Chapter Text
The night air was cool and relaxing, blowing off the river and leaving a hint of salt in Saras’ mouth as she darted from rooftop to rooftop, glancing down every now and again to check the world below her.
The alarm went off in a nearby building, and she was off, hopping down onto the street, water vapour keeping her descent from the rooftops slow.
With heavy metal playing in his ears, the exploding display cases and blaring siren were merely background noise. Heat filled each one until they burst, glass shards flying throughout the room, and only once every case was broken did he finally enter the store.
Humming along with the music, Calor reached into case after case, grabbing pieces of jewelry and tossing them into the black duffle bag he pulled off his shoulder.
Explosions? Saras quickly headed for the location, already seeing the blown-out windows as she approached. There didn’t seem to be any explosives, though, and as she carefully round the windows, looking in, she could see a white guy in- well, fiery red, with earbuds in, a bag in his hand, casually picking jewellery out like it was a damn sweet display.
She rolled her eyes, then her neck, and twirled her wrist, summoning water from the air. It coiled into a whip, and with a flick of her hand, she sent it hurtling towards the man to curl around his arm.
The only notice he had of someone else being there was the feel of something briefly wrapping around his bare forearm just a couple inches beneath where his sleeve was rolled up. But it didn’t remain, the liquid sizzling away into steam.
Calor paused and his humming stopped as he raised his arm to see the remains of the steam rising off it. His head cocked to the side, one brow arching. “Huh.” The bag was flung back over his shoulder just as he turned around, only for his eyes to land on—well, he wasn’t really sure whom she was.
But she was glittery.
Fucking pyrokinetics. Of course he had to be one. Saras sighed, tapping her ears as if to ask him to take the fucking buds out.
“I can’t hear you,” he yelled unnecessarily loud, pointing to his ear.
Dickhead. She strode towards the door, another whip of water in hand. Somehow, she needed to get him outside.
A smirk just barely upturned the left corner of his mouth, but he followed. She glanced over her shoulder at him, rolling her eyes. Fucking asshole. What a smug prick. He was just so casual about the whole thing.
As soon as he walked outside, he turned to the left and started heading down the street, away from her. Not even looking back. Saras’ teeth bared, and she whipped him hard on the ass, half of the whip tearing at his bag.
Now, that was unexpected, though the pain it would have caused was slightly lessened from the heat his body gave off, evaporating the water when it touched him.
Calor stopped walking, freezing in his step. He slowly turned to face her, though didn’t even glance down at the jewelry that fell from the hole in his bag. Rather than speaking right away, he only stared, glancing her up and down, taking in the way she looked—some strange, dark-skinned woman with blue hair and a blue outfit. He’d never seen her before; then again, she was wearing a mask.
Tilting her head, she shot him a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.
The bag of jewelry was abruptly dropped onto the ground without care—he didn’t need any of it; there was no real reason to steal other than the fact he was just bored—before he started slowly approaching, a small trail of fire following each step. “It’s like that, is it?” he asked.
“I can’t tell what you’re saying,” she said loudly.
He held a finger up and made a wide circle in front of his body; a ring of fire surrounded them both. Only then did he remove his earbuds, shoving them in his pocket. “This isn’t a fight you can win, little girl.”
“Wow, swaggering and posturing and calling me names, we’re off to a great start,” Saras drawled as the moisture in the air thickened and dampened the flames.
“You had the option to leave me be,” he pointed out, “But you chose to attack me. Twice, might I add.”
“Right, because the handful of precious gems and gold you’re carrying totally makes this some kind of surprise that I came after you,” she chuckled, coming a little closer.
“Ah, vigilantism,” he drawled. “An action that backfires more often than not. How do you know this isn’t my store?”
Her arms were folded over her chest. “Because I know this neighbourhood, white boy, and you don’t look like the owner. He’s a little nicer than you, for a start.”
His hand went to his chest. “I’m hurt by these accusations. Maybe I’m related.”
“I don’t think anyone’s taste is bad enough to keep you in their family,” she drawled.
“Very rude,” he sighed. “Whom are you, anyway?”
“Says the man who blew up the windows of a jewellery store,” she shot back. “Saras. Do you have a name, or is it just asshole?”
“Your name is ‘Sara,’ but plural?” he asked with a grin.
A ring of water snuffed out the flames and wrapped around her body. “You’re definitely getting referred to as asshole.”
Calor couldn’t help but laugh as he watched her. “Okay, Sara, but plural. Whatever you say.”
“So are you going to stop posturing? Or what?”
“No, I think I quite like it. Why? Do you want me to?” he asked.
“You walked towards me like the big man on the block and now what?” she retorted. “You’re gonna just stand there?”
“I was trying to leave, but you seem to think this vigilantism idea is an intelligent one,” he replied. “But I will gladly walk away.” He turned and started back toward the bag. “With my things.”
“Ah-ah-ah, that shit stays here, asshole.” She swiped the whip at his ass again.
Quickly turning, his hand shot out so the whip landed in his palm, immediately turning it into steam. “Do not hit me again, girl,” he warned, his face no longer holding that grin.
“You can go, but the bag stays,” she said firmly.
Keeping his eyes on her, Calor stepped toward the bag and bent to the side to pick it up. Immediately the water whipped at his hand as another drenched the bag, freezing it solid.
He caught the whip again, though his other hand thrust forward rather than picking up the bag, a line of fire shooting along the ground and following his fingertips as it went straight for her, raising into the air the further it got.
Saras spun out of the way on her toes, like an ice-skater on land, hitting the ground a few feet away on her toes. The watery skirt parted and disappeared from her waist to reveal leggings and thigh-high boots, and the liquid curled upwards, becoming two discs of ice.
“Don’t toy with me,” Calor hissed. “This is not a fight you will win.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep yapping.” She floated the discs around her head.
The line of fire that stretched between them was slowly dying down, but he waved his hand from one side to the other, flaring it back up and brushing it toward her. “What sort of clothing is that, anyway?” he called. “What are you trying to do, distract me into submission?”
“Sorry, you’re not my type,” Saras shot back, the moisture in the air becoming a solid mass and crashing down onto the fire, immediately dousing it.
Clever girl.
Similar to her liquid whips, fire ones extended from his hands, remaining in his palms so heat continued to radiate throughout them even with the length. Calor stepped closer. “How would you know if you don’t give me a chance, huh?”
Water circled her, snapping out at him as he approached. “I don’t date criminals, asshole. Not unless they’re reformed.”
Each time it snapped at him, he merely raised his arm, blocking it with a panel of fire. “I never mentioned dating. I’m talking about sex.”
“Oh, not happening.” Clouds of steam rose from where his fire met her water, and the space directly in front of her began to freeze solid.
“Come on, girl. Why are you hiding? You wanted a fight, so here I am. Come face me,” he taunted. “Or, at least come fuck me.”
Retreating behind the water, Saras began to summon as much of it to her as she could, but above them, where he couldn’t see it. “You think you’re worth it?”
“I think you’d be willing to find out,” he countered. One finger pointed at the ice wall, and he started scraping along the outside of it with a line of heat.
The night air was cool and damp and Saras was quickly holding a significant amount of water about twenty feet up. She bit her lip, staring at him. “What makes you think that?”
He met her gaze. “Because you’re curious.”
She let him get a little closer. “Oh please. You’re just another egotistical villain. What have you got that the rest don’t?”
He hummed. “Why don’t you let me show you?”
Saras smirked. “Because I think you need to cool off.”
The water fell on them both, layer by layer, not enough to hurt them, but with enough volume to briefly submerge them before their feet met solid ground again.
It was… unexpected. And it was cold.
And Calor was unhappy.
The moment he was fully submerged, his eyes grew wide, and a burst of heat left his entire body from all angles, quickly evaporating the water around him to the point where he fell heavily onto the pavement, soaking wet and coughing up water and gasping for air. Darting around him, Saras skated across the huge puddle left on the road and headed for the bag.
Anger washed over his face, and as he panted, he turned just enough to look at her before thrusting his hand in the direction of the duffle. White flames engulfed it, instantaneously melting the ice that had covered the bag, along with the jewelry inside, before going out.
Saras’ eyes widened, and then her hands raised, water flying up to protect her from the heat. It evaporated the wall in seconds, and her outfit moved, baring her almost entirely as most of it joined her makeshift barrier to protect her from harm. Panting, she glanced over at the man as her clothes slowly began to regenerate from the water vapour around them.
Not that there was much left after that heat…
God, he was tired. He hadn’t used very much energy, but that fucking pool of water did him in more than anything. Calor unsteadily got to his feet and rolled his shoulders before reaching into his pocket and pulling his earbuds out. One was put into his ear—nothing. With a grunt, they were tossed onto the ground before he started walking away, trying to keep himself from stumbling.
Saras flopped into the water with a heavy sigh. “That it?” she gasped out, though she regretted it the second she said it. Most of her clothing was still repairing itself after that wave of fire. If it had been any hotter, she would’ve been standing there naked in front of some villainous asshole.
Sighing, he turned around to face her, taking note her clothing was almost completely gone but also… returning? He threw his hands up and to the side.
“What more do you want from me, girl?” he asked, breathless. “I’m leaving with none of the jewelry, which is what you wanted. Isn’t that enough? So, unless you want to fuck, I’d like to go home.”
She got up. “Ok then. See you around, asshole.”
“You owe me new earbuds, Sara, but plural,” he called to her as he turned back around to leave.
“I’ll get them with the word asshole printed on them, shall I?” she drawled. “In a nice fiery red colour, just for you.”
“Try ‘Calor,’” he suggested without turning around. “But ‘asshole’ works, too.”
“Oh my fucking god, you’re inventive,” she snorted. “Nice Latin, buddy.”
“Says the one who just added an ‘s’ to their first name.”
“Salty because you can’t speak a single non-European language, huh?” she said, heading for the bag of melted jewellery. “Shame. If you knew any, you might recognise it.”
Right when she reached for the bag, he snapped his fingers, and it caught on fire. “Goodnight, Sara, but plural.”