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"It's sad."
"What is?" He's raking his fingers through his hair in front of the mirror, trying to make it seem just dishevelled enough that the cameras will eat that shit up. BREAKING NEWS: Homelander and Starlight coming out of shared Tower apartment like this.
He looks at her reflection. She doesn't pay him any mind; just keeps playing on her phone. "What's sad?" he repeats.
"This. Faking the hero shit." Her voice is so unaffected, it's starting to remind him of his own. "And the worst is that I know you could be more than that. You could so easily be a hero. The love of the people would be real. The headlines wouldn't be written by Ashley. I'd have fallen in love with you twice over. But you just... don't." Her words are little dreams, and when she stops speaking, he watches them tumble off the table edge and shatter.
He finds himself staring at the ground for quite some time, looking for shards. He blinks himself awake. "It's too late now," he mumbles.
He can sense the shock go through her. She's sucking energy out of his apartment lights; he's sure she doesn't realize she's doing it.
"It doesn't have to be," she says, carefully weighing her words. Fuck, she's really trying to save him, huh? It's been years, and he still cannot believe she really is this pure of heart. How many Hughies would he have to kill? To see the light go out inside of her.
"Would you believe me?" His eyes keep going back to that fucking spot where those little dreams hit the ground. "When seven years down the line we have three kids, have saved countless cities from galactic invasions like the heroes we are, will you believe me when I thank you for making me a better man?"
She slams her phone onto the tabletop. "I don't know why I'm even still fucking talking to you."
He's played this game with Maeve before. It's the oldest game in the book: I will save him and thus save everyone. Exciting that he gets to play it again after all those years. Maeve gave up so disappointingly quickly. Maybe Starlight will last longer than her. She's careful when she gets up to leave. Doesn't tread on the little shards on the floor.
Worth a try, anyway. "Have I ever told you my name?"