Antihero (Indefinite Hiatus D: )

Chapter Thirty-Six

I shouldn't be snooping around my own room, but I was.

It had been a long day at work, hunting four Affected heroes had taken a lot longer than it should have, so I had organised for Poppy and Noah to be at home waiting for my return. Noah couldn't make tonight. It was extremely rare for either of them not to be available, but he wasn't, and I was more hurt by it than I would like to admit.

Poppy was available though, and she was waiting for me to return, no doubt hiding in my room from the disapproving glares of DeMarlo and Mira. But, as I placed my hand on my doorhandle, excited to relax and unwind with the ever-gorgeous Poppy, I heard them. Christopher and Poppy were talking. About me.

Of course, I was going to snoop.

"So, he calls you every time?" Christopher asked, his voice muffled through the door. I leant against the wall next to my door, resting my head on it as I eavesdropped.

"Pretty much," Poppy replied. I could imagine her shrugging and smiling at him, looking all soft and caring like she does.

"Why?"

"He needs to relax, unwind. His job's pretty rough on him sometimes."

"Yeah, I've seen that."

"Oh, the broken bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"That's pretty normal," she said, so quietly I almost missed it. "Sometimes things go wrong, and he has to do things he doesn't really want to do."

"I just don't understand," Christopher sounded so alone and confused it almost made me enter just to stop the conversation. I didn't, though. I wanted to know what they had to say, in a weird, controlling way.

"I don't either. I don't think any of us really can. He's under a lot of pressure, there's a lot of expectations on him. Noah and I... we just help him forget them for a while."

"By sleeping with him?" Christopher's voice was oddly harsh. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant..." he trailed off and Poppy interjected.

"It's okay. I mean, yeah, sure by sleeping with him. But that's not all we do. We talk. We listen. We tell him about our lives. Make him forget how much his sucks." Ouch, that hurt.

There was a long pause before Christopher spoke again.

"When I used to look at this house, back when I was scrounging for food, I always imagined how great life must be for those living here." He paused again. "I mean, don't get me wrong. It's a good life. Lot's of food, nice house, pool, gym, literally anything you could want."

"But?" Poppy egged him on, and I knew she was loving this conversation. Poppy wasn't a gossip, but she loved gossip.

Plus, she wasn't allowed out many places if she wasn't coming here. I'm positive the only reason her political Dad even let her visit me was because he thought having a connection to the DeMarlo's was good for his reputation. It was, in a way, but unless anything became official, it wasn't going to help him much.

"But it just seems rough," Christopher admitted. "Michaelson's never happy, rarely home. Mira's happy, but she seems trapped here. DeMarlo's scary and deadly, but nice sometimes. The help are happy, but wary. It's like everyone is constantly on eggshells, worried about DeMarlo and his next crazy move. Even you."

"Yeah, I am. You should be too." I was glad Poppy was giving Christopher good advice. "You've never seen DaMarlo mad, but there's a reason he was one of the world's most wanted supervillains." I heard Christopher groan.

"I know! I know, he's horrible. I just mean... it's not that easy to live here, but I feel like Michaelson has it the worst. Everyone else seems content, but he's just... alone and sad."