Work Text:
“Ah, ahhh.”
“Mmm, that’s right.” Robert moaned into his boyfriend’s ear, thriving upon watching him come undone from just being touched.
The two had been together for almost a month now, and a friend of Malevora had suggested trying ‘control’ therapy with a partner they trusted. No penetration, nothing of the sort. Just being in control with their hands alone. Fueled by the trust they had in each other and the hope to help Robert start feeling in control of his life again. To Robert’s surprise, Flambae was more than eager to test this out, curious to see what little Robert could do,
Hence, how they were here now. Both on Flambae’s couch while Robert worked his body like dough. It was like a painting, seeing Flambae so needy, his hair cascaded around him like roots from a tree, and incomprehensible sounds came from him.
“If I didn’t know better, Ajmal. I’d say you like being beneath me.” Robert obviously had partners in the past, but it had been some time since he got to pull out the dirty talk.
Before Flambae could throw out some snarky comment, the two gasped as they heard a loud pounding on the front door. “Who the fuck could it be?” Flambae growled out, “I’ll kill them for ruining this.”
“Daayi Ajmal, daayi Ajmal!”
Robert immediately burst into a fit of laughter, seeing Flambae’s reaction, laughing as he was shoved off his lap. “Quit laughing and go handle her. I need to shower.” Without another word, Flambae bolted for his bathroom. Robert couldn’t help but chuckle as Flambae hurried down the hall to hand his ‘issue’.
Watching his partner vanish down the hallway, Robert hurried over to the front door to find Beheshta and shit, what was his sister’s name again? Oh yeah, Khadija! “Hey guys, Fl-Ajmal is in the shower right now. What can I help you guys with?” He asked.
“I need to speak with my brother when he is out. I need his help with something.” Khadija made her way around Robert, not waiting for him to move or to be invited in.
“Yikes, must run in the family.” Robert muttered, suddenly feeling a tug on his pants, “Hm?”
“Roe-bert, hello!” Beheshta gave the biggest wave her small body could muster before stretching out her arms.
An amused laugh left Robert, leaning down to pick her up. “Aren’t you too old to be carried?” Robert teased, tickling her as he took her inside.
Robert made his way into the living room, stopping when he saw Khadija glaring right at him. Clearing his throat, Robert set the girl down. “Hey, Beheshta? Why don’t you go and see if you can find Beef? I’m having a hard time finding him.” Thankfully, she took the bait, giggling as she ran off.
And that left the two of them. Khadija looked Robert up and down, disgust apparent on her face. “So, you are Ajmal’s… partner.” Clearly, with how she referred to him, he knew she didn’t mean it in a curious or endearing way.
“Yeah, I’m his boyfriend.” Robert swiftly responded, “So if you want Ajmal’s help with whatever, I hope you can respect that as long as you are in his house and asking for his help.”.
Khadija gave him a withering glare but did not press further, both of them looking relieved when Flambae finally came out of his room. The moment that Flambae was in the living room, he and his sister started to talk in Dari. It would be one thing if he knew the language, but the two were talking so fast that he could hardly keep up. Soon enough, Flambae let out a sigh, shaking his head as he turned back to Robert. “I have to help her get paperwork for the damage to her home. It should only be a few hours.” Flambae explained.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Flambae. You do what you have to, I can get some cleaning done or something.” Robert suggested, not wanting to stress his partner any more than he already was.
The only one who didn’t sound thrilled about this arrangement was Beheshta. “But Madar, no! That is boring.” The young girl huffed, stomping her foot, “You said it would be a fun day!”
Before either sibling could respond, Robert decided to speak up. “I could watch her? I have the day off, so I can keep an eye on her while you two get what you need done.”.
Flambae shot his boyfriend a thankful look while his sister hesitated a moment before sighing, “She does not leave this apartment.”
“I know how to take care of a kid.” That was a lie; he never babysat in his life, but how hard could this be?
Waving the two goodbye, Robert turned his focus to Beheshta once the front door closed. To his amusement, she was already holding Beef. “How do snacks and movies sound?” Her response was a sour expression, “Okay, so I’m taking that as a no?”
“I want to look at the books.” Beheshta quickly explained, running off to Flambae’s room before Robert could question her. An amused noise left the man, following after Beheshta.
Walking into his boyfriend’s room, Robert found Beheshta already elbows deep in the closet. “Why are we raiding your uncle’s closet?” Robert asked, kneeling beside her.
“Books!” Beheshta excitedly yelled, cheering as she hefted a big book in the air. Carefully taking the book from her, Robert was pleasantly surprised to find a photo album. Judging by how old this photo album looked, Robert wondered if this was from Flambae’s childhood. He doubted that his boyfriend would want him to snoop… but as his boyfriend, it was only fair that he got blackmail.
“Come on, let’s take this to the living room. It’s more comfortable than the floor.” Helping the tiny terror off the floor, the two made their way back to the living room, Beef chasing after them.
The two crashed onto the couch, Robert pulling Beheshta onto his lap as she swung open the book. “Careful! Trying to take me out?” Rober snickered, smiling as he made her giggle.
Beheshta eagerly flipped through the photos, skipping past her grandparents' pages before landing on the pages after her mom was born. From what Robert could see, Khadija was a few years younger than Flambae. The same vibrant orange eyes, which ruined the theory Robert had that they were from Flambae’s powers.
Flipping to the next page, he saw some basic family photos. It looked like they hadn’t had any other siblings, and that at some point in their adolescence, the family had moved to the States. “I wonder why he doesn’t have any of these framed.” The thought flickered in Robert’s mind before he pushed it back. He, of all people, had no right to ask prying questions about someone’s family life. After all, his family history was a curse of death and ruin.
As Robert went through the pages with Beheshta, he began to notice less and less of Flambae. A nagging feeling itched in the back of Robert’s back, thinking back to an off-handed comment Flambae made on a mission once.
“The Bone Zone said I’m a ‘closeted’ homosexual. Since when? I skipped the closet and went right for the clubs.”
Robert might be ignorant, like a lot of Americans, when it came to other countries, but he did know that Afghanistan wasn’t very accepting of homosexuality. His heart ached at the thought as he stared at the photos. Were his parents ashamed of him for who he was? His own father died long before Robert could even think of what his sexuality was, never having the chance to talk to someone about it, and basically being forced to wing it through his teen to adult years.
The family photos stopped altogether when Ajmal was an adult; some photos from LA. There was a brief thought that he had left home, but Robert tried to remind himself that most normal adults went to live on their own after 18, not at 15.
Trying not to sour Beheshta’s mood, Robert went back to flipping through the pages with her, and his eyes shot up at a specific photo. “No shit.” He gaped, seeing Ajmal posing with a newly famous Prism. So they knew each other before they became villains; no wonder they were so close.
“Bad word.”
“Yeah, very bad word. Don’t tell you un- daayi that I said it or he’ll make me sleep on the couch.” Robert did a shush motion, earning a laugh from Beheshta.
Almost all of the team was cagey about why they became villains or why they joined the Phoenix Program; it was probably the same reasons a lot of people became heroes. Just different resources and different circumstances. On the left page was a copy of Flambae’s mugshot with finely written notes about all his crimes and dates. You know, it still amused Robert that someone with that big of an ego had one of the smallest rap sheets in the entire Z-team. But on the other page was a single photo.
An ultrasound photo
“I was in madar’s belly! Call me her heaven baby after my siblings.” Beheshta innocently smiled, poking at the photo and giggling at how small she was in her mother’s belly.
Robert’s heart ached, looking at the photo. After her past siblings? Khadija was overly protective of her daughter, which he sadly couldn’t blame on Flambae’s history, but was this the reason why? It also explained so much about Flambae. Sure, the guy could be a raging prick, but for the most part, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy being a hero and was amazing with kids. Glancing down at Beheshta, Robert knew deep down he was right. Flambae would change everything for this kid; he adored her.
Robert went to close the photo album when little hands suddenly stopped him. “Wait, wait, look!” She exclaimed, reopening the book to pull apart two pages that had stuck together.
“Well, look at this. The ultimate blackmail.” Robert ruffled Beheshta’s head as he looked at the photos. One being of the night that Invisigal nabbed Lightningstruck, and the other being a selfie from their date on the Ferris wheel. “Wait, when the hell did he take that?”
“Bad word.” A heavy yawn left Beheshta, rubbing her eyes as she slowly lowered her head onto Robert’s lap.
“Hey, if you’re gonna nap, you’re going to do it in all of your uncle’s nice blankets. Come on, one, two, three, up.” A grunt left Robert as he hoisted Beheshta up, carrying her towards the bedroom. By the time they had reached the bed, the girl was already fast asleep, curling into the blankets immediately as soon as Robert laid her down. There was a small yip from his feet, and of course, Beef wanted to join in the cuddles. “There you go, big boy. Keep her safe. I have some work to do.” Scratching Beef behind the ear, Robert made his way into the dining room.
Ajmal: On our way back now
Robert craned his neck over towards his phone, spotting the message from Flambae. Perfect timing, he was just about done with everything. Beheshta had woken up from her nap already and even helped him with his project. Stepping back from his masterpiece, Robert turned to Beheshta, “So, do I get the niece's seal of approval?”
“Mmm, this is why daayi Ajmal decorates.” Beheshta bluntly responded.
Robert balked at her before letting out a laugh, “I always forget how brutally honest kids can be. I can’t even be made, though; it does look pretty half-assed. What should we add?”
“Hmmm, flowers! You should get him flowers!” Beheshta squealed, “There is a kind lady downstairs who sells. Daayi always gets me flowers for my recitals!”
“Flowers it is then. We gotta hurry though, your mom and uncle will be here any minute now.”
Now that they had the flowers and Robert had finally earned the niece's seal of approval, it was complete. “Not bad, kid, we make a pretty good team,” Robert said, smiling at their work, when the front door opened.
“Madar!” Beheshta squealed, completely forgetting about Robert as she flung herself at her mother.
Khadija grunted as she caught her daughter, carefully picking her up as her arm was still healing from the attack. “Thank you for watching her.” While Robert could see that she was clearly still uncomfortable at the prospect of the two being together, at least she wasn’t giving them looks anymore.
“Bye, daayi Ajmal! Goodbye, daayi Bobert!”
Robert gasped as the two left, a snort tearing through Flambae as the two left. “You taught her Bobert?!” Robert exclaimed, “That poor kid is going to be so confused about what my name actually is.”
“Good, it is more merciful to her that way. Your name is a joke.” Flambae immediately retorted, “Don’t be too upset. At least you upgraded to uncle status.”.
Shit, he couldn’t argue with that.
Rolling his eyes at his boyfriend, Robert took his wrist as he began guiding him towards the dining room. “Alright, enough of that. I have something I want to show you.” Not letting his partner resist, Robert dragged over, which he knew for certain Flambae was allowing. Even if he was finally working off that coma body with normal exercise and Flambae cooking him three meals a day, he still wouldn’t be able to drag his smug ass around.
Tugging his partner towards the dining room, Robert gestured a hand towards the table setting. Scattered around the table were framed articles of the Z-teams' past heroic endeavors, several explicitly referencing Flambae and his heroics. All of these articles and photos surrounded a flower vase at the center of the table, holding a delicate display of daffodils, tulips, sunflowers, and roses.
“It was Beheshta’s idea to do the flowers with the theme of rebirth, cause you know, phoenix. It took so long to get the flowers and articles I had to DoorDash for dinner. Speaking of articles, we’re out of printer ink-MM!” Robert didn’t get to finish his sentence as Flambae grabbed his partner's chin, pulling him into a kiss. The two lovers held still for a moment, completely absorbed in the moment before pulling away.
“Thank you for this.
“You changed, that’s scary enough as is. I just wanted to show you that someone appreciates all that change.” Robert smiled, pushing a stray hair out of Flambae’s face, “Now let’s eat before our noodles get cold.”
“You know me too well.”