Chapter Text
Grain sat at the kitchen table, filing out some forms for the veterinary clinic. Scar was at the stove stirring up some quick and easy for dinner. The two sat in a comfortable silence, TV chatted quietly in the background, the stove sizzled, a bird sang outside the window. It had been a nice day, the weather had been nice and there was nothing particularly interesting going on at the moment.
“Hey G”. Scar spoke up from the stove “I've been thinking”
“Bout what?” The other responded not bothering to look up from his paperwork.
“Well ….”. He tapped his ring against his crutch.
The same ring that had caused quite a scandal on the news about 4 months back. The same ring that Mumbo had been despaired to discover the existence of. The same ring that Grain had a nearly identical one on his own left hand.
“ I've- I've been thinking of retiring,”
Grian looked up from his paperwork “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean,” Scar sucked his teeth “ I've been in the game for almost 7 years now. The agency is distraught that they haven't been able to capture us yet. I know Joel and Lizzie have been thinking of settling down as well”
Scar paused and Grian joined him at the stove.
“My body never really recovered from that poison. I've been getting weaker and I don't want it to be the reason something bad happens. Besides,”
He planted a kiss on the ridge of the others skull.
“ It gives me more time to focus on you.”
Grain smiled and turned away. “I…don't need… focusing on”
Scar ignored him, suddenly more chipper “And Hey! Maybe I can get a job.”
The vet raised an eyebrow.“A job?”
“Yeah! A job” Scar picked up a potato and passed it to his husband along with a peeler. “I could… Uhhh….. do something!
“Ok, and if you did, how would you explain the 7 year gap in your resume?”
That seemed to stump him, he got quiet and thought for a moment, Brow furrowed in concentration. Grain started to peel the vegetable unexpectedly thrust upon him.
Scar spoke up. “ I had a job, back in college, before my powers started to develop, and I got fired”
“Anything other than that?”
“Nope"
The TV had been running in the background, the news reporter said something about the tuff guys, an infamous villain group, that caught both of their attention.
“-the brutal fight between Audiofile and the Tuff guys has left the public scrambling. Without the help of Werewolf the villains were able to escape but not unharmed. We have on good authority that with combined efforts we will be able to we will be able to fix the damage done today”
Scar looked nervous and Grian did his best to reassure him “They'll be fine, the agency keeps the Tuff guys around for entertainment, I doubt they have any reason to actually capture them”
A notable villain- Cherrifire- had been taken into custody the month before and that had put all the villains on edge, especially Scar. The threat of being captured had always been superficial but after Cherrifire's arrest the fear had become all too real.
Scar leaned forward and wrapped the vet into a massive hug. Strong arms pulling him into the other man's chest.
“I know… it's just...” he thought for a moment “Scary…”
Grian scoffed, pulling out of the hug “Really? Scary?” He took his face in his hands ”THE Ringmaster is scared of some bloke in a cape and goggles”
“I have a right to my fear!” Scar protested “ I don't want to get arrested, I don't want to lose… this.”
He made a gesture that was meant to indicate everything. Grian, the apartment, at the life they had built together, his bamboozlers, the rings on their fingers, the quiet ceremony they had that night in the court house. The comfortable rhythm they had fallen into between the chaos of being a super villain and a personal doctor.
Grain though for a moment.
“Even if something happens, you're not going to lose me, and honestly I don't think I could live with myself if something did. We’d get you back, Lizzie’s done it before when she-”
He went quiet at the mention of Locust. These days invoking any of the G’s names felt taboo.
Scar gazed at him, something between worry and adoration in his eyes.
“Thank you”