Javier stumbled over a box in the hallway, and swore under his breath. He had moved in with Booker weeks ago, but some of Nessa's stuff was still packed up in boxes, waiting to be shipped after her to California. The apartment was comfortable, but definitely not large enough to accommodate the things of three people.

Javier had the day off, so he busied himself with unpacking his boxes that had not been unpacked before, hoping to create more free space for movement by the time Booker got home. Home. He had never lived with a boyfriend (or girlfriend) before. The moving triggered a lot of his anxiety, but the end result, so far, was pretty great; there were things to work out about sharing a living space, but it was all worth it, just for waking up with Booker at his side every morning. (Boy, he was a cuddler).

All the fluff did not quite solve the space problem, though.

Javier swore again as one of his boxes revealed a stash of half-finished outfits of all sorts - among them, one in bright X-men blue. Damn. Javier did not usually bring classified work home, but this piece had somehow made it from his previous apartment to this one. Who sis he make this for, again? Could it even be salvaged? Absent-mindedly, Javier pulled off his shirt and slipped on the X-men uniform. It was a form-fitting, long-sleeve shirt with pads at the elbows and shoulders for reinforcement. Not his best work, but it could be used for something. On someone who filled it out better, obviously. Javi inspected himself in the hallway mirror. He would have to stash this somewhere, and smuggle it back to the workshop.

His thoughts distracted him so much that he didn't even hear the front door open...

This had turned out to be quite the development. Booker had been seeing Javier for some time now and while they had talked about future plans, it wasn’t something that Booker brought up often because he feared triggering some form of anxiety attack in the other. After all, what could be more stressful than planning for the future? But it seemed that the future would come for them eventually.

Nessa was moving out. The idea was heartbreaking but at the end of the day he knew that his sister could stay in the apartment forever. Eventually they would have to find their own lives. But it stirred up another bit of sadness for Booker, the apartment would be so empty. He was used to having another physical presence there so the idea that he would be alone was...terrifying, to say the least.

But, salvation would come in the form of his handsome, loving boyfriend, Javier. He would move in with him. It was a big step for the both of them, after all, Booker hadn’t actually done that before. Now, however, he was glad that it was Javier that he got to share this experience with. Javi was...he was someone different and Booker was a little anxious, but he was certainly thrilled by the prospect of waking up next to this man every day.

What he wasn’t so thrilled about was the fact that his sister still had yet to send for her goddamn boxes! Ugh. Even with the tragedy of losing her constant presence, she managed to find some way to make it annoying for him. He would have to call and yell at her once work was over.

Speaking of, the day went fairly well. The library was quiet, the tours had active listeners, and the shelving wasn’t all that bad! It helped that had had some amazing new library workers in the building; made his life so much easier. Despite all that, he was eager to get home and to the new phase of his life that was forming around him.

As he walked down the hall of his floor, he couldn’t help the small smile that started to spread across his features. Stopping at his door, inserting the key, Booker sighed at the sounds of shuffling inside. He was really glad he didn’t have to return to an empty home, but even more ecstatic it was Javier he would find waiting within.

What he didn’t expect was the superhero outfit standing inside the hall of his apartment, looking into the mirror. His eyebrow arched, watching as Javier modeled for himself. Admittedly, he looked really good in that outfit but what really took Booker’s breath away was the simple X-symbol that wasn on the chest. A symbol that was quite familiar to him.

Mouth opened, he dropped his satchel and spoke in a low, shockd voice. ”Oh my god...X-Men? YOU’RE AN X-MAN?!” He couldn’t believe it. Nor could be believe just how turned on he was.

There was really no good reaction to your boyfriend catching you play dressup in a superhero suit.

>>”Oh my god...X-Men? YOU’RE AN X-MAN?!”

Javier jumped with alarming speed, and then very unsuccessfully tried to hide behind one of the boxes. Realizing that it was not nearly big enough to hide him, and that ship had kinda sailed anyway, he blushed profoundly, and scrambled to peel off the X-shirt.

"What? No, no. Why, it's just...uh." well, this was going great "Booker, hi. I didn't... uh. Sorry."

Okay, so the shirt was off, not that it mattered much now, other than leaving Javier shirtless in the middle of the hallway. He held the shirt behind his back on instinct, looking at his boyfriend rather sheepishly.

"I mean, no. It's just... um. Cosplaaay?..."

Booker was absolutely shocked. This wasn’t what he was expecting when he came home today. He expected Javier, boxes, and a tired acceptance that they were just going to order in for the night since there was still so much left to unpack. What he didn’t expect was to step through his front door and find his boyfriend decked out in a legit X-Man uniform!

Staring at Javier, he couldn’t help but state his obvious surprise and appeal towards his boyfriend in such attire. It also became apparent that he had gotten the drop on him as Javier cleared at least a few inches off the ground with that jump before turning to face him.

>>"What? No, no. Why, it's just...uh...Booker, hi. I didn't... uh. Sorry."

After having already closed the door, Booker stepped further into the apartment and set his book bag down on near the coat rack. His eyes hadn’t left the uniform top that Javier had, trying to decipher it, to tell which o the X-Men that Javier had been this whole time. Or maybe he was actually a new member that hadn’t debuted yet? OH! He had the inside track!

”Oh, don’t apologize!” Booker remarked. Javier, however, seemed deadset to continue to deny what he was seeing.

>>]"I mean, no. It's just... um. Cosplaaay?..."

Booker arched a brow. He was standing in front of Javier now, his arms crossed over his solid chest, green eyes peering closely at him. His lips set into a firm line, he looked at his squarely in the eye, as if trying to read whatever thoughts were hiding behind those brown orbs. After several moments, a very slight grin curled at his lips.

”Oh...okay…” he said. Though he wasn’t stepping away from him, rather, he continued to stare before he continued with the only question that could follow that up. ”Which Con are you planning to cosplay in?”

Booker had an in-depth knowledge of all conventions and cosplay events. He kept a special calendar for it on his computer and his phone. He couldn’t make it to all of them, but for those he could, he had to make sure he was prepared in time. So while that excuse seemed very viable, he knew Javier. Javier wasn’t a cosplayer. So, why not test / tease him a bit in order to get the truth?

Javier was a terrible liar. It also didn't help that he was not prepared to lie at all, and Booker knew him all too well. His boyfriend walked closer, peering down at him with a smirk on his face, which was, on top of everything else, damn distracting up close. Javier knew the cosplay lie was not going to fly, he was just not sure if Booker was annoyed, angry, or disappointed.

>>”Oh...okay… Which Con are you planning to cosplay in?”

Damn.

"I... uh, dunno? The next one we go to?" he ventured, shriveling under Booker's gaze. He was lying, Booker knew he was lying, and Booker knew he knew he knew he was lying... Javier gave up with a defeated sigh and ran a hand over his short-cropped hair.

"I'm sorry, it's just... it's not mine."

Booker looked down upon Javier with a small smirk to his lips. He knew that he had backed his boyfriend into a corner. He loved the man but he knew how to push his buttons in just the right way to get what he wanted. Right now, he wanted answers and so he delved in to get them by any means necessary. After all, walking in on your boyfriend wearing a super suit, leads to one of two scenarios: 1.) Javier was hiding some secret life as a hero, or 2.) He was having an affair with a superhero.

He didn’t think about that second option beforehand. Now he felt a slight rise of panic in his chest. What if Javier was having an affair? It hardly seemed like him and any other day he wouldn’t even consider it, but this situation definitely brought up questions.

>>"I... uh, dunno? The next one we go to?"

He arched his brow again. ”Try again.”

Though he did have a momentary fear that he would hear the worst from his boyfriend, deep down, he knew that it was not true. That wasn’t who Javier was. He trusted him and he knew better than to let his imagination run wild. Javier wouldn’t cheat on him.

>>"I'm sorry, it's just... it's not mine."

…huh. He stared at Javier, unmoving and silent for several seconds before he finally took a second to breathe, then cleared his throat.

”I really hope you have more to say than just that, Javi,” he said with slight warning in his voice.

There was really no lying to Booker. Javier could not really lie to anyone, ever, (hence him not talking about things at all), but especially not his significant other, who would definitely know, and would be deeply hurt and disappointed by the violation of his trust. Javier swallowed. He'd messed up badly. Was was Booker thinking? He probably thought he had been hiding a whole secret vigilante life. He could tell him the truth, but then... what? How did the X-men handle breaches of secrecy? They would not punish him, surely, but... would their lives be in danger if their identities were compromised? Did Javier just become a liability to New York City's most beloved superheroes?...

>>”I really hope you have more to say than just that, Javi,”

Javier swallowed again, looking utterly, thoroughly miserable.

"I... made it for an X-man." he muttered in a defeated little voice.

Javier had to be the worst liar. It was almost as if his body were programmed to make lying impossible. The way he struggled to find a spot to look, the quiver in his voice, it was clear that if he attempted to hold onto to fib any longer that the poor guy would probably suffer a full blown anxiety attack. Booker wouldn’t have let it get that far, unless the man was cheating on him, but trusted the tailor more than that. He only hoped this wasn’t the worst case scenario that his mind attempted to conjure.

But as he stared at the other man, arms crossed over his chest, he could see that he was worn down. He had kept his secret as long as he could and he was going to unveil it now. Booker was silent with bated breath, expression somewhat serious, equally tense, until those first syllables fell from Javier’s mouth.

An X-Man. It was something that he had made for an X-Man.

Booker was unmoving, the silence deafening, then he straightened up, sucked in a breath and replied with an, ”Oh. Is that all? That’s sweet of you.” He then leaned down and kissed Javier on the cheek. Wrapping his arms around him, he hugged the tailor tightly to his chest. ”Why didn’t you just say so? Silly.”

Unsurprisingly, Booker had had his own experiences with the X-Men, specifically the redhead who used to go by Lodestone. She used to date his sister and really didn’t seem to have much care about hiding her identity. It was for reasons like that, and visiting the mansion and meeting some pretty great people, that he had a general idea of the X-Men. He wouldn’t go about blabbing their names to the public but the majority of them didn’t even wear masks and free went about the city.

Seriously, totally disrespecting the whole secret identity superhero trope, but he wasn’t going to complain!

With a grin he planted another kiss on Javier’s cheek and slipped away, pulling off his jacket and undoing his bowtie. ”Which X-Man is it for? Did they come to your shop? You gotta spill the beans now,” he beamed happily.

There was a long pause, and Javier tried to mentally prepare himself for whatever may come next. Booker had every right to be upset about being kept in the dark, or his boyfriend acting all secretive when they had just moved in together. It would have been justified for him to yell, or argue, or be disappointed.

But of course, Booker was none of those things.

>>”Oh. Is that all? That’s sweet of you. Why didn’t you just say so? Silly.”

Javier blinked as he was wrapped in a much needed warm hug.
How did he deserve someone like Booker?
...
How was he gonna answer that?

>>”Which X-Man is it for? Did they come to your shop? You gotta spill the beans now,”

Booker peeled off, and Javier blinked again, still a little flustered.

"It's... uh. Kind of... more than one of them? I have... um, been... making their outfits. It just kinda happened! It's not like I'm on the team or anything. But I was... really scared that I might be... you know. Leaking information or whatever."

A few years ago, Booker probably would have been worried about secrecy. After all, the X-Men were a staple of not only the city, but the world! And if comic books taught him anything, they struggled with that line between secrecy and duty! Between honor and humble! But then he saw Alchemist in movies and realized that things probably weren’t as strict as all that. Plus he knew Becky, who used to go by the name Lodestone. She dated his sister! Secrecy was something clearly thrown out the window.

Of course that didn’t mean he was going to run to the nearest newspaper and reveal all their secrets. But if he knew someone as well as Javier, who was essentially in their employ, he figured there was nothing wrong with sharing. After all, they did live together. And so long as Javier wasn’t running around rooftops in spandex without him, he was fairly certain the secrets would stay between them.

So he inquired. He didn’t recognize which X-Man that uniform would go to, so he asked for more details.

It seemed that Javier had been a busy boy and was designing for the whole team. Booker was shocked but absolutely pleased. After setting his bag in the correct spot and hanging up his coat he immediately went back to his boyfriend and clapped him on the shoulders.

”Dude! That’s awesome!” he beamed. ”What a great opportunity for you! I mean, personally I’ve only met about two of them, but they always seem so nice!” He turned and made way for the kitchen. ”Nessa dated one you know? Lodestone. Super bubbly, nice girl. Went with me to a Comic Con once. You know, before she cheated on me sis-TAH-Ow!” He hoped, holding his shin. ”Ugh, stupid sister landmine junk,” he kicked a leftover packing box of his sister’s to someplace less hazardous.

Really, he was going to have words with her. He was exceedingly sad that she was gone, but it was taking way too long for her to have the last of her stuff sent over. He had her address. He was probably just going to do it himself in the next couple days. Meanwhile, his attention turned back to the lovely Javi.

”This calls for a celebration!” he announced. ”What would you like for dinner? I can make tacos, casserole, or we can order out?” He smiled sweetly.

>>”Dude! That’s awesome! What a great opportunity for you! I mean, personally I’ve only met about two of them, but they always seem so nice!”

"Wait wh..."

>>”Nessa dated one you know? Lodestone. Super bubbly, nice girl. Went with me to a Comic Con once. You know, before she cheated on me sis-TAH-Ow!... Ugh, stupid sister landmine junk,”

"Well now I just feel dumb..." Javi muttered. He had been going around with all this secrecy while Nessa had been going around banging X-men? Booker could have given him a heads up, it would have helped with all the anxiety. Apparently the X-men were not as big a secret as he'd thought.

>>”This calls for a celebration! What would you like for dinner? I can make tacos, casserole, or we can order out?”

Booker was just... unstoppable when he got excited. It was hard to stay frustrated when he was around. Javi sighed, walking over to kiss him.

"I'm sorry I was keeping secrets. I hate doing that. It's just... I've never worked for a vigilante group before. There are no clear guidelines." he gave his boyfriend an apologetic look. He was always a bit lost without guidelines. "The suits have a lot of updates, and... I wouldn't want information on the specs getting out. But I know I can trust you." Leave it to Javi to skip over the part where he was designing high-tech gear for superheroes...

Booker smiled. Javi was being too hard on himself, as per normal. he didn’t need to “feel dumb” for trying to keep his work with the X-Men a secret. In all honesty, he understood why he would do that. If it got out that they worked with a regular tailor, it could easily mean bad news for him. So Booker was thankful he wanted to be as careful as all that. Hell, maybe he should have pretended that it was a bigger deal just to make Javi feel better. After all, he took a leap telling him. Who was Booker to make light of it?

He smiled. After being gifted with a kiss, Booker wrapped his arms around Javi to hold him as they spoke. Javi was explaining a bit more about his role, that he was working with some upgraded designs. Yeah, that was super secret stuff.

”Then you shouldn’t feel dumb. You gotta do what you gotta do,” he said with a firm nod. ”I’m sorry if I made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. That’s super amazing, really,” he said with an encouraging nod. ”And next time, if you really feel like you need it to be a secret, you don’t have to tell me anything! We’ll use a codeword! Yeah! Like, when I ask you how your day was going, you can say...umm...ugh...oh! You can say,” he made his voice deeper and planted his hands at his waist in a faux-superhero-like pose. ”’Sorry handsome boyfriend! But it was an X kind of day!’ So that way I know you’re talking about X stuff!”

It was a silly idea but one that he couldn’t help but encourage. He liked Javier. He liked him alot. He respected his work and the librarian wanted to make sure that he was supporting him whenever he needed it. Especially since he knew how Javier’s emotions could cause his powers to react. At the end of the day, Booker would always be there for his boyfriend, in whatever way that looked.

Javier trusted Booker with his secrets. He was the kind of guy who would never betray his confidence. The kind of guy superheroes were made of. But secrets, the kind vigilantes had, tended to get other people in trouble, and the last thing he wanted was to get Booker caught up in something.

>>"Then you shouldn’t feel dumb. You gotta do what you gotta do. I’m sorry if I made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. That’s super amazing, really,”

Javier smiled as Booker hugged him. Maybe they would be okay...

>>”And next time, if you really feel like you need it to be a secret, you don’t have to tell me anything! We’ll use a codeword! Yeah! Like, when I ask you how your day was going, you can say...umm...ugh...oh! You can say, ’Sorry handsome boyfriend! But it was an X kind of day!’ So that way I know you’re talking about X stuff!”

Javier laughed as Booker did one of his goofy superhero poses. His pretense of Javier was generous, his superhero voice being a lot deeper than Javi's would ever get, but the whole thing made him happy, like Booker's cheerfulness always did. The code word was not very... secure, but the idea itself was not bad.

"Alright, handsome boyfriend" he grinned, pressing a kiss to Booker's cheek "I'll let you know next time I am doing secret superhero stuff. Let's go eat something..."