( ── quiche cat & alyosha )

[alyosha]

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where the hero and the villain are room-
mates but neither of them know that the
other person is their nemesis.
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[alyosha]

- benjamin "benji" danvers
- law student by day, superhero by night !!
- twenty years old, heterosexual
- power: phoenix mimicry, he possesses the
abilities of a phoenix (flight, pyrokinesis, heal-
ing tears, accelerated regeneration)
- calls himself the phoenix very creative
- taken in by his aunt after his parents died
in a fire that he may have accidentally caused
- sleep-deprived 24/7
- practically lives off of coffee and top ramen
- sometimes accidentally sets stuff on fire??
including his clothes, phone, and textbooks.
- very friendly !!
- sarcasm is his native language
- can be very high-strung, who can blame him?
- no one knows his identity so far, & he plans
to keep it that way.
- a big (friendly) giant at 6'3. electric blue eyes.
has a bit of stubble along his jaw. messy, dirty
blonde hair.
- may or may not code this later depending on
how i feel !!

[quiche cat!]

—sasha "the unknown" carlson
—twenty one years old but sometimes acts like she's seven
—probably bisexual
—power: reactive life drain aura. automatically replenishes her "life
energy" by feeding off the nearest being (gets shot? closest person
gets a bullet-wounds worth of life energy drained out of them, which
transfers to her. instantly fights sicknesses, heals wounds, etc.)
—...victim also experiences the symptoms that she would've felt
—born into a family of villains, so it's her duty to protect them
—proudly fits in w/ children at 5'4"
—short, bobbed hair & bangs (frequently dyes it); olive-green eyes
—currently taking a few gen ed classes at the college
—pet store employee & animal shelter volunteer
—avid animal lover wants to sneak a puppy into the apartment
—gets plenty more sleep than her roommate
—extremely difficult for her to admit when she's wrong
—loves cheesy pickup lines & arguing for no reason
—will stand up for herself without hesitation
—tries not to get into relationships bc she'll end up hurting them

[alyosha]

xxxxxＢＥＮＪＩ ！！

tick tock tick tock... benji watched the hands of the clock like a hawk eyed its prey. he tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk, a subconscious habit that emerged whenever he felt anxious. he had a lot on his mental to-do list today. he had lectures and classes all day, a paper to write, and was meeting his new room mate. along with his busy school agenda, benji also had an additional agenda for his... extracurricular activities. after weeks of research, he had finally gathered enough information about a family of villains delivering illegal products on the black market, and he planned his first attack for tonight. how he got that information didn't matter, the important thing was that he knew when and where they were going to be tonight.

as the hands on the clock finally struck five, benji dashed out of the lecture hall like he was a kid again and it was the last day of school. he had two hours before he was supposed to meet up with his room mate, a girl by the name of sasha carlson. his auntie warned him about rooming with someone he could develop romantic feelings for, as it might distract him from school, but he pushed the warning aside because he needed someone to help pay rent. his job didn't exactly pay very well, in fact, it didn't pay at all. plus, he was far too busy to be thinking about romance. he was barely even home, for that matter.

two hours wasn't a whole lot of time, when benji considered the amount of things he needed to do by then. he had about an hour to devise a game plan before the shipment arrived at around six, and an hour to execute that plan. he also needed time to clean up before he showed sasha around the apartment, but he wasn't concerned with that right now. he would just have to squeeze it in somewhere. sometimes (and by that he meant all the time), he wished he could stop time, or be able to create more and whip it out of his pocket anytime he needed. but instead of something useful such as time manipulation, benji got the powers of a phoenix. which sounded cool and all, but, in benji's humble opinion, they caused more harm than good. he didn't exactly consider his powers a blessing. they did kill his parents, after all. despite the setbacks, the danger of his powers pushed benji to make sure he used them only for good, since they had already been the root cause of so many people's sufferings.

benji snapped out of his thoughts. now was the time to hurry, not to give a backstory. first step was to scout out the place where the goods were to be delivered. he slipped into an alleyway and, when he was sure he was alone, quickly pulled on his suit. it wasn't anything impressive, just something to hide his identity and wouldn't start to burn whenever he started heating up. it was made out of fire resistant fabric, which was about (if not more) as hard to find as it sounded. the fabric was a dark, blood red color and had a gold phoenix silhouette on the chest. on his head was a winged gladiator helmet that he bought at the costume store and painted flames on. what? sure, it was sketchy, but the costume store was having a sale and it was dirt cheap. he couldn't afford anything spectacular or that guaranteed safety, it wasn't like cash was flowing out of his pockets. at least the flames he painted on made him seem less like a little kid trying to dress up like a gladiator and more like a hero who knew what he was doing. he put on a dark red bandana that covered his face up to his eyes, and then took flight.

benji chewed on a granola bar as he examined the place, taking note of possible hiding places, escape routes, etc. it was a secluded harbor facing the lower bay of new york, surrounded by storage containers. he had to give it to them for choosing a good spot, he wouldn't have found it without knowing about it in the first place. benji pulled his glove off to check his watch. it was 5:56. well, so much for devising a plan. he'd just have to wing it, as he did with pretty much everything else in his life.

he was laid flat on top of a storage container when he heard voices approach. his muscles tensed up in anticipation. "all right boys, start unloading it," he heard a voice say. he peeked over the top of the container. well crap. he knew it was a big shipment, but not this big. if he was going to act, he had to act now. benji pulled himself to his feet, standing on top of the storage container. now that he saw how many men he had to take on, he knew there was no way he was going to fight them all without getting out of here alive. luckily, he a had a plan b (follow closely, it gets pretty complicated): blow up the ship. it wouldn't get rid of them forever, but it would stop them temporarily. plus, it'd sure piss them off. it was his best chance.

one of the men down below noticed benji and yelled something to the others. his heart sped up as one of them reached in their pocket for a gun. even with accelerated healing the sight of a gun was menacing. he'd managed to stay away from them for the most part, but now that he was getting deeper and deeper into the crime world, they were nearly unavoidable. flames burst from the palms of his hands and he aimed it towards the ship loaded with containers of illegal goods, the men backed away in defense. his teeth clenched together as a stream of fire pushed from his hands and started to incinerate the ship. he gave an extra push and the ship exploded, along with all the goods.

it only took half a second for everyone's guns to be aimed directly at benji. he muttered a string of curse words under his breath as they started shooting at him. he flew up in the air to dodge the shots, formulating a quick plan in his head. he lowered himself back down cautiously and held his hands up in surrender. "i don't understand why you're firing at me, when they're the ones who hired me," the lie easily passed his lips. if he could turn one group against the other, they'd destroy each other and he could just sit back and watch. who benji assumed to be the leader of the delivery group turned to the family with an expression of rage on his face. "seriously? how could you guys? ten years of working together and you throw it away for nothing!" the leader snarled before attacking one of the family members. they took the bait. a fight erupted between the two clans, and benji sat there smirking until one of the family members started attacking him. they were masked, and a very good fighter, too. he heated up his hands till they were blazing hot and sent a punch to his attacker. as his fist made contact with their ribs, benji felt as if he was given a sedative, like some of the life was literally drained out of him. and that wasn't it, he realized, as he felt his own ribs burn and ache with the force of the punch he just threw. he clutched his side, searing with pain, and stared up at the masked stranger with utmost confusion. "what are you?"

ooc - sorry it got so long !! i just have a lot of muse for this lmao c;

[quiche cat!]

xxxxxxsasha knelt down in a secluded alleyway, close to her destination but far enough away that she wouldn't yet be noticed. at her feet sat a small, clumsy, happy-go-lucky german shepherd puppy, his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth in a laid-back manner. if only he knew what he was now involved in, then maybe he wouldn't look so content. "okay, babe. can you do me a favor?" as if he understood the girl, he stood up and yapped joyfully, his tail beginning to wag. as much as she hated shushing happy puppies, she really didn't have a choice; pressing a finger to her lips, sasha clasped her other hand around the puppy's muzzle. "shhh... be quiet, alright? that's all you gotta do. only for a few minutes." once she felt like he'd understood, sasha released him, slowly standing up and beginning to back away. god, she hoped she could trust this puppy. one minute she was puppy-less, and the next she had bought one out of impulse! he had just looked so adorable, and after a long day of volunteering at the animal shelter, her mind was basically mush. she kinda regretted it, but also, she kinda didn't. the only problem was hiding him from her new roommate, whom she would be meeting tonight... but that was a problem for the sasha in a couple of hours! she'd definitely deal with it then!

xxxxxx"i swear i'll be back soon. if you be a good boy, you'll get a treat once we get home!" in fact, she'd bought some treats at the shelter and hid them in the trunk of her car, knowing they'd be useful for future purposes such as this one. the puppy had been clueless as to why she had shushed him, but now, at the mention of treats, he obediently sunk to the ground and chomped his mouth shut. there we go! now she just needed to run to the harbor, get the goods off the ship, make sure they were safely transported, and hurry back to her puppy. simple as that! how hard could it possibly be? even though her family was involved in the transportation of illegal goods off the black market, they were skilled in their trade and always kept their work well hidden. on the random occasion that someone did track them down and try to eradicate their business, sasha and the rest of the defense crew easily got rid of them. as a born villain, "evil" practically flowed through her veins—though it was more of an evil power than an evil spirit, since she did more harm than good, no matter how much she wished she didn't unwillingly hurt people.

xxxxxxher family called her "the unknown" due to her incredibly odd superpower. when she faced a foe, it usually ended it complete, utter confusion alongside a strange sensation of pain and fatigue, in which the foe would retreat in fear of what was happening to them. if you asked sasha to explain it, she would tell you that she didn't completely understand it, either. it was through a series of trials and errors that she figured out how her life drain aura worked, as well as a traumatizing near-death experience. at one of the lowest points in her life, she had died. of course, due to her power, she had been immediately resurrected... by taking the life of the nearest person, which had been someone very dear to her. this event had made her hate her power, but also understand how careful she had to be with it. if she was careless, another person she cared about could be hurt, or worse, die. living with the constant reminder that you killed someone, and an amazing someone at that, wasn't easy. this was one of the reasons that she'd decided to move away from her family and instead share an apartment with a complete stranger—well, not complete. her family had done a background check on him, after all. for lack of better words, she didn't care about a stranger. or at least, she thought she didn't.

xxxxxxcasting one last hesitant glance at her adorable puppy, sasha set out at a dead sprint towards the docked ship, adjusting her suit as she ran. it wasn't anything special since she didn't ever get hurt; as soon as she'd start bleeding, the pain would subside and the wound would automatically begin to heal itself, all the while stealing someone else's life force and transferring it to her. after a few moments, all that remained was a blood stain on her suit, which was incredibly easy to remove even though it was pure white. it wasn't the best option for staying hidden, since it stood out, but it looked absolutely stunning with her skin tone—according to herself. it was made out of a thin, lacy material that was somewhat see-through, but it wasn't as if she wore nothing under it, so she didn't fret. in addition to her slim-fitting body suit, which consisted of ankle-length bottoms and a cropped long sleeve top that exposed her belly, she wore a mask to conceal her identity. to match her elegant suit, it was a white, half-face masquerade mask made out of intricate swirls, hand made especially for her (like this, but it does a better job at hiding half of her face). being part of a wealthy family had its perks. sometimes.

xxxxxx"seriously? how could you guys? ten years of working together and you throw it away for nothing!" uh-oh. as soon as she'd shown up—late—she saw the flaming ship and heard her father's booming voice before chaos ensued, the whole scene unfolding in front of her. what the hell?! sasha looked around frantically for the source of this mess, her eyes almost naturally settling on a blood-red suited stranger. though she stood out with her white suit, this red color didn't fit in with the family's usually dull color scheme, and it was far too shabby to belong to one of her relatives. they all had designer-made outfits, much like hers, so she could spot an ordinary suit from a mile away. and what was up with that helmet? wannabe gladiator, or maybe just a halloween costume? without a second thought, sasha marched towards the intruder—not yet realizing that he had been the one to destroy their goods—and karate chopped one of the pressure points on his back. if your power was as strange as hers, wouldn't you want to learn some advanced hand-to-hand combat skills, too? the answer is yes, and so, sasha had trained to become a worthwhile opponent for her enemies.

xxxxxxin no time at all, the stranger made a move to counterattack, but sasha remained relaxed. she didn't make it obvious that she was waiting for a punch, or maybe a kick, because this person would definitely know something was up. alas, she was able to fool them—just as she fooled everyone else—and almost applauded them for how solid their punch had been. unfortunately for them, upon impact, the pain was immediately transferred to them. as sasha staggered backwards to regain her balance, she couldn't help but smile at the stranger's reaction. that's what they deserved, after causing her father to go haywire and attack the family.

xxxxxxat their inquiry—judging by their voice, they were male—sasha responded with a shrug. "i don't know. use your imagination--" as soon as she'd decided to respond to the man, she saw something dart around in the corner of her eye. she knew that one of her family members had the blessing of superspeed, but the thing had been much too small to be a human. and then, displaying a facial expression akin to the horror of a child watching their parents throw away their pacifier, sasha realized what it was: her puppy. "no, no, no! babe, i thought i told you to stay put!!" visibly panicking, the girl whipped back around to face the man, thwacking him across the face and hopefully stunning him. "this isn't over. we'll meet again!" how cliche! but sasha was being serious; she'd kill him if she had to, for the sake of her family's safety. knowing that her family could very well handle the situation themselves—and hoping they wouldn't kill each other in the process—the girl dashed towards her puppy, snatching him off the ground and sprinting towards the nearest alley. she felt so pathetic, and that guy probably thought she was fleeing! ugh. this stupid, disobeying, adorable, cute as hell puppy was going to be the death of her. not literally. it didn't take her long to find her car, get changed, make sure her puppy was okay, and speed to her new apartment. she was definitely late, but he would understand, right? there was no use in hiding her pet, so as sasha cradled him in her arms, she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves (and not look like she'd just come from a short-lived fight). she lifted her hand, gently rapping her knuckles on the door. open sesame!

ooc: don't even worry about it!! i've been super excited for this, so mine's kinda long as well. <33

[alyosha]

ＢＥＮＪＩ ！！

benji, still rather stunned from the seemingly paranormal event that had just transpired, grit his teeth together as another wave of pain shot up his side. now that he had experienced the pain of his own punch, he almost felt sorry for anyone who had been on the receiving end of one of his hits. he could feel the affected skin start to blister underneath his suit due to the extreme heat he packed into the punch. normally he was immune to his own powers, but this was a strange exception in a strange situation. what kind of magical power was this? his mind was still scrambling for an answer.

"i don't know. use your imagination--" the masked stranger had begun to say before something else had caught her attention. benji found himself surprised at her voice, not by the fact that she was a female, rather by how young she sounded. most people he fought against were much older, but this girl was around his age. it was hard to imagine anyone his age working in a business such as this one, let alone having superpowers. benji wasn't one-of-a-kind after all. instead of feeling disappointed that he wasn't as unique as he thought, he felt a unique sense of understanding, something foreign to him until now. he wasn't as alone as he thought he was, because here was someone that was just like him. she would understand what it was like growing up with super powers, being forced to deal with the consequences and the confusion it brought. he felt... strangely comfortable, despite her wanting to kill him and all that.

benji was snapped out of his thoughts as the girl said something else. it took a moment for him to realize she wasn't talking to him. she was panicking, he noted. even though her face was covered with a mask, he could still see anxiety written all over it. he turned his head in an attempt to see what had stolen her attention from him, but she sent another punch towards him before he could catch a clear image of what it was. he staggered back from the force of her blow, his hand flying to his cheekbone and eye, where she had hit him. it didn't hurt as much, his curiosity distracted him from the pain. his eyes followed her as she ran away to whatever was causing her so much worry. he squinted, his wounded eye trying to regain its focus through the dull pain that throbbed amongst it. before he could catch a glimpse of what it was, she picked it up and ducked into an alley, and that was the last he saw of her that night.

benji's gaze was torn away from the alley where the girl disappeared by a man sneaking up on him, holding a gun, finger ready to pull the trigger. "oh no you don't!" he spun around, his side complaining against the sudden movement by sending another shot of pain through his torso. a flame burst from the palm of his hand, and the gunned man took a step back in defense. the corner of benji's lips turned up in a smirk. with one quick movement, he had the man in a standing armlock, who cried out in pain as benji pulled on it, doing so gentle enough as to not break the man's arm. he glanced at the guy's watch, and did a double take. it read 7:05. great, he was five minutes late and nowhere close to his apartment. "i'd love to stay and chat, but i have somewhere i've got to be," he released the man, but not before knocking the gun out of his possession. and then he was on his way.

benji got into his apartment through a rather unconventional way, but not an unfamiliar one. realizing he had forgotten his keys, he slid through an open window in his room, thank god he had forgotten to close it! he tore off his suit and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. he inspected his face in the mirror. he let out a grunt of annoyance, she had given him a black eye! at least the bruise was light and less noticeable. other than the shiner and a little dirt here and there, his face looked clean, not like he had just been in a fight. his ribs were a different story. he lifted up the side of his shirt to expose the wound. he couldn't hold back a grimace as he examined it. it was definitely burned. he traced his fingers across the inflamed area, wincing as it stung. in addition to the burn, his rib was definitely dislocated. he could tell by the searing pain that tore through his side as he took a deep breath.

a soft knock on the door reminded him of the meeting. at least she was late, too. benji opened the door, his bright blue eyes meeting with a pair of elegant, olive green ones. a girl with bronze skin and silver hair stood in front of him, and he found himself wishing he had cleaned himself up more, or at least washed the dirt of his face. "hey, sasha, right?" he gave a friendly smile to the girl, trying not to sound too caught off guard by her beauty. "you can call me benji," he held a hand out for a formal handshake, then pulled the door open more to allow her to step in. it was now that he noticed the animal she was cradling in her arms. his face instantly softened on seeing the squirming, german shepherd puppy. "may i?" he held out his hand to pet the pup, waiting for permission. "fyi, they don't allow pets in the apartment, but, i won't tell if you won't tell," he gazed up at sasha with a smirk on his lips. how was he supposed to refuse a puppy as cute as this one? besides, he was good at keeping secrets.

"so, i suppose you want a quick tour, then?" he asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question. he signaled her to follow and started to lead her through the apartment. as he showed her each room, he felt slightly embarrassed at the shabby furniture he had placed throughout the flat. it wasn't his fault he sucked at interior design and was broke. well, maybe the latter was his fault. "aaand this will be your room," he swung open the door of a medium-sized room, empty except for a bed and a dresser. he let her look around for a few seconds before speaking up again. "there's a bathroom that connects my room and yours, and it's the only bathroom in the apartment, so we'll have to share it," he leaned against the door with arms folded. "just don't peek at me while i'm in the shower, even if you really want to," he joked with a wink, instantly regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth. he could feel his face warm and flush in embarrassment. "sorry, it's been a long day," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes but stopping not long after due to the bruise. "anyways, when are you planning on moving in?" he inquired, hoping that his desperation to change the subject wasn't obvious.

[quiche cat!]

xxxxxxafter knocking, sasha retreated her hand back towards her chest, combing her fingers absentmindedly through the german shepherd puppy's fur. just beyond the door, she could hear footsteps approaching, but paid no mind to the noise as she fell deep into her thoughts. almost naturally, rather than worrying about being late or whether or not her new roommate was worthy of sharing an apartment with her (that made her sound pretty conceited, didn't it? she was only joking), her mind wandered back to the man she had fought just a little while ago near the docks. had her family taken care of him? or—an outcome that she obviously didn't want to even imagine—had he taken care of her family? the ship had already been blown to bits by the man, so what else did they have to lose? after finishing their personal quarrels, they all would've joined together to eradicate the enemy... and the enemy, only being one guy, was nothing close to a threat. hopefully a dozen against one had the most probable outcome, so the man wouldn't bother them anytime soon after being beat so badly...

xxxxxx...but that was all speculation! in all honesty, after her father stupidly fell for the man's taunting, there was a possibility that her family continued to fight each other as the man snuck away. the only way she'd figure out what happened was if she asked them herself; which, unfortunately, wasn't going to happen anytime soon. it would be at least a few days before she'd feel safe enough to visit them again, and on top of that, they'd be furious with her for being late and excusing herself before the job was finished. but, in sasha's opinion, the job was definitely finished! it was burned and broken, as a matter of fact, and there was nothing they could do about that. after searching the rubble and saving anything that had survived, they'd have to go and inform the customer of what happened, and pay a large sum of money to make up for the loss. it would also slow down future orders because the ship had been, well, destroyed, but other than that, the black market was wired nicely. one little loss wouldn't screw up the whole system! probably. sasha sincerely hoped so. then again, being laid off from the family business wouldn't exactly be too terrible, now would it?

xxxxxx"hey, sasha, right?" a male voice pulled sasha from her thoughts, causing her to tip her head back as her eyes found their way up to the speaker's face. in mere seconds, sasha had him mostly figured out—or so she thought. he definitely wasn't 'bad' (however you wanted to define that word would suffice), and he wasn't bad looking, either. that was an unlikely bonus! she liked men with facial hair, and he wasn't an exception. his blue eyes pierced through her like icicles, capturing her gaze and holding it almost immediately. "hi, benji. you can call me sasha." a smile crept onto her lips; after all, there were no cool nicknames for 'sasha'. her hand found her way to his and, as casually as she could, she gripped it in a firm handshake. boy, was he warm! not that that was a bad thing, but she felt like ice compared to him. some people were just naturally hot, after all. pun intended.

xxxxxxas benji opened the door for her, sasha stepped inside, still holding the puppy in a secure embrace. he finally noticed the pup, since it was being nice and quiet after getting scolded a little bit ago. "of course! he loves attention—he's pretty relatable," the girl's smile broadened as she implied that she liked attention, but left it up for benji to decipher. the puppy happily barked at the man's hand as he held it out, nuzzling into it as if to say, "pet me!" sasha nodded as benji promised to keep quiet, knowing very well that he could've been a complete jerk and told her to get rid of it. if she wasn't a good roommate, he could totally revoke his nice offer!! since benji had stooped a little to pet the pup, he had to look up at sasha instead of down—per usual—and something in her stomach flipped. or maybe it was her heart? she could've sworn, just for a second, that he seemed vaguely familiar... but she'd never met him before, so she decided that she was just the slightest bit intimidated by his good looks and friendliness. right, that was the reason. she would just have to out-nice him, then!

xxxxxxas sasha followed benji around, glad that he'd offered to give her a tour, she was pleased even though there was minimal furniture. if it had been her apartment, she'd have all the luxuries that her parents would force onto her, so this was a good change. a great change, as a matter of fact, because now she'd be living like an actual barely-surviving college student! no offense to benji, since it was most likely true. maybe she'd bring in some more furniture and surprise him with a bit more personalization; after all, he wouldn't mind adding more character to this apartment, would he? there was the possibility that he just truly didn't care, but sasha was willing to take a gamble with interior design... especially with her own room. upon entering, she was greeted with emptiness, aside from a decent bed and a dresser—which would, more than likely, be replaced, or at least touched up. she noted the one-bathroom situation and couldn't help but laugh at his joke. "aw, damn. that's the only reason i wanted to room with a dude." sasha played along, displaying a fake pout as she did so. when he apologized, all she did was smile, obviously not minding his playfulness. in fact, she welcomed jokes and arguments with open arms: both things that she excelled in.

xxxxxxsasha paid no attention to benji as he rubbed his eyes, having already pegged the darkness around one of his eyes as a birthmark or a skin condition. it had already long since left her mind that she'd punched a guy in the face earlier, in that exact spot. come on, who even remembered stuff like that? not sasha. probably benji, since he wore the aftermath of the attack. she was fortunate enough to have gotten away relatively scotch free. her pride was a little hurt due to her sudden exit, but she decided to forget about that for now. "actually, how about... now? i know i didn't give much notice, but i have all my stuff with me," sasha jerked her thumb over her shoulder, motioning in the general direction of the parking lot, which her car currently sat in. all her suitcases and such were packed in the trunk, ready to move in asap. "i mean, unless you were planning on using this room for something else tonight...?" what, exactly, was she talking about? again, she left it up to benji to decide. all she gave him was a wink, one that lasted a little bit longer than it probably should have. no, she didn't have something in her eye. it was supposed to be a wink, and the fact that her other eye ended up closing, too, didn't really help. winking wasn't exactly her strong suit.