Work Text:
Ace unlocked the door of the flat and entered. As always, he was welcomed by a silence stuffed in the flat. No one was waiting for him. It was nerve-wracking. It was already over two months since Ace’s husband Marco was sent on a business trip far away from Ace. Both of them were upset from the decision, but Marco had no choice to raise protest. And it was so soon after their wedding. There were thousands and thousands of kilometers splitting them apart right now.
Ace put the shopping bag on the kitchen counter and began loading the food to the fridge. As he began making noise, their cat Striker woke up from the afternoon nap and came closer to Ace to get into Ace’s way. Striker was the only company Ace had there. And yet he was better than Marco, who was stuck in a foreign country completely on his own. He didn’t even have a colleague there with him.
“Hi Striker, how are we today?” Ace stroked Striker between his fiery red ears. The cat stretched its neck to make Ace stroke it under its chin. Ace smiled and stood up to close the fridge. It was almost time for him to turn on his notebook and prepare for his call with Marco. They used to call each other around 8:30 PM, because that was when Ace would eat his dinner and Marco would be already awake as it was around 5:30 AM in his time zone.
Ace prepared the notebook and started on cooking his dinner, just a simple dish of fried chicken with potatoes and a store-bought salad. When he settled down for eating, a ringtone of his Skype account began ringing. Ace pushed the button and soon Marco’s face filled the screen.
“Hi firefly.”
“Good morning, birdbrain.” They greeted each other. Ace giggled as Marco frowned. Marco hated that nickname, that’s why Ace kept using it.
“How’s Prague today?” Ace asked him. Marco sighed.
“The weather starts to be warm, but still is cold as fuck, especially in the morning. Can’t wait to be back at Los Angeles.” He answered. Ace knew Marco was not exactly fond of winter and so he was not very pleased when he was told he’s going to spend his winter and spring in the middle of Europe, far away from the warmer climate of their home in Los Angeles. Ace chuckled.
“Well, work hard then, so you can go back soon.” He winked at him.
“I’m trying. The system those guys here used previously, was completely different, I have to basically teach them how to operate it from the very beginning. Feel like a teacher sometimes. Not an easy job, though.” Marco rolled his eyes. It was really tough to teach people how to operate something when half of them didn’t even speak English and the rest was not fluent enough. They had like two or three people there able to communicate with him. But what could he expect when this was not an English speaking country?
Ace chuckled. His husband was rarely annoyed, so it must’ve been very frustrating for him. He took a bite of his chicken.
“And what do you have for breakfast?” He noticed a steaming cup of coffee next to Marco, but nothing more. Marco reached for something behind his laptop and soon Ace could see half-finished plate of scrambled eggs with ham and an oddly shaped bread spread with – is that honey?
“What’s that? Not the eggs, obviously!” He added before Marco could tease him. As if Marco could see right through him, he chuckled and picked up that bread-like thing.
“This? This is called jidáš. A traditional type of bread baked here on Easter. A colleague baked it for me. Interestingly it’s supposed to look like a hangman’s rope. Didn’t quite catch why it’s supposed to look like it. But it’s good. It’s basically a sweet bread and I was advised to try it with honey.”
“Interesting.” Said Ace. He didn’t know much about various types of bread, but since Marco liked to try lots of odd food, he already saw quite a large number of interesting dishes. “Well, I am having just a chicken with potatoes and salad. Nothing special.”
They talked for about an hour before Marco had to leave for work. They were still talking while Marco was calmly collecting his things and putting them into his bag. Then they said their last goodbyes and Marco disconnected the call.
This was the hardest thing for Ace, not to look too sad when they were about to end the call. Not to repeat over and over how much he missed Marco. Not to bring it up too much, because he knew Marco couldn’t change the decision of his higher-ups. And so he smiled every one time to encourage Marco to work hard. But as soon as the call was disconnected, sometimes tears forced out of his eyes, sometimes it was only the emptiness, that filled him. He felt so alone, especially after their call. Striker nuzzled his nose to Ace’s arm on the couch’s armrest. Ace picked him up and hid his eyes to the soft cat fur.
---
Those days repeated over and over. Sometimes Marco called earlier, that was when he wanted to do some steamy things, but usually he was so tired, he looked half-asleep while talking to him. It was clear that he worked very hard indeed. The time passed and the day of their wedding anniversary approached. Ace didn’t dare to bring it up, because it was more than obvious, that Marco won’t be able to return until then. It seemed there was some national holiday at Marco’s, and he would at least have a day off. Ace wanted to ask him to spend more time on Skype with him so they can celebrate. But as soon as he received an apologetic message saying, that Marco can’t call him, he knew he missed his chance. Well, Ace could just ask him the next day.
The next day, the empty spot in their bed was even more painful. Ace was longing for some body heat that would assure him, that he wasn’t alone. But not even Striker was there as the cat was usually sleeping in the pet bed near the heater.
He had no particular plan for today. Going to work, having a dinner, calling Marco and going to sleep. What a nice celebration. So he was not that surprised, that somewhere around the time he was supposed to leave work, he got a message from Thatch, asking him to go grab some drink with him and catch up a bit. Since he didn’t have anything better to do and the call with Marco was scheduled much later, he accepted.
And so he was now on his way to the park near the bar they used to visit. Thatch stated he needs to go outside more and so he offered to meet at said park and have a beer while enjoying the blooming flowers. Ace was not so fond of this Thatch’s supposed romantic side, but it’s been a while since he went outside, like really outside. The park had some nice Sakura trees, and he could maybe spend a minute watching them. It would be even nice to stop at that place, since it was here him and Marco had their first date.
Ace entered the park and glanced around him. This year the blooming sakuras were especially beautiful. The pinkish leaves were decorating not just the trees, but also the way in front of him. Ace took a breath to smell the rich scent of the flowers and slowly walked to the meeting spot, a bench deeper in the park.
He turned left, the last turn he had to take to get to that bench, but as soon as he turned, he froze. On the bench, there was sitting a very familiar person. Though it looked nothing like Thatch. Ace widened his eyes. That can’t be true. Suddenly there were no Sakura trees around him, there was no path under his feet and there was no scent overpowering his nose. The only focus was directed onto the person in front of him. It was Marco. His Marco. His handsome husband, who was now shining brighter than the pink flowers surrounding him. He still didn’t notice Ace and so his face was turned away, but Ace could never mistake that blonde tuft of hair and that purple shirt Marco liked so much. Suddenly, Ace couldn’t wait a second and broke into a run, to get to Marco as soon as possible. He almost reached Marco, when the other turned to him and Ace could see those blue irises staring at him with a sweet smile underneath.
“Marco!” Ace almost jumped on Marco, wrapping his arms around his torso. His eyes automatically filled with tears. He couldn’t believe Marco was here. He was hugging him.
“Hi Ace. I missed you.” Whispered Marco into Ace’s ear. Ace tightened the embrace. Marco pulled out a bit and caressed Ace’s wet cheeks.
“I missed you as well. So- s-so much.” Hiccupped Ace with a cry. Marco smiled and finally kissed him.
---
They had a lot to catch up, so they decided to just buy some takeout and spend their evening at home.
“How come you’re here? I thought you still have work there.” Asked Ace, when they went out of the restaurant with their food. Marco laughed.
“Well, it’s not like I finished there. I have to go back in a couple of days. But I worked hard to get a bonus and combined with their national holiday and a weekend, I managed to snatch some days off to surprise you. I missed you like crazy.” Admitted Marco. Ace nodded. It was a huge surprise indeed.
“But how did you convince Thatch to help you to drag me out?” Wondered Ace. Though Thatch was a romantic soul, he was not exactly easy to persuade. Marco had to pull out something really powerful.
“I promised him a date with one of my colleagues. I know who he has a crush on. And that bastard owes me a favor anyway.” Chuckled Marco. Right on time, because they’d just reached the door of their home. “But enough about Thatch. Now I want you to focus solely on me.” He threw a seducing glance on Ace and opened the door with his keys. Not long after, the poor Striker, napping on their bed, was banished from their bedroom.