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Will had absolutely no clue as to what it would mean when Warren sat down across from him. He was leaning forward, hands clasped loosely over his knees, and his hair hanging down. Will’s hand itched to go tuck a strand behind his ear but he kept himself still. Whenever Warren got it like this, it meant he had something very important to say and he did not appreciate being interrupted.
Warren wet his lips before he spoke, uttering four words that everybody who was ever in a relationship dreaded to hear, “We need to talk.”
And he froze, “Oh, no, no, no, please tell me you’re not breaking up with me— Magenta will never let me live that down— God— was it because I threw you in Save the Citizen again? I’m sorry, I know you hate it when I do that— I—” He started to stand up to anxiously pace out his nervous ramblings.
“Will— Will, Will calm down. Calm down,” Warren said, putting a firm gloved hand on Will’s knee which caused him to collapse back onto his couch with a soft thud, “I’m not breaking up with you, Stronghold. Jesus, you’re acting like Layla right now.”
The brunette sniffed, offering a weak shrug, “She is my best friend. And ex,” He supplied weakly. Will shifted uncomfortably, “...so what was it you wanted to talk about?”
Warren rolled his eyes dramatically at his theatrics, “You know how my mom’s dead, right?”
Will nodded slowly, “And how my dad put your dad in jail, yeah. I’m familiar.”
“Well, obviously I don’t live alone, you know?”
“Obviously.”
“And you’ve never actually met my foster parents,” He went on, finally pressing back into the couch cushions and splaying his arms up at his sides.
“You mean the super secret foster parents you’ve told me absolutely nothing about?” Will prompted, purposefully loosening his stance to mirror Warren’s relaxed posture despite how he was very on edge.
“Yeah, those.”
Will nodded in consideration before wrinkling his brow in confusion, “...and you’re bringing this up, why?”
Warren shrugged, “They’ve been pestering me to meet you. And by pestering I mean Pa has been teasing me with false information in hopes I’ll snap and correct him and Dad is bugging me nonstop for any and all information I’ll give him. He uses a baby voice and literally begs. It’s kind of sad and pathetic. So I gave in.”
He crossed his arms and legs at the same time, filing away the information of Pa and Dad for later. Chewing his lip anxiously, he reiterated, “You want me to meet your parents.”
“Yes.”
“Do they know anything about me? At all? What have you told them?” He was allowed to be nervous, right? First impressions were important and he didn’t know what information had already been supplied. His own parents had already been iffy meeting Warren; he didn’t want a repeat.
Warren shook his head, “They know your name is Will, that you have brown hair and superpowers. I didn’t even tell them what those superpowers were.”
Will nodded again, “Okay. Okay. Okay, okay… okay. Okay. This is okay. I—... yeah, okay. I’ll meet your parents.”
His boyfriend raised his eyebrows, a faint smirk of amusement curling at his lips, “You sure? You seem like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay,” Warren copied with a nearly dismissive shrug, “Great. I’ll swing by on my bike at five tomorrow,” He planted both hands on his knees and rose to stand, which made Will also sit up straight. Warren grabbed his bag and the homework they’d already finished a while ago, swinging it over one shoulder as he turned to leave; pausing, he swiveled back to Will just as he opened the front door, “Oh, and if you bring flowers, do not under any circumstances bring orchids or I will torch you, Stronghold.”
Well, that was oddly specific and not at all ominous. He nodded jerkily, “I won’t, Warren— Seriously, promise.”
Warren grinned fully this time, putting a quick peck on his forehead, “Good. See you then, Stronghold.”
“Uh, yeah, bye, Warren! Drive safe!” Warren waved over his shoulder without acknowledging him. He watched as he got on his motorcycle and drove off. Just as Will closed the door, he pressed his back to it, breathing carefully.
He finally allowed himself time to freak out, because holy shit, he was meeting his boyfriend’s parents. Excitedly, he ran up the stairs, accidentally tearing off the bottom stair post in the process.
“Sorry!” He yelled without thinking too heavily about it.
“Will!” He heard his mother admonish from another room.
But he couldn’t think about that because he was meeting his boyfriend’s parents tomorrow. At five.
Hastily, he called Layla. He needed some flowers. That were preferably not orchids.
Will decidedly did not dress up. He wore his typical red, white, and blue jacket with a striped shirt and jeans. The best first impressions are the honest first impressions. Or so he hoped, anyway. He was trying not to fiddle with the bouquet of lilies in his hands. He didn’t know why this was Layla’s flower of choice, but when he told her the situation and no orchids she’d simply nodded with a knowing glint in her eyes and said lilies were the best choice and no, I will not make you anything else.
He turned his head when he heard the telltale hum of a motorcycle engine approaching. Warren hopped off, pulling off his helmet and walking over, shoving a different helmet into Will’s free hand without greeting. He briefly noticed how his hair was in a loose man bun. Warren was wearing his favorite leather jacket and fingerless gloves, paired with an old band t-shirt and black skinny jeans that looked painted on. Will didn’t let himself get distracted by his thighs, or how attractive he found combat boots. Warren eyed the flowers in his other hand closely for a moment before nodding, “Good choice. You asked Layla, didn’t you.”
It was more of a rhetorical question— if really a question at all but he answered anyway, “Yeah. She wouldn’t explain it to me, though,” Will shifted awkwardly, “So… care to tell me why I can’t fly us there?”
Warren raised his eyebrows, “Do you know where I live?”
Will opened his mouth to reply before realizing Warren was right. He didn’t know. But, to uphold his dignity, he argued anyway, “You could’ve given me directions.”
“Hate to say it, Stronghold, but I don’t know the directions from an overhead view,” His lip quirked up in the corner as a show of good humor and Will’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
Warren threw an arm over Will’s shoulder and walked him over to his bike. Will sighed, pulling the helmet over his head just as his boyfriend did the same, straddling the bike and wrapping his arms around Warren’s waist. The night was warm but not unbearably so, which meant Will could lean comfortably into Warren’s back and enjoy the heat that naturally wafted off the fire user in waves.
“So, where are we going, anyway?” Will asked to try and shift his focus away from his own nerves. It worked only moderately, which was a shame because he was very jittery. Boyfriend warmth could only be so helpful for internal stress.
He felt more than heard Warren chuckle over the whipping breeze as they sped along, a low rumbling that reverberated in his chest, “You’ll see when we get there!” He yelled over the noise.
How reassuring.
They rode in silence for what was maybe forty-five minutes or so— and it was silent because motorcycle rides were not optimal times for conversation to have any merit— Will recognized as they slowly left the suburbs and started to enter the more urban city. Based on the direction, he’d guess they were in Brooklyn, which was unexpected. He was also starting to wonder how the hell Warren got to school every morning with how far away he lived.
Eventually, Warren parallel-parked the bike along the sidewalk right next to a cluster of brownstones. Okay, so nothing too villain-ey thus far, which is good. Will would’ve been very disappointed if Warren went from one villain parent to another. Not that he thought the foster care system would let villains get their hands on super-powered children, but what did he know? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
“Alright, this is it,” Warren grunted, taking his helmet off and locking it onto his bike as he hopped up the steps to the brownstone. Will was more hesitant to follow, doing what Warren did, just… slower. He was allowed to be wary. Wariness was a good quality for superheroes in training. Yeah, he was going to keep telling himself that. Warren turned to him as he unlatched a key from the front loop of his jeans, “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Will said, looking down at the lilies in his hands which were a little smooshed and rustled from the wind. He was starting to think he hadn’t thought this through, but then again, when had he ever?
Warren unlocked the door and walked inside, “I’m home!” He yelled, kneeling to untie his combat boots and toeing them off to set them aside. Will followed suit. There was an odd, somewhat muffled squeak from further in the house and he wasn’t entirely sure where the hell it came from.
He turned to Warren, who sighed in what sort of seemed like disappointment, “I should have warned you first,” He said, strangely mournful for the man Will knew so well. It was subtle, but it was definitely there. Before he could ask, however, a head poked out from the corner of the wall that led into what Will could only assume was the kitchen. Directly after, another head poked out from above the first. Two sets of blue eyes watched him appraisingly.
Warren sighed, lethargically extending a hand in the direction of the two newcomers, “Will, these are my parents.”
The first head, which belonged to a man who bore a very striking physical similarity to Warren, stepped out of his hiding place first. He was tall, had the same long brown hair (also noticeably in a man bun), and had the same baseline facial features, such as a cleft chin and strong nose bridge. If Will hadn’t known beforehand that these were only his boyfriend’s foster parents, he would have genuinely assumed them to be related. They were even dressed similarly. It was like looking at two carbon copies. Like when he asks Ethan if he can copy his homework, and Ethan tells him to change it just a little bit so the teacher doesn’t get suspicious. It was… offputting.
"So you’re the boyfriend I’ve heard so little about,” He said gruffly though not in an unfriendly way.
Will blinked, not comprehending, before coming back to himself and startling (only a little bit), “Uh… yes! Yes, that’s me, hi,” He put his hand out to shake, “I’m Will Stronghold,” He added as an afterthought, sticking the flowers out, “I, uh, I brought flowers!” Smooth.
The man’s lip quirked in amusement, and the second head finally stepped out revealing a man who was slightly taller than the first. He was also very handsome, with blond hair and a similarly muscular build. Though, unlike his (presumable) spouse, he bore no resemblance to Warren. Thanks to Will’s knowledge of genetics, he knew they couldn’t be related (despite other evidence) due to both of them having blue eyes and Warren’s being brown. That was the only thing that gave it away. He genuinely didn’t think people would be able to tell. Looking at both of them, they seemed oddly familiar but he couldn’t quite place it.
“Stronghold,” The blonde said, quirking an eyebrow, “Like Stronghold real estate? The superhero couple?”
“Yep,” Will agreed, swaying on the balls of his socked feet awkwardly, “Those are my parents.”
He snorted, “Flame users always fall for people with super strength, I swear.”
Will turned to Warren for answers but he just shook his head.
“I guess you could say it burns in the family, eh?” Blondie continued, nudging his partner in the side with his elbow.
“Okay, Uncle Iroh, that’s enough,” He replied, deadpan.
“You’re no fun,” He whined, which was accompanied by a pout before he seemed to shake himself out of it, reaching for the flowers which Will gladly handed over, “Well, Will, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Warren’s foster dad, Johnny Storm. Mr. Grumpy next to me is my husband, Bucky.”
Bucky… that was an odd name. Suddenly, it hit Will all at once why they seemed familiar. The Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, and the Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The jab about flame users liking people with super strength suddenly made more sense. He knew they’d retired from being (famous!!!) superheroes and had gone under-radar, but what he hadn’t known was that they knew each other and especially that they were married.
“Oh! Oh. Oh,” Will said, smartly.
“Oh,” Johnny replied with an amused smirk, raising both eyebrows, “Did Warren tell you to bring lilies? They’re my sister’s favorite.”
He shook his head, “No, my friend Layla did…”
“Ah, Layla, I remember her,” He said, wandering back into the kitchen to snip the ends of the flowers at an angle and put them in water. Will followed, feeling both Bucky and Warren’s eyes on him, though for decidedly different reasons.
“You… you do?” Will asked, confused.
“Yeah, from when Warren took her to homecoming. I’ll admit, I was surprised. Warren never makes friends.” Johnny shrugged his shoulders, turning to lean against the countertop of the kitchen.
Bucky, who’d been pretty silent, nodded sagely as he turned to Warren, “That’s right, how did you manage to get a boyfriend when you can’t make friends?”
Johnny laughed, “I was under the impression you didn’t want to… what was the word? Fraternize?”
Warren clearly didn’t appreciate the teasing, and Will had to refrain from smiling too widely when his boyfriend replied, “I’ll have you know, I am a fuckin’ delight to be around.”
“It’s true,” Will added amicably, not at all sounding sincere.
“Thank you, for your vote of support,” Warren said sarcastically.
Warren’s parents were watching them in clear enjoyment of the exchange. Johnny was the one to break it, forming a ball of fire in his hand and yelling ‘Catch!’ as he threw it at Warren, who was startled trying not to get hit in the face with fire.
“What was that for, dad?” He sounded bemused.
“Gaging how smitten you were by testing your reaction time,” He replied very seriously, turning to Bucky, “I’d say he’s about eighty percent besotted, wouldn’t you agree?”
“A travesty,” Bucky answered dryly. Johnny laughed, a full-body thing as he threw his head back. He leaned into his husband’s shoulder and wrapped a possessively tight arm around his waist. Judging by Bucky’s reaction, Will mused, he was also groping the man affectionately where they technically couldn’t see.
“Well,” Johnny said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye with his free hand, “We’re happy for you kids,” He emphasized this by pulling his spouse tight against his side.
“Handsy,” Bucky mumbled, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.
“You love it.”
Will side-eyed Warren, a little jealous of the easy touches and banter his parents shared and hoping maybe one day they could be the same. This meeting had gone… surprisingly well, all things considered. Even if Warren’s foster parents were not at all who Will had expected them to be.
After a momentary lapse in silence, Johnny clapped his hands, “Now, who’s hungry?! Bucky made matzo ball soup and berry pirozhkis for dessert!”
They all perked up at the mention of food.
“Now,” Bucky said as they made their way to the dining room, “You can tell us all about how you keep throwing my kid in Save the Citizen like he’s a sack of potatoes.”
Will froze. Oh, no.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t going to go as easily as he thought.