Chapter Text
Simon had so much time to himself on that void, chilling night alone on the Stradford Tower.
"We can't leave him behind, we have to shoot him."
As he hid there in the dark, those words taunted him every second, along with the echoes of thundering footsteps and the charred ringing of his own ears. The smorgasbord of chaos would begin to eat him, and he could feel himself on the edge of death.
But he lived. With a voice, sincere, that dragged him back to life — he lived.
"I won't kill one of our own." Simon would remember Markus giving him a gun, but his voice and hand on Simon's shoulder was a weapon of something greater. "Simon, we've gotta go. I'm sorry."
Markus saved him. He let him live. He had the choice to kill Simon but he didn't, and even though he was nowhere to be found, his memories kept Simon alive. And when he walked out of that tower, Simon vowed to devote his life to Markus.
He labelled it as extreme gratitude for a friend and a savior. For a while, his conclusion gave him the peace of mind he needed in order to after his traumatizing near death experience.
Yet, when his eyes laid on Markus again upon returning to Jericho, his conclusion fell apart. In that short moment of them staring at each other, Simon could only stand on his place and breathe — and when Markus lunged at him into a hug, breathing wasn't an option anymore.
Since then, whatever he had for Markus would come to him consciously and even louder every passing moment.
It whispered at him during the Freedom March, with Markus in front of the line. It whispered to him that if even a single scratch would land on Markus, he had to sacrifice himself for him.
It tugged at him when Markus sang boldly in the face of gun barrels ready to fire on one swift signal. He sang along, unable to tear his eyes away from their leader.
It hollered at him amidst the awed cheers of countless androids while Markus cried their declaration of independence. The world was slow, their voices were distant, and only Markus came into his view.
But who was Simon kidding? No matter how much he tried to pinpoint where the love began, he had it coming the moment Markus fell down to Jericho and he followed him like he knew the android all his life.
After the revolution, they found themselves faced with bigger responsibilities to deal with. Paperworks, meetings, and settling an entire population into a new life, Simon's feelings hid itself in the sidelines. Sometimes, it would whisper to him to steal glances, to brush his hand against Markus "accidentally", and to check up on him and how he was because "that's what friends do".
It was his little secret, one he enjoyed to keep to himself.
Soon, their rehabilitation of Detroit started to ease. Laws are passed, androids and humans began to coexist, and they all lived — with their own families, pets, jobs, homes, and all of what it meant to live.
For Markus, North, Simon, and Josh, Jericho became their office and home. They had their own quarters, position, and jurisdiction. But for Simon, he gained time. Things were calmer now, and he had lots of free time in his hands. All of which where stolen by his feelings for Markus. Every second, he'd find another reason to adore him, as if there weren't a million reasons already.
Markus is brave, Markus is an unrelenting force, Markus got the digestive system upgrade and discovered he liked sweets so much he just had to keep a jar of candies and chocolates hidden under his office desk.
Simon internally rained Connor praise for giving him the possibility to see that adorable side of Markus because after all, the upgrade was the former deviant hunter's idea.
In one of Connor's friendly visits at Jericho, he dazedly wondered what food tasted like because his Lieutenant couldn't stop his addiction for oil glistened hamburgers. North, being the crackhead that she was, thrived on the idea of eating and started pestering Markus about it right then and there, with Josh listing all the ways it could work for them by turning food into thirium. Markus glanced at Simon to see his verdict, and Simon smiled at him in approval with the rest of the crew.
Jericho fought for that privilege, and with Markus being headstrong as always, they won it.
You could count on your fingers how many of them decided to pass on the opportunity to get it, and Simon was one of them. When he saw the faces of North, Josh, and more so Markus when they took their first and subsequent meals, he figured that watching them live their best life already made him the happiest.
"You should get it." North barged into Simon's office like she usually does, no knocking and no questions.
"Get what?" Simon doesn't raise his head, eyes fixated on the article in his tablet.
"The digestive system release." She dropped herself on the sofa and propped her legs up on Simon's desk, "You have to taste Markus' cooking."
Simon was so thankful his LED was out of North's view because it certainly blinked red just now, "Really?" He cooed, eyes glued on his tablet.
North sighed, rolled her eyes, and stood up to snatch the tablet out Simon's hand. "C'mon, you're coming with me." She walked off, leaving Simon yelling after her.
North had been doing this, bothering Simon without a care. He would find it quirky like he used to, and he was genuinely happy to see North becoming less and less aggressive as each day passed, but he was human. Petty as it may seem to some, but he just could not find it in himself to be friends with North the way they used to be.
She was the one who raised the option in killing him on the Stradford Tower, and while it was out of protecting Jericho, Simon won't forget how she rolled her eyes when Markus chose not to do it. He refused to let it go, especially when North made no acknowledgement of it afterwards.
Simon turned his back on the door, and stared out of the glass wall with a wonderful view of Detroit.
Maybe he should go and get the upgrade. After all, why would he pass on the opportunity to taste Markus' cooking?
A knock echoed in his office. The familiar knock.
"Markus!" Simon turned around in a flash.
And it was indeed Markus standing there, with a bright smile and a white shiny apron. "North said you're not interested in my cooking?" He chuckled, "You've got the most expertise on cooking here. I need your opinion."
Simon stood there, just staring at Markus and his god damned adorable apron.
"Simon?" Markus called out, eyebrows furrowed, ready to ask if he had offended Simon in any way.
"Markus." Simon coughed, "No. I mean—" his tongue tied, "I don't have the most expertise. You haven't even tasted my cooking yet."
"Then cook for us?" Markus grinned.
Simon bobbed his head, a grin forming in his lips, "I guess I'll handle lunch then."
"Looking forward to it." Markus rocked himself on his heels, then to his toes, and Simon knew the next sentence to come, "So will you take a tiny bite of the breakfast I made?"
Simon looked away, shaking his head with a tight lip, "I'll be hearing this my whole life, won't I?" He tried his best to shove away the rising grin, but honestly the butterflies in his (to be) stomach wanted to go supernova at the thought of his first meal being Markus' cooking.
And for ra9's sake, here's Markus persuading him with an apron looking so pleasantly satisfied with himself.
"Maybe. Because I can stop now, but we both know a certain girl won't." With a sigh, Markus closed the gap between them and rested a hand on Simon's shoulder. He ducked his head to look at Simon's eyes, who were avoiding his gaze. "I think, maybe, the change might be overwhelming for you. But I promise, it's worth it."
Markus had the most charming smile. Markus had a way with words. Markus' hands were big and tough but they were the softest on Simon's. Markus had a breath taking gaze and Simon didn't know which pupil fitted him best.
When Simon started to feel heat grow on his cheeks, he swallowed away the thoughts blaring in his head, "Okay." He simply replied, "I will."
Markus' grin grew. He patted Simon's shoulder, "Great. North is waiting for you outside!" and with that, Markus jogged out of the room, his apron bouncing along with him.
Simon coughed away everything he was feeling, but the smile and blush he wished to bury fought against his will.
Markus is serious. Markus is stern. But Markus was human and behind paperworks and business, he was homely and adorable. Soon, Simon learned, Markus cooked way better than he expected. The vegetables in his dishes were cooked just right, not raw but not overdone either.
Yes, he caved. He caved hard. And Simon revelled about it behind closed doors. He laid in bed silently, just grinning like the idiot he was. Then, like most nights, would fall asleep while counting the million things about Markus that made him hopelessly in love.
But he wasn't like other idiots, if he could count those romantic reasons, he can also face the million reasons not to pursue his feelings. They weren't teenagers in high school with all the time and privilege in the world, they were leaders of a rare species at the very beginning of finding their way through the world and at the very front of it was Markus.
Is a relationship even in Markus' mind? And the most important question of all, is there even a possibility that it would be Simon holding Markus' hands?
Simon knew the answer. And like he had always done, Simon kept his feelings to himself.