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Dakota paced his bedroom anxiously, lost in thought. William, his boyfriend of the last year and three months, was going to be coming over soon, and Dakota needed to tell him something that had been weighing heavily on him.
You see, Dakota Damascus had an… accident a few years back, one that he kept a secret from most people. Because of that accident, he ended up changed, gaining inhumane speed and strength. He decided to become a hero, helping people in need and stopping criminals in his off time. Was this technically illegal, vigilante justice? Yes, but most of Rockfall appreciated the support, and he was far from the only one who wore the mask.
That was not what he wanted to talk to Will about, though. Don’t get him wrong— he was going to bring up the “the real reason I missed our date in September was because I was almost stabbed on a rooftop” conversation eventually. Tonight just wasn’t that night. No, this conversation was about something worse, in his opinion.
About four months after William moved to Rockfall, a new superhero appeared from the shadows. He was quiet and did not like attention of any kind; unlike DC, who bathed in the limelight and smiled for photographs constantly. The hero was not doing anything special, just stopping a few petty thieves here and there, but Dakota became endlessly fascinated by the individual who, as far as the media knew, didn’t even have a name.
The problems began to arise around a year later, long after Dakota and William started dating. DC was doing his “patrol” (more like wandering aimlessly to clear his head, but he liked giving it a fancy name), when he noticed a flicker of something blue out of the corner of his eye.
The nameless hero appeared in the narrow alleyway that DC was passing. A skin-tight, black suit and a simple belt hugged his waist, accented by boots and gloves that looked to be made out of pure, blue fire. His face was also engulfed in flames for a moment, but they flickered out and dissipated as he removed his hood. White hair flipped in untamed curls around the face that was mostly shrouded by a black half-mask. His most striking feature, while still keeping on brand, was his pair of electric blue eyes. They were piercingly bright, but also dull in an inexplicable way, almost like there was no life behind them.
DC gasped. It was him! He had never actually seen him in person before. Excitement getting the better of him, he shouted down the alley.
“Hey! You!”
The hero startled at the sudden noise, his entire body flickering in and out of opacity for a moment. Then he found the source of the sound and looked only marginally more relaxed.
“Oh— hi?” he said with a voice that barely made it above a whisper; a stark contrast to DC’s boisterous self.
In an instant, he crossed the distance between the two, causing the other to jump back again. This time, his lower leg turned a translucent blue and started to fall through the concrete before he could pull himself back up.
DC put his hands up in a gesture of peace. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you! I’ve just heard about you before, and when I saw you down here I really wanted to meet you. I’m DC!”
“I know,” he responded, regaining his balance. “Your name is everywhere, and so is your face. Well, the masked one, that is.”
DC chuckled, tapping lightly on the domino mask that covered his eyes, as well as kept his hair pulled back. “Made it myself.”
“Yeah, can’t have anyone figuring out your identity. Especially not you— I’ll bet you’ve made a lot of enemies with how many big busts you’ve made this month alone.”
“Ah, so you keep tabs on me?” he asked in a joking manner.
The hero’s flames grew hotter for a moment, seeming to fluctuate with his embarrassment. “No! I just—“
“It’s cool, I keep tabs on you, too. Well, I try to. You make that really hard.”
It was the other’s turn to laugh lightly, his unhidden eyes shining with amusement. “What can I say?” Abruptly, he disappeared from view, leaving DC to blink in a daze.
“Blending in is my specialty,” he finished, re-materializing on a nearby roof behind where he once was.
DC giggled a bit dumbly. “Can’t say the same. Oh, but I can do this!”
He sprinted towards the wall and leaped, bouncing in the air between the two buildings of the alley until it was completely scaled. For an extra touch, he added a flip as he landed next to the unnamed hero. He posed, smiling as the other clapped.
“That was really cool,” he said genuinely.
“Thanks! I’ve had a lot of practice.” Finally moving down, he sat criss-cross beside the other. “So, how’d you end up being all blue and shit?” he asked rather bluntly.
He lifted a teasing eyebrow. “Wow, you want to go straight into the origin story? God, DC, at least buy me dinner first.”
And now it was the redhead’s turn to sputter in embarrassment. A faint bit of red made it to his cheeks as he glared. “That’s not cool, man!”
They both laughed, and the sound echoed through the otherwise silent dusk. When they settled again, DC glanced up.
“Okay, so you don’t want to tell me your backstory, but can I at least see you again? Maybe we could do a bit of teaming up; helping the city would be a lot faster if I had an extra set of hands.”
“So what, you trying to recruit me as a sidekick?”
“No, as a partner. But I can still take on most of the reporters. You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who enjoys the spotlight.”
He exhaled sharply. “You’ve got me there. Alright, DC— how about we do a test run tomorrow, then I can get back to you for sure.”
“Alright! Meet right here? Six o’ clock?”
“I like the sound of that.”
The mystery boy stood now, stepping off the roof in a way that made DC’s eyes widened before he realized he was floating to the ground gently. He breathed a sigh of relief, watching his feet finally hit the ground; then, just as he was walking away, he remembered something crucial.
“Oh, wait!”
He stopped, turning back to look up.
“What do you call yourself? I’ve never seen it on the news.”
The hero laughed a bit tiredly. “Well, that’s because no one’s asked me before. It’s—“
The memory faded from Dakota’s mind; he knew very well how it ended. Since that day, the nameless hero had a name, one that shared headlines with DC as his partner.
Circling back to the present day, this is what Dakota’s issue was. All of their time spent together— the countless nights spent fighting and helping others alongside each other— had caused their playful banter to develop into something deeper. They got closer, learning more of each other’s mannerisms and ideologies. Dakota had never seen his face, but he knew things about his partner that he doubted many in his civilian life could say they did.
Yes, it was all just witty and lighthearted flirting, but there was a connection to it as well. Not necessarily a romantic one, but tell him, then, why guilt clawed at his stomach whenever William would mention hearing about DC in the news? He had to tell him, even if it didn’t make any sense.
There was a knock on the front door, followed by the squeaking of hinges.
“Hey, Dakota! I’m here!” his boyfriend called from the entryway.
Here goes nothing.
The secret superhero finally left his room, smiling weakly as he saw the other boy. “Hey, Will. How is everything?”
The taller pressed a quick kiss to Dakota’s lips. “I totally bombed my physics test, but who cares.” He held up a bag from Rusty’s. “I’ve got cookies.”
Dakota laughed, walking alongside William to the couch in the living room. The plastic tin was torn open immediately.
“I don’t understand how you’ve got such a sweet tooth,” Dakota jabbed playfully.
“I don’t understand how you don’t,” Will retorted, mouth full and lips already covered in a dozen crumbs. Lord, how Dakota wanted to kiss them all away, but now was not the time.
He wrung his hand in anticipation, going over the words in his mind for the thousandth time. It was practically rehearsed at this point. All he needed to do was get started.
He was jostled from these thoughts by William touching his arm lightly. “Hey, everything okay?”
“Oh, sorry. Must’ve zoned out,” he muttered dejectedly.
“I know, but you also seem… I don’t know, nervous? Is there something that’s stressing you out?” Curse his amazingly observant boyfriend. He could never keep anything from him.
Just as he was ready to give his practiced speech, Dakota’s mind blanked. He searched frantically through all of his memories, trying to find what it had been he wanted to say, but nothing usable turned up. He had finally worked up the nerve, though, and he didn’t want to waste the opportunity. Instead of backing down, he blurted out the first words that made it to his mouth.
“There’s this guy, and I’ve kind of been flirting with him for the last few months?” He added quickly, “I promise it’s never gone anything past that! And I seriously love you so much! It— it only started off as a joke, and then… I don’t know. It just kept happening.”
William’s eyes softened with worry and— God, how Dakota hated it— hurt. “What? Are you saying you’re, like, into someone else?”
“No! That’s not what I’m saying at all. I—“ he groaned and buried his head in his hands, a few warm tears sliding down his wrist. How could he explain this situation in a way that would make any sort of sense?
“Okay— it’s—“ William took a deep breath, setting a gentle hand on Dakota’s back. “Look, we can talk about this, yeah?” he encouraged, getting a hesitant nod out of Dakota. “Okay. Who is this guy you’ve been talking to?”
The superhero scrubbed at his eyes. “You’re— um— probably not going to believe me when I tell you.”
“I’ve seen and heard some crazy shit before, Kota. Just beat the bush.”
Dakota let out a shaky exhale, finally gathering the courage to look his boyfriend in the eyes. The admission came out of his hesitant mouth as more of a question.
“The Whisperer…?”
The silence that followed was shorter than Dakota anticipated, because William immediately blurted out, “What? You can’t be cheating on me with the Whisperer! I’m the—“
Then William’s eyes widened as he clapped a mortified hand over his mouth. Dakota stared in stunned silence.
“Did you just say—“
“No—“
“William Demetrius Nox, are you—“
“No—“
“Don’t you fucking lie to me right now—“
“Okay! Fine! Yes! I’m the fucking Whisperer!” William snapped before he could think twice. “You happy?”
There was a tense moment of pause, the only sound between them being William’s racing heart. He was reeling, petrified, but Dakota often had a hard time knowing these things without people telling him outright.
Finally, Dakota hummed skeptically. “Nope. You gotta prove it.”
He sighed, reluctantly reaching out one of his hands. Just as Dakota had seen his partner do a hundred times, his boyfriend lit a small, blue flame in his palm. He danced it around his fingers anxiously, a habit he recognized from the Whisperer.
He didn’t know how he could have been so blind to it. Their physical mannerisms were so alike, it was only the voice and the level of confidence that had changed. That was disorienting, too, because he had seen the Whisperer do so many feats— things that he never thought William would even attempt (not that he didn’t believe in his boyfriend’s capabilities, but William was very shy and a worrier; he did not like trying anything new if he could help it).
“Holy fucking shit,” Dakota whispered (no pun intended) in astonishment.
“Yeah, I—“ he cleared his throat awkwardly, finally extinguishing the fire— “I wasn’t planning on telling you like this. Sorry if it’s kinda freaky.”
“You’re not freaky, I’m just… well I’m really confused right now.”
“Well I’m confused too—“ he glared a bit again, that anger lighting up his eyes until they almost glowed (seriously, how had Dakota not noticed it until now?)— “because I’m the Whisperer, and I’ve never talked with you as him. So did you just make this whole thing up? Or is there actually someone else?”
Oh. Fuck, right. He should explain himself, yeah? Yeah, it was definitely the best course of action.
“Um… let’s go on a field trip real fast.”
Before William could respond, Dakota picked him up, the same way DC would have carried the Whisperer to their home base after a bad fight, and bounded over the couch. In no time at all, they were in Dakota’s bedroom.
“What the—“ William muttered, dizzy and confused. “How did we—“
“Alright, I’m gonna show you something that you can’t tell anyone,” Dakota stated, making his way towards the dresser that he always told William he couldn’t look through because it was locked.
He produced the key from the necklace around his neck and opened it, swinging the mystery door open wide. William’s expression changed from confusion to shock as he saw DC’s super suit on full display, as well as various gadgets, newspaper clippings, and a few polaroids of the heroes together hanging on the inner walls.
“Tell— tell me I’m fucking dreaming right now,” he muttered, dumbstruck.
“I wish I could. This is all— like, this is insane, right?”
“When did you—“
He was met with a hard slap across the face.
“Ow! Dakota! What the fuck?!”
“You’ve been flirting with DC this whole time and you didn’t know it was me?!” he accused.
“Wha— dude! You literally just admitted that you were doing the same thing!”
“Well yeah, but it’s only because you’re so fucking cute all the time, even when you’ve got that mask on! I can’t help that!”
“Well I can’t help it if you look hot when you’re chucking a semi full of explosives off of a bridge!”
Dakota took a moment to pause, then smiled. “Okay, you’re right, I do look pretty hot doing that, but still! If I have to apologize, so do you!”
William giggled lovingly, a sound that made Dakota smile wider. “Okay; fair is fair.” He placed a single hand on his chest, proclaiming, “I am sorry I have been flirting with DC while we’ve been dating. It probably will happen again, but I’m sorry.”
“Good.”
It was quiet for a long time.
“So, what do we do now?” Dakota asked.
William placed a hand on his chin, clearly in deep thought. “Eat cookies and watch TV?”
And so it was. They went back to the living room in comfortable silence, spending the next few hours cuddling on the couch. After a while, William noticed again how Dakota still seemed upset.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
“Well, I’ve just been so stressed about this for so long, and… you really aren’t mad?” he asked quietly.
“Are you kidding? Us, falling in love again without even knowing it? That’s gotta be the most romantic fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life. That’s soulmate level shit.”
Dakota chuckled weakly. “Yeah, I guess it is.” Leaning up, he pressed another kiss to his cheek. “I love you so much, Whisperer.”
He smiled back, placing a kiss to his forehead. “Love you too, DC.”