Once they began publicly dating, the papers—and most everyone else, it seemed—liked referring to Johnny as Ben's "trophy boyfriend" and did so regularly, using the moniker in publications, gossip websites, and TV segments that spotlighted the team.
While the title offended Ben, Johnny seemed flattered by it.
"It's great to know that people think you're so good-looking that you're able to get by on nothing but your looks," he remarked, while Sue just shook her head despairingly.
His pride in the matter wasn't all that shocking. Johnny had always loved the cameras, and the cameras loved him. While all of the Fantastic Four were celebrities and familiar figures to the public, Johnny's relationship with the press was rather symbiotic—they loved reporting on his daredevil antics, and he was delighted by the attention he received.
With Johnny's love of the spotlight, Ben supposed it wasn't any surprise that he had been the one to want to go public with their relationship. Johnny raised the subject after nearly ten months of going on dates in parallel universes but never their own.
"We're celebrities, and it's going to be noticed sometime or another," he reasoned. "It looks more honest if we're the ones to tell the truth instead of waiting for the paparazzi to expose us, and we want to keep the public's trust."
Ben had groused and grumbled, but eventually agreed, somewhat impressed by his logic. "Only because, Storm, you need all the help with honesty you can get."
Which was why, when Ben took him dinner for their one-year anniversary (the first time they ever went out on a public date on their Earth), Johnny took a picture of them at their table together and posted it online. He captioned it with with Celebrating the first year with my boyfriend. Let's hope for many more to come and also made sure to tag Ben so there could be no doubt about who the boyfriend was.
And with his love for the cameras, it also wasn't much of a surprise that once they had made their relationship known, Johnny dragged Ben in front of every camera there was. He gave interviews, appeared on guest spots for talk shows, and made a point to stop and pose for photos with Ben if any reporter saw them on the street.
"Buncha vultures," Ben growled as their attempted afternoon out was interrupted by the umpteenth photographer of the day. "You think they'd have more interestin' things to take pictures of than us."
"Oh, I don't know," Johnny replied easily, taking Ben's hand and lacing their fingers together. "I happen to think we're quite photogenic, and it looks like the paparazzi agree."
He was right about that. The media couldn't get enough of Ben and Johnny's relationship even after months of announcing that they were dating. E! aired a TV segment chronicling the timeline of their relationship back to their days in flight school, and People Magazine shifted their regular "Stormwatch" section from speculating about which model Johnny might be involved with to featuring nothing but photos of him and Ben.
"Hey, look, they even have one from Reed and Sue's wedding," Johnny remarked, passing the magazine over to Ben. "They're speculating we might have become engaged there, too, in some kind of dual ceremony."
"What?!" Ben nearly spat out his coffee. "I would never propose to someone at a wedding! I have better manners than that."
Johnny lazily arched an eyebrow. "No ready defense for my tact and good taste, Ben?"
"I'm a poker player," Ben retorted. "I know when to stack the deck, but I also know when to fold 'em." But he gave Johnny a kiss on the cheek to belie the gruffness of his words.
Other coverage was their relationship was markedly unflattering. US Weekly questioned the relationship as a publicity stunt, with TMZ adding that Johnny's past love life indicated he was unlikely to stick with one person long, "least of all someone as unusual as Ben Grimm." Most obnoxious of all was the article published by Sally Floyd in Front Line , headlined "The Strangest Celebrity Couple of All Time," which went on to question if Ben and Johnny had been dating when the former was the latter's CO at flight school.
"Frankly, I don't see why it matters at this point," Reed mused to Ben as he looked over the paper at breakfast. "After all, you were on the committee for Johnny's expulsion and voted in favor of kicking him out. That's not precisely preferential treatment, is it?"
"Certainly not the way I would have preferred he treated me back then," Johnny drawled, leading Ben and Sue to exchange very unimpressed glances.
Still, Sue put a supportive hand on Ben's shoulder. "Well, Johnny, if there was going to be one CO you began dating, I'm glad it was Ben."
Johnny grinned, moving from his chair to swing himself into Ben's lap. "You hear that, Ben? You have her blessing. And now that you have my family's approval, you could elope with me without having to worry."
Ben snorted. "Matchstick, if I eloped with you, Susie's approval would be the least of my problems." But he nonetheless pulled Johnny flush against him and held him there tightly.
No matter what the press had to say about their relationship, be it good or bad, Ben resented all of the attention. It was just another reminder of what he wasn't, what he couldn't have. Everywhere he went, he was immediately recognizable as the Thing. When he had transformed as a result of the cosmic incident, he hadn't just lost his human appearance, but his ability to be recognized by the public as a human being rather than an outright freak.
If Ben had his way, he would have simply continued to date Johnny in private. Alicia, Sue, and Reed knew about the two of them, and as far as Ben was concerned, they were the only people whose opinions mattered on the subject of his personal life. Hell, he would have been happy marrying Johnny without a word of publicity and simply continuing on his way.
However, Johnny seemed completely undaunted by all of it. At every charity gala, he didn't hesitate to loop Ben's arm around his shoulders nor introduce Ben to every person they conversed with, calling attention to the pair with them with a smooth, "And I don't if you've met my boyfriend, Ben Grimm?" Red carpet events were the same, with Johnny making sure that he and Ben were never seen apart, and he never once forgot to pause right in front of the paps and give Ben an extensive kiss.
"You like showin' me off, Storm?" Ben ribbed gently one time after they broke apart, taking Johnny's hand and leading him further up the walkway as the cameras flashed behind them, photographing the next couple coming along.
Johnny raised his eyebrows. "Haven't you heard, Ben? You're supposed to be showing me off. After all, I am the trophy boyfriend." He gave Ben another kiss, this time on the cheek.
Johnny kept up his habit of being very public with his affection for Ben. The Fantastic Four were the guests of honor for the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center in December, and once again again, Johnny didn't hesitate to play it up for the cameras. As millions watched the enormous Christmas tree blaze to life, Johnny grabbed Ben and pulled him into a deep kiss.
"No mistletoe," Johnny observed when they broke apart. "Guess I should have made sure there was some here if I wanted this kiss to be proper."
Ben scoffed. "You've never cared about being proper before. Why should your kisses be any different?"
"It means so much that you accept me as I am," Johnny replied sweetly, fixing Ben's arm across his shoulders and slipping his own arm around Ben's waist.
The next day, the headline of Front Line blared: "Bizzare Torch and Thing Romance Continues" right above a large picture of their kiss. Ben scowled at the sight of it.
"This ever start gettin' to you?" he asked Johnny, who was sitting on the couch beside him. "People always actin' like they know our business than we do ourselves, like they should be makin' our decisions for us?"
"A little bit," Johnny admitted, leaning against Ben's shoulder. "But honestly? It inspires me in a way."
Ben sent him a quizzical glance. " 'Inspires' you?"
"Sure does," Johnny confirmed. "Every time I see some gossip columnist going on about how weird it is that we're dating, I want make a point to make sure the paps get some shots of us, or I mention to a reporter where our last date was and how it was totally romantic and you're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. The way I see it, we can just keep reminding everyone that we're dating until they finally accept it as the norm."
Ben stared at him, the pieces suddenly clicking into place as he registered what Johnny told him. "That's why you keep dragging me in front of all those cameras?"
"Yeah," Johnny replied offhandedly, lounging against Ben. "I've always been glad when people call me your trophy boyfriend, because even if they think I'm only there to look good, at least they're acknowledging you could score someone like me. But I want people to realize we're together because we want to be together, not for any other reason."
Ben never had considered himself particularly emotional, but in that moment, his throat closed up, and though he knew he should reply, he knew he wouldn't have been able to form words even if any had sprung to mind. He settled for squeezing Johnny's shoulder, hoping that the gesture would be enough.
Johnny seemed to understand and, dropping his earlier flippancy, gave him a kind smile."I'm not ashamed to be your boyfriend, Ben. That's why I asked if we could let people know that we were dating. I want you to know and the world to know that I'm happy with you and that I don't care what anyone else has to say about it."
"I . . ." Ben didn't know exactly how to reply. This whole time he'd been thinking that Johnny was blithely ignorant of his own discomfort with the press. Now it turned out that Johnny was not only well aware of it, but determined to prove the reporters wrong while also reassuring Ben.
"Thanks, Johnny," he managed, almost too touched to express how he felt in that moment. "You going outta your way for me . . . that means a lot, really. Maybe you're not such a hothead after all."
Johnny curled in closer to him, smiling like a satisfied cat. "I am a hothead, big guy. But the most important thing is that I'm hot for you."
"For God's sake," Ben groaned, shaking his head at Johnny's innuendo. But he didn't stop from reciprocating boyfriend's embrace and pulled Johnny closer, holding him tightly.