Work Text:
Marius bit at his nail as he stared at his phone, grimacing as the bitter taste of paint underneath. It was a late night in the art studio again. Just like every night. He was used to it. If he was going to continue pursuing his art until his brother came back to take over the reins at Pax again, it required an unwavering dedication to his craft.
Z represented his ambition.
But he couldn’t focus today, as Marius or as Z.
He scheduled and ran meetings with high-powered business executives on the daily with no problem, but trying to schedule reservations and events for his kinda-sorta-girlfriend on Valentine’s Day was painfully anxiety-inducing.
He was definitely overdoing it, throwing his money around in ways that Rosa wouldn’t appreciate, but he couldn’t help it. Valentine’s Day was in two days and he wanted her to see him as a serious option. A string of messages and emails flooded his inbox with confirmations, cancellations, and reschedulings. If he moved the dinner to that restaurant, and changed the delivery time with the florist; if he used this chocolatier instead of that one, would the outcome be better?
There was the slightly metallic taste of blood on his tongue.
His phone rang.
“Jiejie, did you miss me that much?” he said into the phone.
“No.”
“Jiejie,” Marius whined, “Well I missed you.”
Rosa giggled.
“I was calling to make sure our plans were still on for tomorrow.”
“Of course, Rosa,” Marius purred into the phone, “After all, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
That was an understatement. It was nearly impossible to get her alone. He was glad she’d joined NXX but…the other guys hung around too much.
“Don’t overdo it, Marius. It’s fine if you just want to hang out. I don’t have any expectations.”
“I never over do it,” Marius said, “I always do it perfectly.”
Rosa snorted.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said. There was a muffled noise in the background. It sounded like she covered the phone with her hand. Indistinct voices filled the line and then Rosa was back.
“Sorry Marius,” she said, “I’m needed back at my desk. I’ll see you this weekend!”
Click.
Marius toyed with his piercings.
This was so pathetic, but he liked her so much.
Well, whatever. He would lean into the Von Hagen name and act the part like he always did. Put it on like a cloak and show her that he was one to be taken seriously. He was young, but not a child.
Marius continued working well into the night. Every time he wanted to go to sleep, a new idea, a new way to impress her shot into his mind, waking him up.
He powered through without much sleep and somehow made it through the next day of meetings at Pax headquarters while fielding phone calls from the various vendors whose services he had contracted. And finally, right before the clock hit midnight signaling the start of Valentine’s Day, it was all settled. Everything was in place.
A wave of relief washed over him, and he slumped back in his desk chair, suddenly exhausted as the stress that had been sustaining him subsided. The edges of his vision went a little blurry.
He was just so tired. That was all. If he went to sleep now, he’d get at least seven hours before he had to wake up again. That was plenty of sleep.
***
The alarm went off on his phone.
Marius blinked, but his eyelids felt heavy. He reached for his phone and turned off the alarm, groaning as he looked at the messages that he needed to answer. It was the weekend and it was Valentine’s Day. Couldn’t the old fogeys on the board leave him alone?! Today was supposed to be about Rosa and him! He tried to sit up but his head spun.
“Ugh,” he groaned, steadying himself against the bed frame.
His phone rang.
Rosa.
“Jiejie,” he said, trying to inject as much energy as he could muster into his voice, “You’re pretty eager to talk to me so early in the morning.”
“Marius? You sound awful! Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just woke up…”
His throat was so sore. He coughed.
“That’s not fooling me,” Rosa said, “Cancel all of your plans. I’m coming to your house. We are not going out today.”
Marius’s stomach dropped. They had to go out. He’d put too much effort into this to back down now. And besides, reservations to Michelin starred restaurants weren’t able to be canceled so easily!
“No, Rosa, that’s not necessary…” he said, getting up slowly out of bed. The room spun around him.
“Crap,” he said, falling back down onto his bed, sinking deeply into the mattress.
“That’s it. I’m coming over. Cancel whatever extravagant plans you had for today.”
She hung up and he stared at the phone in his hand. It was too late to cancel them really…maybe he could still try to go. He blinked slowly once, twice and then…
“Oh my God! Marius!”
There was a cool hand on his forehead. How long had he been out? The figure of a woman swam blurrily before his eyes.
“M-mom?” No…that wasn’t right…mom was…gone. Waves of heat washed over him.
“Marius, do you need me to call a doctor? This is worse than I thought!”
“No!” he shouted, bolting upright, panting from the slight exertion. Rosa stared at him with wide eyes.
“Sorry, sorry, I think it’s just overwork,” he said, coming back to his senses, “I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
Rosa sighed, her worried expression softening marginally.
“Lay back down, Marius,” she said, “I’ll run out and get some things for you to eat that will make you feel better.”
“Just look in the kitchen pantry,” he responded, doing as she said, his voice muffled as he spoke into his pillow, refusing to look at her as the embarrassment of calling her “mom” sank in.
“Okay,” she said, gently touching his back, “Rest while you wait.”
He groaned into his pillow after she left. He’d wanted to show how capable he was, how he could handle himself, just like the others at NXX, despite being the youngest. But here he was instead, sick from overwork and mistaking her for his dead mother. He closed his eyes against the embarrassment of the day and sleep overtook him once again.
A gentle fragrant smell woke Marius from his sleep.
“Oh, I’m sorry Marius,” Rosa said, meeting his eyes as she placed a bowl on the table, “I didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry I was gone so long. I decided that you probably needed to eat something light and homemade.”
“Jiejie, you don’t need to worry I’m malnourished. I have a nutritionist and a private chef for that.”
Rosa raised an eyebrow.
“What? I do.” His voice cracked, but a grin crossed his face.
“I can take it away then,” Rosa retorted, picking the bowl back up.
“No, Jiejie! I was just kidding. I’ll like anything you make.”
She smirked. He knew he’d played right into her hands, but he still had a trick up his sleeve.
“But I’m too weak to feed myself,” he said, flopping dramatically against the pillows, “I might spill all over these thousand count silk sheets.” Rosa rolled her eyes, but picked up the spoon and filled it with broth. She blew on it to cool it and then held it to his lips.
It tasted good. It tasted familiar and comforting and he could eat it forever.
Slowly, she helped him eat the whole bowl. He hadn’t really been lying earlier. He still felt so weak, despite his bravado. He could feel the fever creeping back up.
“That’s all I have,” Rosa said gently, putting the bowl down, “It might not be from a professional chef or nutritionist, but I made it myself.”
“It was good. Better than that, actually. I loved it.” I love you , he thought silently.
“I’m glad,” she said, her hand reaching out, hesitating as she approached him. But finally, finally, she brushed his hair back from his forehead. Marius leaned into it; relishing in the soothing feeling.
“I know this probably wasn’t the Valentine’s Day you’d planned,” Rosa said, “But everyone needs a break sometimes.”
“You talk like you haven’t worked yourself into a fever before,” he muttered. She laughed.
“And that’s why I know that breaks are important.”
They stared at each other for a moment. There were so many things that Marius wanted to say to her, but the timing wasn’t right. She needed to know that he was serious about her. There could be no room for excuses; that he was delirious from fever, or feeling unwell.
The afternoon sun dipped lower through the windows. At this time, they really should have been enjoying a wide dessert selection from the best patissiers and chocolatiers in Stellis but as it stood, this was almost as satisfying.
“I should go, Marius,” Rosa said finally, breaking the tenuously emotional mood, “You need rest.”
She stood from her seat by his bedside and bent over, kissing him on the forehead.
“Call me if you need anything, Marius. I’ll be there for you.”
She walked to the door, and looked back right before she walked out into the hallway.
“And Marius?”
“What is it, Rosa?” he asked, voice hoarse from illness and disuse.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
He laughed once, a harsh sound and leaned back against the headboard. As the sun set on his phenomenal Valentine’s Day, a glint of gold appeared in the corner of his eye. A small red box sat on the nightstand, tied with golden string. He carefully opened the package, revealing a single dark chocolate in the shape of a rose.
Marius plucked the chocolate from the box and savored the bittersweet flavor as it burst on his tongue.
His Valentine’s Day might have been a bust, but that just meant he’d have to redeem himself at the next opportunity, bigger and better than ever, in true Von Hagen fashion.