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Aspen Cooper had always been in love with his superhero counterpart The Flame since before they were even partners. He was lucky enough to be picked out of his foster home by The Flame to become his sidekick. For years, Aspen had tried to hide his feelings, but finally, on his eighteenth birthday, he admitted his true feelings toward Jasper. That he was in love with him. Jasper also admitted that he didn't feel the same. After some thinking and crying, Jasper had decided that perhaps, he could learn to love Aspen in the way he wants as they celebrate the rest of the boy's birthday.

Now:

Aspen was more than happy with his food, still feeling pretty nervous with the random bits of flirting that happened during the meal. However, he tried to stay confident as the two made their way to the park to walk and get some ice cream. He ended up grabbing Jasper's hand, more confidently this time as he smiled at the other. He was super excited to go to The Masquerade with the other tomorrow with his friends. "We should get you a mask, Jasper. You can't really wear your...other one," he said, keeping it vague sense they were in public. "Have you seen mine? The silver and black one? You wanna match?" He rambled, his face a dark red as he realized how cheesy that probably sounded, but he was so super happy.

Aspen squeezed his hand, a red tint to his face at the look on Jasper's face. What was that look? It was so...genuine. He was flustered again, pulling him along. "You have anything to match those colors. Oh! Maybe you can do gold and black? That sounds like you," he said, dragging the man along the park. He wanted to find the lake, where the ice cream trolley usually was. Besides, he liked skipping stones with the other. "Duh, it'd be fun! I'd love to dress you up, Jas~" He sing-songed, feeling so happy he was barely able to keep the flirt away. "I'd like to dress you down sometime too-" He caught himself at the worst point, letting go of his hand as he slapped it over his mouth, wide-eyed. He shook his head, face red as a beat. "I-I-I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean t-to-" He swallowed hard, unable to look at the other in the face after that. Jesus christ, what was his problem?

Aspen found himself turning redder the more Jasper spoke, feeling like he was going to have a heart attack. He put his hands over his ears, shaking his head. "N-no no no!" He whined out before moving his hands to slap at Jasper's chest and arms. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He whined, embarrassed. He had forgotten who he was talking to. Well, he didn't forget who, but he forgot who. "Oh my god, I hate myself. Just buy me a chocolate ice cream, please, for the love of god," he said quickly, shoving the other more towards the small ice cream cart they were walking towards. He wanted to die, but the fact that Jasper seemed...open-minded to...that made him even more flustered. Holy s**t, was he serious? He thought he'd die any second.

Aspen was a bit of a mess now, trying not to fantasize about the other. He'd save that for later. Now, Jasper was right next to him and he was feeling hot in the face. He took the ice cream, wondering if he was being too bold. Unfortunately, this was kind of his personality: being flirty. He just...never thought he'd intend to use it on Jasper in anymore than a teasing way. "Thanks, Jas," he said with a smile, licking at the ice cream. "Come on," he said, bringing Jasper to the lake and sitting on a bench beside it, taking a rest. "It's a nice day out." Actually, it was quite cloudy, but Aspen liked it like that.

Aspen was enjoying his time with Jasper, even moving over closer to him as he ate. He still felt awkward, but he loved his presence. "Hm? Yeah, of course," he said, smiling at the other to show that everything was okay. Of course, as soon as the question came out, he blushed. He looked sheepishly down. "No,
It's fine. You can ask me anything, you know?" He said, smiling softly at the other. "I've always been in love with you, Jasper. I...thought maybe I'd grow out of it, like a crush but...it just grew stronger. I love you, Jasper," he confessed, flustered and nervous as he spoke. What the hell was he saying?

Aspen tensed up just a bit as he was touched. However, he very quickly relaxed, melting into Jasper's side. He blushed hard when the other called him 'amazing', and suddenly he realized that he never could ask for a better birthday. He stayed quiet, eating more of his ice cream until the other spoke again, and there was a pang in his chest. What had gotten into him? "Christ, Jasper, you're giving me cavities," he teased, of course, unable to really describe his feelings. He felt like he could fly to the moon and back. He almost wanted to cry. "I...feel the same, though," he admitted easily. He didn't even notice, but his emotions were making the shadows underneath them twirl and swish. Every now and then a heart would appear in the shadows, but them would wisp away again. "Thank you. For...giving me a chance," he said softly, a smile on his face as he tried to finish the ice cream. Unfortunately, he was a bit messy, and there was quite a bit around his mouth. He was so nervous.

Aspen shook his head teasingly with a grin at what Jasper was saying. He was such a good guy, it killed him. However, the grin turned bashful as soon as the other brought up that he'd do anything for him. He was turning a dark red again, honestly just a mess. Eventually, he'd get used to this, but every word Jasper said burned through his heart just right. He watched Jasper throw he ice cream away, and wondered why he even got one. He knew Jasper wasn't a fan of ice cream, but they totally could've gotten him a coffee somewhere. "I ate plenty, thank you! Mouths is hard," he said, laughing as he went up to wipe some off. However, he froze when the other did it for him. Suddenly, everything was in slow motion, feeling the other's hot hands on his skin. He was frozen still, but some shadows moved on their own. Aspen's own shadow moved its arms, stretching from the ground. The both moved up from his shoes, the his ankles, to his legs. One stopped on his thigh as the other crept up his torso, slid up his neck, and finally stopped on his jaw. Jasper knew how these felt by now. It wasn't like hands, more of just pressure in the shape of a hand. It was just a cold press against his clothes and skin, and nothing more than that. As soon as the other was shaking his head, they whisked away quickly where they belonged and he stood, shaking taking a deep breath. "L-lets skip some stones, huh?" He asked, taking another lick of ice cream. That is, until he heard a bunch of screams coming from behind in the city. He frowned then, head snapping towards the city. "What's that?" He asked as he heard an explosion, and breaking glass from what looked like the area of the bank. He quickly tossed his ice cream in the trash. "Jasper!" He called, knowing that he and Jasper needed to change quickly and go.

Aspen wasn't prepared for this at all. For some reason he had decided that because it was his birthday, nothing would go wrong. That was a dumb move. However, he did always have his mask on him, and quickly put it on. "Meet me in the alley between Charleston and Main. I'll bring out suits," he said quickly before using shadows to sling him back up in the air. It only took a few before he landed on top of their building's roof and climbed in through a window. Inside, he was quick to find his suit and get it on in record time. Of course, it only took him a second to get all of Jasper's together. Okay, he had this. No worries about Jasper. No worried about the future. For now, he had to be a hero.
He had the suit folded up his armpit, and was out of the window, jumping building to building to where he needed to go to find Jasper. It didn't take long for him to find the other, shoving his suit at him. "Here. Hold on," he said, lifting up his hands to grab various shadows from around him. The shadows moved up and formed a small cube around the two, that was basically pitch black. Actually, it was pitch black, but no one could see in either. "Hurry," he asked, feeling...anxious. He was incredibly claustrophobic, and didn't really know why. Small spaces go to him. He was in a small space, but he had to be inside or else he couldn't put all the sides on the cube on. He was already starting to trembling, wishing the other would hurry as he started to lose his cool a bit.