Arthur silently gazed at Lily, his eyes deep and contemplative.
Lily met his gaze, her expression clear and open, revealing all her emotions.
Finally, Arthur sighed deeply. "Don't speak, don't make a sound. Until I say otherwise, our relationship can only be that of landlord and tenant. Can you accept that?"
"I can."
She answered without hesitation, almost worried he might doubt her sincerity. She extended her hand, "I really can do it. I can even hold back and only send you three texts a day... or maybe two? I can't go any lower."
She looked at Arthur with a somewhat pitiful expression.
Arthur chuckled and gently tapped her forehead with his hand. "I've just realized that the one who knows how to handle me best is actually you."
He paused for a moment. "This will be tough! We won't get to enjoy the constant sweetness of a typical boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. You can only fully rely on me in our private space."
"Are they... really that scary?"
Lily asked with concern. "Although I've never asked if you would be in danger, I worry about you more than myself. I'm just a girl who can only draw... If I were to die, it wouldn't matter much, right? But you must protect..."
Arthur raised a finger to her lips, shaking his head. "You would drive me crazy. If this world were to threaten you, I would probably tear off the mask of a so-called hero and become a complete madman, dragging this world down to destruction with me."
"Then you would become the big villain!"
Lily quickly replied, "That won't do! If that happens, those bad guys who fear you would definitely be thrilled. We can't let them be happy..."
Arthur blinked. So far, it seemed there really weren't any bad guys who had been scared out of their wits by him.
Suddenly, a light blinked on his wrist device, and a communicator appeared in his hand, which he clipped to his ear. "I'm here."
"The plane is ready at Camp Lehigh's helipad."
Natasha's voice came through the line. "Even at top speed, it will take nearly two hours to reach Darren. The flight request has been approved, and you can depart at any time."
Arthur nodded.
Lily looked surprised. "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah." Arthur nodded but didn't elaborate.
"I'm fine." Lily smiled. "Actually, I've been thinking about this for a long time... really, for a super long time. So, this moment suddenly arriving is truly a pleasant surprise for me. Um, I should calm down. You go do your own thing, and let me have some time to myself."
"..."
Arthur could easily see through this little woman's momentary kind lie. In the end, he smiled helplessly and looked seriously at Lily. "One last thing... I don't know if this is fair to you. If one day you come to your senses and suddenly want to leave my side, I..."
Before he could finish, Lily suddenly threw herself into his arms.
She awkwardly and timidly wrapped her arms around Arthur's neck and softly said, "I'm pretty useless. I can't do anything except draw. So, superhero stuff, flying around, and outsmarting those bad guys, I can't help you with any of that. Even hiding myself has taken all my strength. But... please don't underestimate me. Once the Li family decides, it's for a lifetime. Unless I die, you won't be able to shake me off!"
"...Okay."
Arthur gently patted the girl's back.
Lily released him. "Go on, hero."
"...I suddenly feel that this title isn't as jarring as it used to be."
Arthur grinned, stood up, and returned to his room. "Don't come over, don't make contact."
He snapped his fingers, and the Eye of Horus in mid-air vanished. Arthur returned to his room and closed the door.
Lily sat quietly in the living room, waiting.
Time passed second by second, and then she approached Arthur's room door and gently knocked.
Inside was an empty, cold silence, with no echo at all.
She twisted the doorknob, and the room was completely empty.
Standing in the empty room for a while, she suddenly threw herself onto Arthur's bed, rolling around on it twice before curling up and covering her face.
Through her fingers, a pair of eyes peeked out, slightly red, but more than that, they couldn't hide the joy she felt.
"Calm down, stay composed, don't be nervous!"
Lily climbed up from the bed, reluctantly leaving. "Is someone watching outside? Hmm, I never used to be this paranoid, and I can't be now either. I need to be calm; even if I'm pretending under the camera, I can't show any signs of weakness."
She stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Looking around the house, memories of the two of them seemed to fill every corner of the room.
The smile on her lips grew wider, and then she suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter. "I've finally got him!"
...
Arthur, clearly unaware of the little woman's exuberance at home, returned to Camp Lehigh without disturbing Bucky, heading straight to the helipad.
Everything was already prepared here. In a fruitful partnership with SHIELD, they had naturally acquired quite a few impressive assets.
The most valuable among them was the aerial mothership, but there were also plenty of accompanying fighter jets... like the Quinjet!
Arthur boarded the fighter jet, and someone turned to look at him. "Did you have a hard time saying goodbye to your little girlfriend?"
The familiar voice and somewhat strange tone surprised Arthur. "What are you doing here?"
"Of course, I came to see you off." Natasha looked back at Arthur, puzzled. "Why do you seem to have a strange aura about you? Happiness mixed with doubt? Your mood seems heavy?"
"…It is heavy, but more than that, it's happiness."
Arthur found a place to sit down. "I just got a girlfriend."
Natasha paused for a moment, then smirked. "You really are slow. But I know your personality, so that's normal. So, you really did say goodbye to your girlfriend?"
(End of this chapter)
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