Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

42

Author's note: Howdy. Sorry for taking this long - Conan hosted the Oscars this month, and I reverted to default. I have this username for a reason, and I have to honor it. But hey, I'm close to 50k words, so thank you for your support! This is my longest fanfic to date, and I'm glad the reception was mostly positive. Enjoy!

"God..." John whispered.

He had seen her naked, he had seen her disheveled, wearing sweatpants and he was still amazed by her beauty. She managed to find a beautiful, sparkly baby blue dress. It was long, not too tight and it felt like he was in presence of a model. She put her hair in a curly updo, beautiful silver earrings dangling as she applied makeup. For the first time ever, he stopped to watch someone applying makeup. He had been with many women before, and makeup didn't really matter to him, as long as they were hot and good in bed. But that time... it was different. He never thought about the process, and to be completely honest, he never cared about it. But the way Nina did it... it was something else. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and she could clearly see his reflection in the mirror of the dressing table. He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, perhaps taking the courage to put on the suit. It was very endearing to see him that way, no fake muscles, no American flag. No Homelander, just John. They locked eyes and she smiled.

"Shouldn't you get dressed or something?", she asked.

John shook his head with a smile, a bit childish, but so adorable.

"Come on," Nina giggled, "we can't be late, you know."

"We won't be," John said. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

She applied her red lipstick last, "I'll be out of this hotel in less than five minutes, mister."

"Okay, mom," he said and Nina rolled her eyes playfully.

"Need any help?"

"I need lots of help," he chuckled.

"Oh, come on!", she felt herself blushing, it was like he couldn't take anything seriously.

He dragged himself out of the bed comically, and walked to where the outfit was. He started to put the suit on, his lack of enthusiasm was apparent, for comedic effect. The suit was probably very comfortable, because he would wear it all day, but it looked bulky until he actually put it on. It was like watching a very uncoordinated armadillo put on a piece of clothing, but after he put on the boots, and the gloves, it just... it worked so well. It was designed for the sole purpose of making him the most attractive Supe, the most majestic one, and even knowing it was all fake, Nina could never deny how good he looked in his red white and blue suit. He approached her, while she was still sitting.

"How do I look?"

"Do I really need to answer that question?"

"Mm-hm."

She got up and got closer to him. She stared at him for a second. His perfect posture seemed to have disappeared, and his eyes which were usually threatening were tender, looking at her like she was the most precious diamond to ever exist. He was always extremely expressive, and his eyes were filled with pure emotion, pools of clear blue, staring directly at her soul. Nina slowly reached for his right cheek and his lips quivered when she touched him. There was so much he wanted to tell her. It was a moment that he never wanted to end, if he could freeze an instant of his life, he would freeze that one. Something he would be glad to relive forever. All of his senses were overwhelming him, every single smell of that room, the sheets, the smell of her concealer, the smell of her lipstick, the smell of her hair and the smell of her perfume, everything was right. She got on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek.

"You look great," she whispered to his ear.

He sighed. She took a good look at his face and saw that there was a big, bright red, creamy lipstick kiss on his cheek, which made her chuckle.

"What?", he asked, his eyes sparkling.

She took him gently by the chin, guiding him to the mirror, so he could see what had happened. Apparently the no transfer, expensive red lipstick wasn't really no transfer at all. He saw the perfect shape of her lips on his cheek and smiled.

"Don't forget to clean that off, okay?", she said, gently.

He stared at it a bit before whispering, "okay."

-

"I wish I could take you to McDonald's, or something like that," said Nina.

They were in their way to the President's dinner, in the old fashioned way. Homelander could complain about flying, but it didn't matter, because Nina was there, and Nina was the reason he did all of that. All of the dinners and meetings and the deals, all of them were so excruciatingly boring, but she was beside him, and nothing else mattered. They had a driver and were having that conversation in the backseat of a car with tinted windows.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Nina sighed. "You aren't really the most private person in the world."

"I can't really be private," Homelander said, explaining, but also lamenting that fact. "I'm the face of Vought."

"I..."

"Hm...?"

"Nothing."

"Please, tell me," he looked at her, with a bit of curiosity and concern.

"I... I just wish... that sometimes..."

Nina paused, looking at the window. He waited for her to finish the sentence, and the silence albeit short, was a bit uncomfortable.

"Sometimes I wish you were just... just John. Just John, y'know?"

The statement lingered in the air. She had never said it before, not like that. What did she mean? They met because he was the Homelander, that's why they were together, wasn't it? There were dozens of women who wished they were in her place. None of them would say that. John was just a part of Homelander himself.

"Just John? Like... me without my powers?"

"Not really that way, more like... average?", Nina said, and regretted the use of the word immediately. She looked back at him, and it seemed the comment had upset him.

"But I'm not average, Nina," said Homelander "I'm a Supe, and that's how Supes live."

"I'm not complaining, John," clarified Nina, "I'm just saying it would be nice to hold hands once in a while without worrying about hoards of fans around us."

"I can't be just John, Nina," Homelander answered, "I was made for this."

"Yeah, but... it's not about the brand, I just mean..."

"You wanted me to be normal?", he raised his eyebrows, and his defensiveness made Nina frown at him. "After all we've been through, I thought you didn't have a problem with that."

"I never said you were abnormal, John," Nina felt like crying, but held herself together.

"Just say it. It's that, isn't it?"

"It's not that..."

"There's no John without Homelander, Nina," said the Supe, "I'm like that. That's my nature."

Nina shook her head, disapproving of his tone and of his attitude. "Fine, John. Never mind."

A long silence followed, such severe silence that if a pin dropped on the floor of that car, it would make the sound of a metal pipe. Her heart was beating fast, but it was anger and frustration. He could recognize that in her, and he regretted the coldness of his answer to her wish. Nevertheless, he was right. There was no way to be normal, and to do mundane things, because it wasn't his purpose anyway.

His purpose was to be great, and not even Nina could take that away from him.