Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Too much pressure: a quick pinch from a razor blade. Steven quickly rinsed the closest washcloth in the sink and dabbed at the small wound. Facial wounds tend to bleed quicker and heavier. He exhaled sharply and pressed the cool towel onto his face. Once it was done bleeding, he huffed quietly into the damp rag. In one short move, cold water gently touched his face before he hung it to dry. Mentally, he cursed himself for being so careless at such a simple task.

It was becoming less and less often that there was time to spend with himself, let alone be reflective. Steven looked in the mirror and took a breath. That fight with Morpheus had taken a toll on him in some way, mentally more so than physically. The whole situation had him thinking: being Moon Knight had it’s pros and cons. Tonight, it seemed he could only think about the cons. That was one of the sort of unfocused self reflective thoughts which caused him to nick himself on the face. It was just a reminder that he was very much in the present and not the fake world created for him in Morpheus’ dream.

On the plus side, he was looking much more himself these days. Steven couldn’t help but admire himself in the mirror. He actually looked nice, for once. Despite the nick, the clean shave put him in a much better headspace. Stubble or a well groomed mustache? Not his thing. This was one of the few things he had, he thought. Sure, it was small, but it was his. Even if the arrangement cost him his love life, you could never take the clean shave away from him.

Love life.

He grimaced.

This is about Marc, yeah?

There was humor to the voice, nothing malicious, just a joke. Steven couldn’t help but smirk at Jake’s off handed commentary. He responded in a hushed tone like Marc was going to come out if he was to loud, “Close.” He dabbed more at the scratch and figured it should be less visible in the morning. Jake continued speaking while Steven picked up his tooth brush.

I figured it shook you.

Steven spat into the sink. It wasn’t like there was anyone else around to hear him at this hour. Still, he closed the door to avoid any listeners (other than the haunted house which still confused him, but he refused to ask questions). He scooped sink water into his hands while he spoke, “It’s not his fault.” He took a sip, swished it around, and spat out what was left of the mint taste. The thought of blaming Marc felt selfish; this was their life now and it wasn’t like they could just quit being Moon Knight anytime soon.

“I’m not going to bring it up to him, but it was his comment about my dream being ‘a life without him’. It-”

Stung?

“Yeah.”

That’s not what his dream was about. Marc was the best unreliable narrator in that regard, assuming that people like him less than they actually do. Steven, in reality, just wanted a normal life. He wanted his life back. Grant Manor: damn, he missed it.

I’ve been meaning to ask. How are you feeling about Greer?

Steven huffed and smirked, “Why do you ask?”

It was like he could feel Jake there, next to him in the mirror and chatting like old buddies. There was definitely times they had disagreements, but more often than not they talked like this. Steven knew that Jake had a tendency of thinking more for himself than the systems sake often. That was probably the biggest difference between them; Steven was more willing to sacrifice his happiness than Jake was. That was also why Steven was so jealous all the damn time.

I think she’s nice. Good for Marc and good for- us. Better than Marlene was, probably.

That stung both of them, somehow. Their relationship with Marlene was always rocky, bordering on abusive at times from both sides. It took Steven way to long to realize that Jake did have a point, being so distant with her on purpose. It was almost like he was trying to get her to break up with them. There was no excuse to be rude for the hell of it, but it’s not like Marlene made it easy on him either. She liked Steven and only Steven until Marc came into the picture and ruined it all. That said, Steven could take the disrespect on Jake, and Marc, and Moon Knight (before Marc and Moon Knight fused), because he told himself that he loved her. Now, they weren’t even allowed to see their own kid.

Unlike Marlene though, Greer was understanding and lived a similar life to them.

It helped they both certainly didn’t have the best love life.

“Don’t act like you’re not still hung up on her as well,” Steven grinned and rolled his eyes, looking into the mirror at himself knowing that Jake was definitely smiling back at him, “I heard what Marc said about your club.” That and he remembered Jake’s honest joy at seeing Marlene at the mission.

Can you blame me? She was our first girlfriend. No- actually, second if we’re counting Layla.

Steven put a hand under his chin, “No, no. I don’t know if you remember her, but Beth to. She was definitely the first-” If high school girlfriends counted.

Steven hardly counted Layla in the same way Jake wouldn’t count Beth. Unlike Marlene, Layla almost exclusively dated Marc. Steven had little to no real recollection of Layla, their time in the military, or mercenary life anyway which was probably for the best. What little he did have of the time period was a looser jumble of memories than their childhood. Jake had better memory of the time period, because-

“I’m missing Marlene and you’re missing Frenchie, hm?”

Oh, don’t bring him up while we’re talking about this-

Steven chuckled, “You and Marc were much closer to him than I was.”Jake laughed aloud as well. Steven could tell because their laughs weren’t quite the same.

I get what you’re implying.

It was good talking to Jake like this, he thought, maybe staying up so late isn’t bad. He stepped out of the bathroom and tugged on his night shirt. There was no way he was going to go to bed at a normal hour. Jake could feel it to. While they walked, Steven froze in in his tracks, “I should message Greer, huh.”

Jake seemed to pause as well, thinking through the thought process, “Hm? Say that again?”

They were both to close, but Steven persisted, talking through each thought, “Maybe we should get to know her more. It doesn’t have to be a date, but if Marc likes her-”

We should to.

“Yes.”

Yeah.

Steven couldn’t tell who was smiling more, him or Jake. It wasn’t a bad idea at all. Sending her a message, arranging a time where the two- or three- could talk over coffee- beer? He couldn’t name the first thing she liked which was surely a sign that he needed to get to know her more.

He picked up the phone and opened their text conversation. Without thinking to much about the specifics, Steven shot a text to her. Jake leaned in closer, wanting to take the reigns just to type the response back (if she responded that fast). Steven shut the phone off before it immediately buzzed. Jake rushed to one of the chairs to sit in while they talked.

Hello this is Steven. I was wondering if we could talk sometime in person
Yes! we can do that

Steven anxiously pulled at his shirt, “Should I clarify I mean it in a getting to know way?”

You’re sweating bullets, Wall Street.

Steven made a grunt noise, leaning back into the chair. He’d been off the market for months, years probably. He couldn’t help but wonder what Marc would think reading back on their conversation. He shook the thought out. It was just a couple of missing hours for Marc, nothing to important. In fact, Marc should be thanking him for shaving and taking a shower and trying to get to know his girlfriend and-

Bingo, it’s a date!

Steven looked back down at the messages. Somehow, he lost track of what he was doing and Jake had taken over the entire conversation for him. He scrolled over the messages again to see when they would meet. It wasn’t exactly what he would’ve said, but he appreciated Jake’s way of keeping a conversation going. He sighed a small sigh of relief and leaned his head back into the chair. His entire body was pulsing with a strange delight that he hadn’t felt in some time. Even if life wasn’t going according to his plan, things were looking up for him, for Jake, and for Marc.

For them.

Chapter Text

You’re sweating bullets, Wall-Street. That’s what Jake said then and that was probably what he was thinking now.

It wasn’t exactly like Steven had planned on dying, but that put a momentary restriction on their planning and led to their meeting getting postponed for much longer than he anticipated. Now that he was actually sitting at a cafe booth patiently—or impatiently, depending on how you looked at it—waiting for her to show up, he was starting to get cold feet. He repeated the mantra of ‘it’s not a date’ enough times in his head that the words had lost any and all meaning.

He pressed his thumb against his lips, checking his cell phone to make sure he got the date and time right. Not only did he not decide the date of the meetup, but he didn’t get to choose the time either. It was early in the morning: 10 AM on the dot. He clicked his tongue and frowned; they’d practically been nocturnal the past couple of months (due to company and poor decision-making) so the sunlight was a good change of pace.

Maybe he got the address wrong? The anxiety wasn’t like him, but it was his first thing like this in years, and getting it right was high on the priority list. The fact that she was now a whole minute late had him on his toes, tapping his fingers on the glazed, wooden table. He was already readying himself to pack up. Steven talked a whole lot of game, but even with all the experience in the world, he sure didn’t act like it.

Eventually, he saw her out of the corner of his eye as she sat down in front of him. The—were?— woman smiled apologetically and explained, “I was taking William to class and it took a little longer than I thought it would to get here.”

Steven nodded at the explanation, cursing himself for getting so worked up. “It’s alright,” He watched her eyes well, keeping that charming smile he worked so hard to maintain, “You didn’t keep me waiting at all.”

The first interaction went by and was followed by a brief silence that it seemed neither of the two could break.

Tigra, or who he was now starting to refer to as Greer in his head, was always something of an enigma to him. They rarely interacted and the few times they did were brief. Never actually formally introducing themselves, he assumed that he and Jake were a similar enigma to her. Jake was open, friendly when he wanted to be, and had more experience in introducing himself. He could fit himself in social situations when the time called for it. Steven, on the other hand, dismissed that privilege in exchange for other qualities that were not of the social variety. Sure, he could talk to others well, but introducing himself was difficult.

“I don’t think we’ve ever formally talked,” Steven thought aloud.

Greer’s tail swayed faintly as she spoke, “I don’t think we have at all which is- I’ve known Marc for how long?”

Years. Years and they never once talked in any meaningful capacity.

“Steven. Steven Grant,” He held out his hand for the woman—who graciously took it. Proposing it like a business deal was helpful. Looking up ‘first-date’ conversation topics earlier in the day was also helpful. Most of the topics covered on the sites did not apply, but the thought of asking such generic questions like ‘What do you like to do on weekends’ and ‘What’s your favorite movie line’ was funny. (As far as Steven was concerned, his favorite thing to do on the weekend was to make a morning coffee and his favorite movie line was ‘Do or do not, there is no try.’)

“Greer. Grant-” She mumbled before the last part, “Nelson.”

Steven had the upper hand in this ‘not a date’ first date, because he actually knew some things about her, “How’s William doing?”

She laughed, tail playfully flicking almost distractingly, “Oh, he’s doing well! He actually tried faking being sick today and that’s what took me so long getting here.” He laughed along with her, watching her tense stature drop from talking about her kid. “What they don’t tell you about being a parent,” Greer smiled back at him, “Is that one day they’re going to use all the same tricks in the book that you thought you were so smart for coming up with at that age.”

Steven leaned in like what he was saying was a secret, “I don’t think I ever did that as a kid. If I wanted to skip, I’d just say I was going to class and then not go.” He yawned; that early morning call time was a pain in the ass—thanks, Jake.

She rested an elbow on the table and leaned her head on a hand. Greer had an intense gaze to her, whether she meant to or not. The lingering eye contact was getting Steven hot, likely from the embarrassment of being looked at so hard. He questioned if she was feeling nervous too and was just better at hiding it. “Yeah, it was a lot easier to do that when we were kids. Now the school just calls me if he’s not there,” She pursed her lips and then gritted her teeth against each other which was only made more obvious by the fangs in her mouth, “Which by the way, they do even if I’ve already excused him from the absence. What’s the point right?” 

Steven laughed, “Yeah, that’s strange. Why would they do that?”

“I have absolutely no clue how that works,” She snickered.

Kids were another thing that he had on his mind quite frequently. Steven couldn’t recall a time that he thought he ever wanted kids; they were a lot of work and time that he would’ve preferred going into a partner and his career. Diatrice was unplanned, but not unwelcomed. The few times he was able to see her were shorter than the fleeting moments he got to see Marlene. In that way, the three of them—Marc, Jake, and him—were all fighting for those chances to see her. He briefly joined for ice cream, but that was about as much as he got in the last time he saw her. It was fun though, seeing her older and with that same strong spirit and personality she had the last time he’d seen her.

His mouth was dry. The table had a definite lack of drinks and the serving staff were cautiously eyeing the pair, probably wondering when either of them would pay for anything. “Drinks and breakfast are on me,” Steven smiled, brushing off the bitter taste in his mouth, “Since I asked you out here.”

-

It didn’t take long for the ‘not-date’ to transfer from an average sit-down cafe conversation to a walk around the downtown: a sign that it was going well. It was obvious that this was the first time either of them had done something like this. Awkward conversation drops and difficult times were deciding what would be fun for the both of them. Even if Greer and Marc were technically official, they’d never once ‘put down the mask’ to pursue a romantic endeavor as simple as a formal date. They were all spontaneous ones (if you counted them as dates considering you could count the number of times that happened on your hand).

Jake and Marc had also intended on joining in the conversation even if it was one-sided and only Steven could hear them. Though, to say he heard them was an overstatement. Steven heard brief glimpses of their conversation while he focused on his own with Tigra. Occasionally, their topic would be too loud to ignore and he’d have to readjust himself back. Excitement, nerves, all three of them were feeling it; the spectrum of emotions you’d expect out of a good date.

Now, it was due time for lunch, but they both agreed there was no need to sit down for something again if they’d already had a large breakfast. Neither of them were native New Yorkers so they’d have to search for something to eat anyway. The only reason they ended up at the French-style cafe anyway was because Jake said ‘A friend told me it was good’ and Steven was inclined to trust his word.

What time is it? That was Marc. Why? Do you have important plans? That was Jake.

Steven clenched his eyes a couple of times to ignore them, but their voices were still breaking closer to him than he’d like.

Just give me the time.

Do I look like I know what time it is?

Steven paused, thinking of what to do. “Tigra, can we-?” He said as he flagged her down to stop before correcting it to, “Greer?” It was the first time in the whole date that they successfully distracted him enough to have him fully stop in the middle of what he and Greer were doing.

As she stopped, Steven pulled out his phone and checked the time. He pursed his lips at the cracked screen and murmured a small, but audibly snarky, “Are you happy?” It was just past 1:30; they had been out for nearly 3 hours at this point.

Marc looked up from the phone. A careful switch pulled Steven out of the speaking role for a moment, “Greer, doesn’t his school day end at 2?”

Greer blinked, readjusting herself to Marc, and then comprehended the actual words he was saying. “Oh shit, dammit- You’re right,” Her eyes shot wide, pulled out her phone and finicking with it for a moment (presumably opening Google Maps), “We need to haul ass to the car if I’m going to get there on time.” She didn’t even ask permission before yanking Marc’s—or Steven’s?-- arm and forcing him to run with her to the car.

Her eyes remained on the phone while they booked it back to her car, pushing past pedestrians and other couples trying to enjoy their day downtown. They probably were thinking ‘Why is this were-woman ex-Avengers superhero and this ordinary-looking man dressed in a polo and owner of the biggest eye bags you’d ever seen running with such ferocity at 1 o’clock in the afternoon’ (or at least that’s what he would’ve been thinking). They were able to cut the estimated arrival time in half by the time that they got to the car.

Steven hopped into the passenger’s and Greer into the driver’s. She quickly made what was probably an almost illegal turn out of her spot in the rush. In the meanwhile, Steven just realized that he could’ve very easily said goodbye to her then and not joined her in picking up her kid. The sound of the car ringing reminding him of his seatbelt was going off so he quickly put it on in fear of Greer’s driving abilities at the current moment.

Once they hit a stoplight, there was finally room to breath in the car. They’d be a little late for regular pickup, but the traffic around school pickups was long enough that William probably wouldn’t even notice anyway. Greer broke the silence with an uncomfortable laugh, “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Did you want to come pick him up with me?”

Well, he was already in it now. “I don’t mind as long as you can drop me off back at the mission afterward,” Steven shook his head, trying his best to seem as genuine as he could. It wasn’t even like he disliked the idea; he just hadn’t prepared for it and the spontaneity in plans was reminding him too much of a date that was better suited to Marc. That’s what happens when couples are made official though; they were allowed to be spontaneous (at least that’s what he thought even though he couldn’t name a single time he and Marlene did something outside of the box). He stretched his neck in the process, releasing a bit of pressure.

She nodded. The stoplight was going on longer than anticipated. She opened the conversation again, “Should I say a ‘hello’ to Marc now? —Thanks for reminding me. That would’ve been a nightmare.”

He blinked, “Oh, yes, right. You can say hello.”

“Hello,” Greer said, eyes fixated on the traffic light, “Welcome to Steven and I’s date.” Oh, so it is a date now. Steven readjusted again. Always was, Steven.

“Would you quit that?” A barely audible mumble flew out of him with total disregard that there was anyone else in the room (car?) with him. Greer’s eyes peeled from the red light to Steven who was visibly mentally cursing himself.

When she started driving, she spoke casually, “I’m thinking that wasn’t at me?”

Steven paled, “No. That was not at you.” She giggled as he continued, “Jake is just being Jake. I’m- He’s just teasing me. Though, that sounds juvenile when I use that word, doesn’t it?”

“Eh, juvenile is okay sometimes. Mind me asking what he’s teasing about?” His silence was telling as he took off his tie and shoved it into his front pocket. All she could do in response to that was smirk knowing it was definitely about her. They were pulling into the school parking lot and she took off her seatbelt.

Steven gave her a look and then she started, “I have to go in and sign him out if he’s getting picked up. You can come in with me or stay out here. He’s going to see you anyway.” He only replied with a nod, fidgeting the seat belt off of him and stepping outside to join her. The two of them were both clearly on a date; their presentation told a story even if Steven had done a bit more to make himself look presentable. Greer was wearing less date-specific clothes, but her hair was still done well and her makeup (as much as she could do) had more effort than normal.

As they entered the building, Tigra signed off on a little form to check herself in and then waited. Steven watched other groups of parents arrive and chat amongst themselves. Greer seemed to be the only parent without an associated buddy or group to be there, other than Steven of course. He also watched kids come out with their parents, each group breaking off into splinters as they left the building.

That was until an older-looking mother (a grandparent, perhaps) approached the two of them with a bright and energetic, “Oh, I didn’t know you were dating! Who’s the lucky guy?” She was the short, bubbly type.

Greer seemed to know her well enough because all she did was awkwardly cross her arms off her chest and smile, “This is M- Steven!”

“Hello!” Steven held a hand out for the woman and nodded, “Nice to meet you.”

She shook his hand warmly and then looked back around, “Well, you two have a nice day. I see my little Mia waiting for me. Oh! And William too.”

William darted through the other kids and bee-lined for the both of them. He didn’t notice Steven at first, probably because he was so used to seeing him with the Mr. Knight get-up on. Rocking side to side, he hugged Greer’s knees as she messed the hair atop his head. Steven just padded his time awkwardly by patting his legs idly. Eventually, they had their mother-son greetings and packed up into the car.

Now, William felt the need to acknowledge Steven. “Hi, Marc!” He waved from the backseat.

Steven didn’t feel the need to correct him, but again, Greer gave a casual, “Steven, baby.”

“Hi, Steven!”

Steven shot a glance to Greer who was not paying attention to him whatsoever as she drove a regular speed back towards the mission. He sunk into the passenger seat and looked out the window. Back to looking at his reflection. Since when did we have good taste in women?

-

Steven spun around in his office chair, knowing that Marc was getting back into his suit that Steven promised he’d take to dry cleaning that day while they were on their date. They completely forgot about the suit until they got a call reminder to pick it up. The reason that Marc was so attached to a dump, ill-fitted suit was beyond him, but he had no room to judge. He acknowledged that his taste was expensive, but at least he was good with money.

The date energy still lingered in their body as they changed wardrobes for the day. They were in good enough of a mood that they could convince Marc of all people to lay down and take a nap after the date. Now it was night and they were back in the swing of things. The tune of an 80s song hummed out of Marc’s mouth while he buttoned his vest back into place.

From another monitor—if only Marc was daring enough to talk with any therapist about their very well imagined ‘quarters’ that they resided in their minds—Jake spoke to Steven directly rather than blasting their whole conversation to Marc who was probably unaware Steven was even paying attention to him (or affecting his mood).

“You hear him? He’s humming Lips Like Sugar. That’s the best mood I’ve seen him in since he came home saying he had a girlfriend.” He was one to talk because they were evidently all in a good mood.

Steven spun his chair away from looking at Jake directly and instead looked at the unchanging sunny city backdrop behind him. He shrugged his shoulder, “I suppose that’s a success.”

He couldn’t see Jake, but he heard his words, “You’re quiet. Usually, you have more to say to me than that, fat cat.”

Spinning around to look at Jake’s face when he talked to him, he turned off the connection between him and Marc (probably ruining a little bit of Marc’s mood in the process, but that was an aside). He didn’t want to have Marc hear him talk about this, as selfish as that thought was. “The date went well,” He was trying not to get himself too giddy talking about it which just resulted in a sigh, “I had a good time and I’m glad we all got some fun out of it.”

Jake lifted his head so Steven could see the full look in his eyes. All they said was ‘go on’.

Steven chuckled, “Mmph. Since you’re so curious about how I feel, I’ll say it. I like her a lot. This was probably the best idea I’ve had in the past year -and I’m glad you helped me set it up.” He rolled his eyes.

Jake smirked, “There it is.”

He leaned way close into the monitor to look at Jake, face nearly pressed against the plastic-y surface (something which he did in the real world all too much), and furrowed his eyebrows jokingly, “Don’t you have strippers to attend to? I’m trying to make sure that Marc doesn’t do anything stupid today.”

“Yeesh, talk about a stick up the ass. Let him make his own decisions tonight,” Jake joked back and leaned away from Steven’s end of the camera.

It was a joke, sure, but Steven reflected on the idea. He was right. Marc could make his own decisions tonight. He didn’t trust Marc as much as he’d like, but all this morning told him was that he knew how to choose his (girl)friends well. Who knows? Maybe Steven just wanted a break and to think about Greer for a little bit longer? That was a nice thought.

Chapter Text

The pen sat still on the notecard while he thought of what to say. Marc was bent into an uncomfortable position, leaning over the small coffee table by his chair. Off to the side of the notecard was a list of people and their addresses—or public addresses because finding someone’s PO box was much easier than finding their house. For every person he was unsure of how to contact by post, he just penned ‘Avengers compound?’ next to their name. He dug his nails around the pen; he could probably ask Greer to fill in the blanks when he was done. 

The only cards he managed to finish were Ben’s and Clint’s. His first attempt was to go straight to Steve after Ben, but nothing was coming out genuine and nobody wanted a card where half the words were crossed out. After tossing that ruined card, he furrowed his brows underneath the mask. Nothing was getting done. By now, the person he was when he came up with the idea of writing ‘thank you’ cards was long gone. 

Once Marc was getting to the point of genuine frustration at the lack of focus, he dropped the pen and decided to walk around the house. 

Stopping by the main lobby, Marc caught a glimpse of Reese sitting behind her desk. He paused to look at her with a mug in his hand, “You’re here early.” 

Reese seemed to have seen him before she actually heard him, “I could say the same to you.” She flicked her head back at him, pulled an earbud out of her ear, and flashed her computer screen at him in one fluid motion. The screen was split, one side some document with math symbols and the other being a video with the same ones. She shook her head, “I just wanted to get some homework done before we opened up.”

Marc nodded, understanding the reasoning, and leaned against one of the lockers. The whole house was quiet aside from her typing and neither of them seemed ready to jump into conversation. He appreciated the empty silence though, rolling out his neck in between sips of his drink.

Not looking up from her computer, Reese spoke in a casual, almost-singsong-like voice, “Tigra told me your date the other day went well.”

He choked and pulled the mask back up when he was sure that he swallowed all of his coffee so he didn’t risk spitting it out and staining something, “Why is- Actually, I won’t ask why she’s telling you about our dates.”

“She just said it went well,” She shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Marc who was hiding under his mask again. He should’ve expected the teasing when his team consisted of a few teenagers and Tigra—who on first meeting in years decided to tease him in front of a teenager. All he could respond with was a sigh and a half-assed frown that was covered anyway. The fact that his biggest worry at the current moment was getting annoyed at light teasing by a teenage girl for going on a date was somewhat of an accomplishment considering his record. Hell, he just came back from what he thought was permanent death; he could handle at least that much.

After more prolonged, comfortable silence, his phone buzzed to the tune of his alarm. It took a moment to pull the gloves off. Eventually, he swiped the off to the alarm and shoved it back into his back pocket. “Who was that?” She still did not look up from her computer.

He shook his head, “Just an alarm to get up.” 

“At-” Reese extended the word as she looked at the clock on her computer, “-6 PM at night?”

“Remember that conversation we had about how I liked that you didn’t try to change me-”

She chuckled under her breath and shook her head, “I never said you needed to fix that.”

“Touché.”

After the brief conversation, Reese slid her earbud back into her empty ear to watch her video again. The clock ticked as Marc leaned against the locker, watching her complete her homework in silence while silently trying to figure out some of the problems for himself (like he was ever going to figure out college math). Don’t we have thank you cards to write?  

“Right, yeah-” He mumbled and rolled his eyes. He’d cleared his head so much that he’d forgotten why he came out here in the first place. 

She slipped the earbud out of her ear and turned to him, “Were you saying anything or am I just hearing stuff?”

Marc sighed and murmured, “Talking to Steven.”

All she replied with was a glance of acknowledgment and a curt nod.

Even just a month previous, the idea of breaching that subject with her was out of the question. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of his condition (at least consciously—there was plenty of evidence of it being a subconscious fear of his), but having at least one person who didn’t know was refreshing. He couldn’t help but feel a little irritated about how that information slipped out of him. Steven was the last person he assumed to reveal it anyway. It was going to come out eventually, but it was the manner in which it was revealed that had really ticked him off in the long run. Being the way she was though, Reese seemed to be respectful enough; that was all he could ask for. 

His thoughts drifted. The date now came to mind. 

Steven made a big stink about it not being a date, but by the end of it, it seemed pretty obvious that they all considered it a date. A sinking feeling was eating at his stomach and he did not like it. The feeling itself almost burned.

He looked at the ground. The thought of that feeling being jealousy didn’t even cross his mind.

“What did you want to say to Bobbi?” Steven held a chopstick holding a veggie pot sticker in one hand and a pen in the other, “-Who’s Bobbi again?”

Mockingbird: We worked in the Avengers together and had our own team for a couple months.

“Right,” He said despite not recalling the name at all. He took a bite, still holding the pen in the same spot in the air. He waited for an answer before eventually putting the pen down with a sigh, “You know I can’t write these if you’re not going to give me anything to work with, Marc.”

Give me a minute. I’m thinking.

They were back to struggling with the cards but with takeout this time. Steven snuck a glance at the front of the card, a black one with a little sun printed on the face of it (the irony was not lost on him). It was a good gesture, he thought, to send cards to everyone who came to honor him after his death. A couple of the people on the list were unfamiliar to Steven on a personal level, but the fact that they chose to take time out of their day was well appreciated despite not originally wanting a funeral. Technically, there was no funeral so they still abided by what Marc wanted in their own way.

Tell her He paused ‘I don’t like working in teams, but I enjoyed my time with her and Greer’. 

Thinking on it for a moment, Steven penned down what he thought best (a more polite rephrasing of what he said). Marc narrowed his eyes sharply and shook his head back at the card, “That’s not what I said.”

Steven shoved the card into the envelope and dabbed a stamp on to it, ignoring Marc’s comment altogether and moving onto the next note. “Strange, hmph-” He jerked his head looking at the card, and put down the chopstick, “Look, I actually know that one. Well, assuming that Stephen is Dr. Strange and Clea is his wife?” 

Their conversation wasn’t going anywhere. The tension between them was sharp enough to undull a knife. There was something dangerously off in the mood. Sitting on those unspoken thoughts forever would end in a dramatic problem and they both knew it. Steven leaned back into the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He wouldn’t be writing thank you cards any time soon if Marc wasn’t going to speak to him.

“Tell me what’s on your mind—and don’t tell me I’m ‘interfering with business’ or anything like that, because we agreed that we were going to do things together from now on.” It felt strange to have this conversation being the one in front. Normally, he’d be sitting in his skylined office, idly sorting through files with no papers in them while talking. Here, in the real world, he felt strangely unoccupied. He had no idea where to put his hands. “I’m not trying to break any boundaries, but if this is about the other day-”

Marc cut him off before he could get the rest of his sentence out. Steven tried to imagine a conceptual space that Marc resided in, but it all came blank aside from his voice echoing from within him. You know this is about the date.

“And you know that I never planned for it to be one. I just wanted to get to know her for your sake, ” He pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured his other hand at seemingly nothing. 

I understand that Steven, but I think you’re failing to realize that this is all I have. Steven could only reply with a grunt, pressing the tips of his fingers together, and raising an eyebrow to keep Marc going. You’re a version of me that people like and for good reason. There is no reason for anyone to be around Marc Spector if they can just be around you or Jake or Moon Knight. Greer likes me for me and I don’t want you interfering with that.

Steven groaned, trying to come up with a rebuttal that didn’t boil down to ‘maybe people would like you better if you weren’t such a self-loathing prick’. 

“Marc,” He picked up the card addressed to Ben and put his legs up on the table, “I know you hate hearing this, but have you considered that maybe the problem is not that people don’t like you, but that you just can’t tell when people do? C’mon, you have a whole list of people who care about you right in front of you. So many people who took time out of their day to remember us— you when you died. They didn’t come for Jake and me; they came for you Marc and you need to remember that.”

Silence.
Steven sighed again and leaned back into the seat, “If you want me to stop talking to Greer, I can do that, but it doesn’t mean that I’ll like it.” 

No, you’re right. You’re right. I can’t- stop you from talking to her.

Steven recalled a similar feeling from back when they were dating Marlene. For a long time, Marlene only saw them as ‘Steven’ even when it was clearly not him. That association drove him crazy; at the time, he only saw Marc as simply the worst part of himself. He was something he thought he could get rid of if he tried hard enough. It almost felt like the reverse these days, being pushed aside while he was forced to watch Marc make one terrible decision after another. Steven blamed himself for the fear that Marc had—the fear that, no matter what, he was just going to hurt someone just by being himself. 

“You have plenty of great people around you, Marc,” Steven set Ben’s thank you card back down and looked up at the Khonshu statue, “I want you to recognize that, but I also want to be a part of that. You would’ve never gotten here if you were alone.”

There was still at least a little self-awareness in Steven that knew, in reality, he just didn’t want to end up feeling alone either.

“No one’s come in yet, boss,” Reese spoke matter of factly before noticing the distinct lack of mask, “Steven?”

Considering how slow it was, it was the perfect kind of night for Jake to take the load off and work his cabbie job. That said, this conversation was too important to simply push off even if both of them (Steven and Marc respectively) were ambivalent about it. The two of them worked on a system of terms and conditions; everything worked smoother if the conditions laid out were upheld and amended as they went on with life. The times that they’d breached ‘protocol’ often just resulted in the worst-case scenario for all of them. The primary condition for this conversation went as follows: Steven was the only one allowed in front for the conversation as long as no one came into the office looking for Mr. Knight. 

“Yes, actually. You catch on fast,” Steven gave a brief, but polite smile. Since their initial meeting, Steven was cautious about talking to her and never actually got around to it after the fact. He didn’t make a great first impression, but it was better he ruin the first impression than make Marc killing someone her last impression of them. If he recalled right, Jake had a couple opportune conversations with her at some point: an introduction, getting her into a popular nightclub with his connections somewhere along the line, the usual. Obviously, she knew Marc well enough. He exhaled sharply and sat on one of the seats across from her desk. 

“Is- Are you alright?”

Steven nodded, “I’m just fine myself. I was just thinking about things and figured that I should say my apologies for our first introduction. A re-do, if you will. I didn’t want to scare you the first time we met, but if I did, I apologize. As much as I don’t like getting caught up with the Moon Knight business these days, I still think it’s my responsibility for how I act around Marc’s-” He rubbed one of his nails against the back of his fingers. Employees? Confrères? Friends? There was no correct word to describe their relationship in his mind.

It seemed to be obvious he was stumbling, because Reese exhaled through her nose in some sort of half-confused, half-amused giggle. “It’s whatever,” She crossed her arms, “Yeah, you freaked me out a little the first time we met, but that’s not really your fault I don’t think. Thanks for the apology, I guess.” Steven swallowed back a dry mouth and looked back up at her. Her expression was unreadable to him, but from her words, it seemed like there was no harm done. 

Were teenagers always this indifferent or did her being a vampire make it easier for her to smell the fear of rejection coming off of him? Though he couldn’t answer that himself, he did muse in his head, I wouldn’t have wound myself up so much if I knew she was going to be so blasé about it.

Mm- She isn’t always like that, but she’s a good kid so. Marc responded with a quiet overtone of content. 

You know, Marc? I think we can change the conditions for the conversation now. Steven paused You can jump in to, if you’d like.