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It was a mercifully slow day, nothing urgent that they were needed for. Not yet, anyway. A-Train was spending this time with Black Noir, in the other man’s room. He had taken off the armor of his costume to make himself more comfortable, resting his head against Noir’s shoulder as they reclined on the bed.
Noir on the other hand was still in his full uniform, other than his boots he hadn’t bothered taking anything off. He never did. A-Train had asked about this once, all he’d gotten in response was a sticky note with Don’t want to written on it, which really raised more questions than answers but he decided not to pry.
The other hero had a sketchbook that he was doodling in, and A-Train was happy to watch. Noir often did this during Seven meetings too, and honestly A-Train couldn’t blame him. If those things weren’t stressful to the point that he felt his heart might give out, then they were an absolute fucking slog.
Right now Noir was drawing a group picture of The Seven, his own take on them. Everyone was a different animal, clearly recognizable even with Noir’s sketchy, cartoony style.
Homelander, naturally, was standing front and center. Sharp teeth bared in a grin and flowing mane framing his face. Starlight was a little songbird, standing off to the edge, likely because she was the newest member. The Deep was originally going to be a dolphin, but Noir got frustrated with trying to get an anthro version of the creature right, so he’d changed it to an octopus.
Noir depicted himself as a black sheep, which likely said something about how he perceived himself in comparison to the others, but A-Train didn’t feel like looking too deeply into that. And then there was the man himself, the A-Train…
“What am I, some sorta dog?” He asked, squinting a little at the half finished sketch.
Noir paused and flipped to a clean page where he wrote Greyhound, and then he added the clarification Fastest dog breed in the world
A-Train nodded, smiling at the explanation. “Alright, cool.” Noir really did know a lot of random, seemingly useless facts about animals.
Did you want to be something else? Noir asked, staring at A-Train, likely scanning his face for signs of disapproval.
“What? No, it’s fine. I like it.” He reassured Noir. “Just not what I was expecting.” He’d expected something more obvious, like a cheetah. Which he also would have been fine with, but this choice was more interesting.
Noir stayed focused on him for a few more seconds before nodding, shoulders relaxing a bit as he went back to drawing.
It didn’t take long for the dog– greyhound– to be finished. Noir was adding more detail now than he did with his middle-of-a-meeting doodles, but he clearly knew what he was doing. And then he moved his pencil to the empty space in the group, presumably to add the final member, when he paused. He lightly tapped the graphite against the paper, careful not to press hard enough that he would have to erase later. Then with a quiet sigh, he flipped back to the page he’d been writing on.
What should Maeve be?
A-Train blinked at the question. Why was Noir asking him? He didn’t know anything about this sort of shit. “I dunno, maybe a fox?”
Noir shook his head, but didn’t give any reasoning. Alright.
Hyena?
“Sure, why not?” He wasn’t sure why either, but he was sure Noir had a reason.
As if sensing his confusion, Noir explained Female hyenas are stronger and more aggressive than the males, and are often the ones in charge
A-Train remembered Maeve’s past relationship with Homelander and couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds pretty right to me.”
Likely thinking of the same thing, Noir’s shoulders shook slightly with his own chuckles. Then it’s decided
Reading over Noir’s side of their conversation, a question crossed A-Train’s mind. “So, do you know sign language?”
Noir tilted his head in reply.
“I know it’s kinda random, but I was just wondering.”
After a moment, Noir nodded.
“Why don’t you ever use it? It’d probably be easier than writing everything down.”
Nobody else knows it. This is more convenient
The resignation in Noir’s posture as he wrote that was disheartening, and also kind of annoying. Wasn’t it like, the law to accommodate disabled employees? Why was Vought purposefully making things harder for Noir? (Well, A-Train could guess why. He’d been a supe for a while, he knew the business wasn’t the most ethical)
“Well shit, teach me.” A-Train said with no hesitation.
Noir reeled back ever so slightly in what could only be shock, and then gave another head tilt.
“Yeah, seriously.” He doubled down. It only seemed fair that if they were together, he should learn how to make communication more convenient for Noir. “It could be fun.” He added. “If no one else knows it, we can say whatever we want. Like a secret language.”
Noir stared at him long enough after that, A-Train almost feared that he’d broken him. He respected Noir’s boundaries and all, but sometimes he really wished he could see what was going on behind that mask.
Then the other hero’s posture brightened, became more energetic. He lifted one of his hands, the empty one. His pinkie and pointer were raised, and his thumb was sticking out. He gently waved it side to side before lowering it, entwining his fingers with A-Train’s and lightly nuzzling his forehead against A-Train’s.
A-Train chuckled at the excited reaction, squeezing Noir’s hand. He assumed that was a yes.
“So, I’m guessing that’s the first thing I’m learning.” He said, raising his free hand and doing his best to mimic Noir’s gesture. “What does it mean?”
Noir watched and then gasped, growing tense and looking away.
“What? It does mean something, right?”
A slow, hesitant nod.
“Why don’t you wanna tell me?” He asked. “You didn’t like, tell me to go fuck myself or anything, did you?”
A huff of laughter, and a negative head shake. Then at A-Train’s expectant look, he began writing with a shaking hand.
It means He swallowed, taking in a deep breath. And then hastily and messily I love you
A-Train’s eyes widened. “Wait… Really?”
Another nod as Noir made a point of looking away.
A-Train let the information sink in, a grin creeping on his face while his chest began feeling lighter than air. He threw both arms around Noir, pulling the other close and pressed a kiss to where he guessed the corner of Noir’s lip was. “I love you too, man!”
At that, Noir relaxed. He turned to face A-Train again and leaned in, giving him a proper kiss. (As proper as he could through the mask) Both of them were smiling, not wanting to pull away anytime soon.