Chapter Text
“Careless?”
Smart calling out to him was nothing new. The hero was always butting into their lives one way or another. It used to be only when he wanted something from them, but recently, more often than not, Smart came to him to ask about a physics concept or to tell a joke he thought Careless would like.
He could tell today wasn’t going to be either of those reasons.
The mechanic glanced up from his spot on the living room floor. Smart stood a handful of steps away, as the ground was littered with broken parts and tools in a radius. Like his voice, his entire posture radiated nervousness, from the way his weight constantly shifted to the fact a mangled strip of wire seemed like the most interesting thing in the universe. Careless cleared a space near him, and Smart appeared glad not to be towering over him for this conversation. The superstar was never one to hesitate, but apparently there was a first time for everything. Careless didn’t pay much attention as he tried to form words. He returned to salvaging what he could of his missile launcher. There was no saving it this time; he would need to build a new one.
“So, uh, how often do you check social media?”
Hm. He hadn’t recently. A mixture of forgetting his login information and simply not being interested. He could find where he had written it down, but he hadn’t bothered. “Not much, why?”
Smart sucked in a breath. “Well, one of the most popular topics right now is…” Careless paused. “Sweet and I… dating.”
That caused him to freeze. They were what? How could he never have noticed? Why wouldn’t they tell anyone? (And why did it feel strangely alienating?) But… judging by how uncomfortable Smart seemed just saying that, and the fact he can’t remember ever seeing Sweet leave the house this weekend, this may be social media being the unreliable narrator he always believed it to be.
“All right,” he said.
“You’re weirdly okay with that.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“THANK you!” Smart sighed, gesturing grandly at nothing. Careless tilted away to avoid being backhanded, a motion he didn’t think Smart noticed until the hero abruptly dropped both hands into his lap. “I mean I love her, but not like that.”
“Mm.” The sudden twinge in his chest was so foreign that he nearly checked to see if his phone was ringing before remembering he hadn’t used that storage in years. He tugged the collar of his shirt down anyway.
“Are you okay?”
Careless made the mistake of glancing up and finding the superstar’s eyes meeting his own. Stars, when had Smart gotten this observant? Despite how tense he was about the whole situation, he still found the time to be genuinely concerned. The mechanic was very aware of his mind starting to speed up, the extra processing power causing his skin to grow warm.
“Fine,” he said in what he sorely hoped was a neutral tone. “So you need something?”
Smart immediately averted his eyes. “Right, uh…” Skies, he had never seen him struggle this much. He was really uncomfortable with what he was about to tell him. “Would you be open to… pretending to date?”
Oh. Yeah, that was nerve-worthy. “Uhm, why?”
“It—“ Smart sighed. “Well, for one, it’s just a rumour right now. If we came out about it, then there’s no room for speculation, and we could control everything ourselves.”
Careless mulled it over silently. His counterpart seemed nervous of the long quiet stretch, but he wanted to go over all the possibilities. This was, quite obviously, risky.
He could guess why Smart didn’t just announce he wasn’t dating; no one would believe him. He might have already done that, actually. This would allow them to map the entire timeline from start to end, but even then, things would struggle to return to normal. It would leave a permanent mark on his image, and he didn’t want that. Smart was a superstar, and he didn’t want to become known just as someone who dated him.
But… that’s what Sweet was dealing with, wasn’t she?
Sure, she was a lot more outgoing than Careless was, but even she had her limits. It was unwanted attention, to be the spotlight of something that wasn’t true. Plus, Sweet was a popular superhero, albeit not comparable to Smart or Careful. It would be very easy for rumors about her to spread if she wasn’t so unabashedly kind to everyone. Come to think of it, she and Smart didn’t even hang out much in public for any rumours to begin with. They were friends all the same, but the title of most seen together actually went to Careful as of late. He’d begun hiding with the superstar to redirect attention onto him when he needed a break. It was a wonder the media never thought they were dating. Likely because they both identified as male.
Wait, so did he.
“We wouldn’t be a straight couple,” was the first thing to cut through the silence. Smart opened his mouth with a prepared answer locked and loaded, then processed what the mechanic said and closed it again.
“Do you… mind?” he asked.
“Do you?”
Careless almost laughed. It looked like Smart hadn’t considered the fact at all. The weapons expert hadn’t factored it into his decision whatsoever— it made no difference to him— but if he knew anything about social dynamics, it made a large difference to the public.
“Oh,” Smart breathed.
The faraway look he got was a little funny, Careless admitted to himself, but he didn’t voice anything. This was a serious topic.
“Not everyone is very accepting about it,” he said, turning away as he explained. Smart hummed distantly. The side of the missile launcher had dented in so deeply that one of the remaining shells had gotten trapped inside. “We’re better now, naturally, but a lot of people have outdated views on queerness.” Deactivating to remove it safely was very tedious when he had a three centimetre wide opening to work with. “But most people have similar source codes, and I think something predisposes them against gay couples. Something to do with the inability to… uh, breed.”
He trailed off when he realized where his distracted rambling had taken him. A hand came up to smother his face, which felt quite like he had stuck it in an active oven. Biology was not his forte; he didn’t know how scientists could talk with a straight face. He cleared his throat. “Either way, carrying this out with me is going to create controversy, no matter how much more open society has become.”
Smart made a small “mhm,” noise, causing Careless to doubt he had heard anything that was just said. He was proven wrong, however, when the superstar replied, “Well, more attention on us is less on Sweet.”
Careless frowned. “What about you?”
Smart was always one to brag about his popularity. It didn’t take a keen eye to see how important his status was to him. The masks he displayed and the facets he hid from the public eye were as clear as daylight to Careless. It was a lot of effort. Effort he thought would be wasted unless he truly wanted this. To break down that foundation with something so controversial would go against everything Smart stood for.
The superstar went quiet of his own accord this time, staring down into his lap. His hands curled into fists. “I’ve been a celebrity for almost a decade,” he muttered. “I know how to deal with critics. I don’t mind rumours.” He ran a hand through his hair, pausing while his arm was at its peak. “But this isn’t just about me. I… Sweet never got as much practice as I did.” He gave a tired sort of laugh and dropped his arm. Then, not to Careless’ surprise, he immediately fixed his hair.
“You’d risk it for her,” the mechanic murmured, just barely managing to pitch the last word up like a question.
“Well, duh,” Smart answered. “I’d do it even if it was a guarantee.”
Careless hummed. Smart was very self-centered. It was simply something they had to get used to while growing up. So much so that even after years of living together, it was sometimes still a surprise when he held his team up to a higher regard than himself. He gave up on his missile launcher for the moment and hugged it to his chest.
“Wait a minute,” the superstar said. “We were supposed to be talking about you!”
“... Huh?”
“Are you okay with all this? Sweet said she wouldn’t go through with it unless you fully agreed.”
It was an unorthodox plan, sure, but Careless was willing to go just as far as Smart would to protect her. People believed what they wanted to believe, and the only real course of action would be to let them. But that clearly hadn’t worked, or else they wouldn’t be coming to him for help. If he was capable of redirecting that attention, doing anything to make their lives even a bit easier, why wouldn’t he?
“Sure.”
“Are you—” Smart blinked, then put a hand on the side of his head. “You decided that fast?”
Careless shrugged. He could feel the metal corners dig into his skin, but it far from bothered him. “You wouldn’t be here if you had any better ideas. You’re probably both at the end of your line. You forget how much I care about you… both of you.”
Smart gave a long sigh. Careless could see the tension drain out of the superstar’s shoulders. Whether it was because they had gotten over the difficult conversation or because he finally had a plan of action, it was hard to tell. Both, most likely. “Thanks. I’ll tell Sweet, and we can come up with the details.”
“Mhm,” Careless hummed, returning his gaze to the weapon in his lap knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to focus on it for the rest of the day. Smart stood up and navigated his way out of the mess of debris around them.
“This means a lot, Careless,” he said softly.
“Yep,” the mechanic responded to empty air. What was he doing? Right.
There didn’t seem to be any way to remove the trapped shell without disassembling the launcher as a whole, and given the state of it, once it was apart, there was no way to put it back together. Careless frowned as he considered the option. Of course, he would likely need to take it apart anyway, given his plan to repurpose the usable parts, but he wasn’t quite ready to lose the sentimental attachment to it yet. He also couldn’t leave it, though; it was dangerous.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
He startled hard enough that the missile launcher fell out of his lap with a single, loud slap against the floor. He was surprised it didn’t blow up right then and there. “Careful! You’re awake! How… how much of that did you hear?”
The taciturn hero sighed. He sat up from where he was previously laying on his side. Careless was surprised Smart hadn’t noticed; the couch faced them. “I failed to fall asleep in the first place.”
“Ah.” His internal temperature may as well have permanently risen. He sorely hoped his fans weren’t loud enough to be heard. “Would you have better luck in your room?”
“You are safer than my room,” Careful admitted. “And do not change the subject.”
Careless couldn’t stop himself from letting out a small “Aww,” even as he received a pointed stare. He decided to stall by packing away his tools. “I already agreed, haven’t I?”
“Are you sure you did not agree too quickly?” Careful pressed. “Your judgement is not usually clouded by emotions, but—“
“I know what I’m doing, Careful.” He knew it wasn’t going to be easy. He knew of the astronomical chance of backlash, the sudden influx of attention, both positive and negative, and the facade he would need to wear to make this work, but at the very least, he would be doing it willingly. That made all the difference if he were to take Sweet’s place.
“I do not doubt that,” Careful conceded. “But do you know why you are doing it?”
Because he had a feeling this was wearing down the both of them more than they let on. Because he loved his team and would do anything for them.
Because…
“Because Smart asked me to do it,” he muttered.
Careful, for all his notoriety for being aloof and distant, was terrible at hiding his emotions. It was usually clearly broadcasted on his face if you knew what to look for. The dip in in the ridge of his brow could mean a lot of things, frustration, concern, concentration, but it was almost universally his reaction to something unpleasant. He didn’t like the answer. Either he didn’t like Smart, or he didn’t like that it was really all it took for him to say yes.
Oh.
“I can make my own decisions,” he assured. Careful frowned. “And I can deal with however it turns out.”
“I hope you will not have to.”
Because Careful cared enough that any pain that befell him would reflect just as much. He didn’t like seeing Careless upset. The same way Smart didn’t like the way the rumours affected Sweet.
The mechanic got up. He needed to think. “Thanks. But I’ll be fine.”
He knew what his worth was. He didn’t agree blindly to propositions, even ones from his own team. Even ones from Smart. He knew acting as part of this plan wouldn’t be easy. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was downright painful at times. But his current judgement told him it was worth it to lift the burden from them. If that burden became too much for him, he would back out. He knew his limits. He wanted to do this. He wanted to help them.
His crush on Smart had nothing to do with it.