Chapter Text
Under the midday sunlight, someone was sitting at the counter, an old scarf pulled over his head. Holding a near empty bottle of alcohol, Rooster stared at his reflection in the glass, rubbing a hand against the purple stain that stubbornly refused to fade.
Red fabric was kept tight over his neck, as to cover up the rest of the lipstick still clinging to his skin.
His hair was messed up, as he hasn't bothered to fix it. The pink skin of his face was still tinted a faint red, as he seemed unable to distract himself from the memories continuing to replay in his head. He remembered that smile Marco always seemed to wear, the striking wine-red of his eyes, the feeling of his soft, silky hair as it brushed against him, the steady pace of his gentle beathing-
Suddenly feeling a tap on his shoulder, Rooster tenses up, swiftly whirling around only for his gaze to be met with red eyes looking down at him.
Startled, he jumps back, sending himself, along with a few stools, tumbling down to the ground.
But his fall was quickly halted, looking up to find that Marco had caught him, one arm across his back as a hand gripped Rooster’s arm. His typically ruffled hair was even more unkempt than usual, hanging down over his face.
There was a hint of deep purple beneath his eyes, making him look even more like a tired mess.
Annoyingly enough, he somehow still looked great.
He couldn’t remember ever seeing him with his hair down before, and it was rather enticing.
Rooster also noticed that he didn’t seem to be wearing his gloves. As he had a grip on his arm, he could feel how coarse and calloused his hands were.
The lack of gloves also revealed scars.
Peppering his hands were tiny cuts, bites, and burns. Some looking like lightning striking across him, others gliding like water flowing with the curves of his fingers, trailed by thin white lines and the occasional discoloration of skin. Admittedly, it looked-
Oh crap. He'd been looking for too long.
Snapping his attention back up to Marco's face, they stared into each other’s eyes for much longer than necessary. Pushing off the ground, he tugged Rooster up to his feet, taking a step back and clearing his throat.
‘Sorry, I uh-’ Marco stammered ‘I didn’t mean to-’
‘It’s ok, It was my bad, I’m just gonna...’
He starts stepping to the side, inching away
‘Wait, I just... I need to tell you something.’
Pausing in his attempt at escape, Rooster looks back at him
‘Oh uh, yeah? Did- did you need anything?’
‘Yes, yes I had to tell you that the um- the lipstick. On you. You probably won’t be able to get rid of it for a while.’
‘Wuh, but uh, why???’
‘Because it’s... it’s technically a spell effect. And the easiest way to get rid of it would be to either wait it out, or-’ Marco shifts his weight awkwardly ‘or have the caster remove it.’
Rooster pauses, weighing out his options
‘How long does it last?’
‘...a day’
After a moment, the both of them tried to say something, but stopped dead in their tracks as they heard someone nearby clear their throat.
Cautiously peering to the side, he and Marco spotted Amelia as she stood just outside the hallway.
Marco raises a hand as a hesitant greeting
‘Heeeeeey, I- forgot there were other people here.’
‘Well good morning to you too.’ she quips ‘How’d you two sleep last night?’
Embarrassed, Rooster tugs his scarf further over his face.
Posture stiffening, Marco laughs nervously ‘Why would you be asking that, exactly?’
Amelia smirks ‘Oh, no reason. Just curious.’
‘So... It’s really just- What are you even out here for???’
‘I was actually gonna make some lunch, but if you’re too busy flirting with each other then I can wait till you’re done.’
Marco stops, growing flush at that comment.
Rooster quickly pipes up ‘Wait, it’s lunch time already??’
‘Yep’ she pops the end of the word, a glimmer of mischief dancing across her eyes. ‘I didn’t wanna wake you guys up, because you looked rather comfortable on the couch over there.’
At this, Rooster got a similar red color on his face as Marco.
‘Also, you left your door open. Might wanna close that so no one sees your poster.’
The expression on Rooster’s face shifted between emotions rapidly, and after a moment's notice he turns his head to look back at Amelia, expression full of horror.
‘I- It’s not- It’s the tent-’ He looks around in panic, ‘Uh... DISTRACTION!’
He tips another stool over, and as he tries to run towards the hallway ends up tripping over it, before scampering back to his feet and making his escape.
As Amelia watched him rush off, Marco slowly inched in the same direction, making a break for it once he deemed himself close enough.
Shrugging it off, Amelia walks into the kitchen without much of a second thought.
-
Rooster was pacing.
Back and forth along a corridor, muttering his thoughts under his breath.
And oh boy was there was a lot to think about.
It was bad enough that Marco knew, but Amelia as well??
Has she told anyone else?
Did she get a copy too??!!?
This situation just keeps getting-
‘H-’
Rooster lets out a surprised yelp, nearly jumping out of his skin as he suddenly notices someone standing right in front of him.
‘Sorry,’ apologizes Marco ‘You... never got a chance to finish what you were saying.’
‘Wuh, I uh-’ Rooster tries to compose himself, ‘You could have at least not done that.’
‘Do what?’
‘Sneak up on me!!’
Marco looks incredibly confused
‘But I never- No, I’ll deal with that later. More importantly, do you want me to get the lipstick off?’
Once again hesitating, Rooster thinks it over.
‘I... yeah, I do’
-
In another room once again, Rooster was sitting on a table, scarf folded up next to him, and Marco standing in front of him as he pressed a washcloth to his face.
Occasionally Rooster would have a shiver sent down his spine simply from the contact, despite his best attempts to remain still.
‘Soooo...’ starts Marco, ‘I hear that you’re a pretty big drinker.’
‘Yeh- Yeah, I am. Did Amelia tell you that?’
‘She did, just last night actually.’
‘Neat.’
Rooster uncomfortably shuffles.
A minute or two passes of awkward silence, as the small towel slowly made its way down his neck.
‘Sorry about the whole spell thing. I actually can’t even remember casting it.’ Pipes Marco, ‘I also forgot how difficult it can be to remove.’
‘Yeah, I even tried wiping it off last night, but it didn’t really work.’
‘Sorry, what?’
‘I- tried wiping it off last-’ he stops, ‘Today. Today.’
‘Rooster I thought you were on the couch all night.’
He nervously turns away
‘Yeah. Yeah I was there. Absolutely.’
‘Rooster?’
Marco pauses as he reaches over, gently moving his companion’s face to look at him.
Failing his attempts to avert his eyes, Rooster could see the confusion, curiosity, and intrigue clear in Marco's expression.
‘Well- You see- We- I- I might have left for a bit. And then went back to check on you. And you looked really cold and- and sad, so I got you a blanket, but then you- grabbed my hand, and...‘
He trails off into a series of unintelligible muttering
Marco looks at him stunned, both from the events just recounted, and from... something else.
After he’d pulled his hand away, he had a clear view of where he’d previously covered. Still with faint remnants of purple lipstick over pink skin, there was something he hadn’t noticed before.
At the side of the neck, just above the collar of Rooster’s shirt, were two curved lines.
They were mirrored from each other, and made of small indents in the skin.
Not a scar, but something recent, less than a day old.
A bite mark.
If Marco’s face wasn’t red before then it certainly was now.
He was embarrassed about everything that’d happened since last night, sure, but this?
He’d bitten Rooster, and worse yet, he really liked the thought of it.
Should he tell him?
Could he tell him?
Gods, this situation keeps getting more complicated.
-
The rest of the cleaning went by silently, the both of them seemingly too nervous to speak up again.
Eventually, Marco finished wiping away the lipstick, giving Rooster a slight pat on the shoulder.
Hopping off the table, Rooster unfolds his scarf, quickly seeing that it happened to have some leftover lipstick still smudged on it. Marco noticed as well, wincing slightly.
‘Oh, sorry about that...’ He apologized ‘I could probably get it out if I got some soap’
‘No, no it’s fine, I’ll just wait for it to go away.’
‘So like-’ Marco panicked ‘you’re not gonna wear your scarf?’
‘I’ll just carry it with me. I can go a day without wearing it.’
‘Well I mean, you can, but uh- here’
Marco unties his bandana and hands it to Rooster
‘You can have this’
‘Oh, I don’t- you don’t need to-’
‘I assumed that- that you wanted to cover up the uh- that scar on your neck.’
‘Oh, yeah I- didn’t think you noticed.’
‘It’s a little difficult to miss, and I’ve seen it before.’
Rooster tenses up
‘Wait- uh- when? how??’
‘In the times you’ve come to my house to get patched up. I even saw it again just before we started traveling.’
‘And you never said anything about it?’
‘You’ve always tried to keep it covered, so I assumed you didn’t want to talk about it.’
‘Well it’s not that, it’s just...’
His shoulders drooped as he absentmindedly ran his fingers across the thin markings
‘I don’t really- I don’t think I’m a very good friend.’
‘that’s not true, you’re a great friend’
‘No, I’m really not. I keep messing stuff up, and hiding things from you guys-’
Clear droplets, which had started forming in the corners of his eyes, now spilled over, trailing down his cheek
Marco reaches forward, gently placing a hand on Rooster’s shoulder
‘It’s ok to hide things, you don’t have to tell me’
‘Is it really ok? I should-’
‘Hey, for something like this, it’s not about what you should do’
Marco gingerly wipes a tear from Rooster’s face
‘It’s if you want to do it’
‘But- but what if you get hurt because of it?’
‘Even if I get hurt, it’ll be ok. I’d forgive you.’
‘...why?’
‘Because I care about you, and you don’t owe me the truth. I just trust that some time, some day, you’ll want to tell me. And if you ever do, I’ll make sure to listen’
The rooster gazes at him, reading the sincerity in his expression.
Smiling sweetly, he wordlessly brings the bandana up and around his neck.
Watching him struggle with it, Marco reaches a hand forward as an offer for help, which Rooster gratefully accepts.
Fastening the two ends of fabric together, Marco continues.
‘We all have scars. Sometimes we have ones we don’t want to talk about.’ He finishes tying it, and cups a hand around Rooster’s face ‘If you’d like it, I’d be happy to tell you about some of mine’
Rooster sniffles a little.
‘Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.’
-
Sat against the wall of Rooster’s room, the two had become immersed in conversation.
‘-And this one was just an accident with a kitchen knife.’ Marco says, pointing to a cut across his forearm.
‘What about all the little ones?’
‘Oh, with my hands? I was saving those for last, because you seemed interested in them.’
Rooster sits back, tensing up ‘I never said that.’
‘Don’t think that I haven’t seen you staring at them.’
‘Wuh- no I-’
‘You’re very obvious about it.’
‘Well- it’s really just- I-’
He mutters something under his breath.
Marco leans over towards Rooster
‘Sorry, didn’t catch that.’
‘I just think they’re really cool, ok!?!!’
He buries his face in his hands, face burning with embarrassment.
Taking a moment to think, Marco smiles, laughing gently under his breath.
He places a hand onto Rooster’s head, lighting ruffling his hair.
‘You’re allowed to like them, you know.’ he says, an amused look on his face.
Rooster pauses, gently placing the tips of his fingers against his cheek, where the traces of purple lipstick no longer remained.
He gradually pulls his hand back, staring across it as though it had some sort of answer.
Barely more than a whisper, he muses
‘I guess... I guess I can like them.’
Marco’s grin softened ever so slightly, before he swiftly tensed up.
‘Also, again, I’m still really sorry about last night, I- I shouldn’t have-’
‘Oh,’ Rooster spares a brief glance at him, ‘N- no, no it’s ok...’
‘It’s really not, I should’ve asked before-’
Marco runs a hand down his face
‘You have to ask someone before you- you kiss them’
‘so then, could-’
Rooster hesitates
‘Could I ask you…? For a kiss, I mean.’
Marco’s breath hitches in his throat.
He stares into the shining gold eyes of the one in front of him.
They look back, sincere and hopeful.
And he breathes.
‘Yes.’
A smile, another breath.
‘Yes you can.’
He offers a hand forward, gazing lovingly as Rooster rests his head against it.
Brushing his thumb across his cheek, he tilted Rooster’s face towards his own.
And after leaning down, gently bringing their lips mere moments apart,
At long last, they k-
‘Oh FUCK, JESIKA!!!!!’
Rooster reels back, and swiftly stumbles onto his feet
Nearly tripping over himself while dashing out of the room, he left a rather stunned Marco behind, sparing only a short, panicked glance at him as he disappeared behind the door frame.