“We absolutely should not be doing this,” the hero whispered, but there wasn’t any heat to it. The other end of the line rustled as the villain laughed.
“There are a lot of things we shouldn’t be doing. Namely, I shouldn’t commit felonies, you shouldn’t talk to a felon…” their friend trailed off.
This time, the hero was the one who laughed. Outside, a bird began to chirp with the sunrise, and the villain sighed.
“Time distance.”
“Time distance,” the hero agreed, and by god if the miles weren’t a wound in itself.
“You should sleep,” the villain murmured. The hero hummed.
“Probably, yeah.”
Neither of them hung up.
“If I promise to call tomorrow, will you go to bed, please? For me?”
The hero sniffed, eyes heavy as the sun peeked through their blinds.
“Promise?”
“Pinkie.”
The hero slumped backwards. “I won’t hang up though.”
The villain laughed, softly, with an affection the hero didn’t want to think about.
