Chapter Text
“Is it just me or does Dark Tiger seem a little different today?” Basen asked Lily as they observed the evening news.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on exactly what was different though.
Although if he had to try to guess he would probably start with the movements.
The hero was holding back a lot more and being more strategic instead of going out with the same force as he usually did.
The vigilante did also occasionally take a few random saltos and somersaults here and there for some reason which too seemed a little strange.
Basen who was currently in his second year in high school had taken a few extra courses regarding hero analyzing and found himself enjoying watching heroes in action. Watching the latest hero related news with his little sister and older brother was therefore almost like a routine in their household.
It was something he always looked forward too.
They both knew that it was quite common knowledge that Dark tiger was quite famous for being a show off.
He enjoyed putting on huge shows even for simple hero tasks such as helping someone out with directions or even just searching for a missing cat.
Basen remembered fondly how his older brother would always just tsk and say "What a waste of energy" whenever they observed the superhero together.
The hero was also often seen with a huge smile adorning his face and was known for having a rather glib tongue with the villains which probably made people feel a little confused about the young hero's name, Dark tiger. Until they saw his appearance that is.
Dark Tiger was after all a rather tall and handsome man with fair skin color, tiger mask with matching face paint, striped hero uniform and dark eyes that matched his hair color.
“Maybe that’s why he looks so different today.” Basen thought.
“Maybe the hero had run short with time and therefore had not properly fixed his appearance?”
The hero seemed a little shorter and thinner for some reason too which was weird given that he looked nothing like that two days prior when rescuing people from a serious apartment fire.
Also there was the fact that his clothes didn’t look to be worn in the same usual manner. It almost looked like someone who had never tried on the costume before had tried to wear it given how different the usual costume looked.
Basen was pretty sure that the shirt was worn the wrong way too..
“It must be your imagination! He’s probably a little tired,” Lily said watching the hero on the tv screen, her eyes excited as she eyed the hero in action.
Basen decided to agree with Lily.
It’s not like Dark Tiger all of a sudden had become a different person without a reason.
Why would someone take the Dark tiger's identity in the first place?
He shook his head for himself.
"Better to be on the safe side" he thought and decided to send a quick text to his older brother who was at his boyfriend’s apartment at the moment.
"Be careful not to get too close to the disaster by the city square. Dark tiger seems a little tired today so there’s no telling how safe it is yet."
-Basen
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Cale cursed himself as he finished saving the last person out of the landslide. He had spent way too much time on the rescue than Dark tiger normally would have. Something he had hoped wouldn’t be too obvious, but was proven otherwise with the text his little brother had sent him.
"Well, sue me for not having the same stamina as other superheroes then!" Cale thought as he flew back home.
The mana stone around his neck was glowing softly underneath the uniform.
He was glad that the necklace his mother had gifted him had proved to be useful in more ways than just one.
He remembered being quite surprised the first time he found out he could gain superpowers just by using it.He hadn't bothered to experiment much with it after that though. With great power comes great responsibility as they say after all and Cale just wanted to live a normal life.
Thanks to the rare mana stone the Thames family had kept in their possessions for generations he could at least still somewhat give a decent performance. He just wished that it would do something with the ache he felt in his body too..
His body was definetly going to be sore tomorrow. Cale wasn't used to moving around this much. He preferred sunbathing and sleeping instead of exercising.
"You are just like a cat, Cale," his boyfriend would say everytime he would find Cale curled up on the couch.
"Ah, to be curled up on a couch," Cale thought.
That sounded way better than his current predicament.
No offense to the people needing saving or whatever. Cale just didn't think hero life would suit him and that it would be irresponsible of him to pursue such a career
path.
He just wanted to slack off, okay? Was that too much to ask for?
Cale felt his eye twitch.
To be fair he had not really expected to spend his saturday night like this so he hoped that people would be satisfied enough with his actions tonight and not find the change of routine too suspicious.
He sent a quick text back to Basen before washing off the remaining makeup. He then put the tiger mask back in the rucksack before letting out another sigh.
He had no idea how Alberu bothered to do this all the time.
It was quite a hassle to wear a wig and contact lenses too. It made his scalp feel itchy and eyes dry out really fast too.
"Ahhh, how annoying." Cale thought.
Cale looked back into the mirror.
His sharp reddish-brown eyes were looking back at his worn out reflection.
Once again Cale was grateful for living a rather ordinary life as a university student. Or well he was until he was reminded of the fact that his boyfriend of two years actually was a superhero.
When he thought back at it he had to admit that the clues were definitely there with how Alberu would sometimes show up to school with bruises and would often run late to their late night dates, but he had never suspected for it to be anything severe given how Alberu would always brush off his concerns.
“Aw, is my boyfriend worried about me? Cale, you’re just too precious. Come here, will you?”
Alberu would say every time he asked about the matter and then proceed to pepper Cale’s face with kisses.
Cale would then have to sternly remind Alberu that he was on bedrest before things could escalate, but it wasn’t his fault that his boyfriend was just too good at distracting him sometimes. The concerns were therefore often washed away with the feeling of being content in Alberu’s strong and warm arms.
He recalled the first time they met and how they both seemed to think the complete opposite of each other.
You see, Cale always had this idea that Alberu was a goody two shoes because of his family background, how he always got good grades and with how was on the student committee board. He had therefore never expected Alberu to reach out to him first given how people seemed to think he was trash.
“I had the wrong impression of you” was strangely uttered first by Alberu after he had witnessed Cale protecting the younger peers from bullies.
Cale had pretended that the bullies had no right to bully their younger classmates by saying that the only one that could do so was none other than himself.
He had then pretended to harshly drag his younger peers into a room in order to "bully" them when he in reality just gathered them to be a part of his so called slacker club where they would just sleep, relax and spend a fun time together.
Cale had told himself he did that because it was just tiresome to listen to the bullies bullying their younger peers, but Alberu had seemed to think otherwise.
Alberu had in fact joined the slacker club after that and Cale slowly learned that Alberu was in fact quite sly, but also very genuine.
They had quickly bonded over many things before Alberu had decided to ask Cale out.
Cale had by then already fallen for Alberu and quickly accepted.
And before he knew it two years had passed.
As graduation was coming closer though Cale had eventually spent more and more time over at Alberu’s apartment.
His father had been a little against in the beginning what with how that meant that his first born would probably soon move out of the house, but had quickly let go after a single look from Violan and with Cale’s reassurances that he had no plans on moving out from their family home yet.
It didn’t stop Deruth from crying though.
Spending time with his boyfriend at his apartment was nice though.
They didn’t have to worry about noisy family members interrupting them, but it also proved to be full of a few surprises.
Surprises like Cale walking into Alberu’s apartment only to see his boyfriend clad in full hero gear bleeding out on the carpet.