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Luka Perkovic was having a bad day. The whole reason he became a pro-player was to grind and become the best league player in the world. Not to be told that the team was going shopping this morning and that they were going to be filming content afterwards. Content, how he hated that word. Those 7 letters incorporated everything from photo shoots to filming skits to being filmed trying to live his life. Shasha and Charlie, though he knew it was their jobs, had pointed their cameras at him as he was just trying to go about his day way too often. What was so appealing about watching him eat or be driven to the LEC arena he didn’t know.
Which brought him to his current state and sour mood. Shopping for clothes wasn’t fun, in fact he hated shopping. But shopping for clothes combined with Charlie being there to film his team, it was the 7th circle of hell. That circle was where people who were violent go and it would be where he ended up if Marvin took five more minutes. How could shopping for shoes be this hard?
“Luka,” came the Polish man’s sing song voice from further inside the store. “Look at this!” Like always Marcin had trouble speaking in what people considered an indoor voice and Luka internally groaned as several other patrons looked over. Would it kill him to be quiet for a few hours?
“What?” Luka replied dryly. With his Croation accent his w’s sounded a lot like v’s. Two blonde men walked up to him wearing all white sneakers. Martin looked like he always did with his hair in the same haircut that almost every young man had. Longer on top with a fade up the sides. Marcin was grinning his Cheshire Cat grin, his red lips standing out against his progamer pale skin. Luka tried not to let it show just how attracted his eyes were to those lips.
“Don’t you love it?” He practically shouted while making a silly pose to show off his new shoes. “We match! No other top jungle duo will be able to match our sinergy!”
“That’s great.” Luka’s tone of voice conveyed that it was anything but that. He sighed and ran a hand over his short brown hair. “Are you finally done? How many pairs of shoes do you even need?”
“I don’t know,” Marcin started thoughtfully before trailing off. He sat there thinking for a moment, unnaturally still. Marcin was almost always moving in some way. Either his hands were playing with something or he was gently rocking back and forth. Sometimes both. It was an easy way to tell that he was uncomfortable or trying to make a good impression, he just stopped moving. If he was unnaturally stiff with a very straight back something was wrong.
Like someone had pressed the unpause button Marcin started moving again. He got close to Luka like he was sharing an important secret. “You know what I need?” He had lowered his voice to a somewhat normal volume. Luka fought hard to keep the blush that threatened to show off his face. Marcin was too close and that stirred feelings he didn’t want to think about in him. “Shoes for running in!” Marcin say too loudly. “These white ones will get so fucking dirty if I wear them while I run. They need to stay clean.” Rather than waiting for a response from his team captain Marcin turned around and went shopping for more shoes.
Thus died his small hope of getting out of here anytime soon. Martin gave him a sad smile before heading off to pay for his shoes. Leaning back on the bench Luka tried his best to make himself comfortable next to his own new shoes. He didn’t understand what took some of his teammates so long to shop. What was the point of trying on so many pairs of shoes? Did some of them suffer from choice paralysis where the many options overwhelmed them and the froze? Or did they somehow think this was fun? He had read about people liking to shop, particularly shopping for clothes, but the idea was so foreign. Froskurin had an extensive shoe collection he knew but she was weird. No, it made more sense to find a pair you liked and try them on. They probably would fit and then you were done.
He felt the bench shift as someone sat down next to him. Miky didn’t even look at him, instead he was carefully watching Charlie to make sure he wasn't being filmed. “How are you doing Luka? You don’t look happy.” He observed.
“This fucking sucks,” Luka replied sourly.
“Okayyy.” Miky’s drawn out reply conveyed that he didn’t agree but he wouldn’t push either. “At least Caps is having fun.” That was true, the youngest teammate had his signature goofy grin as he talked to the camera. Thank goodness he was keeping Charlie occupied.
“Miky can you stop shaking the bench? I’m getting tilted. More tilted than having my lane camped in soloq.” Miky was the other team member that was always moving. In his case his leg was often shaking up and down with restless energy. If not that at least his ankle.
“Oh sorry.” The shaking stopped but Luka knew it wouldn’t be too long before it started up again. Unconscious actions were often like that, he may as well as asked a fish not to swim.
“You know Luka,” the Slovenian started hesitantly, “this wouldn’t be so bad if you were honest with yourself.”
“And why do you think I am not honest with myself?” He replied almost sarcastically.
“Because it’s obvious. Obvious to everyone but you and the guy you like. I don’t know how you two can be so blind.” Miky held his gaze and he saw a hint of exasperation. “Honestly it’s so tilting. You’re so boosted when it comes to understand yourself.”
Luka’s heartbeat quickened. He hadn't told anyone that his feelings for one of the members on their team were more complex than for the rest. Sure he was good friends with all of them and relied on all of them a ton but one was special.
It had started last summer during the split. He didn’t know how but one day he woke up and everything was different. The smiles and jokes thrown his way, the little touches that they shared, it all meant a ton more. At first he tried anything to distract himself from these new feelings. Instead of grinding another game of soloq he would cloister himself in his room with his guitar. Practicing pieces that were challenging to focus his mind. Worlds was coming up and that was the most important thing in his life. Not these new butterflies in his stomach. The break between winning the split and their worlds boot camp gave him time to reflect. Honestly he was hoping that going home and spending some time outside could help clear his mind. But when he arrived in London and met with his team again he knew that hadn’t worked. If anything his feelings were even stronger.
He tried his best to just power through their bootcamp which wasn’t too hard as the hours added up and the stress levels rose. Worlds passed in a blur of scrims, soloq, and meetings right up until the end. The heartbreaking end. Time seemed to stop and the next few days were a black spot on his memory. He tried so hard to be there for his team if they needed him but everyone seemed to want to grieve alone. His heart broke even more as his love avoided him. How many tears he shed over it all he didn’t know.
It wasn’t until he got back together with his team that he realized he had a problem. What to do about it his feelings? Could teammates even date and not throw their chances of success under the bus? It didn’t seem likely.
“Luka,” Miky’s unusually stern voice cut through his thoughts. “Go to him. Talk to him. Things will go better than you think. Trust me like you trusted me to teach you how to play bot.”
Befuddled at his former lane partner’s words Luka just sat there, staring at Miky.
“Luka. Go.” This time it was an order and Luka knew better than to disobey that. Miky’s orders were rare like comets. They took one by surprise, a shooting star of will in an otherwise amenable personality. He sighed as he stood up then rubbed his eyes.
“Watch over my shoes for me Miky. And don’t let anyone touch them.”
With his mind clouded by his emotions and Miky’s words Luka slowly walked further into the shoe store. It wasn’t hard to find the Polish man as he was excitedly talking to an employee in his usual too loud voice. How he would miss that voice one day when they weren’t on the same team anymore. The employee was shorter than Luka was, which was saying something, and had his black hair in a bowl cut and glasses with a clear frame. As soon as the employee saw him he broke out into a shy grin.
“We chose the right store to shop at!” Marcin asserted happily, “he’s a G2 fan.” They exchanged some words and took a picture. Normally Luka loved interacting with his fans but today he couldn’t wait until he could get Marcin alone. His stomach twisted in knots as he pondered what to say.
“Hey Marcin, can I talk to you?” Luka asked as they were walking away from the register. The Pole was a gradient from dark to light in his clothing; he had on a black jacket, gray sweatpants and white shoes.
“Sure.” Marcin continued to walk towards the rest of the G2 members not realizing what he meant.
“A-Alone.” That one word was hard to get out but he managed it before they were in earshot of the others. He almost took back that word under the resulting stare from his friend. Playing on a big stage in front of thousands of people was not nearly as terrifying as this was.
“Alone.” Marcin said the word curiously, like he was pondering the taste of a new type of chocolate. He broke out into a wide grin that surprised Luka. “Okay.” He pulled Luka in between two rows of shelves so they were surrounded by shoes. No one was too close to them but if Marcin talked in his usual volume people were bound to hear.
The silence between them stretched as Luka’s brain went into full panic mode. He didn’t expect he would be having this conversation this soon or even at all. Inwardly he cursed Miky for making him think this could work.
“So? What do you want to talk about?” Marcin’s voice had a hint of worry.
“I..” he trailed off. What did he say? Was his usual bluntness appropriate? “Fuck you Miky,” he muttered before taking a deep breath.
“Miky told me to talk to you and say... and say that I...you’re a great friend and I…” This was not going well. He felt his face burning and was sure he looked like an idiot. Marcin’s amused smile did not help with his nerves. “I like you as more than just a friend,” he got out in a rush.
“What?” Marcin’s shout was heard throughout the store and Luka wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole. “You l-” Luka covered Marcin’s mouth with his hand.
Luka saw that it took Marcin a moment to register just how loud he had been and his face flushed red to match his mid laner’s. He withdrew his hand but instead of his hand going back to his side Marcin grabbed it with one of his own.
“You like me?” he whispered intensely. “You really do?” Luka looked into the taller man’s blue eyes and saw that they were desperate. He wasn’t laughing or making a joke about this like Luka thought he would.
His throat ceased to work properly so Luka just nodded, not taking his eyes off Marcin’s. Marcin brought his lips near his ear and whispered “Well it’s your lucky day. I like you to. I have for a long time.” His giggle that followed made Luka’s heart skip a beat and their fingers laced together. It was weird to see their hands joined like that, stranger still to look into Marcin’s eyes and see his feelings reflected back. Shock, hope, embarrassment, and love.
Suddenly he felt a pain in his wrist on the underside of his arm. If possible his eyes widened even more in shock as a black star slowly formed. His soul mark, the mark that appeared whenever one had met their soulmate and they confessed their feelings for each other. Not everyone had one appear and Luka wasn’t even sure he had believed in them before now. Many people lived happy lives in love without them.
Marcin watched in fascination as their marks completed forming, a complete mirror of one another’s. His smile was so wide it looked like it ought to hurt if held for longer than a second. “I guess that settles it then,” he said his voice strangely calm. “You’re stuck with me Luka. I’m going to give you all the love taps.” A groan escaped Luka’s lips at that last sentence, he couldn’t help it.
“Really? Do I really deserve that as your soulmate?”
“Of course you do. And you’re going to like it!” He winked. Marcin, still holding onto his hand, dragged him back towards their team. Though a few minutes had passed it felt like an eternity. Miky was still sitting on the bench they had shared next to Luka’s new shoes. Rasmus, Martin, Charlie, and Oliver had gathered by him while they had their little talk. Miky saw them first and his smirk was unbearable. The rest of the crew turned and looked at them, most with raised brows when they saw Luka and Marcin’s hands still joined, but not one of them commented. Luka wasn’t sure which was worse, the silence and looks or the multitude of questions that were sure to come.
“Well,” Miky broke the silence followed by a short chuckle. He looked directly at Luka, “I guess this means I get to say I told you so.” The support looked too amused as he folded his arms. There was no way his team would ever let them live this down. He felt Marcin give his hand a reassuring squeeze. At least they had each other now and that would make dealing with their coworkers bearable. He hoped.