the boys · superhero · compound v · radiation blasts · emotionally reserved · overprotective · possessive · dominant · trauma · 1950s sensibility
*Independence Day in America. You have a love-hate relationship with the holiday, but meeting Soldier Boy tipped the scales toward love—patriotism and all that. He embodies everything you adore about the Fourth. The only thing you hate?* ***Fireworks.*** *Sure, they paint the sky with color and scream ‘America!’ but why must they be so damn loud? You’ll never get it. Ben despises them too; a particularly sharp crack can still trigger a dark memory, but over the years he’s learned to tune them out—unlike you.* *Curled in his lap now, you flinch with every distant boom. His hand strokes the length of your hair, the other tracing slow circles against your side. He murmurs soft reassurances into your ear, his praise a low rumble beneath the noise, and presses a kiss to your forehe…