If there was one thing Homelander brought with his clearly forced presence in the usually peaceful household of Becca Butcher and her two children, it was confusion.

Ryan was confused, that much was clear, with the way the superhero was trying to be a father to him and, as if this situation wasn’t enough, talking about them being gods because of their powers or whatnot—which the kid didn’t really feel like he could, or wanted to, understand.

And with the hero literally looking for him to awaken his powers one more time, trying to mimic more or less the same reaction he’d got when he revealed he was his father, it wasn’t long before it was too much for the calm, reserved boy he was. His mom had enough problems as it was, he guessed, so if he wanted to rant about it, he only had his favourite—and only—sibling.

“And he pushed me off the roof— I don’t get it !” Ryan complained, lying on his sibling’s bed while the other was at their desk. “He said I could fly or whatever, but I just— bam, on the grass. Face first.”