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John didn’t know having a boyfriend felt so good and exciting.
If he knew, he would’ve snatched up Hughie earlier.
Moving Hughie into the tower wasn’t much of a hassle. The man didn’t put up much of a fight in the end, just like how John liked—he learned to be pliant and docile, a good boy broken in already and house trained. A bit of a fight in the beginning, but showed his true submissiveness, as always. Hughie kept babbling, saying how he liked his flat, how they seemed to be moving a bit fast, how he needed a little space for himself, blah blah blah. John assured Hughie he’d have some of his privacy still, and he’d have everything he liked.
When Hughie first arrived, he was pretty taken aback. He’d never been inside Johns home before, but he saw the inside of Starlights flat in the Tower, but this was different. Starlights felt a bit more modest and normal, however, Homelander was not modest or normal.
“Wow...” He looked around. John liked to think he was admiring the decor, and not judging his interior design taste. The paintings, marble busts, American flags, sleek furniture and beige colors, and books galore, modern and all up Johns alley. Of course, Hughie wouldn’t be used to huge things, he grew up pretty middle class in his dads house—probably surrounded by trash and given thrifted clothes off a single dads budget. Even when he worked with Vicky, John considered Hughie to not be too well off, even when he was. Modesty was his strong suit, and that’s what John loved about him. He should probably show him how to use the bidet…
“Like it?” John cocked an eyebrow and beamed with pride. “Mhm. Didn’t know you lived in The Smithsonian.” Hughie tried to joke, which made John roll his eyes and sigh. He was trying to be good here, and Hughie was trying to get on his nerves. Which he should’ve known by now not to. “I’ve even got you some housewarming gifts.” John gestured over to a vinyl collection, with all of Hughies favorites.
Hughie eagerly checked the records out and Homelander kept smiling at how happy he was making him. “You really didn’t have to do this, I’ve been building my collection on my own..” he must’ve felt pretty guilty at all the things John was getting just for him, even if it was just a drop in the bucket for the supe. Maeve felt the same when she first started dating him, even when she had all the riches in the world too.
“No no, really, you deserve the best.” John patted Hughies back and eagerly turned away, pointing lazily to some gifts on a tucked-away table. “And I figured I should get you these..” John tried to sound nonchalant. Hughie perked up, the first thing he noticed was the giant wine bottle in a bucket of half-melted ice—disappointing, he wasn’t a big drinker—but then there it was, a brand new vPhone with vPods. “A new phone?” He walked over and picked up the box it was in, smiling a little. “You really don’t have to get that, I was just about to buy one today.” Homelander had Hughies phone mysteriously disappear after he dumped Starlight. He seemed pretty panicked at first about it since he wouldn’t be able to text Homelander back—never mind texting his dad or William Butcher. But the supe reassured him it would all work out. Plus, he didn’t need all that extra stress from his damn ex trying to contact him, he was with John now.
“You were running around like a chicken with its head cut off without one, and I missed you, so..” John grinned as he walked up next to Hughie. He was so cute when he was trying to go ‘You didn’t need to’. He sure didn’t go ‘you don’t need to’ when asking Starlight for a pass to see him and Ezekiel. That was the difference between Homelander and Starlight, he was just…using Starlight. It wasn’t fair, but here, Hughie and John were as equal as they could come.
Starlight and Hughies relationship was founded on lies. What John and Hughie had? It was real. God, he had to stop thinking about her, that conniving bitch.
“Noticeee..anything else?” John said in a sing-songy voice.
“Oh!” Hughie looked over at the plastic box that was next to the wine. It was a funko pop, specifically of the supe next to him. “Oh.” He chuckled and looked at it some more, then his eyes popped open. “Holy shit.” He was quiet for a moment while John nodded his blond head. “Isn’t this one of the twenty that got handed out back in 2013?” John knew that his boy had been searching for one of these like the proper fan he was, it was like some white whale for him. Always out of reach, til now, thanks to John. It was so cute too, he’d never thought so before but now that he was dating The Homelander, it had a brand new charm to it. “Thank you!” Hughie gave a laugh of disbelief as he held the box and looked at it like it was some shining crystal ball. Not even a hug? Whatever.
“You’re welcome, champ.” It sounded like John was more like talking to his son than with a romantic partner. One of Johns shoulder eagles nudged against Hughie, poking into his skin. “C'mon..” his gloved hand snaked around his waist, ripping the other man’s attention away from the collectible and sending shivers up his spine.
Guiding Hughie up to the bedroom like a shepherd with his lost lamb, John felt pure joy…it was like plopping a new puppy in your home and watching it sniff around. “I even got you your own closet installed.” He loved touring Hughie around his pad, he loved showing off everything he was proud of and everything Hughie would too. “Check it out.” He stood back to watch the other man’s reaction, crossing his arms. Hughie looked at the massive bed and saw the American flag sheets.
“Huh.” Hughie scratched his forehead, his smile soft.
“What’s wrong?” Homelanders smile faltered.
“We’re sleeping in the same bed,” Hughie said as if he wasn’t expecting that.
“And..?” Homelanders voice trailed off. Sure their life would be as sitcommy, cheesy, and cute as it would get between husband and wife, but it wasn’t the 50s anymore—couples are allowed to sleep in the same bed now.
“I just um, sorry, I kinda misunderstood, I just assumed when you said I’d have my own space that I’d have my own bedroom or bed or..cuz of the guest bedroom…” Hughie was getting a little awkward, his eyes glancing away from John.
“Yeah, looks like you did.” Homelander sighed, coming down from his high slightly. The guest bedroom was for someone else—Ryan, someone Hughie would have to love. Then, they’d be complete. “It’s big enough where you won’t have to touch me, lucky you.” His smile was dropping and his eagle-clad shoulders rolled a little in irritation, no no he couldn’t get mad on such a happy day…Hughie quickly tried to fix this, lucky him, he was so perceptive to how John felt.
“B-But it’s okay! I can sleep with you. Really. We’ve done it before.” Hughie chuckled, mostly nervous. “I’m fine with it.” He walked up to John and the supe allowed his gloved hands to be pulled out from their crossed position, gently held in Hughies sweaty ones. “Really. It was kinda dumb to not think we’d share a bed.” He gave a reassuring squeeze and smile, then leaned in to kiss John. The supe smiled against his lips and kissed back, gripping his hands and pulling him close. His high was coming back now, Hughie was such a good boy.
John pulled away from the kiss and pressed his lips against the thumping of Hughies carotid artery, then his ear. “I know.” He replied and chuckled deeply. That got Hughies heart flittering harder, and it got John laughing. Hughie was so cute when he was embarrassed—or was he scared? Ah, who gives a shit. “For a nerd, you are pretty dumb sometimes.” Homelander patted Hughies shoulder roughly and turned him around to one of the closets. Hughie didn’t really have enough time to take offense to that, or correct him and say ‘geek’, but Homelander didn’t care for the difference.
“Go look in your closet.” The supe leaned in to whisper again, excitedly.
Hughie paused before stepping forward, then opened the closet door. Of course it was a walk-in closet, filled with all new clothes. They weren’t picked out by John though, he told an assistant to go get something with ‘Hughie vibes’. The brunet looked around some more and filtered through the clothes, he couldn’t drop his smile.
“Wow, I—I, John, I have my own wardrobe,” Hughie informed as if he didn’t know.
“I figured you could use some new clothes, since we can’t go out shopping together, I did it for you,” Homelander said, proud.
“It’s so full, I wonder where I’ll put my suits..” Hughie wondered out loud, still looking around.
“What suits?” John blinked, making the other man turn and look at him curiously.
“The ones I wear for work.” He answered.
“You don’t need them,” Homelander replied, making the other man chuckle a little. Clearly expecting a ‘you look good in everything’ that never came. Hughie paused and looked back at the supe, furrowing his brow. He knew John, it’s part of why the supe loved him so much.
“Why..?” Hughie cautiously asked, getting a mischievous grin in return.
“Cause you quit. Remember?” Homelander said as if it was obvious.
“No, I..” Hughie blinked and his wide confused eyes slowly turned into worry and anger. “What? I can’t—you can’t just make me quit! I’m not some puppet, John.”
“Hughie, relax.” Homelander walked up to him and offered a little pat on the shoulder. “You don’t need to work anymore! You have me! You won’t have to lift a finger ever again.” He didn’t know why humans worked so much and so hard, it was overrated. “Besides, Neumans not gonna let you back in on account of us being together. Conflict of interest, and all that jazz.” He puffed and rolled his eyes. Hughies heart rate was getting faster and faster, his face slowly turning a shade of red as all he could do was stare at Homelander. He just..how could he?
Well. He could do anything he wanted. He was Homelander, after all. Hughie should be grateful. Down on his knees.
“Hughie, relax!” Homelander repeated as if Hughie was already yelling at him. “Shouldn’t you be happy?” He raised his eyebrows quizzically, which got Hughies eyes darting to the floor. The hand on the brunets shoulder gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance, but it didn’t help. He should be happy. But it just felt wrong.
“I-I liked my job.” Hughie stammered, that’s all he could say.
“Oh you did, did you?” Homelanders voice got gentle. The bad kind. Hughies eyes kept looking away, and he felt the pressure on his shoulder increase. “Campbell. Look at me.” The supes tone warned the younger man of danger, so, Hughie looked back at his face reluctantly. “You were working against me.”
Hughies brows knitted together immediately. “What? N-no I—“
“I’m talking.” Homelanders blue eyes bore into Hughies, predatory and dangerous. That quickly shut Hughie up, making him break into a sweat he could already feel running down his back. “You were working with those, those ah..how do I say it without offending you, mortals, to damage the reputation and safety of my kind. And before that, you were working with William Butcher, don’t think I forgot about that.” Homelander tilted his head slightly, his grip on Hughie increased into making him wince and hiss in pain.
“J-John, you’re hurting me.”
“How do you think I felt seeing you like that? It broke my heart, to see you degrade yourself and try to hurt me. You’re lucky you have me. That I saved you that night.” Homelander tsked, while Hughie was trying to squirm out his grip like he was caught in a trap. What? What was he exactly talking about? The first night they were together. Hughie didn’t really like thinking about that. And Homelander could tell, seeing the guilt and fear build up in his baby blue eyes quickly. “Right?” Homelander sook out Hughies small voice.
“Right..” All Hughie could do was agree.
A flip switched and Homelander let go of his shoulder, the supe grinned and gently pulled Hughie into a little hug. “Don’t be sad.” His cheek brushed against the scruffy younger man’s, then he kissed on his neck before pulling away. “That means we get to spend all the time we want together. You don’t have to work, so you can do anything you want to.” He offered a reassuring smile to Hughie, but then it faltered and his eyes glanced away in thought. “Well, almost anything. We’ll go over the rules.” He brought up casually.
“Rules?” Hughie could probably feel himself aging more at the mention of that, gaining another wrinkle to his browline. Yes, rules.
“You think dating the worlds most powerful man doesn’t come with some rules? We gotta keep you, my most precious asset,” John booped Hughies nose. “Safe and sound. And not every house comes without house rules.” Hughie could feel himself warm at the mention of being Johns precious thing, not to be harmed. But..this was gonna take some getting used to. He should’ve suggested some kind of weaning period where he’d visit Homelander more and get used to how things operated, not just be thrust into it all at once.
“So wait…keep me safe? Does this mean you’re gonna..announce us?” Hughie blinked.
Homelander just stared at him for a second and then stifled a laugh, his lips barely pulling up to indicate a smile. “Hughie. You really are stupid sometimes.”
Right, his fan base. They’d never like this. Homelander was in a gay relationship, especially when he was supposed to be dating Starlight. And it was Starlights ex? What a PR nightmare. Hughie had never been a secret before. Maybe it could be a little exciting? This wasn’t fair though. Homelander was his secret for so long, and he forced him to come out with this, but..the supe was never gonna do this. Hughie didn’t have much time to dwell on this before Homelander was headed back downstairs. “Let’s go set up your new phone, nerd.” He playfully called out.
Hughie rolled his aching shoulder, and followed.
A shiny new toy in Hughies palm, it had all the bells and whistles. Hughie thought he had an alright phone, he chose longevity and quality over quantity. He’d try and wear his phones out before getting a new one, so it was weird being gifted another from Homelander. But he should expect plenty more gifts from him, it’s what boyfriends do, give each other gifts. They were both sat on the couch, Homelander having his feet propped up and watching Hughie like he was a fish in a tank. Hughie was hunched over his new phone, not leaning into Homelanders touch at the moment.
“Untraceable, unhackable too. It’s just like my phone. Way better than what you used to have, just only use this one, I don’t want you compromised.” John advised, Hughie nodded as he scrolled through to try and add his contacts.
“Thank you! Uh..” he frowned gently.
“Hm?” John hummed.
“It’s not letting me add anyone.” Hughie meant to try and type in Anthony’s phone number, but he was getting stonewalled.
“Oh, that’s just the security measures. You’re only allowed to text or call your dad, the front desk, or IT. You’ll have to ask me if you wanna add anyone new.”
Hughies head tilted up and he furrowed his brow at Homelander.
“Well, obviously you can add your little friends later! Don’t worry. We just need to look into them and see if they’re trustworthy enough.” Homelander was referring to Hughies friends who weren't the Boys, which weren’t a lot…he had Anthony, but he was upset from getting ghosted so much after Hughie joined William.
“Trustworthy? So does this mean-“
“Yes, you’re not talking to Williams little gang ever again.” The corner of Homelanders mouth tugged in a ‘what can you do’ way.
“You..what? No, I..they’re fine! Nothing bad will happen.” Hughie weakly argued, sighed, getting more worn down the longer he was in Homelanders flat. “Hughie, you can’t be serious.” Homelander scoffed. “William wants me fucking gone. They’re going to manipulate you for information, you really still want to be friends with those people? As if they even think you’re their friend.” The supes glove creaked as he squeezed it into a fist for a moment. “And to be honest, it’s not just them I’m worried about.” A moment of silence.
“..what’s that supposed to mean?” Hughie frowned.
“Well, even though we’ve been together so long, we’re just now getting serious. I know you, inside and out, but I don’t know you exactly. Who knows, you could be manipulating me for information.” Homelander glanced away, and Hughie felt his heart flop around in his chest.
“I-I’m not like that.” Hughie stuttered and frowned even more.
“Not anymore?” Homelander looked back at Hughie with an unreadable expression, another beat of silence, and then he smiled. He could smell more and more sweat seep from Hughie, he knew his human wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. But he liked to do this to him.
“I love you. You know that.” Hughie urged, empty words coming from an empty man.
The supe nodded gently, still smiling then pulled his feet off the table. “Alrighty then.” He replied and reached up to his chest to unclasp the front flap of his suit. Hughie raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a packet of papers he stashed in there for later, his red glove sliding them over the glass table. “Just sign these, and I won’t have to worry.”
Hughies eyebrows knitted together as he looked down at the papers. “And these are..”
“Just a couple of contracts. An NDA and some other one.” Homelander replied casually.
Hughie took the papers into his hands and flipped through them, the NDA seemed fine and formal enough, but some other document caught his eye. “What..what the hell is this?” He questioned, holding up the packet, his confusion and worry growing with his knitted-together eyebrows.
“Oh! It’s just a little contract about our rules, if you wanna be in a relationship with me and stay in the penthouse.” Homelander gave a quick nod. “Of course, it’s nothing I can sue you for, I’m not gonna take you to court for forgetting to put away the dishes.” The blond chuckled, his fingers strumming lightly on his thigh as he watched Hughies eyes grow more concerned as he read.
“W-what..what is..” Hughie more mumbled to himself than to Homelander. Poor guy couldn’t wrap his head around it all, but basic house rules must be in order for him to be in order. “I-is this some joke?” He looked up at John with some irritation in his eyes. “Did you watch 50 Shades of Grey or some shit before making this?”
“I didn’t.” Homelander blinked. “Is that a good movie? Maybe we should watch it sometime together.” He mused, he’s heard about that movie a lot, that Christian Grey guy sounded like an inspiration for all men. Not Hughie though, he was never meant to rise to any level above his lowly job at a Frys knockoff. The younger mans eyes darted back down to the pages, scrolling over all the contradicting and oppressive rules left for him—Homelander thought it was best to handle him with a firm hand always, he always has to know who’s wearing the pants here. “This is all just a formality, no need to worry about all of it.”
“I have a curfew.”
“Yes.”
“I’m..!” Hughie gave an exasperated sigh, his brow furrowed and his ears getting hot with anger. “I’m not a teenager, I’m a grown man, John, you can’t lock me in here.” Of course he had a curfew, why should Homelander let him roam the dangerous streets? The little rabbit was under threat of any predators coming to whisk him away, like Williams’ boys club.
“Of course you’re a grown man. I'm not locking you in here, you’re free to leave any time you want.” Was something Hughie didn’t expect to come out of Johns mouth. He was stunned for a moment and blinked, what, did he just expect John to just lock him in a dungeon? Some room at the highest point of the tallest tower? He should, Hughie was valuable, but that wasn’t a proper relationship, no. Hughie had to be free to spread the hollow little bones in his wings. “Why are you giving me that look? I’m not some monster, Campbell.”
Hughie snorted hearing that, and Homelanders eye twitched.
“You’re free to leave or disobey any of the rules I have on your contract.”
“Or..?” Hughie tested the waters.
“Or else you wind up on the fucking streets and I leave you in the dust.” That made Hughies heart get going, he could peer into the younger man’s chest and see it pump faster and faster. He wouldn’t kill him. Just. Abandon him. “I can leave you alone, you won’t have to deal with us anymore.” Whether Homelander was telling the truth, neither of them knew. “And I can leave you to pick up the pieces while your little friends and girlfriend question ‘Oh what the fuck happened?’ ‘You were fucking Homelander? You fucking traitorous snake’, ‘you left us for Homelander, how can we ever trust or love you again?’ I’ll tell you darling, it won’t be pretty.” Homelander scoffed and raised his eyebrows, he leaned his hand in and rubbed over Hughies bruised thigh, slow and firm. His pet flinched at the little touch, but seemed to welcome it after a second. “Who will you have left, I wonder…? Your dad?” Homelander tilted his head slightly, cold eyes daring Hughie to stare back. That’s right. He’d be back at square one, back to before he met William, back to when Robin died—but this time, he would’ve lost another partner.
“Y-you can’t…this..” Hughie gulped again, took a breath and sighed. His heart slowed slightly, but thrummed again with a little squeeze of his thigh—prompting him to go on. “Isn’t how healthy relationships go. You don’t give ultimatums.”
Homelanders stare at Hughie was dead-eyed, before he cracked a smile, and burst out laughing. A genuine laugh his Hughie was able to pull out of him, he was funny after all. “Hughie! Ultimatums are the foundation of our relationship! It’s how we got here, it’s how we fell in love, how we ever fucked in the first place. You were so fucking shy, I had to threaten you.” The grip on Hughies thigh got tighter, and he nearly startled away from the touch—but was like a deer in the headlights instead. “You don’t remember?”
“Stop.” Hughies voice came out shakier than intended. He seemed to want that to be a good memory, he wanted to shake off all the bad dust from it and douse it with the bright side—but Homelander reveled in the cruelty.
“What? I’m telling the truth.” A little frown tugged on Homelanders lips. “You needed to be convinced, persuaded a little. It works on a lot of people, a lot of people are nervous during their first time with me. But you warmed right up, didn’t you?” His hand went back to rubbing up and down Hughies thigh, fingertips brushing against his inner thigh, nearly touching his groin with every movement. “So let’s get one thing straight, the second you sign this document, you’re mine and I’m yours.” Hughies breath hitched and more blood began to rush to his face, his hands balled into fists on his lap. Homelander leaned in closer to his boyfriend, breath lightly fanning against his ear and thigh pressing against thigh. “If I say jump, you say ‘how high?’ And as long as you do that then, fuck, we’ll be in perfect harmony.”
Hughies eyes refused to meet Homelanders, they just looked back at the papers. “So I’ll be your puppet?”
“No, no. More like a muppet, since I’ll have my fist up your ass and all.” Homelander laughed at his own joke, and was proud to have Hughie crack a little smile. Whether at the joke, or at the absurdity of the situation, he didn’t know.
“Speaking of that,” Hughie started. “This says I have to be sexually available at all times.”
“What, can’t handle me, Campbell?” John teased a little. Hughie didn’t laugh that time.
“Just..all times? What if I say no?” The brunet cautiously asked.
“Pff. I’m not gonna rape you, I never would. I’d just be disappointed is all, that you couldn’t fulfill your duties. If I get blueballed enough, I tend to get a bit frustrated, and then…dunno, maybe you’d have to be out and I’d look for someone else less frigid.” Homelander tsked.
Hughies hands shook heading that information, his fingers creasing the papers he held. Good boy, getting jealous and anxious at even the thought of being replaced. He could never be replaced, Hughie was one of a kind. He was special…but he couldn’t truly know that.
“Go on.” Homelander purred. Hughie was looking at the papers before him like it was signing his soul away, and Homelander had red skin with horns. But he should’ve thought of it more as some sort of lease, or one of those contracts Vought always has supes sign for when they join The Seven. It was an opportunity for something higher, to elevate his life, and he was so scared to take the plunge. Why wasn’t he this scared when he joined William Butcher?
“J-John.” Hughies voice tried to break through his thoughts running wild.
“What?” Homelander sighed.
“Your hand..” The young man was wincing visibly in pain, but he looked too scared to show it almost. His brow was furrowed and he nearly looked like he wanted to turn away, to grip at Homelanders wrist and pull him off—but he wisely didn’t. Homelander could feel himself creaking bone and squishing muscle, molding fat like it was putty in his hand. Hughie was like putty in his hand, he could squish and squash him, even throw him against the wall and he’d bounce right back.
Maybe I could break his leg so he doesn’t run, Is a thought that popped into his head. And Hughie seemed to be able to read his mind on that—his heart just kept beating faster and faster.
“Gonna sign?” Homelander raised a brow, and at that, Hughies hand-made quick work of scribbling his signature on all those dotted lines. Finally, John could breathe a sigh of relief. He let up on the pressure on the brunets leg, he was tired of treating it like a stress ball. There was something else he’d rather squeeze. “Good boy.” The words rolled off his tongue like a purr, he leaned in and gave Hughies scruffy cheek a reassuring kiss—but he was still pretty stiff, everywhere except between his legs. He’d have to fix that.
“You really gotta shave soon, it’s not very professional.” John mumbled against Hughies neck, his nose brushing against stubble.
“..I thought I didn’t have a job anymore.” Hughies grumble came out as a squeak, throat vibrating against his boyfriends lips. Said lips became downturned, and John could hear his heart pick up quickly when he could feel his discomfort with that line. It must’ve come as a surprise to Hughie when John pulled away, and showed an expression of concern rather than anger and irritation.
“Hughie, what’s with the attitude?” The blond kept his concerned frown, and Hughies face started to slowly contort from one of anxiety to guilt. “I thought you were happy, you signed.”
“..I’m sorry.” Hughies eyes just seemed sad, empty.
“You were happy this morning..” John hummed softly and his lips returned to the carotid artery under Hughies skin. “Maybe I should try and make you happy again, huh?” His whisper made the other man shiver, with such a sudden movement he wanted to bite into that neck—but he didn’t need Hughie bleeding again so soon. The boy wasn’t even saying anything, just letting Johns hands travel up up to finally palm between his legs. He massaged his fingers into the material of his pants as he kept laying soft kisses along the crook of his neck, then he pulled his face back as he started to fumble with Hughies belt.
Then, paused. Hughie was still stiff, frozen like a deer in headlights, and barely able to get hard in his pants. He had that distant look in his eye like no one was behind them..this was turning into a problem. Homelander wished he could just continue as always and selfishly take pleasure for himself, but he wanted Hughie here in the moment, enjoying it with him. And he was nowhere to be found, he couldn’t at least pretend to enjoy this, he was just gone. Abandoned him like they always do-
“Hughie? Hello?” Johns voice ticked on the irritable side as he tried to snap Hughie back down from space. His pet didn’t seem to come back all the way just yet, just let out a ‘Hm..?’
“..are you okay?” Was a question neither of them expected John to ask.
Hughies eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his eyes darted around a quick second, as if someone else just asked that. “Y-yeah, I am, why do you ask—“
“Do you want me to continue?” John clicked his tongue. Hughie just stared at him.
“..what?” His voice cracked.
“Do you want me to continue?” The supe repeated his question. He withdrew his hands and sat back, and could hear a sigh of relief leave that frail body. “I’ll only continue if you want this. I want you to want this.” He reaffirmed. “And I can tell when you do and when you don’t want it.” He could see a tidal wave of emotion come over Hughies eyes, although his face wasn’t trying to give away anything.
“..I want you. I-I want this.” Hughie stammered, his cheeks reddened and his eyes started to get glossy with tears. Johns frown just slightly deepened, and he sighed so heavily that his golden shoulders dropped.
“It’s okay if you don’t want this, you know. I told you I’m not a rapist, I can’t just force myself on you.”
“N-no, it’s not okay, if I don’t want this t-then that means you don’t want me—“ Hughie was trying hard to stop his lower lip from trembling, and John could only coo and run his fingers through his brown curls. “Hughie! Seriously, don’t beat yourself up about this. It’s only this one time.” The supe tried to give as best of a reassuring smile as he could.
“…just this one time?” Hughie mumbled.
“Yeah!” John puffed and waved his hand like this was all nothing. “Let’s just forget this ever happened.” His voice softened, and he saw a little tear trickle down Hughies red cheek. He wiped it off and resisted the urge to lick the salt clean from his thumb.
“But—“
“Ah ah.” John held up a finger to silence Hughie effectively, then rose to his feet. “I’m glad you considered my feelings, but I like watching out for yours too. Yknow? What kind of boyfriend would I be if I wasn’t?” He chuckled and sauntered away from the couch, then grinned as he suddenly got an idea.
“Say.” He turned his head back to Hughie, whose eyes were still red and watery—adams apple bobbing. “How about some milkshakes from Vought-A-Burger?” That always seemed to cheer him up, it’s gotta work on Hughie. Humans loved their fatty comfort food, who could blame them? It’s addicting and hard to resist, just like Hughie. “I’ll order us some. Have you tried the strawberry? I’m more of a vanilla guy myself.”
Hughie sniffled again as he thought about it. “I kinda like chocolate.” He mumbled, talking as if he were some child again..he could tell the young man’s head was still swimming and not in its right place. But John didn’t mind.
“Chocolate it is then. I’ll order dinner from somewhere special tonight and put on some Simon and Garfunkel. Because we’re celebrating your homecoming.” John’s hand gently squeezed Hughies shoulder. And when he smiled down, he was given a smile back. Eyes loyal and loving like a sweet puppy’s, his puppy. His Hughie. He set the bait, and finally, his doe walked into the snare and could barely scream or run again. Homelander could swear he could see the barrel of a gun reflected in those dark pupils.
Hughie wasn’t Williams or Starlights.
His.