Chapter Text
Jackie’s not really sure why he’s surprised to find a copy of a news article about his alter ego in Ran’s apartment. Ran is a guy who likes to read – much like Jackie himself – and that includes keeping up with the news. Plus, the news likes to talk about him because he’s relatively new in the superhero field.
But it still feels strange. Jackie just came over to water their plant before Ran finished work and he’d spotted the article lying innocently on the coffee table. Same as usual: “Subbin’s newest hero being amazing once again”.
Okay maybe he’s exaggerating the title but that’s basically what they all boil down to.
(Except for the ones who decide to criticise him harshly but you can’t please everyone.)
He’s reading through it when Ran gets home. Mostly just because he’s a little bored and wants to see what it has to say. Sometimes there’s the odd bit of gossip thrown in which is either extremely, amusingly wrong or a little too on the nose which means he should get better at covering that kind of thing up.
“What are you doing?” Jackie looks over to see Ran checking his phone while absently closing the front door. “I gave you your key for emergencies and it looks like I didn’t get any text about any sort of emergency.”
“It was an emergency!” Jackie argues. “I needed to water our darling plant.”
Ran frowns. “I’m doing a perfectly fine job at keeping it alive.”
“Sure, sure. It hasn’t looked the healthiest it’s ever been since I started watering it.”
“Oh, shut up.” Ran stalks to his bedroom. “Going out or staying in?”
“Thought we could stay in.” Jackie turns his attention back towards the article. “You had a long shift today.”
It doesn’t take long for Ran to change out of his work clothes (which is pretty much just the same outfit - fancy frills and all - but a little more worn). Jackie thinks he’s still a little nervous about people being in his apartment without his supervision. But Ran had insisted it was fine if it was him so long as he doesn’t snoop. And Jackie can get that – he pretty much has the same rules for his apartment. So, he sticks primarily to the kitchen and lounge room. And he assumes Ran does the same for him.
Ran slumps onto the couch next to him. And then he seems to notice what Jackie’s reading and, well, “perks up” is the wrong word but what he does is a little too complicated and gone too quickly for Jackie to really categorise it. But it catches his attention, that’s for sure.
“Why are you reading that?” Ran asks.
“Gotta keep up to date on the superhero keeping our city safe, right?”
Something in Jackie’s stomach twists every time he has to lie Ran. He’s not sure whether it’s better or worse that he’s gotten used to it.
“I guess.”
Jackie nudges Ran, a grin crossing his face. “Why do you have it?”
Ran freezes. Interesting.
“Just… like you said.” His voice is stiff. “Good to know.”
“Uh-huh.” Now Jackie’s going to push his luck. But he’s always been kind of curious and this is the only chance he’ll get to bring it up in a way that doesn’t sound suspicious. He feels his heart beat speed up a little. “What do you think of him, anyway?”
“He’s… fine.” There’s something in Ran’s tone that Jackie can’t pick up, but his tail is flicking side to side. Almost like he’s nervous. “I think he does a… good job at stopping villains.”
“High praise!” Jackie teases. “Do I need to be worried?”
“Worried?”
“That he’ll steal you away from me.”
Ran’s face turns an interesting shade of green and his tail speeds up slightly. Which he seems to notice because he pulls it into his lap and stills its movements with his hands. Oh, Jackie is never going to let him live it down if Ran has a crush on his superhero self.
“You- he’s-“ Ran takes a breath, visibly collecting himself. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
If his heart wasn’t beating fast before, it definitely is now.
And he’s kind of glad Ran’s eyes seem fixated on his own lap because Jackie’s face is starting to grow warm. And he doesn’t really know how he’d explain why he’s blushing over his friend having a crush on some random superhero.
Dream, he needs to get himself together. Even if he’s right, it’s not technically him Ran has a crush on.
“Do you have a celebrity crush on him or something?”
“No!” Ran scoffs, but his cheeks are still green. “He’s not that good.”
Ouch. That sinks Jackie’s good mood a little more than he expected it would. But at least he doesn’t have to be jealous over himself. That would be complicated.
“I’d much prefer you to him.”
Jackie can’t quite stop himself from throwing an arm around Ran in an awkward side hug. Who makes a quiet noise of surprise before relaxing into it. And he didn’t really get a concrete answer but who cares how Ran feels about his superhero self when he’ll probably never find out they’re the same person.
“Aw, that’s so sweet!”
And okay maybe he gave up on the half-hearted interrogation so quickly because Ran was being endearing and reminding Jackie that he likes him. He can feel the wide grin across his face which quickly turns into a laugh after Ran notices it and sighs.
“I take it back.”
“Nope! Too late!”
Ran stands up and snatches the article out of Jackie’s hands. But just before he turns around to go deposit it somewhere else, Jackie sees a small smile cross his face.