
“Oh come on, yes you can,” she responded.
“Not at my old age,”
“You’re only two years older than me!”
“Yeah, well it catches up fast.”
Roxanne huffed but smiled at him, she wasn’t going to peer pressure him if he really didn’t want to.
“Roxanne?” She looked over to see Ezra shaking a bottle of tequila, with shot glasses and some limes already laid out.
“Oooo yes please!” She bounded over to her kitchen island to join Ezra, followed by her brother. She grabbed her salt shaker as Ezra poured two shots.
Hayden plucked the bottle out of Ezra’s hands and poured himself a third, which was spilled a bit when Roxanne teasingly kicked him in the shin.
Hayden wriggled his eyebrows at her, before licking his wrist and adding salt.
Roxanne rolled her eyes, but then smiled and raised her shot glass, “Cheers to you guys and finally celebrating your wedding!”
Hayden and Ezra smiled at each other, raising their glasses to meet hers. In unison they licked the salt on their wrists, tossed back the tequila, then bit into their limes.
The cheap tequila shot went down way too easy for Ezra, who immediately held the bottle up to silently ask who wanted more. Roxanne nodded while still sucking on her lime, and Hayden shook his head, coughing from the last one. Ezra began to pour two for him and Roxanne while Hayden started to make a much more palatable mixed drink.
“Soooo, about the elephant in the room,” Hayden carefully started, while pouring a hefty amount of whiskey into a glass of coke.
Roxanne’s stomach twisted, there was no way he was going to bring up Megamind right now.
“How,” he cleared his throat and capped the whiskey, setting it gingerly back on the counter, “how have your dance lessons been coming along?”
Roxanne breathed out in relief, before almost getting angry again.
“Ugh,” she clinked shot glasses with Ezra, “don’t even get me started.”
She threw the shot back and paused, nervously chewing on a lime.
“I take it not that great?” Hayden cast a sympathetic look at Roxanne. He knew how much she hated being bad at something, and he knew she hated talking about it even more.
“That would be an understatement. My dancing almost got a man killed,” she snorted.
Hayden looked at her puzzled, but knew better than to press further.
Roxanne laughed at his inquisitive look, and started pouring her and Ezra another shot in response. She was not anywhere near drunk enough to tell either of them about the coffee table incident.
“Maybe if you get a few more of these,” she gestured to the tequila, “into my system you’ll find out.”
Hayden snorted and nodded in response. The years of deliberately pushing his sister too far made him very aware of where that line was, and he did not want to cross it and spoil their night.
Instead he held up his glass for her to cheers with.
Roxanne was thankful her brother moved on, and threw back her fourth tequila shot. She had a fairly high tolerance, but cheap tequila was historically her Achilles heel. Maybe it was time to slow down a bit.
“Do you guys wanna get going soon?” She asked.
“Girl, I am way ahead of you.” Ezra had already tipped back his fourth tequila shot and was onto his fifth. He had a ride share app pulled up, and was looking for a nearby car that could seat three.
“Last call for shots,” he poured a sixth for himself, leaving the invitation hanging in the air.
Hayden grunted his veto, while Roxanne, who was already definitely feeling it, shook her head as well.
Ezra shrugged and took his shot, “Car’s seven minutes away, ready to head down?”
Their car pulled around a corner, revealing a busy, neon-lit city block.
“Here’s good!” Roxanne chirped. She was feeling real good, right on the edge between tipsy and drunk.
The three of them stumbled out of the car and headed towards the club that Ezra had picked out. They could already hear the music coming from inside as they brushed past the smokers convened outside, chatting.
Out of the corner of her eye Roxanne saw Ezra stumble a bit, but he shot her a toothy grin and a thumbs up when she looked his way.
Ezra boldly led them straight to the front of the line of people waiting to get inside, and shot a wink to the bouncer who lifted up the rope with a nod and a bemused smile in return.
“Damn we’re too old to be carded?” Hayden mumbled under his breath as they pushed their way inside.
“Nah, they know me here,” Ezra responded with only the slightest drunken slurring, glancing back at the bouncer in thanks, we’ll catch up soon. He was one of his many old Metro City friends, and, as it turned out, a very valuable connection to have.
Roxanne paused for a brief moment when they got inside, taking in the crowded club. There were people dotted along the tables at the front and sides of the club, but the main crowd was already on the dance floor or pushed up against the bar trying to get the attention of the clearly understaffed bartenders. It was kind of nice being somewhere where she wasn’t immediately recognized.
She felt Ezra grab her hand as he started leading both her and his fiancé towards said crowded bar.
“Afraid of dancing here too?” she heard her brother tease while Ezra was ordering their drinks, which looked to be another round of shots and some mixed drinks to use as chasers.
Roxanne rolled her eyes, “Nah, this kind of dancing is way more my speed. It’s the slow stuff I can’t do.”
Hayden looked genuinely shocked to hear Roxanne actually admit to one of her shortcomings, but was quickly interrupted by Ezra shoving a shot into his hand. He shot Ezra an is-this-a-good-idea look, seeing as this was going to be his 7th drink of the night, but it was ultimately ignored as he threw it back.
“Let’s dance!” Ezra shouted over the pounding music. He guided Roxanne and Hayden through the swarm of drunken dancers right to the center of the dance floor.
Megamind parked his hoverbike in the alley behind the building he was supposed to be meeting Honch in shortly. The stranger’s face he used for these kinds of meetings was already covering his own as he turned on the invisible setting and tucked the bike away into a corner where it wouldn’t be bothered.
He rapped three loud knocks on the heavy metal door, and pulled himself up into the most professional stance he could muster at the moment.
The door almost immediately swung open. Megamind was met by a kid he didn’t recognize, but who slightly lowered his gaze and bowed his head as Megamind stepped in. Must be one of Honch’s new recruits, Megamind thought. He scanned the room but saw no sign of Honch.
“He’s running a few minutes behind, Sir,” the kid let him know nervously, his gaze still directed towards the floor.
Definitely one of Honch’s new recruits. He tended to train them well. Either that or this one had heard about Fuckwad’s recent escapade in the industrial sector and didn’t want to end up the same way.
Suppressing a smirk at that thought, Megamind turned back towards the kid. “Thank you…”
“Lee”
“Thank you, Lee.” Megamind let his gaze fall on the new recruit, contemplating sticking his hand out to shake his. He was never usually that friendly with them. Maybe he was still shaken up by the last week’s events, maybe he was impressed by the kid’s respect, maybe he was lonely and tired of this facade. Whatever the reason was he thought better of it and remained still, watching.
Lee glanced up, making eye contact with glinting green eyes staring intensely at him. He immediately snapped his eyes back to the ground.
“He-he said he would meet you at the bar. The bartender will, will know who you are. Mr. Overlord. Sir.”
Megamind held back a grimace. Of course Honch would want to meet at a bar, in a club, on a Friday night. The whole goddamn city was probably going to be there for christ's sake. Still, that wasn’t the kid’s fault.
Megamind offered him a slight smile, unseen by Lee whose eyes were still glued to the floor. “Thank you,” he said as he turned toward the door that led into the bar area.
Lee all but sighed in relief at the Overlord’s departure. Honch had told him that he was a fair and respectful boss as long as he too was fair and respectful, but he had also heard the stories about the bones he’d broken, the skin he’d split, the hands he’d taken clean off.
Lee watched through his peripheral as the boss made his way to the door, and saw him pause in the doorway before stepping through.
“I’ll let Honch know you did well, Lee,” was all he said before slipping through the door and letting it close behind him. Lee couldn’t help but grin, he didn’t know the Overlord aside from what Honch had told him and the rumors he heard from criminals in other circles, but even he recognized what high praise that was.
Megamind couldn’t hide the scowl that sprawled across his face as he stepped into the main room of the club. A part of him relished the feeling of blending into a crowd, but along with that came resentment.
He weaved his way between the groups of people chatting and drinking and dancing as he made his way to the bar. As soon as he approached, the main bartender and longtime assistant of Honch made eye contact with him. He quickly ushered two patrons, who clearly had too much to drink, out of their seats. One of them tried to protest but quickly shut up once the bartender threatened to have them kicked out.
Megamind nodded once at the bartender, Louie, if he remembered correctly, and sat down. It took everything in him to not fidget with his own hands, something he learned that humans typically associated with nervousness or self consciousness. Two feelings he did not want to convey to his subordinates.
Thankfully Louie slid him a drink rather quickly. Megamind, relieved to have something socially acceptable to do with his hands, reached into his wallet and pulled enough money to cover the drink plus a hefty tip, and held it out toward Louie.
Louie looked at the money with an almost horrified expression and shook his head, letting him know the drink was on the house. There was no way in hell he would take money from the Overlord, that was a big no-no both in Honch’s rules and in the unspoken rules of the criminals in Metro City.
Megamind shrugged, then neatly folded the bills and tucked them into the bar’s tip jar. He had to bite back a laugh as Louie kept warily eyeing the tip jar as he continued making drinks for the other patrons.
He finally felt relatively at peace for the first time in a long while. He had something to do with his hands, he was invisible in the crowded club, his interactions with his subordinates had been easy if not somewhat enjoyable, he hadn’t even thought about Roxanne the entire time-
-Roxanne?
Megamind did a double take. He swore he caught a glimpse of her short hair bouncing in the middle of the dance floor as he scanned the crowd. He craned his neck to try and see over the sea of club-goers.
Gods below his obsession was taking a toll on him, making him see her where she wasn’t. His shoulders relaxed until-
-until she turned around, following the beat of whatever intrepid remix was playing now.
Megamind froze. Roxanne. Roxanne in leather. Roxanne in a leather mini skirt. Roxanne in a leather mini skirt and leather thigh-high, platform, heeled boots.
Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. That was definitely not a fantasy that Megamind frequently had to suppress. Nope not at all.
“See something you like?” A voice teased from behind Megamind, jolting him out of the trance he didn’t realize he was in. Gods below he was staring unabashedly right at her for god knows how long, that was beyond unprofessional and embarrassing.
He turned towards Honch, who had taken the seat next to him that Louie so kindly kept open, searching his brain for any excuse other than the reporter that I am so hopelessly obsessed with is right over there in the hottest outfit I could ever dream of seeing her in and she’s bouncing to this god awful remix of EDM and, what is that, pop punk? Good fucking gods that’s awful, but not her she’s amazing but his brain was coming up empty.
“Hey no shame, I’m sure even the Overlord’s gotta get some sometimes,” a sleazy grin spread across his face as he nudged Megamind with his elbow. “I gots a looot of fine girls for yous to choose from if you ever,” he flicked his eyebrows up in emphasis, “need any of my services.”
Megamind grimaced and pulled his elbow out of nudging range.
“Hey,” Honch held his hands up in defense, “I gots guys and non-binaries too, whatever floats yer boat, I don’t judge!” He broke down into a fit of laughter, which was met by a glare from the Overlord.
Megamind was unamused but ultimately relieved that Honch didn’t read into it. Honch was honestly probably the best subordinate to catch him gawking, he was so used to it it didn’t mean a thing to him.
Megamind was still flustered at the thought of Roxanne dancing somewhere behind him, even though she had no idea this stranger sitting at the bar was him, but he had to shove that deep deep into the back of his mind. He drew himself up and cleared his throat, ready to get the meeting started and then over with as fast as possible.
Roxanne was having the time of her life on the dance floor. The music was loud and the DJ was actually pretty good. Her brother wouldn’t stop complaining about the random verses of classic emo and pop punk songs the DJ was mixing in, but god damn if it didn’t hit hard when half of them were from songs she once had linked on her MySpace page at one point.
The trio had started in the center of the dance floor, but with so many people pushing their way closer to the DJ they found themselves slowly migrating back towards the bar.
Roxanne had to take a pause to catch her breath as a particularly exciting remix transitioned into a new song. She looked up at her brother and Ezra, both of whom also seemed to be having the time of their lives. Ezra, unsurprisingly, was very drunk, but he was always great at holding his liquor and seemed to be doing just fine. She beamed as she watched her brother let loose too, as it wasn’t often that he did so.
She scanned around the room, mostly out of habit from her job, when her eyes settled on someone sitting at the bar. She was used to seeing people she knew out in public, another result of her job, but he caught her eye for some reason. He was hunched over his drink, talking in a seemingly serious manner to someone who seemed to be responding in a not-so-serious way. The man’s mannerisms were so familiar.
She looked down to his boots that were absentmindedly tapping on the footrest of the barstool he was perched on.
Megamind?
No, it couldn’t be him. No one was paying any mind to the man. A well known, super recognizable supervillain in a club was bound to draw some kind of attention. But no, it 100% had to be him. She’d recognize those baby seal leather boots anywhere. The way they were tapping on the stool too, not in a nervous way but in the way Megamind did when he was deep in thought or while he was focused on fixing something quickly before Wanye flew in with the cameras.
She watched him for a few more seconds, sure it had to be him, and was caught off guard when the man turned towards the bartender and instead of seeing bright blue skin the man had a deep, olive-toned complexion.
Roxanne furrowed her eyebrows, watching him as he said something to the bartender and then to the man next to him. The mannerisms were identical, it was uncanny.
Her eyes then flicked to the watch on his wrist. It was hard to tell from so far away and in the dim club lighting, but she was almost positive that was the watch she had stolen from him a few short days ago.
Wait, if that was really him, was that why he was so adamant on getting it back? He never mentioned anything else she had ever taken, it would make sense if it did more than calling Minion. Plus, as she recently found out, his position in Metro City’s criminal sphere was prominent and being able to go out in public and not attract attention was probably essential.
“What are you staring at,” her brother shouted over the music.
“Nothing!” Roxanne yelled back, turning away from the man she was very much just staring at. “Just contemplating whether or not to get another drink!”
“You go ahead if you want to, Ezra and I have definitely had enough though.” Hayden eyed Ezra worriedly. Ezra was still dancing, but he was fully drunk drunk at that point.
“Do you want me to get him some water?”
“That would actually be great, he’s going to say he doesn’t want it but he definitely needs it."
Roxanne smiled and gave a thumbs up, before pushing her way back towards the bar, bobbing and weaving through the dense crowd.
When she finally made it Megamind was nowhere in sight, seeming to have disappeared into the crowd. That was somewhat disappointing, the nosy reporter in her desperately wanted answers about what he was doing here, who he was talking to, and most importantly how the hell he changed his face and skin tone.
“Just two waters please!” She yelled to the bartender over the thumping music. He nodded as he quickly filled up two plastic cups and passed them across the bar.
“Thanks!” Roxanne beamed as she turned around, quickly scanning the faces in the crowd for the unfamiliar, familiar face.
As her gaze swept over the club-goers, she locked eyes with a very familiar pair of striking green eyes, standing at the far end by the door. Even in the dim and colorful lights flooding the club, the reflective, almost cat-like eyes were unmistakable.
Just as quickly as they locked eyes the man broke contact and ducked out of the building.
This just made Roxanne all the more curious, but unfortunately she couldn’t give chase and turned to push her way back onto the dance floor.
Upon reaching the spot she had left them in, Hayden and Ezra were also nowhere to be seen. Worried, she scanned the crown for a sign of them but found nothing.
Cradling one cup of water in the crook of her arm, she pulled her phone out from where it was tucked into her skirt.
Had to step outside, Ezra needed some air
Roxanne quickly shoved her phone back and started to weave her way back off of the dance floor and towards the exit.
The cool late-spring air felt amazing on her alcohol flushed cheeks as she pushed through the last group in her way, and she spotted her brother and Ezra leaning up against the wall of the club.
“You okay babe?” Roxanne asked Ezra as she approached, handing a mostly still full cup of water to each of them.
“Mmmm yeahhh, s’good,” Ezra slurred, grinning at her. “Don’t want that.” He tried to push the cup away, rather unsuccessfully.
“Oh no you don’t,” Hayden took the cup from Roxanne and more forcefully placed it into Ezra’s hands.
“Fiiiine,” he pouted, then proceeded to chug the entire cup all at once.
Hayden shot Roxanne a look and rolled his eyes, handing his cup to Ezra too. “Do you want to call it a night? I can call a car for us?”
Roxanne nodded. She was having a good time and could’ve stayed longer, but getting home to put on her pajamas and making a bowl of ramen truthfully sounded way better.
“Good god there are literally no drivers available right now,” Hayden’s brows furrowed as he tapped through the ride share app. “There is a shared car right around the corner, but it can only fit two more people-”
“We could walk a few blocks down, see if any open up?” Roxanne suggested. They glanced at Ezra who shook his head in dissent.
“Ooookay not walking,” Roxanne giggled. “How about you go ahead and order that one, I’ll find another that can fit just me.” Roxanne pulled her phone out too.
“No Rox we’re not gonna leave you here alone-”
“I live here alone, dude! I can manage just fine. Look,” she raised her phone up to her brother, “there is one only a few minutes behind yours. I’ll order it now and I’ll only be a few minutes behind.”
Hayden looked worriedly from her to his fiancé, but finally yielded when she stuck her spare key into his hand.
“Carlos recognizes you, you can head up and get some food in him.” She nodded sideways toward Ezra, “And you can start boiling water for my ramen!”
Hayden laughed, there truly was no better drunken snack than a bowl of late-night ramen.
“Okay fine, thank you Sasquash.” He turned to Ezra who looked to have made his home on the concrete sidewalk, “It’s right around the corner, let’s get you up.”
Roxanne helped to lift him to his feet. “You two are my favorites, I love you sooo much,” he slurred.
Roxanne and Hayden laughed. “We love you too babe,” Hayden replied as they shuffled toward the pickup spot on the corner.
Hayden opened the door of the car and started helping Ezra in after confirming the name and drop off location with the driver. “I love you guys, please get home safe! Don’t forget my ramen!” Roxanne called as the Uber’s door closed. “I’ll be like, five minutes behind you!”
Hayden shot her a thumbs up through the window while Ezra blew her a kiss, and their car pulled away from the curb.
Roxanne watched them drive off, then pulled out her phone to check the status of her ride. Her comfy pajamas and ramen were calling to her now too. As she turned to retreat a bit from the curb, someone caught her eye.
He was standing off to the side of the building, away from the door but not quite in the alley, watching who was coming in and out of the club. Roxanne smiled to herself and impulsively canceled her ride. She could eat any last minute cancellation fine, her night was about to get so much better.
“Hey, stranger!”
The man in front of her jumped, shocked green eyes whipped forward to meet hers. It was evident that he was consumed by watching the door and her sudden appearance caught him off guard. He almost immediately regained composure though, dropping his gaze, avoiding eye contact. The look in his eyes turned to careful suspicion.
“Do I know you?”
Roxanne almost giggled. His voice was strange, it sounded like Megamind’s, but almost as if he was pitching it lower to conceal that identity. She bit her laugh back though and beamed at him.
“I don’t know, do ya?”
Bewilderment flashed across his eyes.
“Miss-Ma’am, you should be cautious talking to strange men, especially at this hour.” His eyes narrowed slightly. Good gods, how much had she had to drink?
“What about talking to men I do know?”
Megamind covertly looked down at his hands, ruling out the possibility of his watch’s overlay malfunctioning. No blue to be seen, only a deep olive tone.
Oh fuck, did he somehow take the face of someone she thought she knew? He crafted this overlay personally, a combination of a handful of different people, so that shouldn’t be possible, but…
Roxanne could clearly see his brain turning, even though she was watching a strange face.
“It’s the custom baby seal leather boots,” she finally informed him, smirking.
Megamind’s face flushed a deep red, a much deeper color than the bright pinky purple his usual flush was.
“I’d recognize those anywhere, honestly I wanted to steal them for myself and see if they fit.”
Megamind, who realized his facade was broken, drew himself up, finally meeting her eyes. He leaned in ever so slightly.
“I’ll make a fine Mistress of Evil of you yet,” he purred in his regular voice, his signature grin dancing on strange lips. His body language said he had quickly regained composure, but the fiery red blush that remained on his cheeks told an entirely different story.
Roxanne giggled and cocked her head to the side, giving him a quick once over with her eyes. “Can you turn that thing off?” It was weird hearing his voice come out of a stranger’s mouth.
“What, and ruin the night of every single innocent person in the vicinity?” Megamind gestured around them. “Perish the thought!”
“Mm, touché.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why did your brother and the accompanying drunken man leave you here alone?” Roxanne picked up on confusion and almost a bit of disdain in his tone. She giggled again though, she had entirely forgotten that she told Megamind about her brother and even showed him a picture or two at one kidnapping a few years back. She couldn’t remember what they were fighting about exactly, but Megamind let her rant about him for a good twenty minutes before she cooled down enough to begin the plot. She did remember, though, being surprised at what a good listener he was and how he let her rant without cutting in with unsolicited advice. He only offered his perspective when she asked. A skill that not many people in her life possessed.
“That’s Hayden’s fiancé, Ezra. He maybe overdid it a bit tonight, and the ride shares were booked up. They didn’t leave until they saw another was booked for me though, they wouldn’t have left if I hadn’t insisted.”
That seemed to satiate Megamind’s worry. He shot her an inquisitive look.
“I canceled it when I saw you,” she shrugged in response.
This again caught Megamind completely off guard. Why would she willingly choose to hang out with him? With him instead of her brother? She could've been just about home right now but instead she was standing here, outside of the club, willingly talking with him.
“Well Miss Ritchi,” he began slowly, carefully, “my business here is done.”
“Can I come?”
“Come where?”
“I dunno, wherever you’re going.”
Megamind’s brain was racing, trying to think of any reason she could possibly want to continue hanging out with him, but he was coming up empty. He should tell her no, keep their relationship as professional as he possibly could. He should call her another car, then disappear on his hoverbike before she had the chance to protest.
But, as he learned as of late, he was helpless to deny her anything. And against his better judgment, he cocked an eyebrow and raised his arms, gesturing down the street.
Roxanne’s smile was worth it. She beamed from ear to ear, and it was directed at him.
“Lemme text my brother and let him know I’m gonna be home later.”
She pulled out her phone and quickly typed out a message.
Hey dude, I hope you and Ezra made it back okay! I’m gonna be back later than I thought, saw an old friend and canceled my ride
Geez okay, pls be safe. Try not to get kidnapped :P
I think I’m as far from being kidnapped as possible lol
Cryptic. Ok tho have a good time, call me if you need anything! We’re prob gonna eat ur ramen btw <3
Roxanne rolled her eyes, ignoring Hayden’s last text, and shoved her phone back into her skirt.
“So what were you doing at the Blue Cat tonight?” She asked as they started meandering away from the club.
“Nosy, nosy reporter,” he hummed.
“Oh c’mon, you can tell me. Putting the new recruits in their place like the last time?” She playfully nudged him as she teased about their adventure in the industrial sector.
Megamind’s stiff arm tingled under the pressure of hers.
He hunched his shoulders up over his ears. “You know too much, I tell you too much,” he grumbled.
“Oh on the contrary, there is so much more you could tell me. My yearning and desire for knowledge can never be quenched!”
“Is that not another way of saying you’re nosy?” he asked, bluntly.
“Would you share some of your secrets if I share some of mine?” She continued, ignoring him.
Megamind got quiet for a moment. This was a dangerous game he was playing. He so desperately wanted to open up completely, tell her about his family, the loss of his planet, his childhood in jail, the true depth of his rivalry with Metro Man, everything. Everything that only he and Minion knew. He wanted to hear about her too, what her childhood was like, about her family, her beginnings as a reporter, even her and Metro Man’s relationship if that’s what she wanted to talk about.
But no, he couldn’t. He was cursed with the inability to share any part of his personal life. He was a freak, it would drive her away, it was best that his past remained shrouded.
Roxanne watched him out of the corner of her eye, unsure whether or not to keep pressing. She desperately wanted to know more about him, which she always wrote off as the reporter in her wanting to know the whole story. But now, now she was realizing that she just wanted to know him for him. She liked talking with him. She loved their banter, of course, but she loved the bits of serious conversation that infrequently slipped in even more.
She decided to drop it, she had already pushed her luck just asking if she could come along. She truthfully expected him to turn her down and disappear into the darkness of the alley.
“Man, I wish I had some wine right now," she hummed, busying herself with stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk as they strolled.
“Haven’t you had enough tonight, Miss Ritchi?” That had to be the reason she was here with him, there was no timeline in which she would ever do this with a clear head. Was he taking advantage of that just by being here with her?
“Mm no,” she shook her head, “I pregamed a little hard but I only had two drinks since getting to the club a couple of hours ago. My buzz is almost completely worn off.”
Hearing this shocked Megamind even more.
“A cheap, dry red would hit the spot right now, good memories,” she hummed.
“Mmhmm,” Megamind looked over at her through his eyelashes, his head slightly downturned. “Join the side of evil, Temptress, and I shall give you whatever you desire.” His gaze flickered in challenge, the corners of his mouth tugging up.
Now that was tempting. Although she knew he didn’t mean it in the way that it came off, it still filled her stomach with butterflies and made a blush creep up her cheeks.
“Maybe if you got me wine I’d reconsider,” she responded, turning her chin up at him, willing her voice to match his. The street they were on was dark anyway, there was no open liquor store to be seen, so no possibility of her needing to uphold her end of the bargain.
“Hmm,” Megamind scanned the dark storefronts, “Have a favorite?”
“Anything dry with a high percentage!” She chirped.
His eyes settled on a closed liquor store half a block away. Within a few strides they were upon it. He bowed slightly, “As you wish, m’lady.”
He swiftly produced two long, thin, angled rods from the pocket of his suit jacket. He proceeded to pick the lock quicker than Roxanne would have ever thought possible. With a wink he disappeared into the dark store, only to appear seconds later with a double bottle of red in his hands.
“Megamind! You can’t just steal that!”
“Evil, Miss Ritchi, must I remind you.”
She glared at him.
His audacious expression turned sheepish. “I left money on the counter,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t steal from a small business.”
That made Roxanne smile, it was unexpectedly wholesome. Though, maybe not actually unexpected? She never really saw him do evil things, especially for someone who talked all the time about being evil.
Megamind shifted uncomfortably. She was staring at him, but her expression was soft, almost endearing. A look he wasn’t sure anyone had ever given him before.
“Can you turn it off?”
Megamind jumped. “Turn what off?”
“Your watch? I’m assuming that’s how you made that,” she gestured to his face, “look like that?”
Megamind nervously wrung his hands together. “How did you know that?”
“You're predictable,” she laughed.
He glared at her for a few seconds, studying her face, before turning to scan their surroundings. They were walking toward the water, far away from any of the nightlife that surrounded them earlier. The street was dark, everything was closed, and there wasn’t anyone else out as far as Megamind could see.
With a sigh he turned the dial on the watch to the right. The human overlay flickered off, leaving an uncomfortable blue alien in its place. He quickly pulled his leather gloves out of his back pocket and tugged them on.
Roxanne looked him once over then beamed. “Much better!”
Ignoring the bewildered look on his face, she hooked her right arm through his left and continued their walk toward the water.
The sudden contact caused Megamind to almost stumble as his brain tried to play catch up with what was happening. Much better? In what world was skinny and blue better than tall dark and handsome? And she was, holding onto his arm?
This had to be the most vivid dream he’d had in awhile.
Roxanne pulled him back to reality by snatching the wine bottle out of his other hand. She momentarily unhooked her arm to twist off the cap, then, to his further surprise, put her arm back through his.
“Twist off, a man of class I see,” she grinned.
“Only the best for the best,” he responded before catching himself. He felt his cheeks prickle with a blush, thank the gods below it was too dark for her to see.
She responded by pulling herself closer, then took a swig and passed him the bottle.
Megamind hesitated before taking a sip, unsure if Roxanne was okay with both of their mouths sharing the same bottle. But doing so seemed easier than asking her, so he took a sip too before passing it back. He watched out of the corner of his eye, surprised for the upteenth time that night when she sipped it with no hesitation at all.
They continued to walk in silence for a bit, passing the bottle back and forth. Roxanne was having a great time getting her buzz back on, while Megamind was spiraling. Her body was brushing past his as they walked, her arm anchored to his. He felt like he was on fire, he was dizzy and confused, he couldn’t tell if the overwhelming sensation was good or if he wanted to rip away.
After a few minutes passed, Megamind almost couldn’t stand it anymore. What was she thinking right now? What was she thinking? Walking arm in arm with a supervillain, with her kidnapper?
He was breaking just about every single possible rule he had for himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t want to rip away and disappear into the night, he wanted to pull her closer and live in this moment forever. He had started to feel a nice buzz, and the air was cool, and Roxanne was with him.
He finally forced himself to say something. “Would you like me to take you home, Miss Ritchi?” He asked, quietly. He was reluctant, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He had already let it get far enough.
“No, I’m having fun!”
Fun? She was having fun? Megamind was completely out of his element. Roxanne Ritchi was voluntarily hanging out with him, and she was having fun.
“This is an awfully dangerous area to be in this time of night.” He finally said, unsure how to appropriately respond.
“Eh, you’d protect me,”
“I’m a villain, I would do no such thing,” he retorted, aghast.
“Yes you would, you did already.” Roxanne elbowed him with a smirk.
Megamind huffed something under his breath about how it was his territory and that he needed to teach them a lesson, and Roxanne just rolled her eyes. While she was okay with walking in comfortable silence, she much preferred their banter.
“Ah yes, such a villain. Is that why you’re leading me down this dark and empty street?” She bit her tongue, was that too far? She knew that Megamind would never do anything that could cause her harm, but did he know that she knew that? Maybe the cheap wine was hitting harder than she thought, oops.
Megamind looked at her with wide eyes, frantically searching hers. Did she mean what he thought she did? That made his stomach churn in a nauseating way. Was this more banter, or was she actually worried he might do something unspeakable to her?
“I’m not that kind of villain, Miss Ritchi.” His voice was dark and rigidly serious. There was a line between being a supervillain and the unfathomable evil of those who took from others what they could not return, and that was a line which he never ever crossed.
“I know, that’s why you’re my favorite villain!” she quipped back with a smile, assuring him that it was indeed just banter.
Megamind’s tense frame loosened in relief, before a deep purple blush shot up his cheeks. He was her favorite villain? He was no one’s favorite anything. He was once again glad it was too dark for her to see the color on his face.
“Supervillain,” he corrected half heartedly.
“Yeah yeah, supervillain.” She poked the side of his stomach, making him jump and twist away. He glared at her.
Roxanne smirked, then looked both ways across the dark street. They had finally reached a small park at the edge of the water.
“C’mon!” She started pulling him towards a grassy area in the middle.
She let go of his arm and plopped down on the grass, taking in the park at night. There were a few empty benches lining the walkways that cut through the green, and a few looking out past the railings towards the dark water. She looked back at Megamind, who was awkwardly staring at her in confusion. The sight made her heart twinge in a way she could not place. She just smiled and patted the grass next to her in invitation for him to sit too.
She laid back on the grass, tipping her head up to look at the stars. Megamind followed her lead and nervously laid down next to her.
Star gazing was typically an activity he avoided like the plague. It made him feel exceptionally lonely to look up at the place his entire species used to be, knowing he and Minion were the only ones left. He squeezed his eyes closed, anticipating the hollow panic to rise in his chest and into his throat to choke him.
But it never came. He cautiously opened his eyes to the open sky, and he was able to breathe. The feeling of loneliness was absent with Roxanne laying there next to him. She grounded him. This was a shocking discovery that Megamind couldn’t quite comprehend the full implications of at the moment.
“I’m really nervous for this wedding,” Roxanne finally said, breaking the silence.
She sighed. “I’m so woefully unprepared. I don’t even know who I’m taking as a plus one!” She threw her arms up in emphasis, before dropping them back down to the ground. “Which I need for the big dance my brother is making me do. Unless I want to get paired with weird cousin Eddie.” She wrinkled her nose.
“You’re not taking Metro Mahn?” Megamind asked, genuinely surprised.
“Are you kidding? He’s like a brick wall. Though, he does owe me…” she trailed off in thought.
Owe her? That’s an exceptionally problematic way to be talking about one’s partner.
“I thought you couldn’t dance,” Megamind said, slightly changing the subject.
“I can’t, you saw the coffee table incident,”
“I saw you at the club,”
“That’s different,”
“How?”
“I don’t know, there’s no rules and it’s fast and it’s fun and it’s comfortable,”
“There’s still a beat you follow, it’s not much different.”
Roxanne was quiet, and Megamind was worried he pissed her off.
“Want-“ he quietly sighed, in disbelief with himself that he was about to offer this, “want me to show you?”
Roxanne sat up, eyes wide and hopeful. “Would you?”
Megamind sat up too and studied her face for a moment. She looked sincere, excited even. This was leaps and bounds past the boundaries he had set, but those had already been demolished the moment she approached him outside of the club. So why the hell not.
He took a hefty swig of the wine then passed it to Roxanne to finish off. He stood up, offering his hand out to help Roxanne to her feet too. She enthusiastically grabbed it and hopped up, beaming at him. He couldn’t repress the genuine smile that found itself on his lips.
He blinked and took a step back, then glanced down at her platform thigh-high boots. “You, uh, might want to remove those,” he paused.
“What, you don’t like ‘em?” She teased, twisting one leg to the side and tipping the heel up, showing them off. The black leather of her boot, tightly contouring her calf, sent a jolt down Megamind’s core. Looking at them suddenly felt very wrong.
He snapped his eyes back up to meet hers. “Quite the opposite-“ He choked, “b-but no, ah, they might be a bit of a,” he paused, “tripping hazard?” He finished gingerly with a slight wince, not wanting to offend her.
Roxanne just laughed. “Yeah you’re right, if I tripped wearing sneakers these boots might just kill me.” Megamind chuckled at that as Roxanne sat back down to take them off. He looked away as she unzipped them and pulled the leather over her knees and down her calves.
She stood back up after removing her socks too, and beamed up at him. Megamind was still wearing his boots, making him a few inches taller than her.
He cleared his throat and took a step toward her, being careful to leave a good bit of space between them. “Okay, so I assume you’ll have the following part, and lucky cousin Eddie will have the lead-“ he was cut off by a kick to his shin and a glare from Roxanne. He smirked and continued.
“So you’ll want to place your hand here on my shoulder,” he gestured to his shoulder, not daring to grab her arm and place it there himself. Roxanne closed some of the space between them and placed her hand where he had gestured.
“Then the lead will place their hand on your upper back,” he hesitated, silently asking for consent. Roxanne nodded and stepped in a bit closer. Megamind gingerly placed his gloved hand on her back, barely putting any pressure onto her skin.
“Our other two hands extend out to the side and, um,”
Roxanne firmly grabbed Megamind’s hand, interlacing her fingers between his own.
Megamind froze for a second, staring at her hand holding his. She was only doing this for her brother’s wedding, it didn’t mean anything beyond that.
“Now what?” She asked, almost startling him.
“N-now, uh,” he shook his head to clear his mind, “now we start with the feet.”
Megamind began to guide Roxanne through a simple box step. He showed her how to mirror his movements, stepping back as he stepped forward, moving sideways alongside him, stepping forward as he stepped back. He took it very slow, guiding her both with his body and through his voice.
Roxanne was astonished at what a patient teacher he was. He never once got upset when she stepped on his foot (which happened many more times than she’d like to admit), he repeated steps over and over without even a hint of annoyance, and he was surprisingly very strong for how skinny his frame was. She knew for sure there were times when the only reason she didn’t end up on her ass in the dirt was because Megamind held her up.
They continued the basic steps until she could get through a few rounds without tripping over him or herself, at which point Megamind introduced basic rotation as they moved. It still wasn’t easy for Roxanne, but it was going immensely better than any dance coach or YouTube video could do.
In almost no time she was able to almost keep up. He went from counting one, two, three, four, to humming a wistful tune.
She gazed up at him as they spun in unison under the stars. He looked beautiful. His blue skin was soft in the moonlight, outlining his strong frame. His long, dark eyelashes caught the light reflecting off of the water, and his vibrant green eyes stared deep into hers under hooded lids. He had a small smile on his face that perhaps had a shroud of sadness behind it.
She was very distracted by the feeling of butterflies in her stomach persisting as they moved. Yeah she loved hanging out with him and talking with him during the kidnappings, and she deeply valued their professional relationship (and recently blossoming friendship), and yeah of course she found him attractive, he was an objectively attractive man, duh, but there was something else too. She had a burning desire to pull herself into him and never let go. She wanted to hold his head in her hands as he told her everything about himself and his past, and as she told hers to him. She fiercely, fiercely wanted to protect him from everything his line of work brought, protect from the ghosts of his past that so clearly haunted him.
Her heartbeat thumped in her chest up to her ears as something flip-flopped inside of her.
Oh.
Megamind’s green eyes flickered in the moonlight, his soft smile deepened slightly when she looked up at him.
Oh fuck.
Her sudden realization threw the rhythm she had somewhat found completely off. She tripped over her foot, or maybe Megamind’s foot, or maybe nothing at all, and went flying to the right.
Just as she was anticipating a hard fall onto the ground, a strong pair of hands caught her, one around her waist the other around her mid back.
Megamind was hovering above her, fully supporting all of her weight in his arms. Their faces were no more than a few inches apart. All she could see was soft blue skin and swirling green eyes staring back into hers. They stayed, frozen, in that position, both too afraid to breathe. Megamind’s eyes flicked down to her lips, pausing there only briefly before returning to her eyes. His lips parted slightly, and she could feel his arms tighten along her back.
Roxanne's heart jumped in her chest, causing a short, sharp intake of air to pass through her lips.
Megamind’s eyes widened, as if he was snapped out of some trance neither were aware they were in. He quickly lifted her all the way up to carefully set her on her feet, then all but jumped back to create as much distance between them as fast as possible.
Roxanne, who was still reeling from her realization and the feeling of him pressing into her, was speechless for the second time maybe ever. She was staring at Megamind, who was anxiously wringing his hands together, his eyes flicking between her and the ground.
He was the first to break their silence. “I, um, a-are you okay?”
This snapped Roxanne out of whatever was happening to her. She immediately looked away, a futile attempt at concealing the blush on her face.
“Yes! I am!” She responded, maybe a little too enthusiastically. “Thank you for catching me, that, um, turned out a lot better than when my coffee table did.” She could see a blush rising on Megamind’s cheeks too.
“You were amazing-” she saw his blush hop up to the tips of his ears. “-at teaching me to dance, I mean!” She caught herself. What in the world were the words coming out of her mouth right now.
“I, er, thank you,” he was still wringing his hands together, discreetly scanning their surroundings as if looking for an escape route.
“Where did you learn to do that? And how did you learn to teach that well, I mean none of the dance coaches I tried or the YouTube videos I watched came anywhere close-" she was rambling at that point, saying anything to fill the silence. This was very rare for her, she was a master at methodically using silence to her advantage, only speaking to ask leading questions or to dig out what she was looking for.
“-and anyway it was just really great.” She finally paused. “Do you think we could do that again? The-the dance lessons I mean!”
He looked at her and paused, as if his answer pained him to say.
“…I don’t think that would be wise, Miss Ritchi.”
He looked away from her, eyes settling on an insignificant patch of dirt on the ground.
“Let me call you a car, it’s getting late.” He held his watch up and dialed something into it. Roxanne helplessly watched him, her stomach twisting in confusion from her realization and a little bit of hurt from the abrupt end to their night. He was right though, it was getting late. It was well past 3 AM, but truthfully Roxanne was not ready for the night to end.
Almost immediately an unmarked car peeled around the corner. The driver rolled down the window and nodded at Megamind. He nodded back, then stepped forward to open the door for Roxanne, waiting as she tugged her boots back on.
Roxanne was unsure if pushing was the right thing to do here, but in all honesty she was desperate. Learning like that, from him, was the only hope she had to be ready for her brother’s wedding. She was decidedly ignoring the pounding in her chest.
“Please? I’ll make it up to you. And Minion too, since I know I’ll be taking your time away from him.” She of course would take no for an answer if he insisted (after all he didn’t say no before, just that it wouldn’t be wise, whatever that meant), although her mind might have been clouded by wine and the out of control spinning in her brain.
Megamind sighed, looking at her with tired eyes. “Very well, Miss Ritchi.” Because what else could he possibly say to her.
Roxanne beamed at him, willing her breathing to return to normal. Megamind returned it with a soft smile that made Roxanne’s heart annoyingly jump in her chest.
She stepped into the car, and Megamind shut the door behind her with a bow.
He nodded to the driver, who curtly nodded back once more and peeled away from the curb.
Megamind watched as they disappeared around the corner. Once they were out of sight he flicked the stranger’s face back across his own and turned toward the dark street from which they came.
Roxanne opened the door to her apartment as quietly as possible, trying not to wake her brother and Ezra. She quietly dropped her keys on the table by her door, then started to make her way towards the stairs that led up to her room.
A rustling noise drew her attention to the air mattress where they were sleeping. She saw her brother’s head pop up to look at her.
“Back alone?” He teased in a whisper, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Roxanne rolled her eyes and flipped him off as she headed upstairs.
Megamind decided to take a longer way back to the hoverbike. His head was a mess, the last place he wanted to be right now was alone at the Lair.
He was alone here, too, but at least here he felt like he was part of the hundreds of other aimless souls that had wandered those streets at one point or another. It made him feel less alone, knowing that others who had fucked up or were fucked up for some reason or another had existed here too. The Lair was complete isolation.
He checked his watch, it was already 4 AM. That didn’t really mean anything to him, he had been up much later and for much longer many times before, whether from working on a plot or tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. He probably should return to the Lair soon, for no reason other than letting Minion know he was (physically) all good.
But the thought of that sent a nauseating ripple through his stomach.
He shook his head in attempt to clear it.
He couldn’t process the events of the night clearly at all, everything was foggy from the alcohol and severe lack of sleep. He knew he’d fucked up, he just couldn’t grasp onto how much yet. And, as much as he tried to ignore it and shove it back down, the fog was permitting one very undesirable thought to surface:
Megamind was completely, utterly, undeniably in love with Roxanne.
Of course he had known that for a while now, it wasn’t a new revelation. It was, however, the first time he was forced to truly come to terms with it, which was its own problem and had its own implications.
He had been able to keep it a little voice in the very back of his head, keeping it in the background for days or months or years now. He wasn’t quite sure. He knew it was there, on the very fringes of his thoughts, but up until now he was able to ignore it and move through life like it wasn’t there.
Now, foggy from the alcohol, he was face to face with it.
As he walked he tried everything to get it out of his mind so he didn’t have to confront it. He tried to think of old blueprints, construct new ones, fixate on his rivalry with Wayne, go through everything he had to get done within his sphere in the criminal underbelly, list every element in the periodic table one by one, list them all again backwards, but no luck. Every thought was clouded by Roxanne.
He knew this would have complications beyond what he was able to formulate in the current moment. Questions about the morals of continuing to kidnap her fell to the wayside though, as thoughts of her swirled around his brain.
She was just so incredible. She was bold and combative, running circles around him without even trying. She always had a quick comeback or cheeky quip and it infuriated him beyond belief. He would do anything to make her light up. She was fun to be around, and her investigative prowess was something he could only marvel at. He could live as a shadow in her light forever. She was quick as a whip, breathtakingly beautiful, and stubborn to a fault. She was the smartest person he knew.
She was insane and he loved it.
He loved her.
The small smile that found its way onto Megamind’s face as he thought about her was quickly swallowed by the hollow hopelessness that shot its way through his body.
Biting back despondent tears, he continued his descent through the dark alleyways as the night slowly crawled forward towards dawn.