Work Text:
Being a vigilante was kind of boring. At least Parrot thought so.
Patrolling around the streets in the lower district looking to stop something when nothing was happening was beginning to feel like a waste of his time. Of course, he's stopped a couple of muggings and breaking and enterings, but where was the thrill? He took on this job because he wanted to help people, yes, but fuck was it boring to wait around outside during ungodly hours of the night just to help some guy out.
Of course, Parrot would never say that out loud.
Sitting on the roof of a building, Parrot looked down, watching as he kicked his feet back and forth. He'll consider this his lunch break, or something. Considering he was, you know, not doing anything.
Void, he's a shit vigilante.
Just because he wasn't patrolling and doing what he was supposed to be doing, that didn't mean he wasn't aware of his surroundings. He whipped his head around to the noise of footsteps, eyes squinting as he locked on the figure he had just noticed walking up to him. Parrot immediately jumped up to his feet, opting to face the person rather than just be sitting there uselessly.
He expected some weird stranger that just so happened to be wandering on the roof of some building, or even some suicidal teenager. What he didn't fucking expect was a goddamn villain.
"Hey, Songbird."
"Fall down a flight of stairs."
"What the fuck?" The villain - Null - wheezed out. Parrot felt as if he had whiplash. Why was he laughing? whatever. Parrot didn't even care.
"Why the hell are you here?" He asked and Null shrugged. "Saw a new vigilante and decided to come around, introduce myself, maybe recruit you as a villain." He explained, and Parrot glared at him, scoffing. "Not very often we have a new vigilante. I'm a bit excited." Null says, looking at Parrot through his mask.
"So, have you decided on a name yet?" The question catches Parrot off guard, and he almost doesn't notice Null taking a few steps towards him. "What do you mean 'we'?" Parrot asks, squinting his eyes.
"Huh?" Null tilts his head in confusion.
"You said 'we'. 'Not very often we have a new vigilante'. What do you mean by that?" Parrot asks again.
Null shrugged. "Think of it as.. what villain and vigilante's are. Heroes - they're all in that tall headquarters building, taking orders and patrolling the rich neighborhoods, while we sort of just stay down here. Sure, you're here to protect people or whatever, while I'm here to 'cause mayhem' or however the press puts it." He swatted at the air as he spoke, rolling his eges. "So, whenever any of us notices a new villain or vigilante, it's kind of tradition to introduce ourselves. If we're up to it, at least." He finally finishes, and leaves Parrot confused.
He drops his guard before questioning. "Aren't we supposed to, y'know, stop you guys? I mean, how do I know you're not just trying to murder me right now?" Parrot regrets asking.
"Oh, trust me." Null laughs, hands in pockets as he steps foward once again, now in front of Parrot and looking down at him. "You'd know."
Parrot feels.. a little intimidated. But oh well.
"Ooo-kay." Parrot took a step back, and Null laughs yet again.
"So about that name? You got one yet?" Null goes back to the previous conversation as Parrot tries to come to terms with the fact that he's actually talking to a villain right now. "No? I didn't really think about it." Parrot mumbled, and Null hummed. "Songbird it is, then." Surprisingly, Parror doesn't find himself objecting to the name. Better than Pigeon.
Silence falls between the villain and the vigilante, and Parrot feels almost comfortable. Almost. Not much to feel comfortable about when the villain right in front of you can send you to the fucking void with a flick of their hand. The sun barely begins to rise before Null said anything.
"Wanna do something fun?" Null asks, a grin growing on his face.
Having nothing to do and a few hours to spare before he was supposed to go to work, he nods. "Why not."
Null smiles.
Oh he's so going to regret this.
__________
Parrot didn't see how this was 'fun'.
He was a bit skeptical the second Null had dragged him to the front of a bank, but now he was damn sure that they were robbing a bank. Null had him watch for any cops or heroes outside of the vault, while he was inside grabbing whatever the fuck he was grabbing.
How the shit did he get roped into this again?
Oh right. Because Null asked him if he wanted to do something fun.
Goddamnit.
They had broken in, Null being well known for flashy entrances and chaos rather than sneaking or secrecy. There was loud blading of some sort of alarm ringing, the vault area of the bank was blinking red occasionally, a stark difference from the pitch black it had originally been when they first barged in.
Null was in front of him again, bag in hand full of something that Parrot could care less about. "Now we leave!" Null said, oddly cheerful. He then slung a bag off his shoulder and handed it to Parrot. He squawked. "Absolutely not! I'm already unwillingly helping you with this, no way am I helping you with - " A loud bang coming from the back door startled the both of them.
"Shit." Parrot mumbled.
"Come on, Songbird!" Null grabbed his arm, and Parrot slung the back of something over his shoulder and began to run along with Null. Oh fuck, he was definitely going to be considered a villain after this.
A louder bang rang out, and Parrot was sure that either the cops, heroes or both had just gotten in the bank.
Parrot's heart was besting against his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the running or the adrenaline. Null look behind them before sucking in a breath and breaking into a sprint, Parrot following in suit.
"Don't look behind you, but their may or may not be a hero trying to get to us!" Null decided was a great time to shout, and Parrot turned to see Prince - fucking - Zam himself. His heart rate quickened, and he was pretty sure he could hear his heart punching against his ribs.
"What the fuck!" Parrot yelled as the two of them finally exited the building from the roof, the two running to the ledge as they looked down at the drop. Shit. Null looked at Parrot, and Parrot looked back before Zam had ran in, interrupting their shared moment of despair of having no where else to go.
Zam was running towards them, and Parrot only had a few seconds to grab Null's hand and yell. "Hold on tight!"
He spread his wings, Null's eyes widened, and Zam was only a hair away before they jumped off the ledge.
"Holy fuck!" Null yelled, grabbing onto Parrot to keep himself from falling to his doom. Parrot groaned. Fuck, this was a lot to carry.
He flapped his wings, wind blowing through the duo's hair as they neared closer to the ground, and Parrot finally acknowledged the heavy weight of - not only Null - but the bags that they were carrying.
"What the hell is even in the bags?" He asked with a strained voice, and Null giggled. "Oh, you know.. explosives!" Parrot didn't even have the time or energy to be even the tiniest bit of shocked or even ask why somebody had explosives in a vault at the bank before they had landed in some random alleyway.
Parrot was panting, hunched over, and Null had grabbed both bags.
"That was honestly, super fucking cool. I hope to see you some time later." Spoke said as a beep came from his communicator. "Gotta go! Was nice meeting you, Songbird!"
Parrot looked up at Null. "Bye, Null." He said, not having much else to say to him because fuck he's still taking this all in.
"Call me Spoke." Null - Spoke - said with a smile before seemingly just.. disappearing.
Parrot did not have the mental capacity to really think about whatever the hell that was.
And now he has to go to work. Shit.
"Son of a bitch."
__________
Going to your normal, part time job after doing something illegal and probably being considered a villain feels kind of weird. Parrot felt weird. I mean, he just helped a villain rob a bank that morning and now he's making frappes and lattes for middle aged women and teenagers.
Fuck, he wished he didn't have a job.
But, sadly, bills amd rent had to be paid. And, sadly, you had to work to get money to pay those bills.
It also sucked, being a vigilante and being a hybrid. Now that his wings were tied to his vigilante persona, he had to hide them. Wearing baggy sweaters to hide the wings that were binded tightly against his back, and wearing beanies to hide the feathers that were on the side of his head and around his ears.
Did this make hearing a little harder? Yeah. But it was better than being arrested for simply just being a vigilante.
The bell above the door rang out, alering Parrot that another customer had just walked in. Parrot turned to the person, and couldn't help but be hit with a sense of familiarity and deja vu.
"Good morning, what can I get for you today?" He asked, tilting his head at the attractive looking guy.
"Good morning! And a medium hot chocolate is fine." The man answered, and Parror gave him a questioning glance.
"I don't like coffee. Or tea." He simply explained, and Parrot hummed.
"Name for the order?" He asked, cup in hand and sharpie in the other, ready to write the name down.
"Spoke." The man - Spoke - said with a smile.
Parrot paused, looking at him before clearing his throat and humming. "Alright then." He muttered as he wrote his name. "Your order will be done shortly."
Parrot walked to the back and sighed. Rather than thinking about the fact that this was fucking Null or the fact that he had kind of found the guy hot, he got started on making that hot chocolate.