Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He and Mumbo were halfway back to their car when they heard the first scream, and it didn't take Grian long to figure out what was happening.

Monster attack.

Mumbo also seemed to realize that judging by how he froze, fear evident in his eyes as Grian glanced back at him.  Sighing, Grian grabbed his friend's hand and tried to drag him faster toward where they had parked the car. Which, of course, was the direction the next scream sounded from. A shriek far more bone-chilling than the first they had heard.

His arm tugged backward as the taller man stopped dead in his tracks. "Grian? W-was that- did that sound like a phantom to you?"

Grian wanted to tell his friend he was wrong. Tell him that that shriek definitely didn't come from one of the more dangerous monsters that pop up around the city. That he could still easily take to the air and fly them both away if needed since the majority of the city's monsters lacked the wings necessary for flight. Both of them knew the truth, though; they had lived in the city long enough to be familiar with all the creatures that threatened it, including the stingray-shaped beasts that haunted the night skies. Grian began looking around to assess the situation, wings twitching as he tried to find their way out and the flying creatures began to appear around the skyline. That was when they heard one more shout coming from beyond the towering buildings ahead of them.

"hOtgUY!"

Grain felt himself groan and heard Mumbo gasp as one of the phantoms flying their way fell out of the sky, pierced by an arrow. The remaining monsters in the small swarm turned to where the shot came from.

Mumbo began shaking Grian, both hands clasped around his arm and fear momentarily forgotten "Ohmygoodness. It's him Grian!"

Grian rolled his eyes at his friend's excitement as he finally laid eyes on the man his best friend inexplicably fawned over. To be fair, half the city also seemed to be in love with him and Grian had zero clue why. The man flew around in an outfit that was not only way too tight but also showed far more skin than would ever be practical for a superhero. Surely armor would be better than spandex, right?

Grian glanced over to see Mumbo, jaw dropped and staring at the flying hero. "Come on Mumbo, Hotboy seems to have this handled. Let's just go home, please? I'm tired and have an early class tomorrow." Grian began to drag his friend once more towards the parking garage when he heard Mumbo make another noise of panic and glanced back at him in confusion before following his gaze back to the sky.

Where Hotguy was falling.

Grian watched for a moment, and then another, waiting for the hero to right himself and head back to finish off the singular phantom left. Except that didn't happen, and he was quickly getting much too close to the ground.

On an instinct he didn't know he had, Grian took off. His wings snapped wide before flapping back propelling him forward with as much speed as possible and hoping it was enough to make up for the awkward takeoff and his rustiness when it came to flying. Within seconds though, he reached the plummeting man. Arms encircled his chest in a grapple as he flapped his wings downward, trying not to let the hero's momentum drag them both lower than the dangerous proximity they already had to the pavement. Eyes quickly scanning, he saw a fire escape that would make a good landing spot as he heard the shrieking of the phantom that had been following the hero in his descent.

The hero was still limp in his arms as they touched down, but Grian couldn't get a good read on the man with the mask covering the majority of his face and orange-tinted sunglasses partially obscuring his eyes (impractical and ridiculous if you asked Grian) but he could at least see his chest rising and falling slightly which was a minor relief. Just because he didn't particularly like Hotguy, didn't mean he wanted anything bad to happen to him.

Hearing the shrieks become louder, he turned around to see the remaining phantom headed in their direction and tried not to panic. He tried shaking Hotguy by the shoulders hoping to wake him up with little success, trying to remember how long people typically pass out for when hit by a phantom's sleep toxins. Running out of time and failing not to panic as he keened anxiously, Grian's eyes finally landed on the bow still gripped loosely in the hero's hand and the quiver on his thigh.

Grain had technically shot a bow before. Sure it had been at least ten years and the last time was with a cheap and flimsy Halloween bow as a joke, but he hadn't been too bad a shot then. He had actually been very successful in hitting his friends with the plastic projectiles. He was also, currently, very low on options. "Void help me," he muttered as he pried the bow out of the unconscious man's hand and picked an arrow out of the quiver. Nocking the arrow and drawing back the bowstring, he tried to line up the shot on the rapidly approaching monster. Hotguy does this all the time, it can't possibly be that hard right?

Grian let the arrow fly, closing his eyes and hoping that if he missed, the phantom would at least kill him quickly, or at the very least knock him out first like he did Hotguy. Just as Grian began to try and make peace with his inevitable demise, the sound of shrieking abruptly cut off. He opened his eyes to find the arrow had by some miracle connected and the monster fell, crashing onto the fire escape below them. Grian felt a panicked, chittering laugh escape him as he let himself breathe again and the tension he barely knew was there was released from his body.

A groan behind him reminded Grian he was not alone, as he felt the other man shift and sit up. "What-" the man raised a hand to his head and Grian could barely see his eyes blinking off sleep behind his mask and glasses. Then those eyes focused on Grian, "Who are you-" The hero abruptly cut off his question as his eyes widened, reminding Grian exactly what he was wearing.

It had been drag night at the club he and Mumbo had decided to go to tonight, and Grian hardly needed an excuse to dress up. Tonight, however, Grian had put together what he thought had been a fantastic drag costume. To his credit, it had been. Grian had received many a compliment on his outfit throughout the night. But now here he was, dressed up in a slightly more feminine, and somehow even more revealing Hotguy costume. The colors had of course been altered to shades of pink and red in place of Hotguy's signature orange and blue to better match his wings. And right over his chest, split by the plunging v-cut of the neckline, was a pink and red sequined heart where instead of the striking font the hero's costume used to display his moniker, Grian had chosen his own and stitched it in his best curling script. 'Cuteguy'

Grian desperately hoped the pink-tinted heart glasses he had on were large enough to cover the rising flush on his face. Or maybe he could blame it on the exertion of saving the hero and himself. Yeah, let's go with that.

"Does that say Cube-guy?"

Grian decided that that was enough and he was now going to disappear forever actually. Dropping the bow onto the hero's lap, Grian stumbled through a quick "Phantoms are gone." before launching himself over the side of the fire escape railing, firmly ignoring the hero's call to wait.

Flying as fast as possible to get out of there, Grian pulled out his phone and told Mumbo he'd meet him at home. Shortly thereafter he began to hear the pings of his friend responding.

*Ping*

What just happened?

*Ping*

Did you just save Hotguy??

*Ping*

Are his arms as strong and sturdy as I've dreamed???

*Ping*

Ignore that last text.

*Ping*

Sorry.

*Ping*

You will be telling me EVERYTHING when we get home.

Grian groaned at his friend as he swiftly covered the distance back to their apartment, hoping maybe Mumbo would let him get away with pretending to be asleep instead of making him talk about it.

It was 10 AM and Grian had not yet had a cup of coffee. After sleeping in far too late this morning he barely made it in time to teach his first class of the day, meaning no caffeine kickstart to help him actually function. Of course, he preferred tea but on mornings like this, he needed the stronger beverage to truly feel human. Although feeling entirely human was very difficult today with the dull ache in his wings, which were currently pulled tightly against his back and hidden under his usual oversized red sweater. He knew he needed to go flying and stretch his wings more so they wouldn't be this sore after using them for what used to be considered a very normal amount of flight for him. But that was before he moved to the city and decided to keep that part of him a secret.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with being an avian, there were plenty in this city, as well as dozens of other hybrids. Grian had just felt like not being quite as "othered" when he came here for school. It was just easier to hide it and be known as Grian, the architect, or architecture teacher as it ended up. Not Grian the avian with vibrant red, blue, and yellow banded wings.

Grian pushed open the door to the staff break room, hoping that someone had recently brewed a fresh pot of coffee. There were a few people already in the room chatting or grading papers. Grian recognized a few of the professors from other departments. The sculptures and visual arts professor Cleo was talking to one of the other art professors who was carrying a blue puppet on his arm and talking through it animatedly. Impulse, one of the technologies professors, was drinking his coffee and staring at a stack of papers, red pen twirling in his fingers. Lastly by the coffee pot was the chair of the theater department and acting professor Ren talking with the man that, quite annoyingly, made Grian's heart stutter.

Professor Scar Goodtimes, Grian's colleague in the architecture department and inconvenient crush since his last year of School when he had been the man's TA. Grian tried not to draw attention to himself as he crossed the room to the coffee maker, which blessedly seemed to have at least one more cup of recently brewed coffee. He set to making himself a mug, with what he knew Mumbo would tell him was far more sugar and cream than most people considered reasonable, and tuned his ears into the conversation of the two professors next to him.

"I'm telling you Ren, the way he swooped in and saved the day? As dramatic as the movies! a real hero!" ah, Hotguy. Grian frowned a bit at that. Of course Scar was also a fan of Hotguy, who in this city wasn't it seemed.

"Can't blame you for being attracted to him if I'm being honest, man. Were I not a happily committed I'd have to agree, the name is accurate." Ren nodded back at Scar.

"Hard not to find a man in spandex cute." Scar laughed as Grian's brow furrowed. Cute? Cute was not something he ever heard people refer to Hotguy as. He was always called hot, it was in his name! He couldn't help himself from chiming in.

"You think Hotguy's cute?"

Scar jumped slightly, seeming to just notice his presence before he and Ren began to laugh even more, turning to include Grian in their conversation.

"Not Hotguy mate." Ren shook his head still laughing.

"Cuteguy!" Scar beamed and Grian choked on his coffee.

"WHAT" was all he could get out between coughs as he tried to regain his composure.

No, no way. Hotguy was the only one who saw Cuteguy! There was no one else near that fire escape and I was flying fast! Too fast for anyone to have properly seen! Grian was replaying everything from the previous night in his brain, trying to see what he missed.

"Did you not hear about the attack downtown last night?" Scar tilted his head to the side as he still smiled at Grian. "It was everywhere this morning, look!" The man pulled out his phone and began to scroll, quickly finding what he was looking for, and showed Grian an article.

New sidekick for Super? Mysterious new hero saves Hotguy and the day

Below the headline is a shot, obviously taken from ground level, of Grian, dressed as Cuteguy taking off after returning Hotguy's bow. The quality of the photo shocked him, especially since he knew how fast he launched himself away from the awkward situation, a skill he had perfected back in middle school thank you very much. The majority of his outfit was visible though, including the stitched in 'Cuteguy'. Grian was not thrilled with this news at first, then as if hit with a train, he finally realized what Scar and Ren had been saying when he walked up.

"Wait, you said you think he's cute!" it came out as more of a squeak and Grian was mentally kicking himself over it but Scar just laughed once more.

"Don't tell me you don't! Come on Grian, who doesn't have a hero fantasy? Hmm? Wouldn't you want a man who could just scoop you up and hold you in their strong arms as they carry you to safety?" Scar sighed dreamily in a very exaggerated way, leaning against his cane before laughing again.

"Hotguy may or may not totally be on my hall pass list." Ren laughed, causing Scar to laugh harder.

"Hotguy is fine and all, but I'd let Cuteguy sweep me off my feet any day!" and Grian is very certain his heart may have stopped as those words left Scar's mouth. Then Grian came up with what was probably the worst idea he'd ever had.

Maybe I shouldn't burn that costume after all.

Chapter Text

"This is, without a doubt, the worst idea you've ever had."

"You and I both know that isn't true. You've known me long enough to know I've had way worse ideas," Grian tried to brush off the concern of his mustached friend. While it was true, he certainly had had worse ideas, even he could admit his current one was not too well thought out. Which was precisely why he was talking to Mumbo about it! The taller man and his anxiety always made a great sounding board to bounce ideas off of, even if Grian didn't always listen to the advice coming back at him.

"Grian, buddy, please tell me you at least understand how dangerous this could be?" Mumbo was wringing his hands in front of himself, a very common anxious fidget for him. "You are trying to put your life in danger just to get a guy to like you? You know it would be much easier just to tell him, right?"

"Once again, you and I both know I would die before ever admitting to Scar that I may or may not have a massive thing for him." Grian huffed, looking away from his friend and roommate, already feeling the red rushing to his cheeks. He knew he was stubborn, to his own detriment, really. Plus, he'd never been the best at expressing feelings, even with Mumbo, who knew him better than anyone other than maybe his twin sister, Pearl. Grian and Mumbo had been through a lot together, from growing up next door to each other to moving to the city for university. Hell, they had even tried dating for a month or so, sometime after both had come out in high school, before realizing they did not mesh well in that particular way.

"What could I possibly say that would talk you out of this mate?" Grian glanced back at Mumbo to see while the mustached man was still concerned, he was also resigned. Grian was, after all, very stubborn.

"Nothing at all, Mr. Mumbolio! I'm doing this with or without you really, so it's probably within both of our best interests for you to help me, otherwise," Grian gave his best sad puppy eyes at his friend, "I'll probably die a horrific death and you'll have to find another best friend to pay half of the rent."

Mumbo groaned and slid the papers Grian had plopped on the desk earlier toward him to look over his ridiculous friend's plans. What he saw only made him groan louder. "You want me to make you a pair of guns!"

"Not real guns, obviously , I could just buy those.  I wrote notes on the page, I'm thinking something cool like stun or shock guns! You know, lasers instead of bullets! Pew pew and all that."

"Why Grian? Just, why? would you you even know how to shoot something like this?"

"You tell me," Grian reached behind his back to his pocket and whipped his arm around back toward his friend.

Before he could react to the sudden movement, Mumbo felt a small sting in his shoulder. "Is that a Nerf gun?" he whined out in exasperation with his chaotic roommate, leaning down to pick up the foam bullet from where it dropped at his feet. "When and where did you even get that?"

Grian threw his head back, laughter convulsing through him. "Void, I'm a better shot than I thought! I picked this up from the lost and found at work today."

"The manic excitement on your face is a bit terrifying there Grian. I'm not sure if I can make you these guns in good conscience."

"It's not like I'm going after people Mumbo! Just monsters and such, your conscience will be totally clear. Have you ever seen Hotguy fight any actual person? The closest thing he's ever dealt with is the skeletons."

"Huh, something just occurred to me." Mumbo raised the handful of papers in front of his face as if he were studying them closely. "Do you think you'll be working with Hotguy at all?"

Grian couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he took in the opportunity presenting itself to him. After all, who was he to let the perfect opportunity to tease his friend go to waste and he knew exactly where Mumbo was headed with that question. "It is very likely that I will be, I suppose. It's not that big of a city after all. Maybe we will work together, and maybe he might ask about my pistols, or any other fancy gadgets and how I got them, and maybe he'd want to meet the man responsible for such things. I didn't have more than a few seconds to examine his bow or gear last time but it's definitely more than your standard compound bow. He's got some kinda tech in there, maybe he's looking for just the right guy to improve it." Grian gradually moved closer to his friend as he spoke, itching to get a peak at how red Mumbo's face was behind his makeshift barricade. "After that well, who's to say how close two people may get working together on such important technological advancements."

In a flash, Grian snatched the papers from his roommate's hands and lost it at the tomato color the taller man had turned. His laughter rang through the apartment, interspersed with chittering trills that the avian made no attempt to hide, safe in their apartment.  Mumbo tried to defend himself but was barely able to stutter out any properly formed words in his embarrassment, which in turn caused his friend to lose it once more in another fit of giggles and chirps.

"I hate you so much." Mumbo finally composed himself, straightening out his tie and glaring at his friend.

"Nah, you don't." Grian calmed down his laughter to a small chuckle "In all honesty, I'm hoping not to run into him too frequently. The papers are already calling me a sidekick after I save the man! Sidekick my arse."

"You really don't want to work with him?"

"You know where I stand on Hotguy. His ego is way too big for a man that flies around in skimpy spandex and shoots dump monsters with arrows."

"Isn't that exactly what you're planning on doing though?"

"It will be different when I do it!" Grian protested, "I'm much more humble. Plus I'm only interested in gaining the adoration of one man, not the whole city. Who cares what they think about me."

"What so no plans for a Cuteguy calendar for next year?"

"As if it would ever outsell the Hotguy calendar, even my stupid roommate buys one every year." Grian shifted his gaze to the aforementioned calendar hanging on the wall, causing Mumbo to flush red once more. This month's photo was the hero with absolutely no shirt on, not uncommon from what few months Grian had seen, holding a small greyish cat like a baby and staring lovingly down at it. Grian had to admit, it was a cute photo, maybe it was just his weakness for cats though.

Mumbo turned his attention back to the papers with Grian's notes and designs on them. "I still don't think this is very safe Grian. You barely made it out the other day…"

"I won't be nearly as close to anything as I was the other day! I won't be as rusty when it comes to flying since I'll have my wings out more often and I'll have the pistols as longer-range weapons. It's not like I'll be attacking creepers with an axe or something, I'll be safely out of range of any explosions.  Listen, I've thought about this, honestly. It will be fine, plus I'll have my closest friend backing me up with the best tech a freelance developer and architecture professor can buy?"

Grian holds his breath for a second, letting Mumbo properly make a decision. He was serious when he said he'd do it with or without the other man but he was really hoping he wouldn't be alone in his foray into becoming a vigilante.

It only took a moment for Mumbo to sigh and Grian knew he had won. "Fine, fine. But just so you know these pistol designs are going to need a lot of work to make them actually functional. You don't know the first thing about any of this stuff do you."

"Not a clue." Grian's smirk was far too proud and Mumbo just rolled his eyes. "That's what I have you for though, it's not like you could tell me the difference between Gothic and Romanesque architecture."

"Whatever you say Cuteguy ."

Grian groaned as he flopped down onto Mumbo's bed, arm raising to cover his face. "I'm stuck with that name, aren't I?"

Chapter Text

Cuteguy flapped his wings lightly as he flew over the western section of the city. He figured it best to start here where the buildings were crammed so close together that whatever space there was between them, no matter how little, was always relatively dark. Exactly the kinds of places it seemed monsters were always appearing out of. So far, however, it had been a quiet night. He supposed it was lucky honestly. After all, it was his first night on the job.

It had taken Mumbo only four days to create the weapons he had requested, and another three nights of sneaking up to the roof of their apartment building to ensure he knew how to use them and use them well. It hadn't taken him long to learn the quirks of aiming the pistols, easily managing to hit the absurd amount of various bean bags and other small to medium projectiles Mumbo would toss around for him by the end of the second night. The third night Mumbo had insisted on going over every aspect of the pistols with Grian until he knew them inside and out. The taller man insisted he needed the muscle memory of being able to swap out a dead power cell for a live one or being able to tell which setting the weapon was on by feeling the dial on the side that switched it between a tasing shock, a minor paralyzing ray, and a more lethal true laser shot. Also referred to as 'Shock, Stun, and Stab modes' by Grian, much to Mumbo's indignant annoyance that stab was a completely incorrect descriptor of the third mode.

Both pistols were currently stowed safely in the hip holsters attached to the belt of his slightly improved costume. The belt also held three backup power cells for said pistols, a few zip ties in case he needed quick restraints, and a handful of basic medical supplies at Mumbo's insistence. Grian was grateful to have a friend so worried about him but sometimes he wanted to roll his eyes at the man's worries. Here he was, for the first time, flying high above the city he'd called home for nearly eight years now. He felt like nothing could touch him as he glided over the rooftops, a good several yards above even the highest building in the area.

That’s when his ears picked up the slight mechanical whirring coming from behind him and getting louder as the source rapidly grew closer. Glancing back confirmed what he had suspected the noise to be. Hotguy was flying a little below him and was now close enough to overtake the coasting avian.  Cuteguy considered, for just a minute, increasing his speed to pass the hero and leave him behind. He had no doubt his wings could carry him faster than Hotguy's mechanical ones could. Avian wings were built for speed and maneuverability, and he had been pushing both to their limits nearly since he learned how to fly. He had so many memories of racing Pearl and their cousin Jimmy through handmade obstacle courses set up in their backyard. He may still be a bit out of practice but flying was second nature, it wouldn't take long to shake off a few cobwebs.

He didn't though, letting the other man rise up in front of him and slow down. His intention was clear to Grian as he banked and began to circle lower. He had slowed them both down and was leading Cuteguy towards the rooftops below to land.

He let Hotguy touch down first before perching himself on the raised edge of the building, trying to keep at least some distance and higher ground on the larger man now facing him.

"Thanks for landing, these things aren't really made to hover and flying is not conductive to having a conversation." Hotguy beamed at him, crossing the roof and reaching out a hand, "Nice to formally meet you, I'm Hotguy."

Grian ignored the outstretched hand, instead choosing to cross his arms over his chest. "Conducive."

"What?" the hero paused mid-stride dropping his hand.

"Flying isn't conducive to having a conversation."

"That’s what I said!"

"You said conductive, that’s a completely different word."

"Oh," Hotguy frowned. They both stood there silently for a moment, each waiting for the other to break the awkwardness of the exchange. "Anyhoo, where have you been birdy? You appear out of nowhere one night and then disappear for like, a week!"

"Birdie? " Grian bristled a bit at the nickname, feeling his wings puff up slightly as he drew them in closer to his back.

"What? Those are real wings, right? Like grew 'em yourself? Are you not an avian hybrid? Oh gosh, did I mess this up already?" Hotguy ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, pushing it back from where a few stray pieces had fallen into his face. Grian let the dead air linger, deciding to let the hero sweat it a bit as he stumbled over his words and dropped his head into his hands.

"I am an avian, but really? Birdie?" Cuteguy sighed out.

"Oh!" Hotguy's face lit up again with a bright smile before concern flashed across his face. "Wait, is birdie insensitive? Like a slur or something?"

There was no stopping the laughter that overtook Cuteguy, he could only just barely hold back the chirps and trills. "Oh, that would be great if it was." Hotguy just looked more and more confused as  Grian doubled over laughing. "Imagine that! I save your life and you call me a slur! Oh the field day the press would have with that one."

"Oh right! That’s why I came to find you actually," Hotguy's face brightened back up again.

"To call me a slur?"

"No! Void, no. I swear I would never!" The Hero's panic just sent Cuteguy into another fit of giggles, this time unable to hold back the more bird-like noises of his laughter. "I wanted to say thanks for the assist last week! Although you made me wait a long time to say it. Why'd ya fly away so fast after?"

"Believe it or not, my plans for the night didn't involve saving a silly little hero from crashing face-first into the ground. I had better things to do."

"Silly? Little? I'll have you know I'm far from little." The hero tried to prove his point by flexing his bare arms. Grian did not want to admit that there was, in fact, nothing little about his arms. The muscles were defined and objectively well-toned, not even slightly obscured due to his sleeveless outfit. Still, he refused to give the man the satisfaction of agreeing with him.

"Weren't all that impressive when you were passed out and falling out of the sky." Cuteguy shrugged and shot a smirk towards the other man.

"I was hit by a phantom! You'd fall asleep if it got you with its phantom-y juice too!"

"The difference is I didn't get hit. Also, 'phantom-y juice'? That is certainly one way to say sleep toxins."

"Eh, proper names for things don't matter when you've been doing this as long as I have. Luckily you'll have the best teacher around to teach you these kinda things!" Hotguy was once again beaming at the smaller hero across from him, now sitting casually on the building's ledge after his earlier laughing fit.

"Teacher?"

"Why of course! You don't have to be shy about it, it's pretty obvious your outfit is supposed to mirror mine. Why else would you steal my look if not to team up with the city's number one hero, hOtgUY!"

Grian cringed at the reminder that he had, in fact, modeled his costume after the other hero's. "That is not why I-"

He was cut off by Hotguy as the man stepped closer and smirked down at him, now much taller than the sitting Cuteguy. "No need to be embarrassed, flattery will get you everywhere ." The hero sounded more confident than he had all night and Grian panicked a bit at the proximity.

"Whoaah-" he was once again cut off as he fell backward after jerking away from the advancing hero and losing his balance on the ledge. Thankfully, when learning to fly as a child the first thing his parents had taught him how to do was fall. Extending the feathered appendages to their full width he righted himself before giving a strong beat of his wings to stop his momentum and another to send him skyward again. Rising above he flew over the hero still on the roof who had rushed to the edge as he fell. Catching his breath, Cuteguy landed behind the other man, letting the adrenaline of the small mishap settle in his chest and dissipate.

"Oh wow, are you okay?" Hotguy turned toward Grian who just nodded with a small thumbs up. "Okay, so I know you just fell and all but that was really a-mazing to watch. My wings could have never reacted that quick, I would have had to coast for a second before getting back up here but you could just do it."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Cuteguy brushed off the comment, not quite wanting to get into the topic of his wings with the other hero. "As I was saying, I don't need a teacher and I'm not looking to be a sidekick."

"But your outfit?"

"It was kind of a joke between me and a friend? Then of course some reporter caught the photo and I think I'm a little bit stuck with this…" He trailed off watching Hotguy's face fall a bit.

"Oh." he paused, "Well we can still work together though, right? I wouldn't mind a bit of company out flying around most nights." The man seemed hopeful, looking at Grian in a way that was hard to pin down more specifically beneath the mask and glasses.

"Maybe? I should get going tonight though, it seems quiet out there and it's getting a bit late for me."  Cuteguy fidgeted where he stood, wings spreading and tensing for a takeoff.

The way Hotguy's chest deflated a bit made him seem almost disappointed, but he smiled at the other man anyway. It was that same radiating smile he was constantly flashing for news reporters and bloggers trying to get an image for their articles. "O-okay. Maybe I'll see you around then? Try not to keep me waiting another week though?"

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do." With that Cuteguy launched himself upwards into the night sky as Hotguy sighed and readied his own wings for the flight home.

Hotguy touched down on top of his apartment building as the exhaustion of the day settled itself over his body. It was nearly three in the morning and he had only taken a short nap between his day job and going out on patrol today. The thing was though, he wasn't tired.

After a week with no sign of him, Cuteguy was back.

Hotguy couldn't wipe the smile from his face as he pulled the grate off the air duct and pulled out his sweatpants and hoodie. Quickly throwing them on over his costume he pulled off his mask and slipped it into his pocket. 

Sure, maybe today didn't go exactly how he hoped it would. The new hero was a bit colder than he'd expected but her couldn't really blame the man. He remembered how nervous he was talking to anyone when he first started moonlighting as a hero, afraid the smallest thing would blow his secret identity.

Opening the roof access door, Scar slipped back into the building glad that at least no one was in the hallway to question why he was on the roof. Not that he didn't have an excuse ready with the half-full pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He let himself into his apartment and immediately dropped down in his wheelchair that he'd left by the door.

His legs were always worse after a night out as Hotguy, it was an unfortunate side effect of the technology that let him actually run around and protect his city. He wheeled himself towards his room at the back of the apartment, greeting his precious cat Jellie on the way as she hopped onto his lap and curled up until they reached his bed where she promptly jumped down. He then began the task of removing his hero gear.  The outer layer was simple enough to pull off, shirt, pants, and boots easily taken off and tucked into its drawer. The calm night meant it hadn't really gotten dirty or sweaty as it did when he was forced to fight monsters so he reckoned he could wear it again before needing to wash it.

The next step was more difficult. He braced himself against his dresser and stood with slight difficulty before getting to work. Starting at his lower back and making his way down his hips to his calves, he one by one removed the small devices that kept his legs working. Cub had explained it to him once, how they worked, but all Scar could remember was a bunch of big words and Cub's warning at the end that if he kept them on too long it would deteriorate his leg functionality even faster, to the point where not even the enhancement things would work. That Scar listened to since the only thing allowing him to still be Hotguy was the fact that the enhancements gave him reliability when it came to his legs, even if only for a few hours at a time.

Once everything was removed and he managed to pull his pajamas on he let himself fall into his bed. Pulling up the covers around himself and feeling Jellie curl into his back, he felt himself finally relaxing. As he slowly drifted off to sleep he felt his thoughts returning to the small avian hero. Scar was excited to get to know the man, even if it was just in a friendly capacity. Having another hero to work with out in the city would be nice. Sure Cub worked with him helping with the technology and other behind-the-scenes work, but it's not the same as having someone in the field with him.

Still, Scar could hear the echoing of the avian's laughter replaying in his head and he didn't want to admit to himself that he thinks he may do anything to truly hear it again. It was probably the best laugh he'd ever heard, even if he could tell the hero was holding it back. One day he hopes he can hear it fully and not held back. Just like he maybe hopes to one day properly feel the hero's arms around him, not while in a barely conscious daze. He doesn't remember much between flying into the fight with the phantoms and waking up fully on the fire escape, but he did remember the impact of being caught after he was hit and the view when he came back to consciousness.

It was still a sight that took his breath away when he remembered it. The pink and white clad man with his wings drawn in a heart shape against his back, Firing an arrow towards an approaching phantom. An arrow from Hotguy's bow. He'd never let anyone touch his bow except for Cub who made and maintained it, but somehow it looked right in the avian's grasp as the arrow hit its mark and the man turned back to him, dirty blonde hair curling above the pink-tinted heart glasses and a light flush to his face. Scar immediately thought he was beautiful then, and nothing since then had changed his mind.

Closing his eyes and sighing, Scar let himself fall asleep, knowing he only had a few hours before his alarm would go off to tell him to start his day. And if he maybe dreamed of a certain hero that night? Well, that was only for Scar to know.

Chapter Text

Grian was grateful for the distraction when he heard the knock on his office door. He had been grading essays for two hours already and he was barely halfway through the stack. Looking up he expected to see a student and was surprised to see his fellow architecture professor sitting in his wheelchair in the open doorway.

"Scar, what's up?" Grian questioned as he nodded inviting the man inside. Glancing at the other side of his desk he was glad whichever student had stopped into his office hours last remembered to push the chair back into the far corner of the room. It was not a large office and he didn't want the chair to take up the space across from where he sat, so that Scar, or whoever else may be visiting in a wheelchair, had room.

Scar wheeled himself in, giving Grian his sunshine smile and Grian was glad Scar wasn't close enough to notice how his pulse might have sped up just a bit. "Hello there! Not busy are you?"

"Just the endless monotony of grading essays, so nothing much. Need something?"

"Yeah actually, hoping to pick your brain. I've been working on my midterm exams and I'm running out of ideas for questions," The other professor's smile turned a bit sheepish.

Grian let out a short controlled laugh. "Haven't you been teaching for like, four years already? Why don't you just reuse exams from year to year? I know I've already got my midterms from last year printed out for next week."

"Yes, yes. Keeping exams from year to year would be a great idea… if I didn't maybe destroy my entire computer and all of my files with it over the summer."

"How on Earth did you manage to do that?" Grian asked incredulously

"Well you see, computers don't drink coffee." Scar seemed content with his answer as he looked back at Grian and Grian could not stop himself from laughing.

He quickly tried to stop himself as he felt a chirp begin to bubble up, coughing to cover it up. "Did you not know that before?" he squeaked out.

"I did! Unfortunately, Jellie did not." The larger man pouted a bit.

Grian shook his head, remembering all the stories Scar told him about his cat back in his days as the man's TA. The man's clear adoration for his cat was one of the things that had endeared him to Scar in the first place. "Do you not keep backups of your computer files online? Like in the cloud?"

"Honestly, it’s a miracle I keep them as files? Me and technology do not usually get along. I can't even tell you how many computers I went through while I was a student. I would have handwritten everything if my handwriting wasn't an atrophy."

"Atrocious?" Grian supplied, used to the man's bumbling of words.

"How dare you insult my handwriting like!" Scar gave a dramatic gasp that faded into a goofy grin.

"You set me up, how dare you!" Grian gave another small laugh, carefully monitoring his more bird-like noises as he usually did. Scar joined in his laughter and Grian let himself enjoy the moment for a second, letting himself pine after the man before kicking himself over it.

"Anyways, what do you say?" Scar asks as the laughter dies down and it takes Grian a beat to remember why the man had visited him in the first place.

"Oh yeah, I can actually do you one better, save us the effort of sorting through my brain. It's basically mush by this point in the day anyways." Grian turned his rolling chair around to face the small filing cabinet gathering dust against the back wall of his office. Opening the lower of the two drawers he flipped through the papers and folders before finally finding what he set out for and turning back to pass it to the other professor. "Here you are."

Scar took the folder and opened it, eyes widening as he flipped through. "Why do you still have these? It's been nearly two years since you were my TA, how do you still have a folder with all my exams?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was a bit of a hoarder?" Scar raised his eyebrow and Grian sighed. "Okay, maybe I've used them as inspiration for my own exams. They are quite well-made exams."

"Aww, you flatter me." Scar fluttered his lashes jokingly and Grian quickly turned around to shut the filing cabinet to hide the light flush he felt on his face.

"So looks like you've got your exams," Grian composed himself and turned back to Scar who was tucking the exams into the bag on his chair. "Anything else I can help ya with?"

"Nope. But you gotta let me repay you for these! You've saved me hours of boring question writing, let me get you a coffee or something."

"It's nearly three PM Scar, a bit late for coffee even if I drank the stuff regularly."

"Oh, huh, is it that late already? Well, what about lunch then? You've got a noon class that’s a ninety-minute class, right? Have you gotten lunch yet?"

Grian had already eaten the sandwich he had brought for his lunch, but he wasn't going to tell Scar that. He was going to take advantage of any Scar time he could get. "I could eat."

"Great! Are you ready to go now? The deli a few blocks down has the best house-made chips." Scar flashed him yet another bright smile and Grian was putty.

"Yeah, sounds good. Just let me put up these essays and we can head out.”

.

Scar was, of course, right about the chips. Grian only planned on ordering a half sandwich since he wasn't actually hungry but the other man had insisted on an order of chips for each of them as well. Neither of them had late afternoon classes either so they sat there for a while talking and hanging out. Or more so, Scar was talking and Grian was enjoying listening to the man ramble. Grian did add in his two cents and asked questions where needed to keep the conversation flowing though. After two years of knowing the man Grian knew exactly which conversational topics could keep the other professor talking for hours until someone stopped him. Currently, Scar was excitedly telling Grian about the project he had been recently hired for.

"I've got a few months of planning time, they're thankfully not expecting any final plans until after the spring semester finishes but I've already got a few different drafts of ideas. I've honestly got too many ideas it's hard to decide which I want-ta go with, well minus the landscaping portion of the property. Which is silly! I used to insist on doing all of my own landscaping before I became a professor, it was one of my favorite parts! But now it has been so long I've lost my touch." His voice dropped as he finished, grabbing one of the last few chips off of Grian's tray.

"Hey, that was mine!" Grian protested halfheartedly as Scar flashed him a mischievous grin and he sighed, letting the chip thievery slide. "I would offer to help but landscaping things were never my forte, I usually just made Pearl do any assignments that required it for me."

"Pearl?" Scar paused midway through lifting his cup to take a sip of his drink, cocking his head to the side. "Who's that?"

"Have I really never mentioned Pearl before in the time we've known each other?"

"Can't say it's ringing my bell."

Grian laughed lightly at the man across from him. "I don't think that’s how that phrase goes Scar. Pearl is my sister though."

"Your sister!"

"Twin sister if you want to be specific about it."

"Oh, the scandal ." Scar began, bringing a hand to his chest as dramatically as he could. "I can't believe all this time you kept this from me! I thought we were friends but here you are keeping major secrets! First a sister then what's next? You tell me you're really a redhead? Or you don't like hearing about Jellie?" He pouted in the same dramatic fashion as Grian tried to hold back the building laughter.

"Blasphemy, you know I adore Jellie almost as much as if she were my own cat."

"As you should!" Scar dropped the dramatics and joined Grian in his laughter as the two continued to enjoy the last remnants of their meal and the fading afternoon.

"Are you telling me you went on a date with Scar?" Mumbo's tone is teasing until the pillow hits his face.

"It was not a date." Grian squeaks out.

"You sent me a text saying 'on your own for dinner tonight, Scar bought a late lunch today' and you're telling me it wasn't a date? The man you've been pining over just decided to treat you to lunch."

"My coworker bought me food as a thank you for helping him with some exam prep. Besides Scar doesn't like me like that." Grian flopped back down onto the couch, stretching across it as his roommate laughed at him from the kitchen where he was washing dishes. " But you know who Scar does like?"

"Oh I don't like the look on your face Grian. That look never leads to good ideas."

"All of my ideas are great," Grian's grin widened even more. "Scar said it himself. He wanted to be swept off his feet by a superhero, so maybe a superhero should find him and start sweeping."

"Isn't this the entire reason you became a 'hero' in the first place?"

"You can't prove that. Cuteguy was a hero the second he saved Hotguy not when I realized Scar might have a thing for heroes."

"To be fair, most people have a thing for heroes. Hero fantasy is a whole genre."

"Exactly so I'm going to go take advantage of that!"

"I'd advise maybe you don't phrase it like that- and you're already gone and out the door." Mumbo shook his head at his friend's antics. "There's no possible way this ends well."

Chapter Text

It was a couple hours earlier than Cuteguy was typically out flying around the city but Grian hoped it wouldn't be considered too odd of a behavior. After all, Cuteguy was barely a week and a half into being a superhero, who's to say what was his 'typical' patrol time? Just because, up until this point, Grian had followed a pretty regular schedule didn't mean he had to stick to it. Usually, it was his day job and an early dinner, an early evening nap, then taking to the skies to look out for monsters and other ghoulies roaming the city. So maybe today he had skipped the nap in favor of hopefully catching a certain architecture professor out and about before getting home for the night.

The avian knew it wasn't very likely that he would see the man, even if he was currently coasting over the area of town he knew the other man lived in. At least he's pretty sure he remembered Scar mentioning living in an apartment somewhere around here. If the man weren't outside though Grian would never find him, he absolutely would not be looking inside any windows thank you very much, he was not a creep. 

He made a wide arc around a few blocks, circling a bit lower than he typically would while on patrol to give himself a better shot at noticing someone specific instead of just general shapes. He was ready to give up and move on for the night by his third pass when he saw a door open to one of the balconies and Scar rolled out with a cat on his lap and a watering can in hand.

Bingo.

Grian flew higher and watched for a moment as he watched the man begin to water the small handful of flower pots. He was out of earshot of them but could tell Scar was talking to Jellie as he watered the plants, the hand not holding the can flailing around most of the time but occasionally returning to scratch the cat's head. He felt his heart warm a bit at the sight before shaking his head to get a grip on himself. Watching someone was weird behavior, he needed to make himself known to the man, and maybe then he could actually talk to him like a normal person.

He spread his wings and coasted down towards the apartment.  Start with just a fly-by maybe. Grian pulled every inch of bravado he could muster and angled himself to pass by Scar's balcony more parallel to the ground and turned his head towards the man. As he passed he raised his arm in a two-finger salute and winked, then remembered the glasses covering his eyes that likely obscured the wink. He heard a small startled noise from Scar as he moved further away and let out a small laugh.

He dropped down to street level and circled back to check on the startled man with the hope of being able to start a conversation. Just a casual conversation, open the doors for something maybe in the future. But for now, he had to start somewhere, even if he technically had known the man for a few years already.

But the balcony was empty when he flew back up to it. Grian frowned, wondering where the man could have gone and trying to figure out why he would go away so fast. Did he have it wrong? Did Scar no longer find Cuteguy attractive? Had this whole thing been a mistake? He felt his brain beginning to spiral and beat his wings harder gaining altitude.

It maybe wasn't the healthiest thing for him to do but it was something he started doing in his mid-teens. Whenever he felt himself overthinking or beginning to panic he let himself fly as high as he could. He'd climb higher and higher until the ground was barely visible, until he could feel the dampness of the clouds sticking to his skin, until the air grew even colder and thinner. The new sensations brought him out of his mind and back into his body. He hovered a bit, letting his wings hold him aloft as they flapped slowly and Grian focused on deep even breaths. Why was he even spiraling so much over such a silly thing? Maybe Scar was just busy and had something to do. It wasn't like his fly-by indicated he wanted to talk to the man.

Sighing he closed his eyes and pulled his wings in, immediately dropping like a rock. He let the freefall clear his mind, leaving the unwanted thoughts thousands of feet in the air as the wind rushed around him. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and wings, letting the feathered appendages spread to their full length, a rather impressive wingspan given his shorter stature. His descent slowed as the vibrantly colored wings caught the air and brought him into a glide as he continued descending, aiming for an empty rooftop a few blocks over.

His feet touched down lightly and he stared off at the setting sun for a few moments before he heard the soft crunch of footfall behind him. Spinning around he had a pistol drawn in a second, his thumb flipping the setting to stun as he leveled his arm and saw Hotguy smirking at him, hands up and palms out in a lazy 'don't shoot' gesture.

"Nice reflexes there Birdie." Cuteguy lowered the weapon as the hero sauntered forward, still with that confident smirk. "Thanks for not firing though."

Grian just grunted and holstered the pistol turning back towards the sunset and away from the other man.

Hotguy continued to approach him until he reached his side by the edge of the building and plopped down swinging his legs over the side. "What's got you out so early anyway? You know monsters don't show up until past sundown right?"

"Needed to stretch my wings a bit."

"Oh," Hotguy kicked his feet a bit for a second, the silence hovering in the air for a second before the sitting hero broke it. "Why?"

"What do you mean why ?"

"Don't you like, fly around all the time? I can't say I've seen many avians taking the bus."

Cuteguy let out a small chortle and finally sat down next to the other man, not too close though. "Do you think every avian has their wings out all the time?"

"Why wouldn't they? I know if I had wings I'd fly all the time, my feet would never touch the ground."

"You'd get really tired really fast that way. It takes a bit more energy to fly with my wings than with those mechanical ones you've got. My flying is actual work."

"Hey! My wings do take work! It’s a lot of effort to make superhero-ing look this effortless." Hotguy protested flaring out his artificial wings. "So do you hide your wings when you're not out as Cuteguy then?" Cuteguy nodded slightly but didn't say anything so Hotguy kept going. "Why would you do that? I mean sure they're a little recognizable but they're beautiful wings and they're a part of you, you should wear them out proudly!"

"You say that like I'm ashamed of my wings." Grian accused, a hint of ice in his voice, not sure he liked where this conversation was going. Or maybe the flight and freefall didn't fully calm his emotions like he'd hoped.

"What other reason would you have for not sharing them with the world any second you can!"

Grian knew the hero was only asking out of ignorance, not malice but he couldn't help but feel his anger boil up at the man. Hotguy was a superhero, how could he not know about the issues around hybrids? How could anyone his age not know? Because it doesn't matter to him . Something whispered in his mind and without thinking, he opened his mouth letting the anger lace through his words. "The ones we fight aren't the only monsters." And he shoved himself off the ledge and spread his wings, gliding off into the approaching night.

Chapter Text

Hotguy wanted to kick himself. He still wasn't entirely sure what happened but he knew that it was his fault. First, he's watering his plants and next thing he knows Cuteguy is obviously angry and flying away.

Well, okay. He did mostly know what the avian was upset about. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what Cuteguy was implying with his last sentence. He understood life wasn't as easy for hybrids because a small selection of people were bigots, but to hide an entire part of yourself because of it. Was it really that bad? How did he not know?

Once again he wanted to kick himself. He should have paid more attention to the man , he was usually much better at reading emotions. There was just something about the smaller hero that made it difficult for him , everything about the man was just so enticingly distracting. Like a puzzle he was slowly assembling without a reference image, each new thing he learned got him closer to finally seeing the whole thing. Of course there also was the fact that the man was unfairly attractive in his well-fitting uniform with his fluffy hair and striking wings. Even now, he couldn't get the images of Cuteguy flying around earlier out of his head.

The last thing he'd been expecting while tending his small balcony garden was Cuteguy flying by his balcony and waving at him. He was certain the hero had been looking directly at him as he flew by, and it had all felt intentional. Cuteguy didn't know Scar though, and there was no way Cuteguy knew that he was Hotguy. No one knew except for Cub because how could his best friend and the brain behind his whole operation not know. What the gesture from Cuteguy could even mean, whether he was just being friendly and Scar happened to be there, or something beyond that he had no idea.

Scar had taken the excuse though, apologizing to Jellie as he brought them both back inside and changed into his hero gear. If Cuteguy was out and about before dark, so too would be Hotguy. In just a few minutes he was on the roof, glancing around to make sure no wandering eyes were around before shucking off the sweats and tucking them behind the loose air-duct vent in exchange for his mask. Scar hoped Cuteguy hadn't gone far, but with the speed he had seen the other hero capable of he could be on the other end of the city by now. Scar launched himself up, letting the mechanical wings carry him off the roof of his apartment as he scanned the skies around him. He was lucky to spot the pink-clad hero climbing higher and higher in the air and cocked his head to the side. Is this normal for him? He watched the man continue to fly higher and paused his own flight, landing on the nearest building and feeling the mechanical wings relax against his back.

And so he watched. He watched as Cuteguy flew higher and higher until he was barely a speck in the sky. Hotguy wanted to fly up with him, figure out what was going on in his head, feel the way his wings would stir up the air around them both. Scar shook his head to chase off the thoughts. Even if he wanted to fly that high it would take far too much exertion to get the altitude with his false wings and the air at that height would both be cold and thin, not ideal with his medical history.  He turned his eyes back to the small dot in the evening sky that was the avian, and that’s when he noticed the man was getting larger , or closer would be more accurate. Cuteguy was falling, but it didn't look like the hero was in any danger. It looked like a controlled fall and Hotguy once again desperately wanted to know what was going on in his head.

He really only fell for a moment or two before snapping out his wings and Scar was breathless at the sight. He knew that he found the man attractive from the first time he'd seen him the night of the phantom attack, but this? Scar wished he had a camera because he wanted to remember the image the other hero created forever. Cuteguy was surrounded by a halo of gold, silhouetted against the setting Sun. His wings stretched fully out to either side, the vibrant banded colors striking against the soft watercolor of the evening as they caught the wind and took him out of freefall. Scar could just barely make out the pink flush across the avian's face and exposed shoulders as he began to glide toward a nearby building.

It hadn't taken long for Hotguy to fly over and start a conversation with the man, and it went well for a while at least . He just let himself talk to the other hero, doing his best not to stare at his wings and ignoring every urge he had to reach out and run his hands through the feathers, wondering if they were as soft as they looked. They really were beautiful, deep red wings banded with blue and yellow. He had seen how powerful they were but up close they also looked so soft and delicate. It was really a testament to his self-control that he kept his hands down on the building's ledge next to him.

Then the conversation went wrong, he didn't think before speaking, which wasn't uncommon for him in all honesty. His mouth regularly opened before he fully processed what he was saying, but this time he upset Cuteguy. He'd upset someone he cared about. Sure maybe he still didn't know the man very well but he wanted to know him better, and saying stupid things was not the way to do that.

It was a short debate with himself whether he followed after the other hero or not but in the end, it wasn't really a hard choice. So Scar flew in the direction Cuteguy took off in and hoped the man would understand and at least listen to his apology. If he could only find where he went. Once again Scar was aware Cuteguy could be long gone by now if he chose to be, but he wasn't going fast when he turned the corner and Scar lost line of sight on him so maybe he hadn't gone far.

The street lights began to flicker on now as only the last slivers of sunlight remained above the horizon line. It was dark and difficult to see anything that wasn't below the lights and it was unlikely that Cuteguy would be flying that low. So Scar tried to listen for the sound of wings but that too was difficult to hear over the wind rushing past his ears. Eventually, a sound did break through the blowing wind, but it was far from a sound he wanted to hear.

The scream sounded like whining static as all of the streetlights a few blocks over dimmed and surged, one of them bursting with a loud pop and a shattering of glass. Quickly changing course, Hotguy drew his bow as he flew in the direction of the disruption. As he approached he let his reflexes from years of being a superhero kick in and scanned the area, taking in as much information as he could as quickly as he could. The street looked empty as far as he could tell. No civilians to worry about. That would always be the first priority, either get the bystanders away or draw the monsters away someplace less crowded. If nothing else, the most important part of his secondary gig was to keep people safe. It was the entire reason he began moonlighting as Hotguy in the first place.

After checking for bystanders, step two was to locate the threat. Which was easier said than done if he was facing the threat he thought he was. The street seemed quiet and was darker than it should have been with the blown streetlight but sight wasn't what he was relying on here. He strained his ears and let the cool air of the night settle around him as he landed and stilled. Sure enough, it only took a second before he felt the air pressure drop and heard the static fuzz that stopped short after only a quick moment. Snapping his head in the direction the noise came from he saw the long black legs leading up to a body barely distinguishable from the shadows the early night was casting across the area. He knew if he looked higher he'd meet its purple empty gaze and he also knew that would be a very dangerous mistake. Endermen were difficult to deal with, an enderman targeting someone was even worse. Scar did not like them when they were angry.

Reaching for his quiver he felt for his arrows to figure out what he was working with. Enderman and arrows didn't really mix but he had some arrows that could help him deal with them. Usually at least. Today he didn't seem so lucky and he vaguely remembers a post-it note he wrote to himself to ask cub for more of his Ender-ender arrows. Plan B then, he thought, and went to shoulder his bow when a flash of pink caught his eye and Scar felt a slight bit of relief recognizing it immediately. Cuteguy was okay and now Scar wasn't alone , the two of them surely could easily take on one lone enderman. At least, he hoped it was only the one , more than one made it much more difficult to fight without drawing one's ire.

Cuteguy landed in front of one of the cars on the street and quickly spun around brandishing his two pistols. He made no move to show he noticed Hotguy standing opposite him, too focused on the shadowed monster between them. Cuteguy leveled one of his pistols and fired towards the creature , a soft pink glow darted from the weapon as the enderman shot towards the avian, that horrid screech echoing down the empty street. Scar held his breath as the pink bolt sped forward but just as it should have connected the air pressure dropped once more and in a blink, the enderman was about 10 feet to the left and still moving forward. Hotguy rolled out of the way of the projectile now headed his way and heard a string of expletives from the other hero.

"No projectiles Cuteguy , it'll just teleport!" Scar called across the way and saw the avian's gaze quickly flicker to his before focusing back on the monster. Naturally, Scar expected him to change tactics after learning said information, put away the pistols, and hopefully pull something else out to help them. He was not expecting Cuteguy to take another shot, and another shortly thereafter towards where the enderman teleported away from the first shot.

Hotguy was, to say the least, very confused. Nothing Cuteguy was doing was making sense to him. Fighting endermen meant no projectiles, keep moving, and don’t look directly at them. Cuteguy was following absolutely none of those rules. The avian's feet hadn't moved since he and the enderman had appeared and every time the enderman teleported away from one shot another would ring out and cause it to teleport again. It was almost a stalemate between the avian and the enderman, Cuteguy refusing to move and the enderman continually being forced to teleport , but gaining inches each time it lunged forward once more .

"Move out of the way!" Hotguy called out towards the other man but Cuteguy just grimaced and shook his head. At this point, Hotguy was beginning to get frustrated at the hero's stubbornness. "Why not!"

Cuteguy just scowled, not taking his eyes off the monster and firing again. "Stop just staring and help me here!"

Hotguy once again wanted to kick himself. Here he had been just standing around like a nitwit while Cuteguy was doing everything. What kind of hero was he being right now. Who cares if it wasn't how Hotguy was used to fighting these monsters, Cuteguy needed help. His help. Reaching into the bottom of his quiver he pulled out plan B and rushed forward.

It was hard to hit an enderman, but slightly easier when it was focused on someone other than you. Unfortunately for Hotguy however, the constant teleporting of the monster and his focus on not running into one of Cuteguy's shots made the situation infinitely harder. "Stop shooting for thirty seconds please !" Hotguy dropped to narrowly avoid a blast as he called out the request.

"I can give you maybe ten!"

"I'll take it!" Scar's hand gripped the objects in his hands tighter as he poured on the speed, closing the gap between him and the monster. "Now please !"

Hotguy closed in on the enderman and drew his arm back throwing the glass canister on the ground next to it. The water splashed him a bit but it also hit the enderman who screeched in pain, now standing in a puddle. He could feel the air pressure drop and knew he had limited time to finish the job as his other arm came up and plunged the arrow clutched in his fist into the chest of the monster.

The screeching faded slowly out as the enderman began to dissolve back into shadows and Scar let out a breath of relief as the streetlights brightened to normal levels once more. Once he'd caught his breath he knew his next step was to talk to Cuteguy. Debrief about the fight and also apologize. He owed the hero at least that much. "You know, it's usually recommended to keep moving when fighting those , staying still just gives it a clearer target." Scar turned his head to where Cuteguy had been but the avian was no longer there. Instead, he was launching himself over the car he had been in front of and landing quickly on the other side. Scar furrowed his brow and began crossing to the car and as soon as he saw the scene there , everything clicked into place.

"I wasn't the target." Cuteguy didn't look at him when he said it, focusing instead on the person cowering against the car door, tear tracks running down her face and clutching her left arm which was already purple and red. She looked like she was maybe in college, barely old enough to be one of the freshmen in the gen-ed lectures he taught.

Scar heard Cuteguy talking to the girl, focusing on calming her down and checking her arm, but his mind was too busy to make out any sort of details or hear the girl's responses. The entire battle was replaying in his mind, the new details answering all the questions he'd had about the other hero's odd choices. Cuteguy had planted himself between the monster and the girl, the girl Scar hadn't even realized was there. He kept shooting to keep the enderman from getting closer to the girl who must have made eye contact with the creature before he showed up. Cuteguy had put himself in danger and risked his own safety, all to make sure the monster didn't reach its target. There had been no hesitation in the hero, at least not that Scar could see and he was awestruck by it. It took Hotguy months of training and fighting to feel confident enough to impose himself rather than just try to draw a fight away. Cuteguy had been flying around for less than two weeks, not including the week between his initial appearance to save Hotguy and his first night out patrolling when Hotguy finally got to speak to him.

Shaking off his thoughts he tuned back into the interaction between the newer hero and the girl. Cuteguy had taken one of the ribbons off his own costume and was gingerly tying it around the civilian's arm. "This should keep it steady so we don't aggravate the injury , are you comfortable with being flown to a hospital?" The girl nodded lightly and Cuteguy gave her a reassuring smile. "Okay then, I'm going to pick you up in just a moment, okay? I want you to wrap your good arm around my neck best you can and hold on tight. We won't be flying high or fast but this will get you to someone who can properly look at that arm. I don't think it looks too bad but I'm not an expert, just working on borrowed knowledge from a friend." Getting another nod of confirmation from the girl, Cuteguy bent over and wrapped one arm around her back and one under her knees before standing back up. Hotguy noticed that the way he lifted her looked almost effortless and , not for the first time that night, he was stunned and in awe of the hero before him.

Cuteguy only offered him a small nod before launching himself into the night and Scar was left all alone, mind reeling from the night's events. There was so much he didn't know yet about Cuteguy , that much was painfully obvious from how badly he'd put his foot in his mouth earlier. However, after watching how the avian acted in a proper fight, and how kind and gentle he'd been with the girl Scar did know one thing. He was in deep when it came to how he felt about Cuteguy, and he didn't mind one bit.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Grian hadn't realized how late it had gotten until he left the university's library and saw that it was dark. He hadn't planned on staying so long but between a late afternoon cup of coffee and his desire to finish the personal project he had been working on, he'd lost track of time and was only now feeling the incoming crash from a full day of work. From both of his jobs.

The day after the enderman incident he had switched up his barely established schedule, instead waking up shortly after one in the morning and flying around in the early morning, well after Hotguy usually turned in for the night. It made for very long days when he went from flying around as Cuteguy to teaching a handful of lectures. Still, the staff room had a coffee machine and he'd been sleeping from the moment he got home from his last class of the day until he had to wake up and get ready to become a hero again. It was a lot of shifting around of his schedule just to avoid seeing one man but Grian was stubborn that way. Truth be told, it likely would only last another night or two. His talk with Mumbo had convinced him to give Hotguy another chance , but he couldn't say that the early morning hero work and the distancing of himself from the established hero hadn't been beneficial.

If he was going to continue being Cuteguy, and with proper intentions this time, he needed to put in the work. First of all, he needed to figure out what kind of hero Cuteguy was, independent of Hotguy. He hadn't had a night out without the other hero showing up and while he knew he theoretically could ask Hotguy questions about hero work and for some tips and pointers, he was not too sure he could handle doing so. Even so, early mornings, as it turned out, were good for being able to get the scope of the situation with a lot less pressure. Not many people were out and about between two and six in the morning, but that didn't stop monster encounters around the city. He hadn't met anything too terribly dangerous yet, just the occasional zombie , but he had made good use out of them. He'd practiced on them, testing out the different settings on his pistols, and testing the limits of their perception and how easy it could be to slip by or take one out unnoticed. Everything he learned he scribbled down in a notebook, set on creating himself a guidebook of sorts.

Which is what had him leaving at stupid o'clock at night. He'd spent the last several hours researching the various monsters that popped up around the city, from the frequently spotted to the incredibly rare, and documenting them all in a spare journal now tucked safely at the bottom of his bag beneath folders of student work. The journal covered everything, from the monster's appearances, complete with Grian's own rough sketches referenced from both his own encounters and any photos he could find online, to abilities and any known weaknesses. He was quite proud of it in all honestly, and even thought of one day publishing it once he retired from being Cuteguy. From his research, he found there were surprisingly few reference materials that contained information about all of the city's monsters. He had spent a large portion of his night searching the extensive library shelves and flipping between web pages, of varied repute, trying to consolidate all of the research.

Checking the actual time he realized the late bus between campus and the stop nearby his apartment had come and gone about ten minutes ago, and the next wouldn't be around for another fiftyish minutes due to the late hour. It was moments like this, however few and far between, that really had Grian nearly regretting the choice to hide his hybrid side in his daily life. A bus ride home was only ten to fifteen minutes depending on the time of day and the driver , but the walk was forty minutes which right now would be faster than the just over an hour it would take to get home if he waited for the bus. If he could fly home though ? That he could probably do in closer to five minutes, eight if he really took his time, and right now he wanted nothing more than to crash face-first into his nest of a bed. He had made that choice, however, and he knew outing himself as an avian would be something he would highly regret tomorrow, especially over something as ultimately trivial as getting to bed sooner. So he started walking.

He was nearly halfway through his usual route home when he heard the first groan. A few weeks ago the noise would have made him panic and sprint in the other direction, but as of late, he'd developed a few new reflexive responses to such noises and instead , did something he'd later refer to as stupid. He ran towards the undead groaning.

Turning the corner of the ally the sound echoed out of, Grian's hand instinctively reached for his thigh holster and the pistol that should have been strapped there. It was only when his hand brushed the fabric of his jeans that he realized his mistake. Cuteguy had pistols in thigh holsters, he was Grian . His pistols were at his apartment stashed away in his room with his hero outfit where they always were while he was at his day job because Grian didn't need blaster pistols to teach architecture courses at a university. Now Grian was standing in the mouth of an ally, frozen from the too-late realization, and an open target for the three zombies shambling out of the darkness.

It took a few moments for his body to catch up to his mind as it screamed at him to get away but eventually he turned, wings instinctively flexing where they were trapped under his oversized sweater, useless to him in this moment, and ran. Grian was not a runner though. Growing up as an avian you didn't really need to be, if he wanted speed he would just fly. Now he stumbled as he tried to get his weary feet to run faster, to get some distance from the undead monsters, shake them loose so he could properly get away. He was so focused on not falling flat on his face that he almost missed the sound of something hitting flesh, of arrows hitting rotting flesh. Once, twice, then a third time; undead moans choked off as the thud of three bodies hitting the ground gave way to a once more silent night.

Grian turned, letting his feet still and his breathing attempt to even out as he looked over the bodies now quickly decomposing on the ground. Each body had an arrow protruding from what had once been its neck and Grian recognized the arrows easily , even though he hadn't seen them up close in several days. Just like he had not seen the man now landing on the ground from where he'd leaped off the nearby building in several days. Hotguy had shown up and saved him, because of course he did.

" Well hello there!" He hero called, giving Grian that media-ready smile. "Little late to be out for a stroll isn't it?"

Grian once again had to take a second to remember he was not Cuteguy right now and therefore Hotguy didn't know him right now. Grian was just like any other person in this city to the hero. "Heading home from work actually , walking was faster than the bus."

"A little late to be leaving work then " Hotguy corrected.

"And what would Hotguy know of my work schedule? Plenty of jobs could get out around this hour." Grian couldn't help but be indignant. Something about the way Hotguy seemed like he knew Grian was out this late was rubbing him the wrong way and he could feel his defensiveness rising.

"That may be true, but your university faculty badge is handing off your shoulder bag there Professor Moon."

Oh. Grian's defensiveness shifted towards embarrassment all too quickly. Of course his work badge was visible, and of course that would indicate he'd been at work way later than was typical since the university didn't offer night courses. "Ah yes, um, well then, I've got to be off. Twentyish minutes left to walk and all that. Um, thanks for the save Hotguy." Grian Turned on his heel and began to walk away as quickly as he could without it looking too abnormal. Hotguy had other ideas though it seemed.

"Hey!" Grian did not turn as the hero called after him but that did not stop the hero from jogging after him to catch up. "Professor Moon, wait! Sounds like you still have a long walk ahead of you, surely there could be more dangers. What if I gave you a lift instead? We could fly you home in a matter of minutes." Hotguy overtook Grian and stopped in front of him, halting him in his path of escape as Grian processed what Hotguy had just offered.

"You want to fly me home? Absolutely not. No way." Grian could not imagine anything worse than being in the air and not being the one in control. Trusting someone else, Hotguy at that, to carry him through the air and have his own wings be inaccessible under his clothing, unable to save him if he fell or was dropped. Grian felt a shudder roll through him at even the thought.

"No?" Hotguy seemed confused at the rejection. "Why not? Are you afraid of heights or something?"

It took everything in him to not laugh at the suggestion, but Hotguy had no clue he was hiding wings beneath his sweater, that he spent more of his childhood in the air than on the ground. So he kept his face as neutral as he could and took the excuse where it was offered. "Yeah, something like that. Rather have my feet firmly on the ground thank you." He moved again to step around the hero and internally sighed when the hero simply fell into step beside him.

"Well then Professor Moon, I guess I'll just have to walk you the rest of your journey home then. Can't have you out here getting attacked by scary monsters on my watch." Hotguy beamed at him again and Grian just rolled his eyes.

"If you must, then call me Grian. Only my students call me Professor Moon."

" Well Grian, it's wonderful to meet you." Somehow Hotguy's smile seemed even brighter and maybe if Grian looked closely he could see that it had lost the edge of fakeness it had before.

To his surprise, the remainder of Grian's walk home, with Hotguy now at his side, was actually quite pleasant. Hotguy had asked him polite questions about his job and students, his hobbies, and a random assortment of other surface-level questions. Grian tried to ask questions back but only got an answer or two that wasn't something along the lines of "top secret" and "I'd have to kill you if I told you " each with a laugh and a return of his dazzling smile. By the time they reached the front of his apartment building, Grian was actually starting to warm up to Hotguy and only internally pouting over how Mumbo was right about giving the hero a second chance. Not that this is what either of them had thought when they were discussing it, but somehow maybe talking to him as Grian instead of Cuteguy made conversation easier .

"This is me," Grian trailed off as he paused outside the door to the building. The silence hung in the air for a moment, neither wanting to be the first to break the enjoyable company they had been sharing. Then all at once, Grian remembered how tired he was, now having been awake nearly a full twenty-four hours. "Thanks again for that thing back there with the zombies. And walking me home too I guess."

"What else is a hero for?" Hotguy cocked his head to the side and smiled again at Grian. Or continued smiling? Grian honestly wasn't sure if the man had ever stopped. "See you- around, I guess? Maybe try not to run into any more zombies though ." It almost sounded like Hotguy had caught himself and changed his words mid-sentence but if he did, Grian was too tired to catch it.

"Goodnight Hotguy." Grian watched and gave a small wave as the hero took a few steps back and then took off, soaring into the night. "See you tomorrow night."

Chapter Text

Grian took his time getting ready to go out as Cuteguy tonight. One could accuse him of dragging his feet, and Mumbo likely would if he were home and not at some quarterly dinner thing for the company he worked for. He was nervous though, not that he would ever admit that out loud, no he would deny that until his dying breath. This would be the first time in half a week that Cuteguy would encounter Hotguy while out on patrol. Probably at least. There was always a chance Hotguy wouldn't be out tonight, but it was rare that Hotguy ever took a day off. He wasn't sure how healthy that was, but who was he to judge. He hadn't missed a night out since becoming a hero either, even when he was avoiding Hotguy he simply shifted his hours rather than not go out. It was exhausting sure, but between the joy of getting to fly again, the adrenalin of fighting monsters, and the feeling of saving someone it was completely worth it.

Grian pulled the shirt of his, recently improved, hero costume over his head, carefully maneuvering his wings as he did so, easily slipping them through the mostly open back. Rolling his shoulders a bit he tried to get a feel for the stiffer material the new article of clothing was made from. Mumbo had insisted he upgraded from the casual cotton and spandex his outfit originally was to a more durable and protective Kevlar-type fabric if he was going to fully commit to being a hero. Grian had agreed, the upgrade had also given him an excuse to redesign the outfit to fit more of his own style and not just be a replica of Hotguy's. His top was now an all-black and sleeveless with a high neck and cropped to show just a peak of skin around his midriff. The heart on his chest was now a cutout filled with a deep pink mesh. He didn't feel the need to keep the Cuteguy branding on the new shirt since it was only there in mimicry of Hotguy's in the first place. At least the name had grown on him by now since a complete rebrand would be much more difficult. His pink shorts had red and black accents and slid on easily over the black straps that wrapped his legs, sporting pouches for basic first aid supplies, backup cartridges for his pistols, and a newly added small knife in case ranged wasn't an option. The outfit was completed with pink gloves up to his elbows to match the shorts and a comfortable and practical pair of leather combat boots he'd had since Joel made him buy a pair back in high school. He finished off the look by pulling his shaggy hair back in a half-up ponytail and the large pink-tinted heart-shaped glasses that Mumbo had retrofitted to help him see better at night.

Even once he was ready to go out though, Grian found himself hesitating. It was stupid that he was so nervous honestly, he had just talked to Hotguy yesterday and everything was fine. But that was also Grian and not Cuteguy, a topic he very much avoided during their conversational walk to Grian's apartment yesterday. Grian wasn't even really sure what he was nervous about really, as far as he knew Hotguy had no reason to be miffed at him. He had been very justified in all of his words and actions, including completely avoiding the other hero for several days. Surely everything between him and Hotguy would be fine and they could get a proper start on their partnership.

Grian could still feel his nerves like a live wire running from his chest to his fingertips, he was getting antsy and definitely overthinking it. Without letting himself pause long enough to consider what he was doing, he launched himself sideways and dove through the open window of his room, wings tight against his back as he maneuvered through the small opening then snapping out once he was passed the threshold. Usually, he's let himself leisurely fly up and do a small lap of the area before moving on to patrol deeper into the city. Today though, he had energy to burn and thoughts to leave behind. Today Grian flies like a bullet out of his window and into the night sky. He climbs in the air until he's cleared the top of the nearby buildings and streaks over the city at nearly top speed, nothing but a pink blur in the sky.

He flew that way for about a minute, weaving between the tops of buildings, until he felt the pent-up energy dissipate and he felt a bit more balanced again. Taking stock of where he was as he slowed, he realized he had flown to one of the small parks scattered throughout the city. It wasn't too far from his apartment and he used to study and do some of his work here back in school so it was a park he was very familiar with at least. It was also an empty park at this time of night which Grian was very thankful for as he landed on a small bridge over a section of the tiny pond nestled among the trees. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, trying to slow his heartbeat back down, all the while keeping an ear out for any warnings that a monster may be nearby.

It wasn't a monster he heard as he stood on the bridge though, even after a few days he could still recognize the soft mechanical hum of Hotguy's wings. Grian let himself take another deep breath before acknowledging the approaching hero, trying to keep his still-there nerves from showing. "How'd you know where to find me?"

Grian refused to turn around as He heard the soft tread of Hotguy's boots switch over from the dirt path to the wooden bridge, instead continuing to stare at the reflection of the rising moon on the water below him. "It wasn't hard to guess what the pink blur whizzing past me was." Hotguy stepped up next to him and leaned against the railing. "It was significantly harder keeping up with you long enough to figure out where you were headed. I knew you were fast but that was kinda insane Birdie."

"Again with the nickname?"

"You didn't actually say it was insensitive so you're stuck with it I'm afraid" Grian could hear the smile in the man's voice and decided he didn't really mind the nickname but like everything else in his life he'd be damned if he let Hotguy know that.

"And what if I told you it was insensitive?"

Hotguy didn't miss a beat though. "I'd say you were lying because I've done my research now." The statement surprised Cuteguy so much that he finally turned his head to look at the hero.

Who was already looking at him in a way that sent a shiver up Cuteguy's spine but he refused to be the first to look away as they made eye contact. "Research?" The avian lifted an eyebrow as Hotguy smiled back at him.

"Yup." Hotguy popped the P, "I kinda made an ass out of myself last time we talked and for that, I wanted to apologize but also show you I want to be better. I wanted to show you I could make the effort if you still wanted to work with me, you know, be partners."

All the tension that had evaporated as he flew crept back into him as Grian took in the words paired with the soft look Hotguy was giving him. It was too soft, too caring. Not at all what he'd come to expect from the hero and everything in Grian wanted him to bolt.

Again.

But that was what got them into this situation in the first place, so Grian did what he did best. Grian deflected with humor.

"Partner? What are we married or something?" Cuteguy let out a trilling laugh, noticing the light pink splash across Hotguy's face as he finally turned away slightly. "Come off it now, it's not as serious as all that."

"Oh, right. Uh-" Hotguy stumbled over his words a bit and Grian felt himself relax a bit, no longer feeling trapped by the man's gaze.

"Look, as nice as the past few days have been, no one really gets into trouble in the early morning hours because they're all asleep so really it just makes more sense for us to work together." I don't want to do this alone . Cuteguy would never say it out loud, but it was part of his decision to try again with Hotguy.

All at once Hotguy turned back to him, eyes alight, hands twitching slightly as if he was holding himself back from reaching out towards Cuteguy. "Really! You do wanna work together? Because that would be ah- may -zing. I've been doing this for so long now, it was really nice working with someone for a bit."

Hotguy's response was so genuine that Cuteguy couldn't believe this was the same hero he had watched give short and overconfident interviews the few times a reporter was able to catch him after an attack. That Hotguy had always been cocky and falsely charming, overtly flirting with each reporter. The Hotguy in front of him seemed far more humble and almost nervous. It intrigued him, the fact that he didn't know as much about the hero's personality as he might've thought he did. It may be fun to figure it out. "Yeah, two heroes are better than one or something like that. Right?"

"Great!" The smile Hotguy gave him was dazzling but it wasn't exactly the same one he gave the media or Grian the night before. "In that case, I have somethings I wanna give ya!" The taller hero began digging through various pockets the avian hadn't even realized were there and muttering to himself as Cuteguy watched. Eventually, he found the right one and pulled out something before extending his hand towards Cuteguy. It looked vaguely like a single earbud and an old cell phone and confused Grian even further.

"You wanted to give me some old junk?"

"Oh no no no, my dear Cuteguy. These here are specially designed high-tech communication equipment."

Hotguy seemed proud of himself as he continued to hold out the objects but Grian was not convinced. "You sound like you're trying to sell me something, like fake crystals from a traveling magician or something."

"You wound me birdie, trying to call me a conman. I'm not even trying to sell you anything. These are a gift." Hotguy's unoccupied hand reaches out for Cuteguy's and pulls it towards him, pressing the two items into his palm before hastily pulling away. "For real they're communication devices, see?" Cuteguy watches as the other hero turns his head and points to his own ear where he can see a similar-looking earbud. "I had Cu- uh, my guy make them for us. The communicator device can be used both in and out of costume for any reason we need and the earpiece connects us so we can talk easily even when we're not together!"

"Does the earpiece come with a mute button?" Grian deadpans and Hotguy just laughs. Cuteguy looks over the communicator and earpiece. Up close he can tell they are handmade, not anything mass-produced like his personal phone was. He could also see faint red streaks around where the different pieces of the com fit together. "Redstone powered?" If it was he definitely would have Mumbo look over it and see if he could figure anything else out about it.

"Yeah, redstone and sculk! Makes it more secure since not a lot runs on redstone power these days. Less people familiar with it and less of it used in other communication devices means it’s a lot more secure. According to my guy at least. He's really good at this stuff, especially the skulk part. I'm kinda crud at anything more advanced than pen and paper myself actually."

"Makes sense that you've got someone else working on your gear. That bow of yours seemed way more advanced than I'd think you're capable of." Cuteguy's mischievous grin grew at the dig and Hotguy's look of indignation that followed it.

"Hey I could have made my own stuff, you don't know! Besides, am I supposed to believe you made your own suit and blasters?"

"Nah, pistols were all my guy, just my idea. Probably also redstone too since that’s his specialty. The outfit was all me though thank you very much. I have put a lot of effort into learning how to sew and pattern clothing over the years."

"Wait, you made the suit? I mean I shouldn't be that surprised but uh, wow. This new look, well it really suits you."

Cuteguy groaned loudly "Was that a pun? How dare you." Hotguy's laugh that followed was contagious and soon the pair of heroes were giggling together on the bridge in a small park.

Once the laughter died down, Cuteguy shook his head and opened the communicator with one hand while fitting the earpiece into his left ear. It only took a minute of poking around to get a feel for the basic extent of what the communicator was capable of. There were a few pre-programmed buttons for various law enforcement and medical emergency numbers. Maybe he could also get Mumbo to add himself on there, just for quick access in case something went terribly wrong. There was also a button that looked to be a compass. "If you press that one it sends a notification to my com with your coordinate so I can find where you are. Or if you press it twice it gives me a notification that you want to know where I am so I can press the same button on my phone." Cuteguy ignored the hero's incorrect word choice as he nodded along. The only remaining button was one with the Hotguy logo on it. Unable to resist, he pressed the button and heard the earpiece crackle to life. "That’s you're button to open up the channel of communication." Hotguy's voice was a little overwhelming when he could hear it both in front of him and directly in his ear but Grian adjusted to it quickly enough. "I'd suggest we maybe want to just keep them on while out on patrol. The com screen shows you if the other person is also connected so you can see if I'm already out and around. Also if mine is on and yours isn't You can still hear me you just won't be able to respond. Or well, you can still speak but I won't be able ta hear ya!"

Hotguy smiled at Cuteguy as he explained the com device, slowly leaning closer as he talked. "If we're going to patrol together I guess we ought to come up with some sort of regular schedule yeah?" Cuteguy tried to move the conversation along, all of a sudden very aware of how close Hotguy had gotten and how alone the two were in this park. "I know I've been a little sporadic but I also know every night might not be the healthiest for me? My day job takes up a lot of my time and occasionally my nights too. I don't know what your non-hero life looks like if you even have one that is, but it can't really be healthy for you either. I don't know how you've done it all of these years."

"Lots of stamina," Hotguy winked at him and Cuteguy decidedly did not blush and he would shoot anyone who dared say otherwise. "You're not wrong though, my guy has been telling me I should cut back for ages now in all honesty, but it's always felt wrong to leave the city undefended. Even for just one night."

"Sounds like a smart guy but also, now you have me to give you a break now and then. How's this sound, I'll cover Sundays and Wednesdays, you handle Mondays and Thursdays, then we can team up for Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Then we both get two days off a week."

"And both of us are there on weekends when more people are out and it's more dangerous!"

"Exactly and thanks to the communicators if one of us needs backup or to swap out a night we can easily let each other know. Deal?"

"Deal."

The two heroes finally left the park and Cuteguy let Hotguy lead the way as the two flew in a wide arc around the city, the established hero talking over the earpiece to point out trouble spots he had come to know over the years and other small tricks he had learned. Cuteguy stayed mostly silent, just listening and trying to take it all in. Today was Tuesday which meant tomorrow night he would be on his own but he didn't let himself be nervous about it. He knew what he was doing by now, and most nights there wasn't any real danger anyways. After a few hours, Cuteguy yawned and Hotguy followed suit, leading the two to decide to turn in for the night.

"Well then, I guess this is where we part ways for now." Cuteguy felt mildly awkward as he tried to say goodbye to the other hero but he had no idea why. "I'll see you Friday then?"

"It’s a date." Hotguy's smile was bright in the darkness of the night sky and Cuteguy felt his feathers fluff up in defiance at the hero, quickly taking off in the opposite direction and leaving the man behind for the night.

His earpiece was still connected though as he muttered to himself on his flight home. "It is not a date!"

Chapter Text

It had been just over a full week since Cuteguy and Hotguy had established their new routine and Grian was feeling good.  He had two nights off from his secondary job each week to rest and catch up on sleep and two nights where it was just him and whatever monsters showed up, if any. The other three nights? He was getting used to Hotguy he guessed. The man was still overly confident and flirty but Grian had mostly come to accept that that was just Hotguy. The man was extraordinarily charming and constantly complimenting or teasing Cuteguy but Grian didn't think it meant anything serious, just playful banter among partners. So occasionally, Cuteguy would flirt back.

It wasn't very often at all. Grian maybe made one flirty comment for every ten Hotguy threw his way. Still, each time it took the hero by surprise judging by the way the hero stuttered and refused to make eye contact with Cuteguy every time. The man could flirt as easily as he breathed but became a mess the moment the teasing was returned and it made Grian laugh each time. It felt good though, easy and casual banter that almost had him admitting that he and Hotguy might be friends.

It was Friday night and Cuteguy figured they were maybe thirty minutes until sundown when he and Hotguy were supposed to be meeting up for their patrol. Until then Grian was simply gliding over the city, something he had taken to doing just to be able to relax as he flew, and maybe if he just so happened to be in the area of Scar's apartment, well no one was around to judge him for it. He hadn't seen Scar the few times he'd flown by in the last week though, not even just a glimpse of the man out on his balcony watering plants like the first time.

Except there was someone, just as he was ready to give up and fly off to a different part of the city, the roof access door opened and Grian would be able to recognize Scar anywhere, even from overhead and at a distance. He was flying down before he even realized it, wings changing his direction without conscious thought. It was only when he touched down behind the man that he realized he had no idea how to start a conversation with Scar as Cuteguy. Rather than give himself time to get too in his head about it though he just went with the easiest option. "Hello."

Scar jumped about a foot in the air and yelped, startled after not realizing he was no longer alone on the roof of his building. Cuteguy doubled over laughing at the other man's reaction but looked up just as his friend's eyes landed on him , Scar's eyes going wide as he saw the city's newest hero standing across from him. "Cuteguy? What uh- what are you doing on the roof of my building?"

Right. Grian had no answer for that. Scar was not Cuteguy's friend, Scar was Grian's friend and coworker. Cuteguy had no reason to be visiting Scar, the hero shouldn't even know who the man was. " Oh uh, it's a tall building, good vantage point for watching the city." Yeah, that sounded believable. It wasn't the tallest building in the vicinity, but it was for sure one of the tall er ones. Plus it's not like Scar knew anything about being a superhero, teaching and fighting literal monsters did not typically go hand in hand, Grian would know.

" Oh makes sense," Scar rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled a bit. It was as he moved his hand though that Grian noticed, one hand on the back of his neck, the other tucked in the pocket of the gray sweatshirt he was wearing.

Where's his cane?

Grian opened his mouth to ask then quickly closed it in a panic. Why would Cuteguy ask about that? Sure Grian knew Scar relied on a cane most days and a wheelchair the rest but, Scar told him all about it back when he was the man's TA. Cuteguy had only ever seen Scar once, briefly as he'd flown by. But Scar was in his wheelchair then, so maybe Cuteguy could ask? "I thought you were in a wheelchair?" Grian mentally kicked himself as he blurted out the sentence without a second thought. "I mean- uh- a few weeks ago, didn't I see you in a wheelchair when I flew by?" He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt considering it felt like it currently matched his wings.

" Oh uh, I don't need it all the time really . I'm only an ambulatory wheelchair user. My legs suck most of the time but uh, sometimes they work." Scar smiled, friendly and casual and Grian wanted to believe him. The words sounded true, the way Scar said them wouldn't inspire doubt in them. Except for the fact Scar had told Grian that he hadn't been able to walk without a cane since he was in high school.

But he wasn't Grian right now , he was Cuteguy, and Cuteguy couldn't go around asking about the medical history of a man whose name he wasn't supposed to know. "Sorry, I just realized how rude of me that was. Here I am asking questions that have you disclosing personal information and I don't even know your name."

"Oh that’s alright, most people tend to ask about that without thinking. It's not like most people know the interspecies of being disabled."

I do, I've learned and still here I am mucking it up. Grian thought back to Hotguy's comments from a few weeks ago, how he had reacted to something similar to what he was doing now. How was he any different.

"Scar Goodtimes at your service Mr. Cuteguy." Scar bowed slightly and Cuteguy chortled at the ridiculous man.

"So, Mr. Goodtimes-"

"Hm, no too formal I don't like that. You should just call me Scar."

Okay. So Scar," The grin that split Scar's face made Grian's heart skip a beat. "What exactly are you doing out on the roof of your building? It's not like there's anything particularly exciting up here."

Scar's pulled his hand from his pocket and Grian was not expecting what the man pulled out with it. "Wanted a smoke and I don't like using my balcony in case the smoke drifts over to my neighbor's."

How many years had Grian known Scar and had no idea the man smoked. Why did he even smoke? Surely with his medical history, smoking should be the last thing Scar of all people should be doing. Grian so badly wanted to question it, berate Scar for smoking, grab the pack, and chuck it into a trash can himself. He didn't though , reminding himself once again that Cuteguy did not know Scar like that and had already asked him questions Cuteguy had no right to ask , he couldn't push it for more.

"It’s a bad habit, I know," Scar shrugged.

Cuteguy tried to figure out how to respond in a way that wasn't overstepping or making things more awkward but it was difficult . Cuteguy couldn't chastise Scar for smoking, Grian could and he was already trying to figure out how to confront Scar about it without revealing how Grian knew Scar smoked since that was obviously something he had been hiding.

But as Cuteguy it was just- difficult to talk to Scar. Scar didn't have a couple years of close comradery with Cuteguy like he did with Grian. Trying to talk to Scar as Cuteguy, well it was agony trying to keep the two parts of himself separate.

"Sorry, I should probably leave, huh? I mean, if you came out here to not be around others when you- I should really be heading to the rendezvous location to meet up with Hotguy anyways."

"What's it like working with him?"

The abrupt question took Cuteguy by surprise and he only answered in a very eloquent "Huh?"

Scar, however, didn't stutter. "Hotguy! What's it like working with him. Like, do you enjoy it or do you secretly hate him"

"What are you, a reporter?" Cuteguy found himself smiling at the question, laughing a bit at the other man.

"No, I'm a teacher!"

"Oh, so the curious academic type then."

"Guilty as charged." and Scar winked at him. Grian thought for a second he might have forgotten how to function. "You don't have to answer the question if you don't want to though . I promise I won't sell your answer to any gossip rag magazines though ."

Grian knew he wouldn't have been able to refuse to answer the question even if he wanted to. It was Scar, and even when he was lying about his legs and sneakily smoking, Grian could not say no to the man. "It's been interesting."

"How so?"

"The whole hero thing is still new to me and learning both how to handle everything and getting used to working with someone at the same time. I like it though , and Hotguy is not at all what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"Overconfident, full of himself, dense. Which to be fair, he kind of is? At least sometimes, but not necessarily in a bad way, I think." Grian didn't know why he was being so honest with Scar about this, but Scar had always been easy to talk to.

"Oh. Is there anything you wish he would do maybe ? Like to make working with him better or to help you find your groove in the whole superhero thing?"

The question struck Grian as odd but so intrinsically Scar. "Maybe I'd ask him to be a person instead of a superhero all the time ?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It just feels like sometimes he's caught up in his Hotguy persona and forgets to just be human? That he's allowed to just be a guy. And maybe it's unfair of me to say since I do barely know him and I don't know what his life looks like outside of being Hotguy."

"Huh, well thanks for sharing! You probably should get going to meet up with Hotguy though , the sun is nearly set."

"Oh shit, I'm going to be late." Grian started getting himself ready to take off before glancing back at Scar. "See you around maybe ?"

"Yeah! See you soon Mr. Cuteguy."

Cuteguy gave him a small smile before turning away from the man and running off the edge of the building before snapping out his wings and flying off.

A few days later Grian was sitting in the staff breakroom at work nursing a coffee that had nearly gone cold and trying to grade the latest stack of assignments. A couple of the other professors were sitting around chatting quietly between their own classes but it was a peaceful afternoon. At least until Scar rolled in in a huff and wheeled himself up to the table Grian was sitting at.

"Grian I can not believe these students this year. I just caught a couple of freshmen in the bathroom smoking . I mean, first of all, this isn't high school they can just go outside and smoke, not inside where people are stuck dealing with it. Why are they even smoking though , don't they know how bad that is for them?"

Grian's hand twitched as he held his coffee mug and started making peace with dying alone because he was going to strangle Scar.

Chapter Text

Grian listened to the idle chatter of the other professors as he lay across the couch and closed his eyes. His next class wasn't for an hour and a half and he was hoping to be able to at least take a small nap before it so he didn't fall asleep in front of a room full of students.

With winter approaching, the nights were growing longer which meant so were his patrols as Cuteguy and last night had been a doozy. He'd taken off shortly before sundown as usual but by the time he made his way home again around one in the morning, he had taken down several groups of monsters. All on his own too as it was a Wednesday night meaning no Hotguy to give him a hand. Not that he wasn't more than capable of handling things on his own. It had been a few weeks since they had established the new rotation and Grian was quite proud to say he was really getting into the swing of things.

Most of the monsters he saw each night were simple zombies and the occasional skeleton although once or twice he had also seen a creeper or enderman and he decidedly didn't immediately fly in the other direction.

Even his nights with Hotguy hadn't been so bad lately. Ever since their conversation in that park a few weeks ago things had been - easier with the other hero. He almost found himself enjoying flying around the city with the other man. It had been a very long time since he had someone flying around with him like this, not since before he moved away for college and made the decision to keep his wings hidden. Back then, most of his afternoons were spent racing Pearl or their cousin Jimmy through the skies and trying to convince Mumbo to let Grian fly him up and around with them. Mumbo had always staunchly refused, preferring his feet stay firmly planted on the ground. He instead would simply fiddle with his latest redstone gadgets while the three avians chased each other around and also often managed to drag Joel and Gem into their airborne mischief.

Flying alongside Hotguy wasn't nearly the same as flying with his friends though . Unlike then, Grian and Hotguy were flying around with purpose, a job to do with no time for flashy stunts or childish races. Not that Hotguy would be able to keep up with Grian if they did have time , his mechanical wings were built more for practical, steady flight than agility or speed. Still, it was nice to not be flying alone , and Hotguy didn't make for terrible company even if he never stopped talking now that they had the earpiece coms and didn't have to shout against the wind or land just to communicate.

Grian was nearly asleep in his spot on the couch when the door to the breakroom opened and he heard the clicking of shoes across the room along with the familiar tapping of a cane. He didn't open his eyes however until he felt said cane tapping against his legs instead. "Make some room couch hog."

Grian opened a single eye and grumbled at the man standing a few feet away at the other end of the small couch. "There are other open seats in here."

Scar just let out a small chuckle and sighed as he leaned his cane against the side of the couch. "Afraid hardwood chairs are not what the doctor ordered and there's only one comfy couch G-man ." with that Scar picked up Grian's legs and sat down where they had previously been before letting them lay back down across his lap. "We can share though ."

Grian held back the small panicked squawk, but just barely as he felt Scar's arms come to rest on Grian's shins and he felt the larger man sigh and tilt his head back as his own eyes drifted closed. Grian sat there for a moment , willing his heart rate to slow back down and trying to force himself back into the near-asleep state he was in before . It was to no avail though as Grian was now hyper-aware of The weight of Scar's arms across his legs and the electric sensation stemming from the contact and running all across Grian's body.

Scar opened his eyes and glanced over towards Grian as if feeling the tension in the younger professor's body. "You can go back to sleep Grian , I really don't mind sitting like this, it's almost like having a weighted blanket." Scar's smile was soft and it made Grian wish he could go back to sleep but he was far too awake now.

"No, it's fine, probably shouldn't be groggy for my next class. It's an intro course so half the students don't pay attention anyways since they're only there for the credit."

"With how much money the average student has to pay to attend this school you think they'd at least try and learn something."

"You mean other than how to take a nap in a room full of people?"

Scar laughed and let his head fall back, eyes gently closing again as he relaxed back into the couch. Grian tried to follow his lead and closed his eyes to see if he could maybe fall back asleep. It was actually almost comfortable, even with his wings pressing more into his back than ideal. After a few minutes, he was almost asleep once again when he heard the shutter of a camera and a snicker.

Opening his eyes he saw Cleo facing them from their spot at the table next to Impulse, lowering her phone and smirking. "What, talking about buildings all day that exhausting?"

"Sure is." Grian shoots back before closing his eyes again.

"Very tiring." Scar agrees and Cleo lets out a snort.

"So then I'd guess we won't see either of you this Friday night? Probably will be past your old men bedtime, yeah?"

Grian reopened his eyes and raised a brow at the art professor. "What's happening Friday?"

"Didn't you hear? Impulse's little polycule band has a gig and a group of us are going to support them and definitely not laugh at them."

"Hey! We're not- It's not like that- Z.I.T.S. is just a band!" Impulse stuttered out and this time Grian laughed along with Cleo.

"I was at your last gig Impy , just accept that you've got a little pimple polycule going on."

The giggle fit spread to Scar now as Impulse pouted. "That’s it, you're all no longer invited."

Grian thought about going to the show and honestly, it did sound fun. It had been a few months since the last time he had had a night out with friends, not since the night he'd rescued Hotguy and inadvertently became Cuteguy.

Then Grian remembered, that Friday night he had plans already. Hotguy would be expecting him for their usual patrol, and while he maybe could text the other hero, he wasn't sure he really wanted to in all actuality. So he felt the excuse come easy. "Works out that I'm uninvited, I've got plans already. Me and my sister are video calling to plan out her visit next month." It was a lie, but it could be true. He did have to talk to Pearl about her visit sometime soon but they hadn't made any serious plans to yet.

"Boo Grian, boo." Cleo smiled, very obviously not actually upset with him. "What about you Scar ?"

" Ah it’s a no go for me too actually . I've got a date."

Grian froze at the words, not quite sure if he had heard that right but not sure if there was anything else those words could have been.

"Oh, Professor Goodtimes has a date does he?" Cleo teased and Scar's eyes finally opened, panic evident in the deep green.

"No wait ! That's not what I meant!" Scar tried to backtrack. "I just meant a- date with Jellie! You know my cat! Friday nights are Queen Jellie nights at Casa de Scar!"

Grian wanted to believe Scar, but he knew the man well enough by now to know Scar wasn't a good liar when he was panicking. Instead, he could feel himself sinking at the thought.

Scar had a date. Scar was going out with someone else.

Grian knew he had no reason to be upset. Scar could go on dates with whoever he wanted. Grian had no claim over the man , he had merely been pining for years. It was stupid to think Scar wouldn't go on dates with other people while Grian was too much of a coward to admit his feelings.

"Well, enjoy your date with your 'cat' then." Cleo laughed and winked and Scar's face flushed red as a tomato.

Grian tried to ignore the feeling of his stomach dropping as he pulled his legs off Scar and swung them around to the ground. "I just remembered I had some work to get done before my next class , I'll see you all later." He didn't wait for a response as he hurried out of the room.

Chapter Text

Fridays were rapidly becoming Scar's favorite day of the week.

To be fair, so were Saturdays and Tuesdays. Any day he got to see Cuteguy was a good day really.

It had only been a few weeks since Cuteguy came back and they started their new patrol schedule which gave him days off for the first time since he took up the mantle of Hotguy. And Scar did enjoy that! He had since been able to spend more time with Jellie and even got a few nights of proper sleep! But ever since that first night with the other hero, the nights Scar was out alone were even more lonely than they used to be.

It was fine though, because tonight he wouldn't be alone. Tonight he got to see Cuteguy again. And yes, maybe he said no to hanging out with some other coworkers and maybe becoming closer friends with them because he didn't want to miss seeing Cuteguy. Just don't tell Cub.

Okay, maybe he did make a mistake in saying he had a date when he was declining the invite, but he had tried to fix it! Unfortunately, he's pretty sure none of the other professors believed him when he tried to take it back and say he was just hanging out with Jellie. Cleo and Ren both kept teasing him all day about his 'date' and every time he stuttered through the denial of it. But it wasn't like he could tell them he had standing plans with Cuteguy! At least not without revealing himself as Hotguy, and while he was slowly working on getting closer to his coworkers he was also pretty sure their relationship was not quite there yet.

He did wonder what Cuteguy would think about learning who each other was behind the masks. He had almost brought the subject up a few times in the last week and even briefly considered just admitting who he was when Cuteguy caught him on his roof a few weeks ago. He had chickened out each time though, he didn't want to ruin what they were building. Maybe in a few months, they could be there.

Tonight though, Scar flew through the air on his mechanical wings towards the building where he and Cuteguy met at. He had tried to be slightly early today, Jellie had other ideas though as she demanded attention and extra treats from him while he tried to get his Hotguy gear on. He wasn't running too late yet but Cuteguy was probably already there. Every time they met up Cuteguy beat him there, even when he was on time, as rare as that was.

Which was why it was so surprising when Scar reached the meetup point and it was empty.

Touching down he started looking around for the avian hero, expecting maybe he was hiding somewhere waiting to jump out and scare him. It's not something he had done before but it's not something Scar would put past him either. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to check around every corner and Cuteguy was nowhere to be found.

Scar pulled out his communicator to see if maybe he had a message from the other hero. Maybe he was sick, or just running late. But there was no message waiting for him either. He was beginning to get just a bit worried and started thinking over what to message his partner when a flash of pink off in the near distance caught his eye. Cuteguy approached and Scar felt the smile creep across his face and the relief that the other hero was okay.

The avian landed heavily on the rooftop, much heavier than he typically landed Scar noted. He may not be the most observant but normally Cuteguy made practically no noise as he landed unless they were fighting something. He was always so in control when he was flying, able to pull off tight turns and reach insanely fast speeds. At least in comparison to Scar's ability with his own wings, so much more clunky than the real thing like Cuteguy had.

There may have been several times where Scar was paying more attention to Cuteguy and admiring his wings and flying than to what he was supposed to actually be doing. Could you blame him though? When they were just flying around Cuteguy was always so relaxed, and Scar could understand why. From everything he'd learned since meeting the man, avians were hardwired for flight. According to the book he read most avian children began flying around the same time they began walking. Which frankly sounded like a nightmare for the parents, even if the image of a tiny avian child bumbling along and flapping their wings trying to fly melted his heart almost as much as when Jellie rolled around and gave him baby eyes.

Scar could tell something was up with Cuteguy today though. Even ignoring him being late and the heavy touchdown, he was tense all over and something about him seemed- less put together than usual. "You okay birdie?"

Cuteguy let out a sigh that Scar would almost consider deep before rolling his shoulders back and standing up a little straighter. "Yeah just overslept." The response was short and devoid of nearly any emotion and Scar did not believe him.

"No, I think it's more than that. Maybe you were late because you slept a teeny bit late but I think something else is bugging you cutie-bird."

Cuteguy sighed again and pulled out one of his pistols and, for a second, Scar was afraid Cuteguy might shoot him. Instead, the other hero just started fiddling with it, taking it apart slightly and reassembling it almost absentmindedly as he turned away. "It's fine Hotguy, everything is just- fine."

"Doesn't sound it. You're distracted by something, you didn't even say anything about me calling you 'cutie-bird'. You always yell at me when I call you that."

"I just, had something happen in my personal life but it's fine. And if you call me that again I will shoot you actually."

Scar smiled at the threat. That sounded more like the Cuteguy he was familiar with, but still not quite enough for him though. "Do you want to talk about it maybe? Get it off your chest with an imperial third party?"

"Imperial?"

"Yeah, like I'm not involved so I'm imperial." Cuteguy let out a small chuckle and while it did make him happy to see Cuteguy wasn't entirely moody today, he had a feeling he knew what had caused the laugh. "That’s not the right word, is it?"

"Impartial is the word you're looking for. But also no, I do not want to talk about it."

"Well, I think you should but I'm not going to make you." Scar did not want it to lead to this but years as Hotguy had taught him a few things and he did have a set of rules he followed. "You are obviously distracted though and the first rule of being a superhero is no distracted hero-ing. So either you talk about it and figure out how to un-distract you, or you should probably just go home."

Please don't go home.

Cuteguy's entire face scrunched up and Scar did feel bad about his ultimatum. He didn't want to force Cuteguy to talk about things he didn't want to, even if he believed talking always helped. Cuteguy's business was Cuteguy's business and not Scar's. He had learned some things the hard way though and it was now part of his job to make sure Cuteguy didn't have to as well.

"It's your choice, I'm not going to tell you what the right option is but trying to be a hero when your mind is elsewhere is how you get hurt." Scar reached up a hand and slightly tugged down the collar of his shirt enough to reveal a small scar just below his collarbone. "A few years ago a measly skeleton almost took me out, for good, because I tried to use this gig as a way to distract myself from something."

Scar felt the memories washing over him. The pain and fear of having to leave Jellie at the emergency vet overnight, The restlessness of returning to an empty apartment. The pain of the arrow nearly missing his throat. The arrow that he should have seen, should have dodged, but his mind was in two places, half of his focus still on Jellie.

Cuteguy was quiet for a moment before dropping down in a huff and sitting cross-legged on the roof of the building below them. "It's stupid, really. I don't even know why I'm letting it get to me this much."

Scar sat down gently next to him and stayed quiet, letting Cuteguy lead the conversation and trying not to show how thrilled he was that Cuteguy was choosing to talk instead of leaving him by himself tonight.

"There's this- I have-" Cuteguy struggled trying to figure out how to start. "One of my coworkers, in my civilian life obviously, I- Ugh there's no way to really say this without sounding like a middle schooler. I've got this dumb crush on him, have for ages really. Honestly, I might just be in love with the man. He's got a date tonight though."

Oh.

Scar had not been expecting that. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting but hearing Cuteguy admit to being in love with someone else certainly wasn't it. And it also certainly hurt more than he thought it would.

"Oh."

Cuteguy snorted at his response and something tightened around his heart at the sound.

"Pathetic right? I'm a hero who flies around killing monsters most nights but here I am moping over some guy."

Scar suddenly felt a little out of his depth but plastered a smile on his face and turned towards his partner. "We can't help who we develop feelings for Birdie, but feeling a little upset or heartbroken is perfectly normal for what you're going through." He resisted the urge to reach out and put a reassuring hand on the other hero's knee. "And who knows maybe the date is going absolutely horrible! I bet whoever his date is is totally talking about their ex or maybe even got sick and are jus' spewing all over the place."

Cuteguy chuckled a bit but smiled up at Scar. "Thanks Hotguy, that’s a mental image I'll never get rid of."

"You are very welcome." Scar grinned again, a bit more genuinely this time. "Also, just for the record, any guy that would choose someone else over you is a total fool."

Grian had to admit, Hotguy was right about talking helping. It had been a couple hours since their conversation before going out on patrol and he was feeling better. Sure he was still upset over the fact that Scar was somewhere in the city likely on a date right now, but not as much as he had been. After all, it was just a date, it wasn't like Scar was getting married or anything. The date could go utterly horrible and Grian could go back to staunchly refusing to tell Scar how he felt and just hoping something happens one day.

Shaking his head, Grian pulls his thoughts back to his current situation. They hadn't come across any monsters yet, but he wanted to focus. He needed to prove to Hotguy that he could do this and not be distracted like he had been, the small scar Hotguy had shown him earlier was a good reminder of what could happen if he wasn't careful.

He wanted to ask more questions about the scar. Who had taken care of the injury and what had been distracting Hotguy in the first place, but he didn't want to press. He could see the discomfort on Hotguy's face when he brought up the incident, it couldn't have been a fun memory to relive.

A flash of green in an alley caught his attention and Grian changed course to land on a nearby building for a better look with a quick warning of "Checking something out." in his earpiece. Once he landed it was easy to spot what had caught his eye and confirm his suspicions. A creeper was edging around the corner and towards the road. Thankfully it was just the one. In a pack creepers were dangerous, all it took was a single creeper exploding to set off an entire pack in a devastating chain reaction. "Lone creep, going to drop to ground level for a clear shot but should be simple."

"Roger that cutie-bird. I'll keep an eye on your six." Grian looked up at Hotguy grinning at him from the roof across the alleyway and pulled out his pistol. Thumbing over the switch he set the shot to shock and leveled it at Hotguy before pulling the trigger, he did warn him earlier after all. He didn't wait to see if the shot hit before jumping over the edge of the building and gliding down to the street. Hotguy could very likely dodge the half-aimed shot, and if he couldn't, well, the shock setting wasn't too bad and shouldn't hurt him. And by the sound of Hotguy's short yelp, he probably had managed to move in time.

Landing in front of the creeper immediately drew its attention and the monster began moving with more intent than it had previously. Creepers were not common but Grian was very familiar with the odd green beasts through his research. He could see the small charges of electricity sparking across its short dense fur and knew it was primed to explode if it closed in near enough to him. Grian wasn't even slightly nervous though, that was what ranged weapons were for, no need at all to risk getting close. He raised his pistol again and fired at the monster.

It only took a second to realize his mistake.

The small bolt of electrical energy left the pistol and struck the creeper in its chest with perfect accuracy and Grian let out a string of curses. The creeper was close now as its forward movement remained unhindered and the blue sparks in its fur grew larger and more frequent. Grian was out of time to react as he heard the low hiss of the monster crescendo.

The explosion was loud. So much louder than anything he had heard before. His ears were ringing as he mentally scanned himself to see where the worst of the injuries were. His back and wings were sore with a dull ache and he felt something heavy pressing down on him but was surprised to find that was all he could feel. He didn't feel any real pain, which was almost as concerning as soon as the possibility of burns so bad the nerves were likely dead and no longer able to feel the pain he was supposed to be in registered in his mind. He tried not to panic about that though, grateful to even be alive after a charged creeper exploded in his face.

"Cuteguy? Please tell me you're okay." Hotguy's voice was faint over the ringing still flooding his ears but somehow it didn't sound far away. In fact, it sounded close, really close. Grian opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Hotguy, face mere inches away and concern heavy and visible in his eyes, even through his visor. "There you are birdie."

Grian felt the breath of relief Hotguy let out and promptly realized it was because Hotguy was the weight he had felt on top of him. Looking past the other hero he could see the large crater a few feet away, right where he had previously been standing. Glancing back to Hotguy he finally processed what had happened moments prior. Hotguy had to have tackled him to the ground as the creeper exploded, shielding him with his own body and protecting him from what would have likely been a rather painful death.

Hotguy had saved him.

"I guess this makes us even, huh." Grian cringed at how out of breath he sounded. Hotguy just smiled down at him and Grian felt a bit breathless again, but for very different reasons this time.

"You know, if you were trying to scare me, just shooting at me worked. Didn't need to go and try to blow yourself up too"

"Oh shove off, you're pinning my wings." That got Hotguy moving, quickly lifting himself up and off the avian before extending a hand to help him up as well. "Thanks, for the save too I guess."

"Of course." Hotguy looked at him far too fondly and spoke the words far too genuinely Grian had to look away, feeling exposed under the hero's gaze.

"We're just lucky that you're not too slow of a flyer I guess, otherwise we'd both be toast then who would protect the city?"

"Aw, worried about me birdie? No need to be though, my guy made sure the wings were blast-resistant after one too many close calls." Hotguy smiled proudly and spread the mechanical wings.

"Well, if your wings are so spectacular let's see if they can keep up for the rest of the patrol," Grian smirked and jumped straight up, extending his wings and flying off, his trilling laugh ringing out as Hotguy called out protests, taking off behind him.

Chapter Text

The small venue was aglow with festive decoration and filled with the soft chatter of his co-workers who had already arrived by the time Grian entered the building. The small restaurant the university had rented out for the yearly holiday party was one of his favorite new traditions since he was hired after finishing grad school. Not that there was anything about the holidays he actually didn't enjoy. Winter holidays always came with a break from work, one or more of his friends from back home visiting for a time, and of course, giving gifts.

While he certainly knew the gift-giving portion of the holiday stresses some people out, see one Mumbo Jumbo, he always enjoyed it. Seeing the people he cared about get excited about something he had just so perfectly picked for them. Gift giving wasn't a competition, but it was a skill and Grian had honed it well over the years.

The box he had tucked under his arm was no exception to this.

The workplace Secret Santa gift exchange was a bit more of a challenge for him this year than in previous years but that was his own doing mostly. This year he had pulled Ren in the randomized draw, but that was not who the gift he had brought was for. Instead, Grian had spent a few weeks figuring out who his co-workers each had and trading accordingly until he was responsible for purchasing a gift for the one and only Professor Goodtimes.

From there it had taken him another week to figure out what he was getting the man and another two weeks after that to actually make it. It probably would have taken less time if he wasn't knee-deep in grading final assignments and flying about as a vigilante most nights of the week but he had gotten it done in the end.

Crossing the room he dropped the box off on the gift table and made his way over to the bar where everyone else had gathered and ordered himself a drink. The Shirley Temple was delicious and thankfully non-alcoholic since it was Saturday after all, and just because his one job was finished until the new year, it didn't mean he could take a night off from his hero job. It was still a bit over a week until Christmas and he was expecting an uptick in people getting caught out in dangerous situations on their way home from various holiday parties and holiday shopping. Or at least that was what Hotguy had said when he suggested both of them being on patrols until after New Year's. Which was fine with him, they'd be back to their usual schedule by the time Pearl came to visit and it wasn't like he had much else to do during his work break.

It did mean getting more time with Hotguy in general though, and that Grian was looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. He'd been getting on well with Hotguy lately, they were really starting to mesh like a real team. Hotguy really was someone Grian could rely on to watch his back, he had proven that much a few weeks prior by tackling him away from a charged creeper explosion that likely would have horribly injured him at best. Hotguy hadn't even given him any grief over being the reason the creeper had reached the charged state in the first place, unlike Mumbo who nearly keeled over when Grian told him what happened the next day while Mumbo was preening his wings for him. The taller man had given him an earful about being more careful but also started pondering the potential applications of intentionally charged creepers in a controlled setting. All in the same breath, of course, the proper mad scientist.

Grian had also learned another thing that night, one he still refused to say aloud. Logically, he knew Hotguy was attractive. That was simply a fact, one thing most everyone in the city could agree on. It's why the people of the city let a man run around in skintight clothing and call himself 'Hotguy' in the first place. Because simply, it wasn't incorrect. Grian had just never personally seen the appeal. At least, not until Hotguy was on top of him, chest to chest, after just saving his life.

Yeah, Grian may have understood the entire city's attraction to Hotguy after that.

That’s all it was though, simple, physical attraction to the man. Grian was certain of that though because the way he thought about Hotguy was nowhere near the way he thought about Scar. Sure Hotguy had rugged good looks, a strong muscular build, and a flirtatious charm. But Scar was funny and sweet and handsome and thoughtful and so many wonderful things. Hotguy felt like the kind of guy who you'd have a great summer fling with while Scar was the guy to cuddle up with when winter brought cold nights, and Grian always had run a bit colder.

He was so lost in his own thoughts he hadn't realized someone had been trying to get his attention until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Jumping a bit and turning around, Grian found himself face to face with a laughing Scar. "Little distracted there G?"

Grian smiled at the man in the wheelchair "Just wondering what my Secret Santa got me this year." He was already aware that Cleo was his secret Santa, something he found out during his weeks of playing detective. He did have no idea what it was they got him though, he wasn't that much of a spoilsport.

"Ooh yeah, I'm sure whoever picked your name has got something amayzing for you. Everyone is always so good at getting gifts it's crazy." Grian rolled his eyes but laughed lightly at the other man. Once Scar had also ordered a drink, a pink lemonade, they began chatting about how their students did on final exams and discussing various students they both taught and which were their favorites. After a few minutes, the group was finally informed their table was ready and made their way over to the large party table in the back.

Grian stepped around Scar to reach the table before him and pulled one of the chairs back against the wall to make room for Scar's wheelchair. "Oh, what a gentleman." Scar smiled and Grian turned his head to hide the light dusting of blush he felt creeping up and tried to laugh it off before taking his seat next to his coworker.

Dinner passed uneventfully, filled with all sorts of chatter about plans for both the holiday and the upcoming spring semester. After the main course and throughout dessert, gifts were slowly exchanged. Cleo, as it turned out, had gotten her hands on the 'dream home' designs Grian had drafted up as part of his grad school assignments and had them properly framed. When questioned how she even got them in the first place he found out that Scar had apparently held onto them and helped Cleo with the whole thing. After that, he was so dumbstruck he nearly forgot to give Scar his present until the desert course was finished and Scar commented on being the last one to receive his gift.

"It's not much but I thought it might be something you'd enjoy." Grian handed the small gift to Scar as he sat back down. As Scar carefully peeled away the wrapping paper in an attempt to not rip through the cats wearing Santa hats that dotted the gift wrap, Grian tried to keep his nerves down. He tried to tell himself he had no reason to be nervous, Scar would obviously like the gift and it was just that anyway, a silly little gift that Scar would enjoy, and then they'd move on. It wasn't like it was a heartfelt confession of his unyielding crush on the man wrapped in the shiny cat-covered paper.

Grian pulled his focus from his spiraling thoughts as Scar finally reached the box, opened it, and pulled aside the tissue paper. Grian's breath caught a bit when Scar, at last, got a look at what was waiting for him inside the present and paused for a moment before looking up at Grian with his big puppy dog eyes. "Grian is this-" He trailed off as Grian nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I mean I hope it looks alright. I did my best but the only images I had to reference were the two slightly blurry ones that you've posted since you don’t regularly use social media so I may have gotten some of the details wrong-" Grian let himself trail off as Scar's eyes widened and he glanced back down, fully pulling the sweatshirt from the packaging now.

"You made this? G, this is incredible! This is amayzing, I didn't even know you could embezzle let alone this well. It looks just like her." Scar's eyes were shiny as he held up the simple sweatshirt that Grian had spent a couple weeks slowly embroidering the face of Scar's beloved cat on. It was a simple gift really but Scar's obvious love for it made Grian's heart swell and stutter.

"Ah, it's nothing really, just a skill I picked up over the years." Grian shrugged it off, deciding not to correct Scar's word choice and just letting it slide today. He then proceeded to laugh as Scar began working to pull off the jacket he was already wearing and pull on the gift. He did pause when Scar's face popped out of the collar and Grian noticed a few tears had spilled over and were leaving damp trails down Scar's cheeks. "Oh, Scar."

Scar sniffed and wiped his face with his palm before smiling at Grian, "Sorry it just- I heard the rumor that you had traded around names to get me in the draw but- I never expected this. I love it so much G, and," another tear spilled over, "I've never had a friend like you. In fact,  I've only ever been close friends with two other people and Cub is like my brother and the other- it's complicated but just, thanks for being a friend."

Scar pulled Grian into a hug and Grian let himself lean into it and enjoy the moment. When they pulled apart Grian had an idea bubble up to his head and opened his mouth before thinking about it. "You deserve to have a million friends who care about you Scar, we just need to get you out of your house a bit more hm? I'm sure Jellie won't mind too terribly. I'm a bit busy the next few weeks but My sister is coming to town for a bit after New Year's and I'm sure we'll be doing game nights or just hanging out and if you're not too busy maybe you could join us for some of it? If you already have plans that’s fine but it's an open invitation anytime you want."

Scar looked like he was trying even harder than before not to cry as he pulled Grian back into another fierce hug. "I'd love that G."

Chapter Text

Scar had never really enjoyed the holidays. Between the cold making his legs worse than normal, and the isolation that came with the work break between semesters, it was honestly one of his least favorite times of the year.

He did have to admit though, this year wasn't so bad. Yeah, the cold still sucked and yeah his days were a bit lonely just him and Jellie with only the occasional visit from Cub, but after New Year's Grian had invited him to hang out with him and his sister. And, for the past week, he had gotten to spend time with Cuteguy every night.

Okay, maybe flying around and saving people from monsters isn't what normal people considered quality hanging out time but at the moment it was all Scar had with the other man so he'd take it. And it wasn't all saving people, occasionally they'd get to take a breather and just sit on a rooftop, often in silence, sometimes discussing tactics for taking down different creatures they faced. Scar enjoyed it though, it felt like he was finally getting to really know the other hero, even if he wasn't learning any personal details about him.

He was shocked out of his own thoughts by the tickle of feathers lightly brushing his arm. With a yelp he jumped a foot in the air and to the side, right to the edge of the very tall building, toppling off balance. His heart stopped for a brief second as he tried to figure out either how to keep himself on the building or twist into the best position to let his wings catch him before he faceplants into the sidewalk below. Then in another instant, he felt a solid grip around his wrist and his tumble halted as he locked eyes with the man who had occupied most of his thoughts for the past several months.

Or as close to locking eyes as they could through the heavily tinted heart glasses on the avian's face.

"Careful there Prettyboy." The other hero's slight chuckle and smile made Scar's heart flutter briefly before he got himself back under control.

"What can I say Birdie, I'm just falling for you." Cuteguy groaned as he pulled Hotguy back securely on the roof.

"Don't make me push you right back off the roof."

Scar laughed at the hero's typical attitude. "Where's your Christmas spirit there Birdie? If you need some help getting into the holiday mood we could find a tree to decorate? Maybe even some mistletoe if we really want to spread the love." Scar did his best to make his wink as obvious as he could under the mask covering his own face.

Cuteguy's laughter shook through his whole body, head thrown back and light trills and chirps interspersed throughout. It wasn't the first time Scar had heard the man laugh but each time he could swear it was the most beautiful sound on earth. "Afraid I'm fresh out of mistletoe and spare trees but if you're really feeling the Christmas spirit I suppose I could give you your gift now instead of later."

Scar paused, dumbfounded and surprised at the statement. Cuteguy got me a gift? "You got me a gift?"

Cuteguy looked almost sheepish as he turned away and took a few steps from the edge and Hotguy. "Um yeah, I just kinda thought-" Scar felt a swell of emotions as he watched Cuteguy figure out the words to say. "You've done a lot for me since I became a hero and I guess I figured I could give you a Christmas gift and a thank-you gift all in one."

Scar wasn't thankful his mask covered his eyes enough that Cuteguy probably couldn't see the tears prickling at them. Probably.

"Oh Birdie, you shouldn't have! I didn't even get you anything!"

"I'm not expecting anything Hotguy. Gifting is one of my favorite holiday traditions and like I said, it’s a way to say thanks. I was planning to wait until midnight when it became Christmas proper to give you this but here." Cuteguy reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small thumb drive, handing it over to him. "It's not much but, I've been working with my tech guy to design those for you and if your guy is half as good as mine he should have no problem following those blueprints."

"Blueprints for what Birdie?"

"New wings? It's not something you have to use if you like your own but, my guy's pretty familiar with my wings from helping me preen and such and I thought maybe, they won't be exactly like mine, but they'll be closer? Hopefully give you a bit more speed and maneuverability if they work as intended."

A thousand thoughts ran through Scar's mind. At first, he felt just a bit jealous hearing that Cuteguy's tech guy was apparently really close to him, close enough for wing preening which, according to what Scar had read when trying to educate himself on avian culture, was reserved for very close family and partners. It was rare that an avian would allow more than a few people to ever even touch their wings, let alone get so close to them in such a vulnerable state.

But he let the jealousy pass, it's not like Cuteguy was his in any way other than just as a superhero partner. He had no say over who got to help Cuteguy with wing maintenance as much as he wished it could be him. Soon all he could feel was the overwhelming appreciation for the hero in front of him and the desire to hug the man. He didn't though, not sure still, even after months of working together, how the other felt about physical contact.

Instead, he just let the tears fall running down his face and out from behind his mask where anyone could see. "I don't know what to say. Cuteguy, this is- You did that for me?"

Cuteguy glanced away, face slightly red as he noticed Hotguy's tears over the gift. "Of course. Merry Christmas Hotguy."

Scar looked up briefly at the moonlit sky above them and noticed it had begun to softly snow over the city before turning back to find Cuteguy facing him once more, a familiar smile across his face. "Merry Christmas Cutiebird."

Maybe the holidays weren't so bad after all.

Chapter Text

Grian was nothing but a blur of red as he streaked across the platform, his target barely having time to brace herself before being hug tackled by her brother. Pearl simply laughed as she returned the hug. "Hi Griba."

Grian smiled at the old nickname and just stood there for a moment, letting the familiar comfort of his sister sink in. It had been over a year since he had last seen his twin and Grian wasn't willing to admit out loud just how much he'd missed her. He tried to let it show through his hug instead as he held on tight, relaxing into her embrace. The warmth of her wings wrapping around him and joining the hug brought a smile to his face, a welcome reprieve from the chilly January air.

At least for a second until the comfort was overwritten by panic as he realized what he had missed in his excitement to see his sister again. He pulled back from the hug to see Pearl's wings shifting back to their relaxed position behind her back, in the open and clearly visible to anyone who glanced their way.

"Pearl, your wings." Grian hissed, face going pale as he glanced around them at the other people in the train station.

"What about them?" Pearl cocked her head to the side slightly, confused at the minor panic in his voice.

"They're out! Out in the open where anyone could see!" Grian's voice raised an octave as the words left him in a rush out the words. Taking a deep breath and trying to regain his composure, he dropped his voice into a hushed whisper, ushering Pearl to the side and away from the busy entrance to the station. "You know I hide my wings, Pearl! What if someone I know saw and realized you were my sister I mentioned was visiting? What is Someone wonders why my twin sister has wings and I don't. Hmm? What then Pearl?"

Grian grabbed Pearl's wrist and started dragging her to the parking lot where he left his car, eyes still nervously darting around hoping not to see one of his coworkers or anyone else he knew. "Calm down mate , it's not that big of a deal." Pearl protested but Grian didn't relent and eventually, Pearl just sighed as she let him drag her along faster. "Fine, once we get to your car I'll pull my jacket out and we can cover them up if it will make you happy.

"It will."

There wasn't anything else said between them until a few minutes later when Pearl slid into the passenger seat, wings tucked away beneath a dark hoodie. Grian sighed and paused his finger tapping against the steering wheel as he pulled out of the lot. "Sorry about that. It's just- different than it was before. I'm not going to say I overreacted but-"

"What, can't let your wings out unless you're dressed in your frilly little outfit these days?" Pearl laughed as she cut him off and the lightness of the comment did help Grian's mood a bit but he was still tense as he gripped the wheel and drove them through the city.

Pearl had known about Grian's identity as Cuteguy since the very first news stories circulated after the phantom attack, recognizing his wings immediately upon seeing the photo of him on the fire escape. That uniqueness of his wings was now exactly the problem he was worried about on top of the usual anxiety that came with keeping his wings and other avian traits hidden. "Actually, yeah. Even if I wanted to be open about my wings, which I don't, I don't think I even could anymore. I'm sure it wouldn't take long at all for people to figure out exactly who Cuteguy is when the dozens of students I see every day notice their architecture professor has the same wing pattern."

"Oh yeah, I suppose you're right. But is it really that big of a deal?"

"Of course I'm right. And maybe I'm only fighting dumb monsters who couldn't pick me out in a two-person lineup but- being a superhero is weird work and I'm sure there's plenty of reasons to keep a secret identity, I mean just look at how long Hotguy has been doing it. Plus like , in all the comics and movies, the hero's identity being exposed is often the start of so many problems."

"Except for when the hero tells the love interest and they finally get together." Grian didn't have to take his eyes off of the road to know Pearl was waggling her eyebrows at him. "Speaking of though, tonight we are preening and you are telling me all about working with the city's best hero , I still can't believe you get to work with the Hotguy." Pearl nearly bounced in her seat, poking Grian in the arm, inciting him to swat back at her with one hand, the other still firmly on the wheel to keep the car steady on the road.

" 'City's best hero,' " He mocked. "I take offense to that! He may have been doing this longer but I think I'm pretty dang good at it thank you very much."

"Sure sure , but you're no Hotguy. I mean come on, can you really blame me? It's too bad that you're set on keeping Grian and Cuteguy separate though . I'd love to actually meet the man."

Grian rolled his eyes and grumbled out , "You and Mumbo both."

"So, we've got game options out on the table, soup finishing up on the stove for lunch, and chill music on for background noise. I think that's everything but it also feels like I'm forgetting something." Grian fretted about the small apartment, wings ruffling underneath his red sweater as he adjusted everything until it was perfect and then adjusted it again.

Pearl sighed, sharing a look of exasperation with Mumbo. "Maybe you're forgetting to just relax? You've been pacing around for the past thirty minutes and it's driving me mad. Everything is fine, it's all perfect and ready to go for whenever your boyfriend gets here to play some games with us.

Grian's face went the same color as his sweater as he rounded on Pearl, pointing as menacingly as he could at her. "I am going to throw you out of a window. Scar is not my boyfriend and you will not say anything at all of the like while he is here or I will get out my Cuteguy pistols and shoot you and I will not even feel bad about it."

"Sorry, sorry. Scar isn't your boyfriend , that's Hotguy yeah ?" Mumbo laughed at Pearl's casual reply as Grian's sputtering noises raised to the pitch of a tea kettle.

"What is wrong with you! Why would you even say something like that! Are you implying that I like Hotguy now? That- I couldn't- How-"

"I mean, have you heard the way you talk about him? Because I have. I've heard how you talk about him a lot over the past months and especially the past day and a half since I got into town." Pearl just smiled at her brother as he huffed and finally sat down, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Gem is going to be so sad when I kill you," he grumbled. "Then she is going to come here and kill me in revenge and then we'll both be dead because you're just the worst."

"You know I think you might be on to something there Pearl ," Mumbo mused. "Grian has been talking an awful lot about Hotguy lately. And it hasn't even been to complain about the new Hotguy calendar I hung up either like he normally does."

 "I work very closely with the man and I saw him every night for the past two weeks!" Grian protested to the sound of the other two's laughter. "That's it. I'm going to remove the batteries from the alarms and light this apartment on fire before I leave for my patrol tonight."

Pearl opened her mouth to say something else but the trio was interrupted by a rhythmic knock at the door. Grian and Pearl both locked eyes and there was a moment where the room was still before both scrambled out of their chairs and bolted for the front door. Mumbo simply watched with bemusement as the twins pushed and pulled each other to reach the door first and, more so, keep the other from being the one to answer it. Last second Grian managed to slip in front thanks to his slightly smaller size and shoved Pearl to the side as he opened the door, sending her crashing into the bathroom off the front hall.

"Well hello there." Scar smiled up at Grian from his wheelchair. "Is everything okay? It kinda sounded like there was a large crash right before you opened the door."

"Oh yeah, that was just Pearl tripping on her way to the bathroom." Grian waved his hand dismissively, "She's such a klutz. But come on in we just finished getting set up!"

Grian stepped aside to let Scar roll past him before turning back to Pearl as she finished standing back up and quietly stuck his tongue out at her. As he and Scar emerged into the main room from the front hallway Mumbo waved from where he was still sitting at the table Grian and Pearl had abandoned in their mad dash to be the first at the door.

"Hello again Scar , how have you been?"

" Ah Mumbo,  it has been so long my friend. Haven't seen you since back when Grian was my TA and you picked him up at the end of the day. Still wearing the suits I see, little formal for some board games though ?" Scar rolled up to the table parking his chair in the spot they had left for him.

"No, you see, this is clearly a casual suit. If it was more formal it would have a pocket and coordinating pocket square." Mumbo tapped the empty spot on his chest where the pocket would have been.

" Obviously Scar, don't you know anything about suits. How uncultured of you." Grian plopped down in the seat next to him and flashed a mischievous grin at his roommate before turning to the last member of their small crew as she entered the room. " Ah Pearl, glad you could join us. Didn't bruise yourself up too bad when you tripped in the bathroom, did you? You should have known better than to run in the house though , our parents taught us better than that ."

Under her breath as she passed Grian Pearl muttered a short threat of sicking Tilly on him before taking the remaining seat and turning towards Scar. "Hi Scar, nice to finally meet you after hearing so much over the past few years." She reached a hand out to shake the other man's who returned the greeting enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes, wonderful to meet you. I do hope your fall hasn't left you injured. Either way, Grian has told me, well, not too much about you actually . Mostly that he used you to cheat his way through school." He gave her a beaming smile as she laughed and shrugged.

"What can I say , he paid good money and I had just adopted a new puppy, and boy is pet care not cheap."

"Oh, you can say that again," Scar commiserated. "Sometimes I wonder what I've spent more money on, my degree of Jellie. I'm assuming Grian has told you about the most wonderful cat in the entire city if not the world right ? I can hardly believe he'd tell you about me and not include Her Majesty as well."

Pearl laughed and nodded as Grian relaxed a bit seeing his sister and Scar seem to get along. He figured they would but there was always the panic that they would somehow hate each other and he would have to choose between the two . Not that that would even be possible since Pearl was his literal twin and he worked closely with Scar during his day job, but the fear had been there nonetheless. "Alright time to pick out a game, I reckon we've about ten minutes before soup is ready so that should be plenty of time to pick and get set up."

"What options have we got?" Scar asked, leaning forward to look at the stack of games piled on the table next to Mumbo. "Oh, the Game of Life. I haven't played that since I was a kid!"

"Grian bought that one back in the early years of college as a joke I think. Something about telling me to 'get a life' after I told him I couldn't go out and do something, presumably stupid, with him because I had a project to work on." Mumbo reminisced as Grian pulled the game off the bottom of the stack.

"I was completely right you did need to get a life then and sometimes I think you still do now. We can play it though if you want Sca r?"

" Oh I wouldn't want to be the only one choosing , it should be a group decision!" Scar Turned to Pearl next to him. "What do you want to play Pearl ? You're the one visiting our fine city after all."

"I'm quite alright playing Life if that’s what everyone else wants to play."

"Pearl may be visiting but she does not count as a guest in this house," Grian pointed out. "I've been ignoring what she wants to do most of my life and I'm not going to stop now. If you want to play Life Scar that’s what we're playing.."

" Oh bugger off you. Why don't you go serve some soup while the rest of us set up the game and I tell Scar all your embarrassing secrets from when we were kids." Pearl pulled the board game from her brother's hands and shooed him off to the kitchen.

"Oh shoot! I just realized I left the bread I made to go with the soup on my counter at home." Scar pouted.

"Wait, bread you made?" Mumbo questioned, turning to face Scar. "As in like baked from frozen pre-made dough or?"

"Oh no! I made it all from scratch this morning! Baking is one of my favorite hobbies."

"He makes some fantastic cookies." Grian pipes up and Scar beamed as his chest puffed up with pride. "You'll just have to bring two loaves of bread next time to make up for it."

"Only because you said such nice things about my baking already," Scar laughed with a wink as Grian grabbed Mumbo to help him serve the soup and ducked into the kitchen to hide the light blush creeping across his face from both Scar and his sister.

Twenty minutes later the group had set their bowls aside and were finally getting into the game. Grian was already decently ahead of the others on the board, having foregone the college track unlike the other three. It currently was Pearl's turn as she spun the colorful dial and moved her car forward along the path, reaching the stop sign that offered the option to get married.

"Big commitment there," Mumbo mused and just Grian laughed.

"The commitments are not the problem for Pearl, it’s getting the courage to ask even though it's been months since you bought the ring."

"Oh, that is rich coming from you Grian . We all know what you're like about getting up the nerve to ask someone out." Pearl shot back at him instantly causing Grian's face to go beet red.

"I wouldn't say all of us," Scar interjected. "I've known him for a few years now and I've never once heard about him liking someone like that. What's the matter Grian , I thought we were friends? You know you can talk to me about these things." Scar's joking tone and laughter were the only thing keeping Grian from combusting on the spot, especially with the sniggering from both Pearl and Mumbo.

"I'll keep that in mind," Grian said before turning back to Pearl to direct the conversation back to her. "I'm serious though , you purchased that ring last summer. I need you to go ahead and pop that question because I need Joel to be my brother for real. It would drive Timmy so insane."

" Oh is Joel Pearl's boyfriend?" Scar asked innocently to a roar of laughter from the other three at the table. "What's so funny?"

Mumbo was the first to collect himself enough to answer Scar's questions. " Nah mate, Pearl and Joel are decidedly not dating or romantically involved in any way ."

"I respect and fear Joel's wife Lizzie far too much for that." Pearl giggled. "His sister Gem and I have been together since high school though ."

Scar nodded, finally understanding the conversation. "Oh, and you plan on proposing to her soon then ? How wonderful!"

"Soon is a relative term," Grian snorted. "I wasn't exaggerating when I said she bought the ring last summer. I'm pretty sure I've heard of at least three separate proposal plans over the last several months but she hasn't gone through with any of them."

"Hey, I'm going to do it for real this time! Just as soon as Gem gets back from her expedition next month. And it's not like I could have done it over the holidays , that’s too cliché and she would have said no." Pearl pouted and Grian simply shook his head.

"I told you she wouldn't have said no. You may have officially gotten together in high school but you were married by playground rules way back in kindergarten."

"Oh, that’s a special kind of bond right there." Scar smiled. "Must be nice to have someone so close like that, that you could trust with your life and your heart. All I've got is Jellie but just between us, I don't know if I trust her with my life. She's a bit spoiled and lazy." The table laughed along with him as they got back to the game and let the evening pass with small talk.

Grian, to his credit, did not spend the entirety of the afternoon thinking about Scar saying it was just him and Jellie, indicating the date he had been on a bit over a month ago had not amounted to anything and dating Scar was not an utterly unattainable thing. If only, much like his sister, he could get his act together and drum up the courage to ask.

If only.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Two weeks.

According to Doc, that’s how long Grian was on 'wing rest'. Until then, he couldn't pull his wings in all the way and wasn't supposed to fly either, meaning he was completely stuck in his apartment. For two weeks.

Grian was miserable and he was pretty sure Mumbo was getting annoyed at all of his complaining as he wandered around the apartment. Pearl had offered to extend her trip to stay with him and keep him company but he had declined. Pearl had a life to get back to, she had a job and a dog waiting for her back home and Gem would also eventually be home too, and as much as he loved his sister, he couldn't pull her away from all of that.

Instead, he was stuck lying around and waiting for Mumbo to return home from work every day so he could complain to the mustached man. He had also been texting Scar over the last few days, upset even more that he had to cancel plans with the man after Pearl had finally convinced him to just go for it and finally ask him out.

It had been the evening before his injury, Hotguy was on patrol and he had the night off, and since Pearl was leaving in a few days they had decided to just stay in and let a movie play in the background while they talked. They talked through about three movies before both falling asleep on the couch but in that time they spent a long bit talking about their love lives. Grian mostly teased Pearl about her latest proposal plan while Pearl had actually had some insight for him that had put things into perspective.

"I don't know Scar as well as you obviously but we've hung out with him a bit in the last week and I really do think you should tell him how you feel." Pearl had started and Grian tried to say something but she quickly cut him off and continued. "Even on the chance that he does reject you, which I honestly doubt would happen, It's not going to implode your entire friendship. Scar is a kind person and would let you down gently. Sure it might be awkward for a bit, but he isn't going to let it come between you two. And if it does, at least you've got Hotguy." She waggled her eyebrows at him and he shoved her off the couch, causing her wings to flare out in an attempt to steady herself, only to thwack him in the face and then they were both giggling as Grian spit out feathers and Mumbo grumbled at them from his room about 'Some people trying to sleep at night'.

In the end, the part that really bugged Grian the most about canceling his plans with Scar was lying to him about why. He had told him that his cousin Jimmy had gotten sick with the flu and that Pearl had asked him to come back and help her take care of him for a few weeks before he had to go back to work. It was a weak excuse but Scar hadn't questioned it, simply asking if Grian wanted any baked goods to bring with him and share with his poor cousin. Grian had of course declined, afraid of Scar showing up to drop off the cookies or other treats and noticing the wings Grian had never told him he had. Yet another lie. Maybe a lie of omission but a lie nonetheless.

Logically, he knew if he did actually get the nerve to properly ask Scar out he would tell him. And as of yet Scar had done nothing at all to indicate he would have any issue with his wings and other avian traits but it twisted Grian's stomach up like a pit of snakes just thinking about it.

That wasn't a now problem though. The now problem was how much his wings hurt and how he really wanted to go flying and fight some monsters again. He missed being able to stretch his wings again, feeling the air pass through his feathers, and as loath as he was to admit it, he did miss the easy companionship he found he had with Hotguy.

Not that he was without Hotguy at the moment. From the time he had sent him a message on his designated communicator letting the other hero know he would be out for two weeks while his wings healed, he had been getting regular messages from the man. Some were updates on monster attacks, and some were just photos of stray cats around the city, each accompanied by just a name he assumes Hotguy has decided to call them by. Grian did respond to most of them and learned in the process that Hotguy loved to use emoticons. Overuse them if Grian was being honest. Roughly a third of the texts were simply a string of emojis that Grian wasn't always sure what they meant.

There was one time early into the second week of rest when Hotguy had thrown out that if Cuteguy wanted to, he could still wear the earpiece and chat with him while Hotguy was on patrol. Grian had considered it briefly for a moment after realizing the only person he had spoken to, texting notwithstanding, had been Mumbo. Grian loved Mumbo and could spend his entire life simply pestering the man and be perfectly content, but he wasn't quite so thrilled with that being his only option at the moment. If Grian was going to be a nuisance to someone it would be his choice and his terms, not some stinky blaze-induced injury. He declined Hotguy's invitation in the end though, feeling it might just be a bit too awkward and also make Grian even more upset that he could not be out there as well.

By the end of the week, Grian had managed to get ahead on the first two months of planning for the upcoming semester, cleaned the entire apartment at least twice, and talked himself into and out of asking Scar out a dozen times over. Eventually, he just shot Scar a text and they made plans to get an early dinner together on Thursday, just a few days away now, to celebrate the first day of the new semester together. He decided that if he couldn't gather his nerve by then he would be absolutely hopeless and deserved to die alone.

Two weeks had never felt longer.

Scar was pretty sure time had slowed down around him and was moving at half speed at the very least. There was no other explanation for how the days absolutely dragged on, no matter what Cub said.

The worst part was that even with the last two weeks, this had probably been one of the best holiday breaks he had ever had. He had gotten to spend the first few weeks working alongside Cuteguy as they both took on extra nights to cover the increase of attacks that usually came along with the season. Not every night brought with it monsters though so there were a few nights where they just got to fly around and talk. He felt like they had been finally getting to know each other for real, or as real as it could be with the masks and superhero personas between them. Still though, he felt like maybe they were really growing closer. Then Cuteguy had gotten him a Christmas gift and obviously had put some real thought behind it. Cub was still working on synthesizing the gifted wings, adding his own little tweaks of course, but Scar was positively itching to try them out.

Then after the holidays Grian had invited him over to play board games with his sister and roommate and then invited him out with them a few times after that as well. It had been so much fun, getting to go out and enjoy the feeling of having friends. And he did have friends now! Grian was obviously a really good friend, he had worn his gift from the man for nearly a week before he finally admitted to himself that he needed to rotate his wardrobe at least slightly , even if no one else could see what he was wearing since classes were out for the holiday break and he spent most of his time at home unless he was out gallivanting as his alter ego. He would probably now go so far as to say he might almost be friends with Grian's roommate, Mumbo. And he almost found himself wishing Grian's sister had lived closer as he could see her becoming a good friend too, especially after the conversations they had had over landscaping and other things. He couldn't believe that she was a postal worker instead of a professional landscaper after she showed him some of the work she had done as a teen and young adult. She had just shrugged and said she just followed where life took her and they had moved on. Pearl had slipped Scar her phone number the last time they hung out before she was set to go back home though. Thankfully Scar had heard her gushing over her girlfriend enough in their brief time hanging out that he didn't for a second think it was in a flirty way, even if he did make a joke about it at the time.

Everything had been going amazingly though so of course as with most things, it had all turned to crud. Cuteguy had gotten hurt, and while he insisted it had not been Hotguy's fault, Scar still felt a bit like dirt about it. At the same time apparently, Grian had to go back to his old hometown to help take care of his injured cousin. Scar went from having a handful of people around to none.

Except for Jellie and Cub at least but they didn't count as Jellie couldn't talk back and Cub was probably tired of Scar moaning about his problems to him.

It was fine though, really. Grian would be back soon with the start of the new school term and Cuteguy had said that the doctor he saw said he should be good to go again only two weeks after the incident.

The incident that Scar had to keep reminding himself Cuteguy didn't blame him for. Cuteguy was still talking to him regularly through their communicators. It was a relief because once Cuteguy had coasted away that night Scar had been pretty sure he had totally ruined everything. He had put his foot in his mouth again, even after Cuteguy had trusted him to look over his wings, the significance of which was not lost on Scar. He had thought maybe... Well, he didn't know what he had thought, but he spent the rest of the night kicking himself over it. The last time he had put his foot in his mouth that badly, Cuteguy had disappeared for nearly a week. Scar's not sure he could go through that again if he was being honest.

Cuteguy hadn't disappeared on him though. Maybe he couldn't don his outfit and fly around fighting monsters with him for a bit but he was still there. Scar knew when he was going to be back and he was counting down the days. Scar had decided that he needed to talk to Cuteguy. Partially to apologize about the foot-in-mouth issues that he seemed to keep having but also he had decided he needed to confront his feelings for the other hero. He decided that the next night they got to work together once Cuteguy was back he was going to come clean about his budding affections for the avian. He didn't really expect them to be reciprocated but he figured he better at least get that out there. Then they could move on from that together, however Cuteguy wanted to.

Just a tiny bit of Scar was clinging to the hope though that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that Cuteguy could return his feelings. And that tiny bit of hope was all he needed.

Chapter Text

Grian sipped on his second coffee of the day as he watched one set of students leave his classroom and the next set enter. The coffee was cold by now, having been poured from the machine in the staff break room a little over an hour ago before the first of his two back-to-back afternoon classes started.

If you had asked him last semester what the worst class schedule was he'd have said first thing in the morning classes. Even as a student eight AM classes were the bane of his existence. Now though? It was only the first day of the term and he was ready to change his answer.

It would be fine though because at least he wasn't still stuck in his apartment and he hadn't yet talked himself out of telling Scar how he felt. And, with another hour of classes that led up to just before he and Scar planned to get an early dinner together, he wouldn't have time to. It did mean he would have a busy and probably non-stop afternoon though. He would finish teaching this class, his third total for the day, and meet up with Scar at one of the nicer casual restaurants in the city. Then after he confesses to the other professor and everything goes as well as Pearl convinced him it would, he'd find a spot to change into his Superhero persona and meet up with Hotguy for a night of protecting the city. He even had his gear stashed away in the car that he opted to drive today to cut down on his commute time to dinner so he wouldn't have to go home and change and could spend as much time at dinner with Scar as he could.

He had yet to let Hotguy know that he would be back tonight though, because even though it was Wednesday and technically his solo night, he did want to talk to Hotguy and, at the very least, apologize for how he handled the suggestion of revealing themselves to each other. He still stands by his answer but he would admit he could have been a bit kinder about it. He also didn't let Hotguy know he would be back tonight as, just in case things went horribly wrong with Scar and he needed to take tonight to eat ice cream under a pile of blankets.

Not that he was thinking that might happen but it never hurt to be prepared, which is exactly what he told Mumbo as he added the strawberry ice cream to their shopping list the other day.

Sighing, he took a final sip of the cold coffee and put the mug down on the desk in front of him as he stood up to address the new class that had come in. The first day of classes was always simple yet always so boringly monotonous. Every class from his 101 to the 400 levels getting ready to graduate would all get the same spiel. He would introduce himself, pass out the syllabus, go over attendance and grading policies, and set expectations for the term. He'd be lucky if at least half of the students were paying attention by the end, especially this late in the day. He knew technically he could start assigning work and talking lectures, especially for the upper-level classes, but he remembered resenting that back when he was a student and his goal was to not become a teacher he would have rebelled against back as a student.

About twenty minutes into the hour-long class period, Grian noticed a few small groups of students in the large lecture hall whispering and showing their phones to each other. He simply sighed and turned to the whiteboard at the front of the room, continuing to detail out the major project the students would be expected to complete this semester, resigned to losing the students' attention much quicker than he had expected. He kept talking, finding himself slowly getting louder and louder as the murmurings of the students also grew until finally, he had had enough. Turning to the crowd of students and raking his gaze across them he tried to put on his most authoritative voice.

"Apparently there is something going on that I'm not aware of here so would someone like to inform me what is possibly more important than the assignment that’s worth forty percent of your grade in this class?"

There was silence for a moment before one of the students he recognized from a class last semester, A freshman if he remembered right, raised his hand. "I think there's been some sort of attack at city hall?"

And that certainly gave Grian pause. It’s the middle of the day, monsters don't attack in the day. "You think there's been an attack?"

This time another student responded, "City officials haven't released anything but that one council member's press conference was today and the feed abruptly cut off in the middle of it after some kind of screech."

"Everyone is talking about it over social media, apparently they've got the whole block closed off now." A third student called up from the back. "And it looks like they're evacuating a couple blocks around it."

Grian's head began to race. What could possibly be happening? He wasn't sure if it was something he should attend to as Cuteguy or not. Technically he and Hotguy only really had jurisdiction over monster attacks , anything more than that could be seen as interfering with police and other local authorities and could put them in legal trouble. But what could possibly cause a multi-block evacuation and could Cuteguy help with that ? His decision was made for him as yet another student chimed in.

"Someone just posted a photo of Hotguy flying towards City Hall!."

"Class is dismissed, go home and stay safe." Grian packed his work bag in record timing and was the first one out the door, leaving the near-empty mug of coffee on the desk.

Changing into his Cuteguy gear was not the easiest thing to do crammed in the backseat of his small car but it was the quickest option and no one else was around in the employee parking deck to see it happen. Soon he was flying at near-top speed across town, keeping his ears and eyes focused, hoping to get some idea of what situation he was flying into. He thought maybe Hotguy would have pinged him on the communicator but when he checked it before changing there was nothing, not even an indication that Hotguy had his earpiece on.

Thankful for the jacket he had recently added to his Cuteguy outfit as the cold wind rushed through him, Grian rifled through all the monsters in his brain, trying to guess which one he and Hotguy would be up against. The sun was still present so that eliminated a few that Grian knew had adverse reactions to daylight. With zombies, skeletons, and phantoms out of the equation he figured maybe they were facing creepers? It was an odd time of day to see them but it wouldn’t be impossible, and a rogue pack of creepers could do some serious damage. He reached down and thumbed over the switch on his pistols, ensuring they weren't set to shock. That was not a mistake he would be making twice.

He felt a dull ache in his wing roots as he realized blazes could also be a possibility. Hopefully not but mentally he prepared, just in case. It could also be enderman, the students did say there were reports of a screech before news feeds cut out. That wouldn't be too difficult to deal with provided they could get its target to a safe location. At least enderman tended to be lonely beasts, never showing up more than one or two at a time. It could be something even rarer though, something he hadn't encountered yet. He remembered reading about vexes, little fairy-sprite things with a vicious bloodlust. Those were an unlikely option though since, as far as he knew, they only appeared when summoned and that required using old magic that hadn't been practiced, or legal, in ages.

Whatever it was he just hoped it would be quick and easy to deal with because he didn't want to miss his hopefully a date with Scar. Hotguy was already there though and had probably even started taking care of it and if he hadn't even reached out to Cuteguy it was probably nothing major at all. Cuteguy could simply fly in, help his hero partner take care of the situation, then off he'd be. He'd probably have to let Hotguy know at some point in there that he just had plans and would be back for his shift tonight at the usual time. It's not like Hotguy would expect them both to start their hero work a few hours early, that would be exhausting quite frankly, especially after Grian's two weeks of being grounded. He could already feel the ache of shaking off the stiffness of two weeks, which was somehow worse than the years he went with only a proper flight here and there.

He slowed as he neared downtown and city hall, eyes scanning until he spotted Hotguy. The hero was standing on a building, facing away from him and towards the grand building that was city hall. Or at least what had been, it was hard to see much through the grey plumes of smoke rising from the building but Grian could tell it didn't look very intact. Searching for but not finding any hostile creatures in the immediate vicinity, he swooped in low to land on the same building his partner stood on, hoping Hotguy could shed some light on the situation. Seconds after he landed and before he could even open his mouth to greet the hero, Hotguy was turning around.

And leveling his bow at Grian, string drawn taut and loaded with an arrow.

"Whoa there Hotguy." Cuteguy put his hands up, palms out to calm the obviously on-edge hero. "It's just me." He waited for Hotguy to lower his bow and laugh out an apology. For the hero to slip back into his casual flirty and confident demeanor he was used to.

It didn't happen though. Hotguy remained in his stance and Grian noticed the faint tear tracks peaking from beneath Hotguy's glasses and heard the pain as Hotguy spoke just a single word. " Why ? "

Grian had even less clue of what was going on than before he landed on the roof and tried to quell the rising panic as he kept his eyes trained on the arrow tip pointed at him. "Why what? What happened here Hotguy?"

"You tell me Cuteguy." Hotguy's voice was low and deadpan, none of his usual personality behind his words.

"Why would I know, I just got here!" He couldn't stop the edge of panic from his words. Hotguy scoffed and Grian wished the other hero wasn't wearing a stupid mask concealing most of his face, making it impossible to read. "If something happened I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner but I got here as fast as I could."

"That’s what you're sticking with?" The coldness of Hotguy's voice left Grian feeling cornered, fight or flight instincts that have always naturally skewed towards flight, even before his wings were grown in enough to support him, urging and screaming at him to run. "They saw you."

The gears in Grian's head spun as he processed what Hotguy said. Saw me? Surely he wasn't talking about seeing him change in his car so what- His eyes drifted past Hotguy and to the ruined building. No. "You're not- do you think- you think I had something to do with this?" Grian felt himself backing up as slowly as he could and poured every ounce of sincerity he could into his words. "I have no idea what happened here Hotguy, please believe me. I don't know what's going on or why you think I did it but can we talk about this?" He took a larger step back, eyes burning with the threat of tears that he couldn't let slip out. "Lower the bow Hotguy, please."

The bow didn't lower. "Just come quietly Cuteguy. If you had nothing to do with it then turn yourself in and let the police figure out who really did."

"Turn myself in?" his voice came out in a whisper as he saw everything flash before his eyes. Getting arrested, losing his job, getting outed as an avian to the entire city. Scar . The look on his face if he thought Grian was capable of whatever happened here. His entire life going up in flames. "I- I can't do that Hotguy. Please understand." Grian let out one more shaky breath. "I'm sorry."

As quick as he was physically capable of, Grian turned and crossed the remaining few steps to the edge of the building and threw himself over. He let instinct and adrenalin fuel him as his wings snapped out to catch him and he beat them quickly, once more flying at top speed away from the scene behind him. He didn't stop flying until he reached his apartment building, checking quickly that the side ally was clear before landing on the fire escape, throwing open his window, and climbing in. Slamming it shut behind him he dropped to the floor and tried to get his breathing under control as he felt himself begin to hyperventilate.

He sat there for a moment, on his knees facing the wall beneath his window and head in hands. He tried to take in deep breaths to settle the panic still roiling through him and the tears still burning in his eyes, willing them not to spill over. A moment later he heard the soft pint of his phone and dug it from his pocket to check it.

It was from Scar.

"Don't know if you've seen the news but apparently it's been a crazy day for the city, mind taking a rain check on tonight?"

Like a final tether being cut, Grian felt himself falling down and down into a void. The phone slipped from his hand as he felt the pressure around his chest tighten until it was suffocating and as he heard it clatter on the floor of his room he felt the tears finally spill over and fall too.

Chapter Text

Mumbo found him there, still on the ground when he came home from work. Grian wasn't sure how long he had been there but at least the tears had stopped flowing. Instead, he was just sitting there now, back to the wall and hugging his knees while staring off at nothing.

Upon seeing him there, Mumbo had immediately dropped his work bag and rushed over, pulling Grian into his arms and just giving him a hug . At the contact, a new sob wracked itself through Grian's body and his best friend simply held him tighter. After a long moment, Mumbo loosened his arms and leaned back before reaching up and removing the pink heart-shaped glasses still covering most of Grian's face and setting them aside. Once he settled himself across from the other man he finally spoke, his voice soft as it broke the silence.

"What happened G ?"

"Why does everyone think I know the answer to that question?" His voice was dry and bitter as Grian spoke. "You actually probably know more than I do with your search alert for news articles on Cuteguy. I'm sure there's one or two out by now."

He watched Mumbo's hands fidget to avoid looking his friend in the eyes. "Six and counting actually ." Grian let out a small whimper and lowered his head to his knees. "I've only seen the headlines though . Couldn't bring myself to read the articles without talking to you first because, quite frankly, they make no sense."

"None of this makes sense Mumbo ." his voice had lost the small sharp edge it had. "Hotguy he- he drew his bow at me Mumbo . He said 'they saw me' and he seemed so convinced I had something to do with whatever happened at city hall. I thought- I thought he trusted me. That we trusted each other . But…" He trailed off as he felt his heart rate increasing and his breaths begin to come out quick and shallow.

Mumbo scooted closer and grabbed his hand, brushing his thumb over the back. "Hey, hey. Grian look at me, okay? Deep breaths. With me now," He inhaled deeply and held it for a moment before releasing it slowly, repeating the series over a few times until Grian was copying him and his breathing was once again regulated. "I don't know what, or why they think you were a part of it, but I'm right here with you bud . Okay? We'll figure this out together, and we can start by figuring out exactly what happened downtown today. If you're up for that right now, that is." Grian took another deep breath and nodded. Mumbo stood up then, offering a hand to Grian who took it and let the taller man help him to his feet before they headed to the couch to turn on the news.

An hour later, they had finished skimming through the , now eight, articles blaming Cuteguy for the situation earlier in the day while letting the local news's report on what happened drone on the TV in the background.   In short, it did not look good.

According to every report, what had attacked the council member and gathered crowd was called a wither, a monster that hadn't been seen in hundreds of years. One that had to be summoned using old magic, much like vexes, but much more dangerous and deadly . There were also , apparently , dozens of eyewitness accounts saying they saw an avian with red wings, banded with blue and yellow, wearing a pink and black outfit and pink heart sunglasses around the area and entering the alley that, moments later, the wither had emerged from. Even Grian had to admit it was pretty damning evidence , though he knew he was on the other side of town teaching a lecture when he was supposedly spotted.

" Okay so, assuming you haven't miraculously changed your mind about revealing your identity as Cuteguy and therefore solidly establishing your alibi and innocence," Mumbo raised his eyebrows in question at him and Grian simply raised one in return. "Right, so our next best option is to find who actually did this I suppose."

"How are we supposed to do that Mumbo ? It's not like I can go out as Cuteguy and search the city for them." As if to prove his point the news anchor on the television set began reading out an official press release from the Sherif's office.

"As of right now, police are still investigating the events at City Hall earlier today. It is believed that the vigilante known as Cuteguy may have been involved and is currently wanted for questioning. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the vigilante please contact the tip line. If you encounter him, do not engage as he is being considered armed and dangerous. Longtime city hero Hotguy is currently working with the police in their official investigation and will be aiding in the apprehending of Cuteguy."

Grian ignored the pang he felt at the mention of Hotguy working with the police. He couldn't afford to let himself dwell on the fact that his partner these past few months was now working against him lest it send him back into the spiral Mumbo had managed to pull him back from earlier. Still, the memory of Hotguy on that roof with him earlier, arrow aimed directly at him and hurt in his voice, crept up on him. He quickly and efficiently shoved it all down as best he could and looked to his friend for a solution.

"Well, Cuteguy might be a wanted terrorist right now, but Grian isn't. Maybe it's time for some good old-fashioned detective work. And by old fashioned I , of course, mean cyberstalking. There were lots of people at that event today and I'm sure enough of them were filming that someone had to have taken a photo or video of something we can use. Something to at least give us someplace to start in clearing your name."

"Terrorist," Grian muttered. "At least no one has died yet , then they'd be calling me a murderer too . Instead, Cuteguy has only left several people in critical condition."

"Hey, we're not focusing on that, okay?" Mumbo grabbed his shoulders and turned Grian to face him. "We're going to clear Cuteguy's name and then everything will go back to normal. First things first though, where is your communicator that Hotguy gave you?"

Grian pulled the device out of the pocket of his hero suit he was still wearing. "What do you want this for?"

Instead of answering, Mumbo just grabbed it before he stood up and walked to his room, leaving Grian to trail after. He watched him grab a small set of screwdrivers and sit at his desk, turning on his work light and putting on a pair of glasses Grian knew functioned as a magnifying glass of sorts for him. He watched as Mumbo carefully pried open the casing and set to work examining the inner workings of the com. After a moment or two, he apparently found what he was looking for, giving a small "ah-hah" before grabbing a set of tweezers and pulling off a small component, disconnecting it from the device.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, the com had a GPS chip in it so you and Hotguy could send and receive each other's locations when necessary and, I thought… I know he said you had to be the one to choose to share but … I don't want to risk him having a way to track us. I don't know how good his guy is with that sort of thing or what measures he's put in so ," he pulled a small metal tin that perhaps once held mints off a shelf above his desk and dropped the piece into it. "Better safe than sorry."

" Oh void, I didn't even think about that. I honestly don't think I could do this without you Mumbo , thank you. Genuinely thank you.

"Don't thank me yet , We still have a lot of work to do to get you out of this mess."

…

The thing they don't tell you about when your alter ego is wanted for terrorism is that somehow, life still goes on.

The morning still came no matter how little sleep Grian actually got, and with it came work. Cuteguy might have a manhunt out for him but Professor Grian Moon had a class to teach at ten. So he pulled himself out of his pile of blankets on his bed, (it was not a nest, no matter what Mumbo said) and got himself ready for the day.

He made it to work just in time for his first class of the day and , thankfully, it passed without incident. Afterward, as he walked down the hall, he passed the break room and spared only a brief glance in as he kept heading towards his office. He saw Scar in there and felt his chest tighten. They still hadn't spoken since the rain check text the previous day, and Grian desperately wanted to step in and talk to him. Scar always had a way of lifting his spirits even on his worst of days.

Although it did seem like Scar was not having the best day himself, judging by the state of him. He was in his wheelchair, rolled up to the table, with his head down in his arms and a large coffee cup next to him. Grian wondered what had him so tired today but ignored his impulse to check on him and continued on to his own office where he could start in on his own work.

Closing the door to his small office behind him, he sat down and began pulling up every article and social media site to pour through. He had an hour and a half until he was due to teach another class and he was going to make every moment count.

…

By Friday Grian was sick and tired of social media. Two days of scouring the trenches of the internet and all he had learned was that people sucked and that there was a reason he never made any accounts on these websites. He had scrolled through countless posts and threads of people arguing over what happened and spinning theories as to the why or how, each one wilder and crazier than the last.

According to one post, Cuteguy wasn't even an avian and, in actuality, was a quasi-godlike being sent to feed off the negative emotions of others who wasn't being satiated with the misery of the people he had saved and had resorted to summoning a wither to increase the fear for him to consume. Grian almost laughed at that one, and in any other situation would have sent screenshots to Mumbo and Pearl to all laugh about together.

There were several other, scarier corners of the internet, where people actually were impressed with what Cuteguy had supposedly done. Apparently the city councilman that had been holding the press conference was known for blocking numerous anti-hybrid-inclusionary bills that tried to pass through the city's government. According to those people, Cuteguy was justified in his attack, and anyone else who got hurt deserved it for being there in the first place.

That had made Grian especially sick to his stomach if he was being honest. Even if the councilman that was attacked was an awful person, he knows for a fact that among the injured there were reporters and other civilians that were just unlucky enough to be in the area. Once again he finds himself immensely grateful that there were no fatal injuries in the incident .

For all his scouring of the internet though, it truly seemed as if no one caught the false Cuteguy on camera. Defeatedly he let out a groan and dropped his head down onto his desk. Two days of working every moment he could and still he and Mumbo were no closer to clearing Cuteguy's name than they were at the start. He resisted the urge to shove his computer off of his desk but still swiped the pages of notes he had made while searching.  He groaned again as he watched them drift to the floor and stood to start packing up his bag for the day. It was late and spending the night in his office spinning in circles wasn't going to solve anything.

As he stepped out he heard a sharp yelp and turned on a dime, suddenly tensed with energy and looking for the source of the noise. He only relaxed a bit once his eyes landed on Scar.

"Oh, Grian! You scared me there." He had one hand on the wheel of his chair and the other splayed out over his heart as he took a deep breath. "I would have thought you'd gone home for the day already. It's nearly dark and well, the city is back down to one hero after all." There was something unmistakenly disappointed in his tone and Grian realized he somehow, with everything else going on, forgot this all started with Scar expressing his interest in Cuteguy. Grian may have given up on that route a while back , not sure how to properly connect with the man while in his hero persona, but he did have a thought.

"Do you believe it?" Grian asked before he could talk himself out of it.

"Believe what?" Scar cocked his head to the side slightly and Grian sighed.

"That Cuteguy did everything they're accusing him of? I mean, after months of being a hero why would he do something like this? Surely not just because some politician has some terrible opinions or whatever other motives people are giving him."

Scar let out a light, yet cynical laugh. "You talk as if you know him . But really, did anyone know him if not even Hotguy thought him capable of something like this?"

"I, uh, didn't. Know him that is. Never met him. Hotguy once saved me though, even walked me home afterward and we had a short conversation." Grian paused, trying to choose his next words. "Hotguy is a hero, a real hero. Maybe Cuteguy wasn't on his level but, I think, someone that innately good wouldn't work with someone who wasn't at least half as good."

"Maybe Hotguy just isn't as good of a judge of character as we all thought he was. Maybe he's not the hero this city deserves if he can't even get something like this right." Grian hadn't been looking at Scar but his eyes snapped back to the man at his sentence.

"No, this city, it needs Hotguy I think. I've always joked on him over his ego, I mean you've seen the posters and calendars , void knows I see one every day thanks to Mumbo. When it comes down to it though , I've also seen him in fights. In every video and news report I've seen, he fights on intuition. He trusts his gut because his gut is usually right. I just can't see a man like that trusting someone capable of doing something like what happened Wednesday."

Grian wasn't entirely sure where the speech came from. Sure, he had been thinking a lot about Hotguy over the past couple days, trying to wrap his head around how Hotguy could believe so badly of him. In the end though he had come to the realization that he actually didn't blame Hotguy. Yes, Hotguy losing faith in him stung, but the hero was only trying to do what was best for the city. With the mountain of evidence stacked against Cuteguy, how could he not think that maybe Cuteguy was responsible. It was why Grian had been set on finding some shred of evidence to say that it wasn't him before trying to talk to the hero. That and not wanting to come face to face with another arrow aimed at him. Once was quite enough.

"Trust his gut," Scar muttered, more to himself than out loud but Grian heard it nonetheless. " Hey uh, I'll catch you later G , okay? I really gotta get home and feed Jellie and you should too. And hey, I know it’s a bit crazy right now, but I still owe you that dinner once it calms, yeah?" Scar smiled at him, that warm smile that Grian could feel in his chest, and started pushing himself down the hall.

Grian called after him before he could round the corner. "Wait, you never answered my first question!"

Scar paused, turning back with more energy than Grian had seen from him in days before calling back. "You know me Grian , I always want to believe the best in people."

Grian wasn't sure what to make of Scar's answer as the man resumed his rolling and was soon out of sight.

…

A few hours later, Grian and Mumbo were sat on the couch , an empty pizza box lay between them and each of their respective bowls of ice cream were nearly empty. They had decided they both needed a night to unwind as normal people instead of fretting over the situation at hand . The news was still playing over the television, just in case anything new was brought to light in the investigation against Cuteguy but it had been muted some time ago.

Until, at least, something across the ticker-tape along the bottom of the screen caught Grian's eye. "Whoa, wait. I think that just said they've got an interview with Hotguy coming up next."

Mumbo drew a sharp breath. "Wait really ? Hasn't he been refusing to talk to any press about anything the past few nights? Like, hasn't said a single word and flown away anytime he's been approached?"

"Yeah, it's been odd considering how much he usually loves to talk to them about his hero work." Less so though since Cuteguy had joined him all those months ago Grian supposed. "An interview now though? Turn the volume up this has to be something big."

"Maybe it's where he says 'We've discovered that Cuteguy is living under the alias Grian Moon and we're on our way to arrest him right now'."

Grian threw a pillow at Mumbo, just narrowly avoiding spilling the man's melted ice cream ruminants on the couch in the process . "Don't even joke about that. If I go down though , remember I'm taking you with me as my accomplice."

Mumbo laughs. "Oh no, I've struck a deal that ensures I take no blame. How else would they have gotten your name?"

Grian goes to hit him with another pillow, ice cream spills be damned, when the news segment transitions to a field reporter and Hotguy standing somewhere in the city. "Volume Mumbo, I need to hear this!"

"-us about the ongoing investigation into the events that occurred at City Hall on Wednesday."

"The police have come to the conclusion, based on witness reports, that Cuteguy was behind the attack. They have been dedicating manpower all across the city to finding him and bringing him in for questioning." Hotguy's voice was flat as he spoke to the reporter, none of its usual affectations.

"And have you been helping with this search? Are the police any closer to locating him?"

"I have previously been aiding the police in their search, yes." Hotguy's answers were all straightforward and concise. It felt out of character from the man Grian had come to know.

"Previously? Does that mean you're not anymore?"

Hotguy visibly took a deep breath before answering. "No, I am no longer working with the police as I believe they are wrong."

Grian stopped breathing, staring at the screen with rapt attention.

"Wrong about what?"

"I don't believe Cuteguy had any part in the events the other day. I fully believe Cuteguy is innocent."

The reporter tried to ask more questions but Grian had stopped listening, too overwhelmed with the implications of what he just heard. It seemed though that there was nothing else to listen to as Hotguy flew away almost immediately, leaving the reporter calling after him and Grian was left to sit there dumbfounded. Neither he nor Mumbo said anything for a long moment before Mumbo finally broke the silence.

"It could be a trap." Grian simply shook his head, knowing his roommate would see it. "No? What do you mean no? That is the man who pointed a weapon at you not two days ago Grian !"

"He means it." Grian said, getting up from the couch and dashing to his room to grab what he now knew he needed.

"How can you be so sure Grian ?"

Stepping back out into the main room, Grian grasped his Cuteguy communicator in his hands. "Because Mumbo, he was wearing the wings I gave him."

Scar was sore all over as he rolled over to his closet and pulled his Hotguy suit and bracers from it. He had been pushing his body too hard the past few days and he knew it. He could feel it in every stiff joint and every screaming muscle as he pulled on his outfit. He hadn't had a night's break in nearly three weeks now and it was taking its toll. He hadn't realized just how beneficial splitting up nights with Cuteguy really was until he didn't have it anymore.

As he stepped out of his room, he felt Cub's judging eyes land on him from his spot across the room. He had shown up the previous night, after Hotguy's impromptu interview, to yell at him but ended up staying over after seeing the condition Scar was in when he wasn't out playing hero in all of his biomechanical upgrades, . He currently had his laptop set up on the end table and Jellie was curled in his lap sleeping contently.

"Save it Cub , I know I still look like crap okay ? But you're not going to convince me to hang up the bracers for a night. I'm all the city has right now. This city needs me."

"The city won't have you if you can't move at all because you overworked yourself," Cub muttered, turning back to type away at his computer. They had had this argument plenty over the last day. Cub knew he couldn't win but Scar knew his friend would not give up. He was usually grateful for it but the argument was draining his already limited energy lately.

"It's just a few hours, I'll even take some breaks to sit on rooftops if I get the chance." Scar grabbed his bow from where he was discarded it on the table the night before and headed for the door when a soft chime stopped him in his tracks. Fast as lightning Scar pulled his communicator from its dedicated pocket and looked at the screen. The compass button was lit up and on the screen were two sets of numbers. Coordinates. Sent by the only other person his com connected to who wasn't in the room with him already.

He knew Cub saw the same set of coordinates pop up on his screen in his Hotguy monitoring software when he spoke up. "It could be a trap Scar ."

He had already made up his mind though , and much like his decision to go out as Hotguy tonight, Cub wasn't going to change it. "Then I guess I'm heading into a trap."

Chapter Text

He wasn't lying when he told Cub he was willing to chance heading into a trap. Scar had decided he was going to trust Cuteguy and if it bit him in the end, so be it. He wasn't stupid though. He was on guard as he flew to where the coordinates led and Cub, while banned from listening in via Scar's com, was on standby. Just in case. Hopefully though, Cuteguy had finally contacted him because he had seen what he said to that reporter the previous night and wanted to talk.

Because Scar really wanted to talk.

He needed to start off with an apology, of course. He knows he didn't handle the situation on Wednesday the best. Tensions had been high and he was tired and there was just so much happening but none of it excused what he did. He can't believe he aimed his bow at Cuteguy, after everything they had been through together, all it took for him to turn against the man was some reports of people seeing someone who looked like him.

Okay maybe it wasn't such a terrible reason but he should have at least given Cuteguy a chance to explain himself. The hero deserved that at the very least and Scar was going to give it to him, however overdue it might be.

As he neared the location, he let himself drop to a rooftop about a block away. He gave a roll of his shoulders as he landed, settling the new wings to their resting position. He was still amazed by the wings themselves, the design so much more intricate and still somehow lighter than his old ones had been. When he first put them on the previous night he briefly doubted they would be able to carry him. But they had, and the extra speed and maneuverability they gave him was a bit exhilarating. He understood now why the avian was always racing or looping through the air as they flew, especially if he had been holding himself back for years. The small trills and whoops he would let out now made complete sense. Scar had even tried copying the way he'd seen Cuteguy climb high in the air and dive down before catching himself. He maybe he didn't let himself dive as fast or as long as he'd seen the other capable of, still nervous if the wings could catch him, but they did. the thin plates fluttering and catching air as they interlocked, directing the air through them similarly to how the feathers that inspired them would. There was still a learning curve to them but he was picking it up faster than he had with his prior set.

He took in the area from his spot on the roof, trying to catch sight of anything off or any sign that he was flying right into a trap. Nothing felt off though, and in the distance he could just barely make out a single figure on one of the rooftops. He took a step back and gave himself a running start before leaping across the alleyway to the next rooftop, extending his wings to keep him lifted and soften his landing. He could get a slightly better view of the figure waiting for him from the near edge of this roof but still had enough distance to stay out of their sight if they looked his way. Even if he wanted to trust Cuteguy, and he did, it was still safer to know what he was walking into best he could. He had learned over and over again in his time as a hero that rushing in headfirst was not always the smartest option and was typically, instead, the option that had Cub scolding him for 'needless recklessness'.

He had expected to see the usual pink outfit of his partner but was surprised to find the figure dressed in mostly black. It probably made sense, Cuteguy was currently the most wanted man in the city and his regular hero clothing wasn't exactly subtle. Not that Hotguy's was per say, but at least orange, blue, and dark grey tended to blend into the city a bit better than vibrant pink. When the man turned though, Scar caught a flash of that pink, in the form of the hero's typical heart-shaped glasses, and he couldn't stop the small smile from creeping up on him. It was Cuteguy there waiting for him and, judging by the man's pacing and how tight his wings were pulled to his back, he was nervous.

Scar took another moment to take in his partner, a last look just in case things didn't go the way he hoped they would. Cuteguy was dressed in black head to toe, minus the glasses. His shirt was the same as usual but the shorts had been swapped out for a pair of black pants. He was lacking the loose pink sweatshirt that he had added as the months turned cold and Scar wondered if he was cold in the winter air. He had all the rest of his usual gear, including his pistols stored firmly in his holsters. For a moment, Scar debated waiting there just a bit longer to observe the avian, see what he would do as Hotguy kept him waiting. In the end though, his own nervous energy had him moving forward across the rooftops towards whatever this meeting would be.

"Bit cold up here, don't you think?" Scar called as he landed on the roof behind the avian, hoping to startle him.

Cuteguy instead turned slowly and cocked his head to the side, face neutral and unreadable as he responded. "You're not as quiet crossing those rooftops as you think you are. I heard you about three buildings ago."

"Yet you didn't turn around." It was a statement, not a question but Cuteguy gave a small shrug anyways, his wings shifting with the movement.

The two stared at each other, a long moment passing in silence and Scar wasn't sure if he was waiting for Cuteguy to say something else of if he was supposed to speak next. For all his planning on what he would say he was suddenly at a loss for words as he was face to face with Cuteguy for the first time in three long days.

Thankfully, Cuteguy found his words first. "I wasn't sure you'd show up and even if you did I wasn't sure…" he trailed off but Scar saw his eyes flick over to the bow and tried to hide the twinge of guilt.

"What make you finally reach out in the first place? We did…try to find you but your com wasn't connected. I almost thought I'd never see you again, figured you'd disappear."

"Huh, he was right. You did try to use the GPS." Cuteguy didn't sound upset about it but it still sent another pang of guilt through Scar anyways.

"My guy did that, I didn't even know we could trace it back to you before he told me you were fully off the grid. I swear."

"No, I get it. I'd be more upset if your guy didn't try I think. M- my guy, he took it out, the GPS chip. He was smart enough to think about it while I-" Cuteguy cuts himself off, apparently deciding not to share. "Your interview last night. That was real? You really don't think it was me anymore? Or was that just to…" Cuteguy wasn't looking at him but Scar could hear the almost imperceptible tremor in his voice. He didn't need to finish his sentence for Scar to understand what he was asking, what he was afraid this might be.

Scar summoned all the confidence and sincerity he had and let it seep into his own words, hoping Cuteguy could hear it as he responded. "I shouldn't have thought it was you in the first place. I- I doubted myself for a bit but- I have faith in both of us. Faith that you are who I thought you've been all these months."

Cuteguy drew a small breath but still refused to look at him. He watched the avian tense, hand curling at his side. "Just like that? Blind faith? I'm not stupid, I know the evidence is stacked against me. We've found nothing to refute it yet but-"

Scar didn't let him finish. "I trust you Birdie."

Cuteguy drew another breath, deeper this time, as if to steady himself, and Scar watched with curiosity as the hand that had tightened at his side loosened and reached up brushing the pink glasses. Then his fingers curled around them and Scar realized what was happening and his next words were only a whisper. "What are you doing Cuteguy?"

"Blind faith might work for you but- If I can't prove whoever did it is not me, I don't want- I'd be afraid that there was some part of you that might have doubts. Somewhere in the back of your mind there could be that possibility. I- maybe I can't- won't prove to the city that I couldn't have done it but I don't want- It's not fair to you. And I would always fear that you would-"

"I wouldn't-" Scar started, heart racing in his chest but Cuteguy cut him off.

"I trust you Hotguy." And he pulled his hand away from his face, glasses still gripped in his fingers and Scar's heart stopped as the other man stood there, finally facing him.

It took Scar a moment to realize it, unable to connect in his head the face that was achingly familiar and the wings he never knew went with it. But only a moment. In the end Scar knew exactly who he was before the man introduced himself.

"My name is Grian."

He feels calmer than he expected. His heart is still racing of course, but he doesn't feel like he's going to puke anymore so he'd consider that a small victory. "Grian Moon. Um, you actually saved me, a few months back. Not that I really expect you to remember I obviously know how many people you save regularly but…" Hotguy hasn't said anything. Hasn't moved. Grian pushes on though, before he loses his nerve. "I teach at the university, architecture. I had a classroom full of students when everything happened so it couldn't have been me. Not that anyone knows that besides Mumbo and, well now you too I suppose."

He says it with a light laugh but he can feel his anxiety creeping over him the longer it takes Hotguy to respond. His wings have shifted from his back to curl around him without him realizing, almost as if trying to hide the man in front of him. He wants the hero to say something, anything, and is nearly ready to beg him to do so when Hotguy finally speaks.

"Grian" He says his name in an exhale of breath and Grian can feel the intensity of his gaze even through the man's own mask. "I do remember. The alley. You-" His voice becomes accusatory, but not angry. "You said you were scared of heights!"

"Oh yeah," Grian cringed at the memory. "I guess it's obvious now that that was a lie." It's still awkward but the air around him feels lighter.

"Wait, you said Mumbo. Is Mumbo your tech guy who makes your gear and helped with the wings?"

"The one and only. He's my roommate and best friend and also the only other person in the city that… knows everything."

"All this time." Hotguy whispers and Grian watches his arm raise to his face and touch the mask and Grian feels panic spike through his body like he's been struck by lightning.

"Don't." The words fall from his mouth before he had time to think. Hotguy simply pauses and looks at him skeptically. "Sorry but uh, if you were going to take your own mask off, don't. Please." His voice feels small as he finishes the sentence and Hotguy's hand falls.

"But Birdie. I-"

Grian doesn't let him finish, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "I don't want you to feel obligated to just because you know who I am now and a lot has already changed for me today and I- It’s a lot right now."  Too much really. It took him nearly a full day to commit to being here and even then he wasn't sure he'd go through with it. "No one else in this city even knows I'm an avian besides Mumbo and he knows because he has known me practically my entire life. I never really expected to tell anyone else and quite frankly I think my heart is still beating way too fast from the anxiety of it to be considered healthy. I trust you and I don't need to know who you are under that mask right now for that. I need at least something to stay the same for a bit."

Hotguy looked like he wanted to argue but eventually he conceded.  "Alright then Birdie, if you're sure."

"I am. Thanks Hotguy." Grian let out a deep breath looked to the hero in front of him. His partner. "So what do we do now?"

Hotguy let out a laugh and gave Grian one of his dazzling smiles. "Now we figure out how to clear your name. Together."

Chapter Text

Grian knew he probably should have given his roommate a bit more of a warning than just calling out "Company!" as he climbed through the window into their apartment but then he would have missed the look on Mumbo's face as Hotguy climbed in behind him. The mustached man sputtered out a few incomprehensible syllables before the initial shock wore off and Grian saw the panic set in. For the first time all night, Grian finally felt like he wasn't the most anxious person in the room as he watched his roommate rush across the kitchen to tear down the Hotguy calendar there.

He chuckled at his friend and slid his gaze back over to the hero who was now looking around at the small apartment. Hotguy was silent as he took in the space, politely ignoring Mumbo's frantic rush to hide the evidence of his collection of the hero's merchandise. Grian just watched it all happen, still letting the fact of it all sink in. Hotguy was in his home, Hotguy knew who he was, knew that Grian Moon was an avian and moonlighted as a hero flying around the city. He could still feel his heart racing and his stomach turning but in the flight back to the apartment he came to the conclusion that he didn't regret it.

Hotguy was on his side and they both knew that Cuteguy was innocent and decidedly not the terrorist most of the city currently believed him to be. Right now that was worth any anxiety or stress over telling someone his biggest secret. And he meant it when he said he trusted Hotguy. The man had been at his side fighting plenty of various monsters and Grian had trusted him then, he'd even saved him on multiple occasions. If there was anyone who deserved his trust, who had earned it, it was Hotguy.

Eventually Mumbo finished his shuffling of things and returned to the kitchen, clearing his throat. "Uh, welcome to my home Hotguy. Sorry about the mess, I wasn't really expecting company. Usually..." He paused, glancing at Grian and taking in the muted outfit and glasses returned to his face, "...Cuteguy gives me a bit more of a heads up before popping in. Especially with company."

"Well when you say it like that it sounds like I brought home a booty-call." He laughed at the light flush that bloomed in his roommates face but missed a similar splash of color on the hero's face. "But uh actually," Grian pulled off the glasses once more now that they were safely inside, "He knows I'm Grian. Suprise." Grian shook his hands and gave a tentative grin to his roommate.

Mumbo balked. "I'm sorry that was what your plan was? Well now I see why you didn't tell me before you left."

"Obviously you would have tried to talk me out of it and it wouldn't have worked and we'd still end up right here, just later which would give us less time to work on clearing my name. So really this was the better option you see." Grian heart a small laugh escape Hotguy as he finished and smiled at his friend.

Mumbo just sighed and shook his head, "Fine so Hotguy, you're really here to help us prove that Cuteguy isn't responsible for the other night?"

"Yes, uh, I am. I'm here to help you guys however I can. Should have been helping three days ago but… I'm here now." Grian noticed the slight shift in Hotguy's voice as he finished his sentence the hero put on that same, slightly deeper and more confident voice he used with civilians and press. It was a voice Grian was familiar with after so many times of watching his partner slip back into it after they finished clearing out monsters or the handful of times they had been stopped to take photos with children and anyone else excited to catch sight of Hotguy when he was out on patrol. He had come to recognize it as another mask Hotguy wore to maintain his hero persona and identity, a mask that Hotguy easily shed when it was just the two of them.

The thought caused another twist in his gut and the memory of stopping Hotguy from removing his actual mask not even an hour ago to creep up. It didn't take long for the accompanying emotions to follow and Grian shook his head and did his best to shut down all the encroaching feelings. Now was not the time to think about said things, they didn't have time and Grian really didn't have the emotional bandwidth to process the disappointed look he saw on Hotguy's face when he told him he didn't want to know who he was yet. So he pushed on. "Right so now between the three of us maybe we can crack this case open."

"Oh actually, four!" Hotguy smiled and Mumbo cocked his head in question at the hero. "Yeah I uh, contacted my guy on our way here, He doesn't know who you are Grian, Cuteguy? That’s- hmm. Uh anyways, he does have my location just to uh, be up front about that. But don't worry! I trust him completely he's almost like a brother to me and he wouldn't do anything to compromise either of us." Hotguy paused and took in Mumbo and Grian's blank stares towards him before continuing only slightly more nervous than before. "Anyways he had started looking into some things for me yesterday while I was making the whole, you know, announcement thingy. But he's still working on it and will be helping us from his set up at my base of oppositions…which is really just a cooler way of saying… my, um, apartment..."

"Uh, you mean base of operations maybe?" Mumbo offered to fill the silence left as Hotguy trailed off.

"Didn't I say that?" Hotguy asked and Mumbo let out a small, breathy laugh.

"You sure do have a type there Grian," He whispered under his breath and then dodged out of the way of the resulting elbow Grian aimed for his stomach.

"If you trust Him Hotguy so do we," Grian decided to move the conversation along before Hotguy could question the interaction. "Has your guy got any leads or even just threads he's following? We were trying to go at the angle of finding a photo of the actual perp to prove that they're not me, they just look like me, but we've hit nothing but dead ends in three days of working at it."

"Oh, that’s a good angle I hadn't thought of actually. Shame that didn't work it would have been an easy way to clear your name and give us both more room for actual investigation," Hotguy mused. "But uh, I think my guy was working on searching through forms for threats of violence or similar things and digging up information on the people posting them to see if they have any means or real motive or something?"

"Huh, that sounds like a lot more work but you think we can find something this way?" Grian, tired of just standing around their kitchen, wandered over to the couch and dropped down onto it sideways, letting his wings drape over the arm and brush the floor. "I guess with four of us all working on it, it might not be a completely impossible task."

"Exactly! Plus if Mumbo can help with that part since he's good with tech-y things, Cu- uh, my guy, was thinking you and I could work on setting up fake profiles claiming to be responsible for the attack!"

"And that’s helpful how?" Grian pulled his legs in to make room as Hotguy followed his lead in sitting on the couch. "I thought the goal was to prove I'm not responsible, not take credit."

"Oh uh, we were thinking that with a big flashy attack like a wither, whoever did it probably wants some notoriety for the attack, and if you take that away, it may make them more likely to slip up and say something that could lead us to them. Lots of criminals are really just narcoleptic and can't stand other people getting credit. So, you set up a fake account with a fake identity, it doesn't have to be Cuteguy it could be anyone really. You'll start to claim that the attack was all you and I'll have a few accounts to comment and generate buzz that’s sure to get it noticed by the real perp and they start posting and Mumbo and my guy trace them and then we bust them! Easy as pie!" Hotguy smiled looking very proud of his plan and Grian just rolled his eyes.

"You better hope this is that easy, I'm tired already just thinking about it."

"I actually think it’s a rather good plan," Mumbo Chimed in.

"Yeah, with a little luck we'll have your name cleared in no time Birdie!"

Mumbo raised an eyebrow at Grian. "Birdie?"

"Okay let's get to work! We are burning moonlight here people." Grian turned away from his roommate who he was sure had clocked the light flush spreading across his cheeks and pulled out his laptop from where he'd tucked it beneath the couch after giving up on their own investigation the previous night. "Now, what websites do Superhero-framing criminals hang out on?"

…

A few hours later Grian found himself fighting heavy eyelids as he and Hotguy sat in silence and worked. It was nearing midnight and Grian wanted nothing more than to change into his pajamas, crawl into his pile of blankets, and pass out for at least twelve hours. Instead he sighed and pushed his laptop to the side before declaring "I need coffee," and stood up to wander the few steps to the kitchen. He felt Hotguy's eyes on him as he got to work setting the water to boil and pulling the canister of ground coffee from the cabinet. It wasn't the first time that night that Grian could feel the hero watching him and he wanted to say something, ask what the other man was looking for. Whether he was expecting to see something specific or just observing passively Grian didn't know but had chickened out of asking multiple times. Instead he asked, "A cup for you as well?"

He saw Hotguy shift his eyes away as he looked back towards the couch. "Sure  a bit of caffeine might do me some good. It's been a long… well few weeks now I guess."

Grian just nodded and began measuring out the grounds and pouring them into his French press. "That’s right, you haven't really had a night off since I got injured, huh." Grian poured the water over the grounds and let his hands be distracted by the familiar process of brewing coffee to keep himself calm. "Sorry."

"None of it is your fault Birdie and you know that." Hotguy sighed and leaned over the back of the couch to face him. "It was all just… bad timing."

"Maybe not but, just once it would be nice if my, or the universe's, timing wasn't bad. You know?" Grian broke up the crust of grinds that had formed at the top of the press and set the lid on it to finish brewing. "This whole ordeal has really thrown a wrench in plans I had made, and right after I finally talked myself into it too."

"Into what?" Hotguy was closer suddenly, Grian hadn't heard him move from the couch but now he was in the kitchen with him.

Grian watched the hero open and close two cabinets before finding the mugs he had apparently been looking for in the third. "Nothing important, was just planning on shooting my shot with the guy I've had a crush on for forever. But as I said I've got terrible luck with timing so…"

"Well for what it's worth, I think you're timing was pretty perfect that first day we met. You really did save my bacon that day." Hotguy passed Grian the two mugs as he pressed down the plunger of the press and poured the liquid into the offered cups. "Still not quite sure what an architecture professor was doing dressed as a superhero all the way across town from both his job and apartment that day though."

Grian felt the blush rise to his cheeks as he passed a cup to Hotguy and began adding numerous spoonfuls of sugar to his own. "Ah um, yes. That. Well, I wasn't intending to become a hero that night if that’s what you're thinking. If you hadn't fallen out of the sky you'd probably have never known who I was at all honestly."

"So what were you doing that night that had you dressed up like that?" Hotguy passed him the creamer after adding some to his own coffee.

Grian wasn't ashamed of his enjoyment of occasionally dressing in drag but still somehow it was hard to admit to his partner, especially as he could once again feel his eyes on him. "I was-" he started, before taking a long sip of his coffee. "I was at a club with Mumbo having a night out and… it was one of their monthly drag nights." He took another large swig of the hot liquid as he watched the other man process the information.

He couldn't see the other man's eyes but he recognized the moment it fully clicked for Hotguy what Grian had been saying. "You were- Me? Cuteguy was a drag costume? Of me?"

"Yeah. Sorry if you find that weird in hindsight."

"No!" Hotguy quickly said, a bit louder than either of them expected and they winced with glances to the door separating them and Mumbo. After a moment of no movement Grian let out a breath and Hotguy continued, quieter this time. "It's not weird. I'm more flattered than anything I think. But also curious. Was Cuteguy your only drag look? Or did you have others? Do you still do drag ever?"

"I've not done much since then no, my nights have been otherwise occupied though to be fair." Grian laughed, relieved at Hotguy's response, small bird-like twitters creeping through the sound. "That was the first time I was debuting Cuteguy though. Usually I just did a basic pink dress and blonde wig combo with some heeled boots. Nothing quite as intricate or flashy as Cuteguy."

"Ooh, do you think there's any chance I could see your other drag look sometime?" There was a light playfulness in Hotguy's voice that had Grian rolling his eyes but feeling so at ease with the hero.

"Absolutely not. Over my dead body."

"Aww. Please Birdie?" Grian didn't need to be able to see the puppy dog eyes to know that Hotguy was giving them to him.

He gave a soft shove to Hotguy's shoulder and grabbed his coffee before walking back over to the couch. "Come on Prettyboy, I won't be able to go anywhere and do any drag if we don't keep working on finding the person framing me."

Hotguy laughed and followed Grian back to their previous spots on the couch. "That didn't sound like a no!"

About an hour of sitting in mostly silence with Hotguy, each of them working on their assigned jobs, Grian decided he needed an answer to the question that had been burning in him since the previous night. "What made you change your mind?"

"Hmm?" Hotguy looked up from the borrowed computer he was using and tilted his head. "Change my mind about what?"

Grian sighed and half closed his own laptop. "About me?"

Hotguy looked away but not before Grian saw the flash of shame cross his face. "Oh, that. Uh actually a friend talked some sense into me. Reminded me of a few things I guess."

"Ah remind me to thank your friend sometime then I guess."

Grian was not expecting the laugh Hotguy let out. "Yeah, I'll do that." After a moment the hero's brow furrowed slightly. "I do owe you a real apology about that though. I could have handled all of that better."

"No Hotguy, you don't-"

He was cut off by the hero almost as soon as he started. "Yes I do. I had an arrow pointed at you and I didn't give you any room to defend yourself. I should have at least heard you out."

"Well I'm not going to say that wasn't an awful moment, I really would prefer not having a repeat of that." Grian tried to laugh, hoping to ease the other man's guilt, but it sounded obviously fake in the stillness of the room. "I understand why you did it though. You're a hero, protecting the people of the city comes before anything. From what you knew I was a potential threat. You did what you should have and I can't fault you for that."

"Is it wrong to say I know that but I still feel bad about it." Hotguy's shoulders sagged as he looked at Grian and he gave into his own impulse to scootch a bit closer to the other man and rest a hand on his knee.

"No. At least I don't think so." He smiled softly at him, "While I don't think you need to feel bad about it and I don't want you to feel bad about it, it does ease my mind a bit that you do. Like I can trust that it won't happen like that again."

Hotguy smiled back at him. "Yeah okay. Thanks Grian. I'm still sorry it happened the way it did but at least we're here now yeah?"

"Yeah." The quiet of the room returned as they both got back to work, though Grian never did move back to the other side of the couch.

…

The first thing that Grian registers is the sun shining in through his window and warming up his face. The next thing he notices is that his bed feel lumpier and not quite as soft as it normally felt. It was warm beneath him though and he let himself relax into the comfort of it all. It did not last long however as his roommates door flew open accompanied by a shout of "We've got it!" and Grian opened his eyes to glare at the man who dared disturb his sleep. It was only then that Grian realized he was not in his bed, and was in fact still on the couch after apparently passing out last night while working with Hotguy.

Who was now also slowly waking up and, to Grian's mortification, was the lumpiness beneath him as he slept. Grian quickly moved then, standing up and crossing over to Mumbo who Grian could tell was holding back a laugh at the scene he walked into.

"I don't care if you made the pistols Mumbo, one word and I'll shoot you with them I swear." Grian muttered as softly as he could before glancing back at Hotguy who was awkwardly adjusting his visor to sit back over his face properly. "What have you got that was so important as to wake us up for?" He asked louder, still groggy from the abrupt awakening.

"We've found someone who fits the profile of the person who attacked city hall!" Mumbo smiled proudly as Grian and Hotguy fully woke up and processed what he had said.

Hotguy got there first. "You really think we've actually found the person responsible?"

"We believe so. It will still take a bit more to be sure but I've been talking to your guy and he thinks it shouldn't be too hard to set up a sting operation with Grian to draw the guy out and get visual confirmation that they look similar enough to clear Cuteguy's name."

"Void, this is actually possible." Grian breathed out and turned back to Hotguy who was grinning at him. Warmth bloomed in Grian's chest alongside a budding hope. They were so close to fixing all of this. Then he took in the dark bags underneath Mumbo's eyes and Hotguy still slumped on the couch. "I think we all need a proper rest first though. Hotguy can go home and rest and we can figure out the details later this afternoon. With any luck we can set up the sting for late tonight and things will be normal again by tomorrow." Hotguy and Mumbo both nodded and Mumbo yawned as Grian pushed him back towards his room and waiting bed. Once his roommate was settled he walked back out to see Hotguy, now standing and moving towards the window they had entered hours before.

"Guess I'll see you later than Birdie. Make sure you get some rest too yeah?"

Grian just rolled his eyes and ushered the hero forward. "Don't worry my bed is like a siren calling my name. See ya later Hotguy." The hero glanced to make sure the area was clear before climbing out the window and taking off into the early morning air.

Sighing and feeling the tension fall from his body Grian smiled and made his way towards his own room and the waiting nest of blankets. Normal by tomorrow. It was an enticing thought. Monday would be a new day. He would go to work and then Get to be Cuteguy once more. He'd insist on it even though Mondays were typically Hotguy's day, the Hero honestly deserved a long break but Grian knew it would be difficult to get him to agree to even a single day.

Between all that though he would see Scar again tomorrow, and Grian felt giddy at the thought. All the nonsense would be over and tomorrow he would ask Scar for that dinner they had missed. Then he would let Scar knew how he felt and that was as exhilarating as it was terrifying but Grian had put it off long enough.

Closing his eyes and wrapping himself in his wings Grian let out a drawn breath and drifted off to the thought of tomorrow.

Chapter Text

He did not like this.

Scar had voiced his disapproval of the plan the moment they came up with it but he was outvoted. According to the others this was the 'logical' plan, but he really had to disagree. There was no way letting Grian go into a creepy abandoned warehouse by himself to meet up with someone who they suspected summoned a wither and sent multiple people to the hospital less than a week ago was logical. According to the others though, the suspected perp was expecting only one person and that one person to be an avian. No one but Grian fit the bill for that so no one but Grian could be the one to make contact.

Now Scar was stuck sitting in Cub's car, parked a few blocks away, waiting for the signal from Grian or even the smallest sign that something was going wrong and he hated it.

It was, however, the first time he had been alone and awake since finding out the truth a little over twenty-four hours ago. The truth he still couldn't fully wrap his head around but the more he'd been around him, the more Scar was able to see the similarities between his coworker and his partner. Of course everything is always more obvious in hindsight but there was still so much that Scar so recently realized he'd been missing.

Grian was an avian. He had been hiding part of himself the entire time Scar had known him and that thought alone broke his heart. After knowing him as Cuteguy and the last day of watching him able to be himself in his own apartment, it was so clear how much of himself Grian was holding back in his day to day. Scar had missed years of seeing Grian as he really was. He had missed wings that matched his favorite sweater and were an extra layer of body language. He had missed the small chirps and trills that were interspersed in his words and littered throughout his laughter. It was the little things that had deepened his crush on Cuteguy that now he can see were Grian all along.

And wasn't that something.

Scar wasn't an idiot. He knew he had his feelings towards Grian weren't entirely platonic. From the moment the other man had walked into his classroom and introduced himself as his TA for the semester Scar had internally acknowledged that he was rather cute with his large sweater, scruffy hair, and glasses. Then as they worked together he learned how funny and kind hearted he was and he could see himself falling for the man so easily. Grian was still his TA then though, so he knew he would never act on it. By the time the semester ended and Grian was no longer his TA and instead his coworker, Scar had been too comfortable in the budding friendship to worry about whether or not he still had feelings for him.

Now though, he had spent the last several months acknowledging his growing feelings for Cuteguy. Who happened to be the very person he had decided not to acknowledge his possible feelings for. Who had also told Hotguy that he had planned to confess his own long-term crush on someone.

Which Scar was fine with. Really. Even if it meant he and Grian were only ever friends and nothing more, he would be okay with it. As long as Grian was happy and still in his life Scar would be okay with it in the end.

"So why act now? He's been spewing this vitriol for years, since before he was even elected to the council. Surely you've wanted to do something like this since he started opening his stupid mouth, I know I have." Scar shuddered at the hard edge to Grian's voice as it came over the coms. He knew the man was just playing a part to get information but it still sounded so wrong.

The response from whoever Grian was talking to was muffled, not quite as close so not as easily picked up on Grian's com. "There are certain materials that aren't easy to get so it took a bit of time and planning. Especially working by myself." Scar found himself leaning forward, as if somehow it would make the voice louder.

"And what about Cuteguy? Surely its counterproductive to frame another hybrid. Shouldn’t we be protecting our own, not throwing them to the wolves?"

"Cuteguy is nothing but a lapdog. If he was one of us he would have used his visibility to do something or at least say something. I bet he even hides his wings like a coward when he's not flying around with that fool of a hero, Hotguy." Scar gripped the steering wheel in front of him to keep himself from walking in right then and there. How dare this person call Grian a coward, if anyone was the coward it was the person framing someone else for his own horrible actions. Nearly ruining someone else's life for nothing other than hate.

Letting out a deep breath to calm himself down, Scar set to removing the hoodie he had pulled over his Hotguy costume. Surely they had enough evidence to prove Cuteguy's evidence now. All that should be left is capturing the guy and turning him over to the police along with the recordings from Grian's com and Cuteguy should be in the clear.

There was a callous laugh that took a second for Scar to realize came from his partner. "Fair, honestly wouldn't surprise me if the coward never shows his face again. Disappear as suddenly as he showed up. If only we could frame Hotguy for something too. Discredit both of the so called 'heroes' and be rid of them."

"You know, I do have… plans in the works. I could use a second set of hands though, speed things up a bit. If you're interested that is."

"You just met me, seems a little reckless to invite me to join, don't you think?"

"I saw what you were saying online, it's clear we have similar goals and it sounds like you're willing to do what others are too afraid to do in order to make them a reality." Scar made a mental note to go back and look through the correspondences between Grian and this guy. Either he was very foolish or Grian had been very convincing. Or he knew this was a set-up, in which case Scar better hurry his ass up and get there.

Grian still hadn't given the signal yet though so he knew he should probably stay put. Maybe getting just a bit closer wouldn't hurt though.

"Come this way," The guy continued. "I can actually show you what else I've been working on."

The street was clear as Scar slowly opened the door of the car and ducked into the nearest ally. He secured his last few pieces of gear and swiftly launched himself in the air with his wings, landing on the building's roof moments later. From there it was an easy journey, out of sight, across the nearby rooftops until he was crouched at the edge of the building adjacent to the one Grian was currently in.

"Yo…ais…epers?" Grian's voice was disjointed and interspersed with static as it came over his com. Which was odd as it was near impossible to cut off the com signal. It was one of Cub's proudest achievements in his skulk and redstone experiments. They were designed to cover great distances and permeate any material at any thickness. The only thing that could usually interfere was the presence of other skulk signals.

A shot of cold dread shot through Scar's spine. Other sculk signals. Scar was never good at the tech part of being a superhero. That’s why he had Cub, Cub was great at it and had managed to do revolutionary things with sculk both for Hotguy and for his actual work. Cub had always told Scar how tricky it was to obtain, the mining of it only legal and sanctioned in heavily restricted facilities far away from any populations with dozens of protocols and failsafe's in place. Cub was only able to get his hands on it due to his work in research labs, it wasn't something just anyone would have access to. He tried to remember more about what Cub told him when Grian's broken words buzzed in his ear again.

"…n't the kin..asemen..it and ha...pizza..." Scar thanked every divine power ever existed at the one word that managed to come through the fritzing com line with perfect clarity. It was a really stupid code word in hindsight but that’s what they got for making the plan at dinnertime.

Scar scanned his eyes over the warehouse in front of him and spotted what he needed. One of the dingy glass windows on the side closest to him had apparently been broken and never fixed, just covered with a bit of plastic taped up to keep the elements out. Without another moment's hesitation, Hotguy spread his wings and gave them a flap to get him air bound before diving right towards the broken window.

Thankfully his new wings were up to the task as he easily broke through the thin plastic and had to immediately change trajectory to not crash into a stack of boxes just a few feet in from the window. He twisted his body and flapped as the wings brought him up to the top of the stack and he took a quick glance around the room. It was a large open space but there was no sign of his partner or the man they were after. Then he noticed an open hatch in the floor and another piece of Grian's last sentence clicked into place. Basement. Of course the evil villain would have a creepy basement in a warehouse in the city outskirts. It was almost as cliché as a superhero falling for their partner. 

He dropped down to the floor, still scanning around to make sure no one would take him by surprise and made his way towards the hatch. Glancing down he couldn't see anyone directly there but it did look to be a short enough fall he could just drop down and let his bracers absorb the impact. He couldn't hear any voices but he drew an arrow and nocked it in his bow just in case as he took a step and let himself fall. He found himself at the end of a hallway once he landed, no doors on either side. One way in. He took a steadying breath and began to slowly press forward.

Every step has him on edge as he treaded carefully, silencing his steps as much as possible in the unsettling quiet around him. More than the silence of the hallway it was the lack of anything from the com link he'd been using to listen in to his partner that unsettled him. Hotguy was in the dark, no idea what was happening between Grian and their target and he was trying not to let his imagination get carried away with worst case situations. He had to trust Grian could handle himself until he got there. He didn't sound distressed in the least when he uttered the signal word and it was entirely likely that Hotguy announcing his presence by charging in blindly would do more harm than good. So he pressed on, moving further down the eerie hallway quietly.

Eventually he could hear muffled voices and felt a small sense of relief as he recognized Grian's. He couldn't hear what they were saying as the two talked in hushed voices. Turning a corner he saw the hallway end and open up into a large room and tucked himself back around the corner. Peeking around he saw no one right in the immediate area but did see a stack of crates to the left that he could probably duck behind. He gave himself a second to prepare and then darted as quickly as he could to hide behind the crates. Once he was sure he was out of any sightlines he paused and held his breath, waiting to see if anyone had noticed him. When no one said anything or shot anything at him he figured he was in the clear.

Once again he found himself peeking around the corner, this time of the stack of crates, to take in the room he now found himself in. It was smaller than the warehouse above but the walls and floor looked the same with a single support pillar in the middle. There were even more crates scattered around the room, though most looked to have been emptied. Then he caught sight of something in the southwest corner that made panic rise in his chest.  There was a short fence enclosing the corner and within that fence, three creepers skuttled around aimlessly in the small space. How?

His attention was snapped away by the sound of a door and he fully ducked himself behind the crates again. On the opposite side of the room the muffled voices came into focus as two people stepped through a steel door. The first man that stepped out had short blonde hair and a set of brilliantly colored red wings with blue and yellow bands through them, then behind him a slightly shorter man stepped through. His hair was a shade or two darker but his wings were black and it took longer than Scar would like to admit to recognize him. Afterall, he had just barely gotten used to the man having wings at all. Seeing the usually vibrant feathers so dark was shocking, even if Grian had told him he planned to use some temporary feather dye he had from a costume he'd worn before since his natural ones were so recognizable.

"How long have you been planning this? None of that could have been quick to obtain." The first man turned around to face Grian and Scar took the moment to poke his head out further. He made brief eye contact with his partner and nodded, pointing at him, hoping he'd get the message.

"I've been collecting for a bit now, as you saw its nearly ready to go. You're timing joining me couldn't be more perfect." The man turned back and started walking towards a desk against the far wall, turning away from Grian who nodded back at Hotguy who had pulled back and could just barely see what was happening now. He listened to the steps as Grian followed the man to the desk. "Like I said, I think we can set a couple up at some major points in the city and set them off simultaneously. I'm thinking here, here, and here. At least. They won't know what hit them."

"Won't that destroy a good bit of the city? What about civilians? Other hybrids that could get caught in the crossfire?"

"This is war, it doesn't leave anything untouched. We have to destroy this city if we want any chance of fixing things. We do this and Hybrids will finally be on top where we're meant to be. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Are you?" The threat was clear and Scar gripped his bow tighter as anger pulsed through him. He wanted to step out and defend his partner, but he'd already indicated he was following Grian's lead on this one. Breaking that plan now would be dangerous for both of them so Scar stayed still in his hiding spot and waited.

"I've found in the last year I'm willing to do a lot for a lot of reasons. Some a bit silly in retrospect, but they lead me right in the end. Mostly though I learned one thing," The other man made a confused noise and he could hear the grin in Grian's voice as he continued. "I can always count on Hotguy to have my back."

Without hesitation, Scar drew back on his bow and in one motion stood and fired above the crate before leaping over it and moving towards the pair. The arrow whizzed past the man's head in-between him and Grian. The man flailed back in surprise, the arrow succeeding in driving him further from his partner as Hotguy nocked another and aimed.

"Gotcha. Nowhere to go there friend so why don't you make this easy." Scar didn't flinch as he felt something slip out of his belt but saw Grian priming his pistols out of the corner of his eye, looking more relaxed now that his own weapons were in hand. Neither had been happy at the thought of him going in unarmed but had conceded that it would be a lot more suspicious if he didn't. Especially considering their deep pink color.

The man in front of them spat, "Filthy traitor. You'll pay for this." The man reached to the desk and hit a small button Scar hadn't seen before and jumped back, wings flapping as he climbed through the air towards the ceiling. Scar made to draw back further and follow him with his bow when he heard a mechanical click and saw behind him where the fence keeping the creepers at bay sank into the floor.

Adjusting his aim, Scar spared a brief glance to his partner. "Stay after him, I've got them. These wings are better but still no match to yours for keeping up with him." Grian nodded and leapt into the air as Scar turned back towards the monsters.

Hotguy had taken plenty of creepers down in his tenure as a hero, this was nothing new. Granted usually it wasn't three in a rather enclosed space, but he had this. His first shot hit true as the creeper hissed its frustration, but it kept pushing onward until a second arrow sprouted from its chest and Scar watched it collapse. The victory was short lived though as in the time it took to down the one the other two had drawn near and he saw the sparks dance across their fuzzy skin as they hissed at him. Quickly he jumped back and around another stack of crates to try and break their eyeline. He wanted to take a moment to catch sight of the avians in the air above them but knew every second counted.

He let another arrow fly as he glanced behind him to the door the two avians had come out of, not fully shut, as the two creepers circled him, one from each side of the crates he'd sheltered behind. Low on options as they once more closed the gap he flung the door open and entered the dark space. The room around him was dim and glittered with a deep blue shimmer as he quickly moved in deeper, not caring to tread lightly. Which was a very big mistake. The ear piercing scream was loud in the muted quiet of the room and Scar fought the urge to cover his ears. Then like a rolling wave through the room, everything went black for a second and Hotguy was blind. It passed as quick as it came but he could feel the dread in the pit of his stomach.

Bad, bad, bad.

As his vision returned he caught sight of the creeper that already had an arrow buried in its torso creeping through the door. Quickly he drew and fired, letting years of muscle memory guide his aim as the second creeper fell.

Distantly he heard another heavy thud and a crackle over the com in his ear. "Hit…un a…s down…d it." Scar cursed at the flimsy connection, unsure of what Grian had been trying to tell him. He didn't realize the swear had been aloud until another splitting scream pierced the air. The darkness persisted longer this time and Scar knew he had to get out of there. His exit was blocked though as the third creeper moved into the room. He glanced around, trying to think of something but the dim room was disorienting and the creeper closed in.

Seconds later though, Grian appeared in the doorway, looking a bit rough but thankfully okay as his eyes widened. Scar watched his mouth open to call to him and roughly shook his head. Holding up 2 fingers he then brought his hand to his lips, switching to a single finger. Grian seemed to understand as he shut his mouth and stepped in behind the creeper that was still focused on Hotguy. Then he saw his partner's lips moving and the soft whisper of words through his earpiece, slightly clearer with both in the strange room. "…ur guy hap..d his o..mprovemen..he wings?"

A shift of movement at Grian's side caught Scar's attention as he watched his partner run his thumb over the controls of his pistol. The creeper had made it halfway in the room now and they were running out of time. Hotguy nodded and a split second later Grian was off, back in the air. His feathers let him fly in near silence as he overtook the creeper and landed between it and Hotguy. Leveling his weapon, Grian pulled the trigger. Scar watched the energy leave the pistol and hit the creeper square in the chest. The monster stuttered for a moment and the small sparks that had been jumping around its fur increased, spreading out from the point of impact until larger arcs of electricity jumped around its body.

Scar watched them grow brighter as the creeper approached his partner and readied every muscle in his body to act. They only had one chance.

One. Two. Three.

The creeper swelled as Scar reached forward and clasped a hand around Grian's shoulder, yanking him back and down, throwing his own body over the avian's and tucking his head down as the explosion ripped through the room and it came crashing down around them.

Chapter Text

After everything he had been through in the last few days, Grian really thought this would be the easy part. He had reconciled with Hotguy, spilled his identity to the man, and found and took down the person who had framed him. He should be over any nervous churning in his stomach by now but it was still there as he shouldered his bag and left campus for the day.

He should be excited, not nervous. This is what he had been waiting for since last Wednesday, before everything went wrong. This is what he'd been thinking about through all of his lectures today and what had dragged him out of bed this morning feeling a lot less tired than he should have after the incredibly late night. It had actually been surprisingly easy to wake up and start his day when he woke up to a text message from Scar.

'Got time today to make good on that rain check?'

He would not tell anyone else the way his heart skipped at just the one question. He had spent the rest of his morning getting ready between texting with the other professor to make plans for an early diner once his final class for the day was done since he taught a later class than Scar this semester. They had picked a time and place and Scar let him know when the reservation had been made. After that, all there was to do was wait as the clock ticked on at an agonizingly slow pace.

The aches all over his body that had refused to go away all day kept his pace slower as he walked the few blocks to the restaurant they agreed upon. What else did I expect when I decided to supercharge and trigger a creeper. Technically though, the aches weren't from the explosion but instead from the jolt of hitting the ground as Hotguy pulled him away and covered them both with his wings. Maybe it hadn't been the best plan, but it was the quickest one either of them were able to come up with and time was not a luxury they'd had, not with a creeper closing in on Hotguy and those odd wiggling things with the dark blue vines growing from them. It had worked though. The explosion destroyed most of the 'sculky things' as Hotguy had put it and all that was left were just some inert scraps they could use as evidence.

The rest of the evening had gone smoothly after the explosion though. Grian took a few moments to clear out the color from his wings best he could before changing into the Cuteguy outfit while Hotguy checked over the rest of the warehouse to make sure everything was secure. After that it had just been a matter of calling law enforcement, along with a tip to the press from Hotguy's tech guy, to clear the rest up. The guy had a paper trail a mile long at his desk in the basement of the warehouse and it had been enough for the officers to arrest the man. It wasn't long after that photos from the press of the man being arrested and Cuteguy and Hotguy speaking with police about it began circling and within an hour Cuteguy was a hero to the city again. It felt good and Grian slept better that night than he had in the nearly a month it had been since the blaze incident.

Then he woke up to the text that sent his stomach fluttering and had now brought him to one of the smaller bistros a few blocks from campus. With one final breath to steady his nerves he stepped inside, immediately greeted by the enticing aromas leaking from the kitchen and the friendly smile of the hostess. With a brief hello, he told her he was here for a reservation under the name Goodtimes and she nodded and began to lead him to the table. She took him to a small table towards the back where finally he spotted Scar waiting, wheelchair rolled up to the table and menu open in front of him. Scar smiled his goofy grin as Grian thanked the hostess and made his own way past the empty tables to the seat opposite the man.

"Well hello there." Grian felt his own grin split across his face as he sat down. "Fancy meetin' you here G."

"Yeah almost like we made plans or something." Grian laughed lightly and Scar joined in. The waiter came by then, introducing themselves and dropping off waters for the pair before leaving to "Give them a moment to look at the menu."

It was silent for a bit, as they read though the options, Grian's stomach doing somersaults as he occasionally glanced over his menu at Scar. Eventually he had to break the silence. "So, how are your classes this semester? Any obvious troublemakers yet?"

Scar lowered his own menu a bit, smile still bright on his face. "Oh no, luckily this semester I've got all three and four-hundred level classes so all students I know already and none have given me too much trouble in the past. There is one student though who always likes to toe the line but I'm actually looking forward to seeing what he'll do this semester knowing what projects I have planned for that class."

Grian nodded along and listened as Scar talked about all his returning students, caught between wanting to hear everything Scar had to say and figuring out what the best way to finally tell Scar would be. Shortly the waiter came back to take their orders then left again, leaving the table in a stilted silence. After it dragged on just a bit too long, Grian finally realized he needed to bite the bullet. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and broke the silence. "I need to tell you something."

At the same time though, Scar also started speaking. "There's something you should know G." Both paused after realizing they had both tried to talk then burst into laughter. They kept laughing for a few minutes and Grian wasn't quite sure why they were laughing so hard. It felt good though, it felt normal. A feeling Grian had missed these past few days. Once they calmed down and caught their breath Grian looked at Scar and felt his breath catch at the man's goofy smile and flushed cheeks. "I'm sorry, you first. What did you want to tell me G?"

Now or never. Grian nodded and shifted his eyes away to the water glass in front of him where his hand fidgeted with the straw. "Okay, so, I like you Scar."

"Aww G, I like you too! You're probably my best friend, or at least up there in the list for sure. You know Jellie would be upset if she wasn't number one though."

Grian felt like he was going to scream, but he was in public so he decided not to do that. Yet. "No Scar," He saw the man tilt his head in question out of the corner of his eye but still refused to look directly at him. "There's really no way of saying it without sounding like a teenager admitting their feelings for the first time, huh. I like you Scar. As more than a friend. And I have for a while."

Grian held his breath, waiting for a response but there was only silence. Hesitantly he finally looked up to Scars face and was met with shock and surprise there. His eyes were wide, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly open to form the "Oh." that finally broke the silence.

Then he started laughing. Just a few small chuckles at first then building into a full bellied laugh and Grian felt his whole body tense, ready to rush out of there. Where minutes ago they had been sharing the laughter now it just brought back the roiling torment in the pit of his stomach. His mind began racing to figure out the best way to get out with some of his dignity intact when Scar caught his breath enough to say more. "All this time, you were talking about…"He cut himself off with another incredulous laugh. "Gosh, this definitely beats me trying to tell you I'm Hotguy."

Scar kept laughing to himself while Grian blanched, mind still racing only now it was trying to process what he'd just heard. Because surely he'd heard that wrong. "You're what !" he hissed and Scar just waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh never mind that birdie. You like me . I cannot believe this!" Grian's heart was racing as fast as his mind as soon as he heard the nickname fall from Scar's lips.

Scar, no longer laughing, simply looked at Grian with a smile brighter than the sun. A real smile so unlike the one Hotguy used for the press and civilians. That Scar used. Because Scar was Hotguy. Had always been Hotguy. And that meant, "Hold on. You've known I was me for a couple days now, and you didn't say anything? " Grian felt his face scrunch up and his voice come out more as a hiss at the accusation.

"Well of course not! You were the one who told me not to!" Scar protested, smile still on his face as he shook a finger towards Grian. "If you recall, I was ready to tell you the second you told me."

Grian did not like the fact that Scar made a good point and was technically correct. Still he pouted. "You should have known better than to listen to me."

"Wait a second, the original plans to get lunch. You were planning on telling me you liked me nearly a week ago. Before either of us knew."

Grian groaned and felt his face heat up as he dropped it into his hands. "Oh I told Hotguy- told you that didn't I. Oh dear."

Scar just let out a small laugh once again. "You did. Shame I didn't know you were talking about me when you mentioned it the other night. Probably would have taken my visor off and kissed you right there."

His heart was beating twice its normal speed and his face almost certainly was the same color as his wings as he snapped it up with a " What !" that was just quiet enough to not be heard throughout the entire restaurant.

"Well yeah! I've always been quite enameled with you, ever since you were my TA. And I mean you've ah, heard me talk about Cuteguy. And experienced my attempts at flirting as Hotguy I guess." Scar looked the slightest bit embarrassed, the faintest hint of pink touching his tan skin as Grian took in everything he was saying.

It was all too much. Scar knew him , all of him. And Scar liked him. Just as he liked Scar. "What does this mean, for us then. Is there an 'us' now? Is that how this works?"

"As far as I'm concerned G, there's been an 'us' since you walked into my classroom and introduced yourself. Now we just get to define it a bit different if that’s what we want. Say this can be our first date, if you want, and later tonight we could call running across rooftops and taking down monsters our second."

The thought brought a smile to Grian's face as he gazed into the bright eyes and smile of his partner. "You know, I think I might just like that."

"Oh, wait! Since everything is finally out in the open does that mean I can finally tell you how adorable it was when you were all squawking and grumbling about how that guy, who could have totally been your clone by the way, looked 'nothing like you'?" Scar's smile was teasing and Grian could feel the heat creeping up the back of his neck.

Grian just pouted and halfheartedly attempted a glare at the man across the table from him. "Everyone who thought he looked like me needs to get their eyes checked. He was taller and his hair was lighter and worst of all our wings are completely different!"

Scar just laughed. "Please tell me you're kidding birdie? I've spent a lot of time staring at your wings," Grian was glad he was already red in the face so Scar hopefully couldn't see how much that one admission affected him. "But I don't know if I could tell you whose wings were whose if they were side by side."

Grian tried and failed to hold back the affronted squawk that rose up. "I will have you know my wings are red with yellow and blue bands but his were red and yellow with a single blue band. Those are completely different!" Scar just raised an eyebrow and laughed again and Grian returned to pouting. "Okay, just for that I'm making you pay for dinner as an apology for insulting my wings like that."

"Whatever you say G."

Later that night, as they rested on a rooftop after taking out a small horde of zombies, Grian let himself lean against Hotguy and relax. He felt safe and giddy at the turn of events the day had taken. Never had he expected to be here, in Hotguy's arms, Scar's arms, and so wholly content. Even as a thought occurred to him. I guess I did have a crush on Hotguy in the end. "Pearl and Mumbo are never going to let me live this down, huh." He laughed lightly until he looked up to meet Scar's soft gaze, just a hint of amused confusion at the statement. Then he realized their faces were closer than he had expected. A lot closer.

It didn't take much effort to close the distance and let his lips brush Scar's, who returned the gentle kiss readily until the two broke into smiles as they pulled apart and locked eyes again. It was then Grian decided that Mumbo and Pearl's teasing was a price he'd pay a thousand times over again if this was what it gave him.