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[sayshazam]

Billy wasn't really a "terror that lurks in the night" sort of superhero. He was more a "friendly neighborhood" kind of guy. The fact that his costume was bright red, white, and gold with a glowing lightning bolt kind of made any lurking that much more difficult even if he wanted to. But he didn't really want to. Sure there was a time and place for that but he liked being a hope and symbol. Heroes didn't just have to scare bad people, they could inspire good people.

But sometimes they definitely needed to scare bad people. Like vampires. It wasn't like the city was overrun with them or anything and sometimes they were good people. But tonight he was after some that definitely didn't fit the "good vampire" category.

The vampire (or something that acted a lot like a vampire) in question was currently leading a handsome, blond young man with a dazed look on his face down an alley. The creature glanced nervously around- but never looking up- before whistling and two more of his friends came out for snack time. It was like toddlers all rushing to get a juice box.

"Hey guys!" Billy-as-Shazam called out as he floated down to the mouth of the alley closest to the group. "You definitely shouldn't do that! Technically I don't know exactly what you were going to do but it doesn't look good."

"Oh shit," the original vampire said, stepping away from the human.

"Who the fuck are you?" another asked, furrowing her brow at Billy. He kind of liked it when they didn't recognize him. Then they didn't run.

"He's 'get-the-fuck-out-of-here!'" the first vampire said, grabbing the other two and yanking them toward the other end of the alley.

"You don't want to go that way!" he called out after them. "Trust me! That's the scarier way! Like... way scary! I'm the friendly option!"

Comments

[scion_of_ancients]

The look that Billy had when he answered almost made her stop. There was something rather soul-crushing about seeing someone who was usually so chipper and upbeat being defeated by circumstances. Still, the gnashing of teeth reminded her of the reason behind it all, and with a defeated sigh of her own, she let loose. The face of the creature was consumed with rage and hunger, and Valkyrie told herself that the person behind it was lost to the beast already. She hoped it was true, because an instant later, everything upwards of the clavicle was vaporised.

"I'm sorry," she said, and though she was talking in the direction of the corpse, she knew that Billy would hear just fine. "But that's how it needs to be done."

[sayshazam]

"And you're a good person for doing it," Billy said, reaching out to squeeze Valkyrie's shoulder. It was true, even though killing vampires might seem "super fun" to some people and there was a part of it that was he knew that Valkyrie didn't do it for the rush or the thrill. She did it because it was necessary to protect people.

"Thanks for taking care of them while I got the guy to the hospital. Hopefully they didn't do anything that will leave any permanent damage. You know... other than mental scars or whatever."

[scion_of_ancients]

He moved so gently when he needed to. It was still hard to reconcile that this sweet-hearted guy was the same one who just casually pushed her and Victra aside in the midst of a heated fight. Technically he wasn't, she knew that much, but...technicalities were stupid.

"Well, don't get too kind to me all at once. I still hate them, and the main part of what's stopping me from really going full-bore with it is that I'm trying to be better than that." She stepped away, suddenly feeling a lot more tired than she physically was. "Because I can be, and I should be. For you as much as me."

[sayshazam]

"How do you not realize that's one of the most amazing things about you?" Billy asked, smiling at her. Normally Valkyrie was all confidence and wit and it was kind of weird to see her like this. But he didn't want to discourage this sort of introspection in her easy. She was trying and he knew that it was probably difficult just for her to admit that she needed to try better.

"You should definitely be rewarded for your heroic efforts and self growth though. Positive reinforcement and all that."

[scion_of_ancients]

"Because, Billy," she said and took hold of him a little less gently than usual, "the list of amazing things about me is way too long for me to keep track of."

That was maybe laying it on a little too thick. There was only so far she could push things before it became obnoxious again, but she wasn't in the mood for properly coming to terms with deep-seated issues right now.

"Reward me then, won't you?" she purred in his ear and gave a gentle bite on the neck just to be clear.

[sayshazam]

"I know. That's why I'm constantly zoning out. Going through the super huge list of how great you are in my head," he said, grinning at her. While she might have been joking (only possibly not because it was Valkyrie) he wasn't. He totally zoned out think about her and she was amazing in a lot of ways.

He was startled out of that train of thought though as she nibbled at his neck, goosebumps prickling on his arms.

"Oh. Oh! Yeah. Someone- someone should do that," he said, taking a moment for his brain to start working again before he turned his head to catch her lips in a kiss.