I WILL REBLOG EVERYTHING LATER BUT LIKE, I'm just rereading the reasons why Sumi would like Marcos and how Marcos would feel like they're a bit too romance generic for him. BUT LIKE, SUMI ISN'T INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO FLATTEN HIM BUT IT MAY BE A TRAUMA RESPONSE ON HER END because Hinata was bad but Hinata was human and a shitty dude, MARCOS IS DANGEROUS ENOUGH TO BE ONE OF THE WORST HUMANS SUMI HAS EVER MET...but the reason he isn't—because he was abused by Victor—is what should be the most important. But Sumi recognizes those traits in Marcos and might not want to admit that because, like, she might not be able to think that someone can be loving while simultaneously being dangerous because of Hinata. Which is valid, for sure, but maybe that's when Marcos starts doubting because he's more complex than the things Sumi says.
And this wouldn't even be something he would notice in the relationship early on so he doesn't say things right away. He might get a bit gruff and flustered, might get flirtatious, or he might actually enjoy it because he's never been that openly adored or loved before that he think: "She likes me. Don't ruin it." But when she keeps returning to the softened reasons over and over—then the weird feeling sets in. Like when they're together and she's all: "You're just a big secret softie!"
Marcos might be caught off gaurd but he'll grin and raise an eyebrow like: "Tch. Big secret softie, huh? You keep talkin’ like that and I’m gonna start thinkin’ you hit your head, princesa." Like he just has big: "That's not accurate, but whatever-" energy early on.
Sometimes he’d instinctively push back a little, but not enough to make it a thing. Like, when Sumi is all: "You’re brave for standing up to your family after all they did!"
Marcos: "...I mean, that ain’t really how it works."
Sumi: "What do you mean?"
Marcos: "Nothin’. You’re just bein’ dramatic again." And she giggles and he gives her a small smile but there's something else he's feeling under there too. I think he goes quiet when he realizes it’s not just one offhand corny thing. When he notices that she keeps describing him like: a scary-looking sweetheart, a guy who escaped his bad family on principle, someone who is morally cleaner and more distant from them than he really is, someone whose danger is mostly surface and whose goodness is mostly ideological—that’s when it starts getting under his skin. Because then it stops being: "she’s being cute" and starts being: "this might actually be how she sees me."
So like, at some point, Marcos might just kinda disengage because he doesn't want Sumi to not like him, this is his first serious relationship between him and Sumi, and he doesn't want to mess it up. So he'd kinda just end up doing stuff like:
Sumi: “I love that you’re brave enough to stand up for what you believe in.”
Marcos, quiet for a second: "Mm."
Because he's not a hero because he has noble beliefs, he's a hero because HIS FRIENDS ARE HEROES. AWOL could turn evil tommorrow and he'd happily go to the darkside with them. THIS MAN TRIED TO FIGHT THE AVENGERS OVER DESIREE. So when Sumi says "beliefs", he feels like she's making him sound more...noble than he actually is. Or moments like:
Sumi: "You’re secretly just a big softie!"
Marcos: "If that’s what you gotta tell yourself to sleep at night, sure."
And if she tries to talk about María and Iker like they're the same as Victor? Then he gets a bit protective because he knows they're not Victor so if Sumi tries to flatten María into evil scientist mom even if she was trying to validate Marcos, Marcos just goes: "My mom didn’t wake up one day and go ‘hmm, guess I’ll become a supervillain scientist.’ She knew damn well what the system wanted from her — make yourself legible, make yourself useful, make yourself easier to digest, make yourself less you. And she said no. She said it in a horrible way, sure, but don’t act like the pressure wasn’t real."
With Iker, Marcos has a harder time but IKER DID FACE WORSE ABUSE FROM VICTOR THAN MARCOS DID—like both of their experiences were valid BUT IKER THREATENED VICTOR'S EGO so Marcos might just be all: "Iker...doesn't think normally. He's genuinely the only thing like him. He ain't like my dad, he's his own beast." Because he's not excusing them but he also struggles with his own complexities so erasing theirs would feel wrong.