Work Text:
The first thing Mark noticed when he woke up was the light. He saw the sun out, and a blanket of snow. The second thing he noticed was that the apartment was freezing. Mark shivered and wrapped himself up in his blankets. He grabbed his phone off of the table and unlocked it, seeing an email notification from his landlord. He pressed the button and opened the email.
“Dear Mark,
Unfortunately, the snowstorm knocked out the power, so everything will be off for several days while the roads are cleared for the technicians to get to the complex. Also, just as a reminder: your contract ends in two weeks. Have a good day.
Regards,
Evelyn Bates”
“You’ve got to be kidding…” Mark moaned into his pillow. He’d gotten the notice a few weeks ago, but he hadn’t been able to find any other place to stay, and Mrs. Bates had already found a new tenant to move in after him. Mark had no idea what he was going to do.
Suddenly, a new notification popped up on his phone. It was a text from Leo!
“Hey Beautiful, I’m gonna go insane if I’m alone all day. Wanna hang?”
Mark thought for a moment before typing back his reply. “Sure, I’ll come over once I’m dressed.” Mark rolled out of bed and got dressed, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt as his base and layering several sweaters and jackets on top before making his way out into the snowscape that was his town.
~~~
Mark got to the red door that stood between him and Leo’s residence. He kicked the door a few times lightly, since his hands were wrapped up in gloves and wouldn’t have made a single sound. He heard hurried footsteps and the click of a lock turning before the door was thrown open. Mark looked up and smiled at the cute boy on the other side of the threshold.
“Hey Sweetheart, come in! You look so cold. I have some hot chocolate waiting for you,” Leo greeted, taking Mark’s gloved hands and pulling him into the condo. “Thanks for coming over, I know the walk must’ve sucked.” Leo unwound the scarf around Mark’s neck and took his parasol as Mark slid out of his jackets.
“Anytime Darling. I needed to get out of my apartment anyway. The power went out and it’s freezing there,” Mark replied as they walked into Leo’s kitchen. Mark sat down at the island, where Leo handed him a mug of hot chocolate with a stick of peppermint.
“You’re joking, right?” Leo asked, a mug in his hands. “I can’t believe your landlord would even allow that. She was so temperamental with how her tenants’ apartments were when I met her. Maybe I could come by and try to help?” Mark shook his head before taking a sip of the drink, getting whipped cream on his upper lip.
“It won’t matter, honestly. I need to be gone in two weeks. My lease expires then,” Mark replied. “Can we not talk about it? I need a distraction from the stress.” Leo nodded and sat beside his boyfriend, lightly bumping his shoulder against Mark.
“We can do whatever you want, Gorgeous. Once you’ve warmed up, just name it and we can do it,” Leo said with a grin. He reached out and ran a hand through his partner’s snow-white hair. “No time to dye it today?”
“It was freezing. Why would I bother?” Mark grumbled into the rim of his mug.
“You’re cute when you’re grouchy, Beautiful. Now drink up. I don’t think I want to see you become an Ice Prince,” Leo chuckled. Mark smiled slightly and took another sip.
“You are the only person who could make insinuating I’m a frigid person a flattering thing, you know that?” Mark stood up and walked over to a bookshelf lined with movies, video games, and novels. “Can we watch this?” Mark pulled out a DVD, handing it over to Leo.
“This movie is so bad,” Leo laughed as he examined Mark’s selection. “It’s almost good because of it too.” Mark nodded.
“I know. Let’s watch it,” Mark insisted. He gestured for Leo to stand up, even going to the length of pantomiming throwing a lasso and dragging Leo into his living room. Luckily, Leo indulged him. After setting up the DVD player, Leo sat down next to Mark and pulled him against his chest. As the opening credits started, Mark felt Leo comb his fingers through Mark’s hair. He had to admit, Leo knew how to help Mark relax. He barely focused on the bad one liners and blatant CGIs that drew chuckles from Leo, instead focusing on the rhythmic rise and fall of Leo’s chest against his cheek, the motion of Leo’s fingers against his scalp, and Leo bouncing his leg.
~~~
Mark didn’t realize how much time had passed until Leo shifted to lie down as the credits rolled across the screen.
“Hey Beautiful, can I ask you something?” Leo asked. Mark nodded. “I know your lease is ending soon, but I don’t know if you have a new one in place yet or not. If you want, you could move in with me?” Leo’s voice trailed off slightly, hesitant and afraid of Mark’s potential refusal.
Mark didn’t exactly know how to respond. Sure, he’d considered the idea for a while now, but he hadn’t believed Leo would want him around all the time. Plus, Mark didn’t want Leo to think he was needy and ask to move in. He didn’t want Leo to think he’d been desperate for an offer, but he also didn’t want Leo to believe that he was just one of several options.
“Yes, that would be wonderful! I mean, I would really like to… Moving in with you… Uh…” Mark stumbled over his words and Leo laughed before giving him a light kiss on the forehead.
“Great. We’ll go get your stuff once the roads are cleared.”