Swords and Shield

Chapter 6: No hard proof

It was like the whole world had been lifted off his shoulders. He stopped the car and got out to visit his favorite coffee shop, every step as light as if he was floating in the air. It's been a while since he had that kind of relief, and he couldn't stop himself from grinning at everything around. The glowing vibe rolled off him like waves, so obvious even the barista behind the counter gave him a smirk.

"Does this mean you made up with your boy last night? Did you get some?" The young man winked at him when he handed Marvel the coffee cup, and the blond laughed.

"Not quite. We didn't exactly fight." Almost, but no. "But yeah, everything's fine now."

He took the coffee and left some tip in the jar before coming back to his car, still feeling the smile of the staff behind his back. He had been stressed for weeks, ever since DC started acting weird around him. At first, it didn't catch much of his attention since he was knee-deep in work, running across the city to stop accidents and saving lives. The hero work could be overwhelming sometimes, but he always had at least some relaxing time at home when he came back to his shared apartment with DC. Sometimes accidents chose the worst timing and he had to leave the soft bed with a warm body next to his to get out to the darkness of the city at night to help people, since with the limited number of superheroes the Bureau had in its payroll, he only had just enough time to recharge with DC by his side. It helped him recover from all the injuries and tension in his work.

And he started to notice DC being somehow distant from him a few days after his strange encounter with the supervillain Thorn. It scared him at first. He thought somehow the villain found his indentity and was blackmailing DC while making him keep it a secret, so he was extremely paranoid and worried. The last thing he wanted on Earth was to let his hero career hurt the man he loved, like in every single superhero movie he had ever watched. His boss at the Bureau, Kirby, promised protection for the families of all his employees, but it didn't erase his doubt entirely. He tried to communicate, but never got a real answer. All of DC's words were just tip toeing around the subject without actually clearing anything for him, and every day passed, he felt more unease.

A million horrible things sprung inside his head, making him weary. DC could be controlled by a supervillain to get to Marvel. DC could be fired from work, and he was trying to hide it from Marvel. Or in the worst case scenerio, the man could be bored of Marvel and had someone else waiting for him while Marvel was out chasing bad guys. All of the thoughts kept twisting in the blond's mind and got worse day by day, making him worried, scared and sometimes even upset. It broke his heart that even his unbelievable mood swings couldn't be noticed by DC, and he really thought that soon, they would break up.

Not after today, though. It was a short conversation over the breakfast table, nothing too special, still the warm hug and kisses and cheesy words they shared all the time, but he felt like home again, after that. He could truly feel the affection that they had before this unreasonable, one-sided cold war, and he had hope again. They had countless fights in their time of dating and living together, but most of them only lasted for a week, at most. He had never felt insecured for this long, and the small statement of DC about not getting bored of him made magic. Sure, call him naive and sentimental, he didn't think there was anything wrong in trusting his boyfriend. Many people could have gotten married at their point by now.

He was excited about their little 'date' that night. It could bring everything back again, and he could stop his never-ending string of worried days. They were fine. There was nothing wrong with them. They weren't perfect, but they had a future together, and he wanted to grasp it tightly with both hands.

"Hey, Marv! Looking sharp today!" He stopped at the gate and waved his hand back at the security staff. The middle-aged man was chomping down on his sandwich and greeted him cheerfully. Unlike other serious superheroes, he was rather friendly and open and therefore, knew everyone.