#bruceandsons

FUCK YES

7: How much time did it take each of them to notice their feelings for the other and how long did it take for them to act on those feelings?

I believe Gold Arm came to the team with a crazy attitude problem. He absolutely had been informed that his specs were off the charts for a Leaguer of the time and that the long term plan was always that he was going to replace Silver Frontier's spot on the team. It made him itch for power, authority, and control right out of the gate. And also, made him feel wildly superior to everybody on the Dark Kings!

...Clearly, this did not go over well. Who was this fresh out of the factory greenhorn trying to boss around Frontier, exactly? Frontier had already taught everyone here that specs only mean so much and this mech before them had no qualities of a leader yet.

Frontier was very willing and able though to take Arm under his wing and really teach him the ropes. How to work well with a team (Arm had been completely isolated during all of her preliminary training, no wonder she had no idea how to with others other than intimidation), how to be a real team captain, how to understand that it takes a Leaguer to polish another Leaguer and that how you were made cannot define you. But all of this one on one training, especially because she had such a fowl attitude to start and needed a lot of work to change for the better, really got them close together and forming a very special and tight bond.

The issue is though, um, Silver Frontier is fucking charming to say the least. Most of the Dark Kings have at one point or another tried to shoot their shot at him. Frontier, being a responsible captain, has always very gently turned everyone down. It would be an imbalance of power to date a teammate when you're the one in charge. Plus, surely it would lead to unfair treatment for the rest of the team. It just wouldn't be right.

(Uh oh, do we see this plot thread as a commonality in a lot of my ships? Oopsies, can't help it, I have my themes!)

Arm kind of rapid fire comes out to Frontier when he calls her out on acting off lately after she's been on the team for a while and really grown. Quiet, reserved, distracted. She confesses to him that she's been questioning her gender but has no idea how the Dark Kings or Dark Sports Foundation as a whole would take it. After all, there's not exactly a lot of women or (out) nonbinary mechs in baseball. I'll get into that in another post. But the other part is she's like "I think I'm in love with you!" And Frontier is like "Shit, I think I'm in love with you too! But we can't, I'm the captain of the team—!"

Gasp shock horror. Oh no. Love.

They decide in all of their wisdom that they should date in secret first. Smooth moves, y'all. Originally, Frontier was going to just try and smother down all of his feelings for Arm, but when she confessed her feelings to him, he folded like a house of cards.

11: Is there anything they keep hidden for themselves and refuse to share with the other?

Magnum absolutely tries to shield Arm from the horrors of war he endured as an Iron Soldier. He already feels enough guilt and pain that Top Joy saw them and that Arm was briefly brainwashed into one and was almost sent out, so he does everything he can to basically not address that part of his life around her. Luckily, her residual bitterness about him "leaving" and her own painful memory of the Forced Retirement Arc means she doesn't wanna pry into any of that shit anyways. They mutually leave well enough alone lol.

Meanwhile, Arm feels like a pretty open book. Only for Magnum though. She comes to him with the stuff that she feels like she can't admit to anyone. Especially because of everything she's been through and everything he guided her through, Magnum is kind of her confessional booth and priest, metaphorically speaking. But Magnum really loves being that for his lovers, so like, this isn't a problem for them. It works, they're exactly where they want to be.

16: How accepted is their relationship by their community and loved ones?

OOOOH, THEY FUCKED UP THE TEAM. Them coming out about their relationship did cause a couple of the original Dark Kings to put in for team transfers. They're safe, thankfully they got put on other Dark Sports teams. But they're pissed, not only did Frontier turn them down on some sanctimounious shit, but he then turned around and went back on that rule when a hotter and "better built" Leaguer gets out on the team. Be so for real. Of course, more than one of them asked to come back to The Kings once Frontier was gone and Gold Arm was captain and leading in a completely different way than he did. But some never came back, though they still forgave the perceived transgression eventually.

Once Arm and Magnum are back together and the League has absolutely changed (because of course in any/many of my writings, I'm omitting the OVA and generally picking up after episode 52 with the notion that rough play gets more or less banned or at least discouraged and the Iron Soldier program is dismantled), these two become the power couple of the League. These two get merch, advertising deals, they're the POSTER CHILDREN of "Look at how gay and marketable the Iron League is! Even love can bloom on the baseball field!!!" Their wedding is made into a huge event with tickets.