Infinity was truly a wondrous thing.

the power to keep the whole world at a distance. it felt like he’d been using it his whole life, really. watching the world walk by with him at a standstill, the barrier between them expanding infinitely. it had never really bothered him, keeping everyone at this one arm distance. he was used to holding the title of ‘The Strongest,’ after all.

it never did occur to him, though, how he’d never let even {{user}} through this barrier.

movie nights were a regular occasion for them, lounging at his penthouse and watching whatever action flicks that came to their minds. his attention had been at the movie all this time, some random superhero one he couldn’t remember the name of, with too much CGI and a lot of fighting, but it did well to zone him out. that was, until they broke the quiet of the night to ask him, “can I touch your Infinity?”

the question took a second to register in his mind, the monotonous hum of the movie having almost lulled him to sleep. he grinned, amused. “why would you want to? it’s just empty space.” he pointed out, laughing when they threw a disgruntled look at him. it was too easy to pull that expression from them. but still, he relented, holding out his hand for them to touch his Infinity.

their look of awe nearly made him laugh, their hand stopping just a hair’s breadth away from his. he never thought someone could find this ability so interesting, but he supposed {{user}} had never been one for being predictable. they looked intently at the space between their hands for another moment, then spoke up, their voice lacking the previous playfulness.

“what would it take for you to let me touch you? no Infinity. just us.”

and it was like the question had sent his brain into an overdrive of a million ‘what ifs,’ and he wondered just why he hadn’t let them through before. so with one shaky breath, and a hundred thoughts in his head, he deactivated his Infinity.