Work Text:
Damien wakes to a lightning storm thrashing outside the window.
His eyes blink lazily, but the noise doesn’t bother him in the least. He welcomes rainy days—there’s always been something so calming about the pitter-patter of it, the coziness that blankets the city after a dry spell.
He looks down at where he’s curled around his district attorney, sleeping soundly in his arms. Their ages-old face always looked so young whenever they rested. Damien thinks it’s the only time that they can really, truly let go of all their troubles, of their burdens.
Thunder rumbles again. The attorney shifts slightly, but not enough to wake. Damien rests his cheek on top of their head, absentmindedly stroking their shoulders.
He tries going back to sleep, but it’s difficult. He managed to fall asleep as soon as he and his attorney were finished with their…nighttime activities…but now that he has woken up, it seems like the drowsiness has evaded him.
The clock on the table reads 3:55 AM. He huffs a sigh and mentally runs through his schedule for the day.
He has to be in the office in four hours. Around 9 AM, he has meetings that run until noon. The rest of the day is dedicated to driving around the city and inspecting all of the different areas that need his attention. It’s going to be a long one, but at least the party will be something to look forward to in the evening. Like his attorney said, it’d be nice to see Mark again.
The thought of his friend puts a heavy weight on his mind.
It’s been a few years since Celine ran away with William. Damien didn’t know that anything was transpiring between the two; anytime he asked Mark how they were doing, or anytime he tried approaching Celine, they had always shrugged it off.
Damien didn’t realize how much they’d been fighting. How they were throwing things at each other, screaming obscenities and insults at one another. He only saw when he and William had come to the house when the spouses had been in the middle of their biggest fight and William, in an attempt to prevent Celine from getting hurt, had just taken Damien’s sister away, leaving Mark in shambles and cursing out his adoptive brother.
There was love there, once. Damien had been wary of their relationship since its conception, but he had always supported them, no matter what, even when Celine had started pursuing occult practices and Mark rose to fame as an actor.
He hasn’t talked to his sister since the incident. He wonders if she’ll be at the party.
Mark, he’s heard even less from. Ever since Celine left, he’d holed himself up in the manor, never stepping outside, not even taking on any roles or projects. He was a recluse in the public’s eye, and even some of his more determined fans didn’t seem to know what happened to him.
The district attorney, at one point, had marched up to the manor every single day for three months. They’d left food, groceries, things that Mark needed to keep functioning. Benjamin always met them at the door, and he always said the same thing, sadly,
“I apologize, but the master is not feeling well today.”
The district attorney cared a lot about Mark. In college, they both had a bond that not even Damien could break. They were inseparable—thick as thieves. Mark was more of a best friend to the attorney than he ever was. Their dynamic changed only when Celine and Mark got together.
They never said anything, but the change in his friend’s demeanor was palpable.
To his knowledge, nothing romantic had ever transpired between the two. He’d asked the attorney, once.
Something sad and dark passed through their eyes, but they shook their head vehemently. “No. Nothing’ll ever happen between me and him.”
And that was that.
Damien supposes that falling in love with the attorney was something that couldn’t be avoided. They were gorgeous. They were full of life. Personable. Easy to talk to. You could go to them with any problem and they’d give you solid advice. They’d never bullshit him.
They were kind, too. Attentive. Considerate. Encouraging. Even when the attorney had bad days, they never failed to think of others.
Falling in love was both gradual and quick. There was a pull to them that Damien couldn’t shake, and there was nothing else in the world that would have made him stray away. “Ride or die,” they had once said, taking his hand and bringing it up to their lips. “You’ve stuck with me this far. I’ll stick with you in the days to come.”
He was actually surprised when the attorney was the one to approach him with their feelings. It made Damien elated—he’d been harboring something for them for years, and to hear the attorney return it…
It’s a shame, however, that they have to keep their relationship a secret. Regimes have survived on less, but a scandal regarding the most well-liked mayor in decades and a promising newly-elected district attorney would have sent the media for a spin. Damien’s family was affluent and powerful. Word would have gotten out that the attorney was only able to get the position because they were connected to his family, and no one would have taken the time to acknowledge his friend’s hard work, to consider the other side of it all.
So this is what they have settled with. A house that they share, but none of their family members or their friends know. Damien debated on whether he should have told Mark or Celine, or William, for that matter, as they were all within the circle to know, but he secretly liked that this was theirs. As much as he would love for their relationship to be public, it just wasn’t feasible.
The attorney sleeps soundly against the raging storm. Damien gently kisses their temple, and they snuggle further into his hold.
In the morning, he will go through his routine, and in the evening, he will meet with the rest of his friends at Markiplier Manor. He will have a good time with old friends, and he will finally face Mark after a year of silence. And who knows what might happen? He and the attorney might be able to tell their friends the news of their relationship.
Life is theirs to choose, after all.