Work Text:
For weeks now, Marvin has been working from home. Which hasn’t been easy during the first few days with Whizzer walking around in his underwear most of the time.
„I don’t really see the point in putting on clothing during these horrible, horrible times,“ the tall brunette explained, letting out a dramatic sigh.
„You just want to distract me from work because you’re a little shit.“
„Is it working?“
„Oh my God, Whizzer, please get out of the kitchen now.“
While Marvin still tried to maintain his usual nine-to-five work rhythm, Whizzer was incredibly bored. Not just that there weren’t any clients (Obviously, who would want their portrait taken during a global crisis?) but now he could rarely leave the apartment.
Three days after the lockdown started, he had cleaned through the entire apartment, which even included dusting the top of the kitchen cupboards. Whizzer was fairly certain that nobody ever cleaned there ever before.
Now, there just wasn’t anything to do. Well, except for annoying his beloved boyfriend. But that got boring as well, even though Whizzer never thought that could possibly happen.
„Good Morning Honey, you put on some clothes,“ Marvin greeted him on day ten when Whizzer entered the kitchen for the first time of the day, which would be approximately 11am.
„It hurts to even call this clothing,“ he pointed at the black sweatpants he’d owned for years but never wore, and the sweatshirt he took from Marvin’s side of the closet.
„How come you decided to get dressed during these awfully horrible times?“ the shorter man chuckled and took a sip from the mug that was set next to his improvised workplace. It was filled with black tea, Whizzer knew that because Marvin was weak and didn’t drink coffee.
„I can’t believe to actually say this, but I actually got tired of my own nudity,“ he gave back, shaking his head and pouring himself a cup of coffee.
„Can’t relate,“ Marvin smirked without raising his eyes from the screen, typing some numbers into his program.
„Too late to be thirsty, Marv, you had the entire last week.“
The photographer sat down opposite Marvin at the table, the coffee mug in his right hand, his smartphone in the left one. Bored, he scrolled through his news feed, but he only found the same old news again and again.
We get it, the virus is spreading, New York City is basically fucked up, everybody’s gonna die. Fun.
He threw his phone to the side and groaned.
„I’m so bored! Marvin, help me, please, I beg you.“
„Most people around the whole world feel like that right now, Princess,“ his boyfriend still wouldn't even bother to raise his eyes from the screen.
„Not jerks like you, who can just work from home and abandon their boyfriends for boring numbers.“
„I’ll be all yours, in...“ Marvin looked at the clock, „less than 6 hours.“
Whizzer groaned again.
„This sucks,“ he mumbled, resting his chin on his palm, „I wish I could work from home.“
A few days ago, he saw some pictures online, from a photo shooting with FaceTime. He considered doing that for a second, but he’d need some clients for that first.
But what the hell was he supposed to do then? Just take photos of boring quarantine life?
Well, maybe, actually...
In a sudden, Whizzer grabbed his coffee and downed it in one go. Then, he jumped off the chair, quickly pressed a kiss onto Marvin’s cheek, and fled the room.
„What the-“ Marvin mumbled, now finally loosening his gaze from the screen, looking after his boyfriend, before the emptied mug in front of him caught his attention, „And you can’t even put your used dishes into the sink?“
It was better than nothing. Sure, it probably wasn’t something he would make good money with afterward. But it was something to keep him busy during quarantine, to avoid the boredom to make him go insane slowly but surely.
He started his newborn photo-project on the fire escape. His idea was to first take some pictures of the empty streets below their apartment building. New York City has never been as empty as during these weeks of crisis.
„What are you doing?“ Marvin asked interestedly as he stepped outside, too.
„A new project,“ his boyfriend explained, fumbling with the tripod, „Worked enough for today?“
„Lunch break,“ he pointed at the cup of instant noodles he was cautiously holding in his hands, „I’d have asked if you want some too, but I know that you’d rather starve than eat this.“
„Yeah, it’s so unhealthy!“ the tall brunette nodded, „You’re gonna die before you’re 45 if you keep on with that diet.“
„Better than getting food poisoning again.“
He referred to one time Marvin tried to cook without Whizzer’s supervision, which led to both men feeling miserable for days afterward.
„How did you survive when we broke up?“
„Cordelia had mercy and brought over her leftovers every day.“
Both men sat in silence for a bit.
Then, „I’m doing a project about being quarantined.“
„That sounds nice. Keeps you from whining about being bored like a 5-year-old.“
„Ouch. But fair.“
„So that’s what you decided to do when you ran out of the kitchen like a crazy person?“ Marvin chuckled.
„Yeah,“ Whizzer shrugged, „Keeps me busy, at least.“
„Hey Whiz, are you mad at me? Because I have to work so much?“ his voice sounded apologetical.
„Nah,“ the photographer shook his head, „I just like to annoy the shit out of you.“
„I actually feel kind of bad because I can’t spend the time with you,“ Marvin admitted eventually, „Which is ridiculous because I still work the same hours.“
„Marv, it’s fine, really,“ he ensured him and knelt down to adjust the angle for the perfect picture, „It’s sweet that you worry, though.“
„Does that mean you’ll finally buy me that ‘boyfriend of the year’-mug?“ Marvin grinned while stirring his lunch.
„Keep on dreaming, Baby,“ Whizzer shook his head. Marvin didn’t know that Whizzer ordered it months ago and waited for his boyfriend’s birthday to arrive.
„Oh, just so you know, I got a zoom meeting in thirty minutes,“ the older one mentioned.
„Aw man, there goes my plan to get naked again to distract you,“ Whizzer sighed dramatically.
„Remind me to lock the kitchen door.“
Whizzer chuckled again.
When the tall brunette got up from the floor again, Marvin put the noodle cup aside and just wrapped his arms from behind around his boyfriend.
„Woah, you okay?“ Whizzer asked, putting his hands on Marvin’s.
„Yeah,“ Marvin mumbled, burying his face in Whizzer’s (well, actually his) sweatshirt, „I just love you.“
„What did you do?“ the younger one laughed.
„Nothing! Can’t I just tell my boyfriend that I love him?“
„I love you too, Marvin.“
For a few seconds, both men said nothing, just enjoying the closeness.
Marvin was the first one to talk again.
„I’ll go back to work again,“ he groaned, „Stupid meeting. Hey, let’s watch a movie tonight?“
„Love that idea,“ Whizzer agreed, „Don’t forget to lock the kitchen door, Love.“
At five o’clock sharp, Marvin shut down his laptop, got up from the uncomfortable chair, and stretched himself. Just in that second, he heard the familiar click of Whizzer’s camera.
„Don’t take pictures of me, honey,“ he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
„Calling it a day, huh?“ Whizzer asked as he passed his boyfriend to get to the coffee machine.
„If I counted correctly, that’s your fifth cup today,“ Marvin stated, throwing a gaze at the beverage in the tall man’s hand.
„Sixth,“ he got corrected, „I got another refill when you were in the bathroom.“
„Jesus Christ, did you even eat anything today?“
Whizzer tilted his head and stared into the void for a second.
„No,“ he then said slowly, before he raised the mug up to his mouth.
Marvin, being familiar with his boyfriend’s habits after all this time, just nodded and let out a sigh.
„I’m ordering dinner right now,“ he then decided and pulled out his phone, „You, princess, need to eat, you can’t run on coffee exclusively.“
„You deserve that ‘boyfriend of the year’ mug more and more, sweetheart,“ the taller man leaned against the kitchen counter, „How about Chinese? I’d kill for some Dumplings.“
„After consuming nothing other than coffee all day, you’d probably kill for a single slice of bread.“
„There goes the mug again.“
Around 8pm the couple sat in front of the flat-screen in the living room, still stuffed with Chinese takeout. Marvin’s arm was around Whizzer, they shared a blanket and watched the news.
Whizzer wondered when they became that kind of couple. He also wondered why he always thought, a relationship like this would be deadly boring and the worst thing to possibly happen to him.
His thoughts, however, were interrupted by his phone.
„Hey Jase, how are you doing?“ he greeted his step-son.
Jason called them every night for a few days now. Mostly because he was stuck to stay inside the house with Trina and Mendel and at this point, the kid seemed to only survive on these few daily minutes that he could lock himself in his room to call his dads.
„Why is he always calling you?“ Marvin furrowed his eyebrows, „I know that you’re the cooler dad but I raised him for the first nine years of his existence.“
„Because I know that Dad’s phone is always off,“ Jason answered dryly, apparently he overheard Marvin’s complaint, „But if that makes him feel better, you can put me on speaker.“
Whizzer did how he was told.
„Hey Dad, hey Whizzer, Mom and Mendel are driving me crazy.“
„That’s how you started our phone calls for four days now,“ Whizzer chuckled, „What did they do?“
„They’re just so… Well, you know Mom and Mendel,“ the eight-grader sighed, „Mendel goes full psychiatrist mode on me. He asks me if I have any fears during this global crisis and if I can handle all the pressure that comes with learning from home. Every. Fucking. Day.“
„Language,“ both men said simultaneously.
„Whatever,“ the teenager mumbled, „And Mom makes me help in the house all the time. Like, I can’t just sit on the couch for two seconds. ‘Jason, when was the last time you cleaned your room?’, ‘Jason, can you do the dishes?’
And she knows I hate doing the dishes!“
„I’m sure she just wants everything to be clean and tidy, now that we will all spend God knows how long of our lifetime in our houses,“ Whizzer tried to calm the kid.
„She doesn’t have to come into my room then, she has the entire house!“
„That’s not how mothers feel, Jase,“ his father explained, „If your Mom knows that your room is messy, she won’t be satisfied until you cleaned it. That’s how mothers are.“
„So? If she’s that bothered then she should just clean it herself,“ Jason huffed, „I don’t see why I should clean up my room only because Mom doesn’t like it when it’s messy.“
„Because you love your mother and that’s what good sons do,“ Whizzer’s voice sounded decisive yet soft. That was one of the things that Marvin loved about Whizzer being one of Jason’s dads.
The teenager let out a groan.
„Do moms ever stop being like that?“
Whizzer let out a laugh.
„No, never. But you learn to get along with it.“
„Fine,“ the kid muttered, „Guess I’ll clean my room now, then.“
„Good choice, Jase,“ Marvin agreed, impressed with how easily Whizzer could get the boy to do something, „Tell Mom and Mendel we said hi, okay buddy?“
„Will do,“ they could hear how Jason got off his bed, „Bye Dad, bye Whizz.“
„Goodbye Jason, love you,“ Marvin tried to reply, but the kid already hung up.
„How does it feel to be the cooler Dad?“ he huffed, turning his head slightly to look at his boyfriend.
„It’s so great, thanks for asking,“ the Brunette replied, humble as ever, „What movie shall we watch?“
Around 30 minutes into the movie, Whizzer let out a whine when Marvin dared to move all of a sudden. The younger one did not seem appealed by the idea of losing his pillow, aka Marvin’s chest.
„Where are you going?“ he asked in a whiny voice, fumbling for the remote to hit pause.
„To the bathroom,“ Marvin laughed, „Can you survive one minute without me?“
„Barely, honey,“ the taller man sighed dramatically, „But after being without you all day I guess I can for another minute.“
„Ouch.“
So, Whizzer pulled out his phone. He responded to a photo Delia sent him, a snapshot of today’s dinner at the lesbian’s apartment.
He also sent some emojis in response to a quarantine meme Jason sent him on Instagram.
Just when Marvin returned to the living room, a pint of Ben&Jerry’s ice cream in his hand.
„Hey that’s mine!“ the brunette proclaimed as his boyfriend sat down next to him again, now eyeing the flavor that was shown on the lid.
„That’s why I brought two spoons,“ Marvin replied, handing one over to the other man before he got under the blanket again.
„You should be lucky that I am willing to share with you,“ the younger one took off the lid and pulled off the foil.
„I paid for it,“ Marvin put his arm around Whizzer again, the spoon in his other hand.
„Yeah because you love me,“ he took the first spoon of ice cream, „Which is also why I grant you a tiny bit, too.“
„How generous of you. Can you start the movie again?“
For a few minutes, both men sat in silence, sharing ice cream like the domestic couple they now actually were.
Again, Whizzer had to think about that.
„Disgusting,“ he then muttered with a smile on his face.
„It’s your favorite flavor,“ Marvin slightly turned his head to look at his boyfriend.
„I know, I meant us,“ Whizzer chuckled, turning his head as well, „We look disgustingly domestic, and honestly? I love it.“
„That is because we are,“ a smile started to spread over the older one’s face, „I think it’s great.“
Whizzer leaned upward to press a short kiss onto his lover’s lips.
„It really is.“
„Oh my God Marvin, if you don’t stop cherry-picking all the cookie dough chunks I will kill you right here, right now.“
„I love you too, Princess.“