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Hughie: Pre-Season 1, Aged 22
Hughie was pretty sure he was taking hero worship to another level with what he was currently doing, but he couldn’t help that Homelander had been his bisexual awakening as a teenager.
Which he should have seen coming, since he had the biggest crush on a couple of different female superheroes when he first got to that age of having crushes. Usually the very, very strong ones. Like Homelander.
Plenty of people felt the same way. A lot of people had a “rescued by a superhero” fantasy too. It probably had something to do with wanting to feel special to someone so extraordinary.
And Homelander certainly was extraordinary. He could fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, enhanced hearing, super strength, super speed, and was practically indestructible. Unlike Hughie, who knew from experience that he was very breakable. Especially after spending one winter in high school with a broken arm after slipping on ice, having to ask Anthony or his dad to zip and unzip his coat for him.
Still, he definitely wasn’t the first guy to have a thing for a superhero. Whenever something with Queen Maeve played on the screens at Bryman’s he’d hear at least one joke from a male customer about what they thought she could do with her super strength.
There was nothing weird about him daydreaming about Homelander then, right? Especially after having been saved by his teenage crush a couple weeks ago as part of his annual “birthday save”.
Of course a superhero like him would be selfless enough to make his birthday gift to himself be helping other people. It was one of the many things that Hughie found attractive about him.
And, well, he certainly didn’t mind how it had felt to be carried to safety in the hero’s arms. Even if he was one of many to get the same treatment.