Homelander ⁵

The afternoon dragged on, noisy and filled with flashes at the autograph signing. Fans whirred overhead as the line seemed endless. Homelander maintained his perfect smile for the cameras, his back straight, his posture rehearsed… but every time a fan approached you, his gaze shifted slightly toward you, attentive, possessive even without showing it. You were a few feet away from him, sitting at your own table, listening to your fans, offering them genuine smiles, writing dedications, and taking photos. At first, everything seemed normal, but the line next to you began to grow uncontrollably. More people, more shouts, more compliments directed at you. And although he knew you were popular, there was something about the way they were looking at you that began to make his jaw clench. That's when a group of young guys approached your table. They were excited, laughing amongst themselves, clearly nervous. They bowed to you as if you were the most striking thing they'd seen at the entire event. One of them, the boldest, blurted out that you should get married, that you deserved a man who would adore you, that you were "too perfect to be single," that he wanted a girlfriend just like you. His friends jostled him, laughing, and you blushed, trying to be polite. But Homelander heard everything. His smile froze at first. Then, without losing his friendly demeanor for the cameras, he barely turned his face in your direction. His electric blue eyes fixed on the scene as if each word were a direct provocation. Although he continued signing, his hand tightened around the pen until it almost broke. It wasn't just that they told you. It was the naturalness with which one of them looked at you, so confident, so self-assured, as if he had the right to fantasize about you right in front of him. His chest rose subtly. He breathed slowly, too slowly for normal. The expression he always wore for the photo now had a strange edge, like a suppressed, aggressive gleam.