Work Text:
It wasn’t the first time Marcus opened the door only to find John standing there.
Each time it was different,an invitation for tea,a discussion about work ethics,help with how to talk to a superior who underestimated you at a job without coming off as rude.All those things were the main reasons that John had knocked on his door,but this time it was different.
It was raining heavily outside,the weather forecast had promised a dark night full of clouds but that was typical for New York weather.The street lights surrounding the large house created just enough light to see a few meters in front of you when walking on the side walk,and they also did a great job on highlighting the best features of the man standing at Marcus’s door.His long black hair was now soaking wet and in his eyes,something that always bothered the older man but something the youngest refused to change.His leather jacket had enough droplets falling off of him as if he was another raincloud,something that also bothered Marcus since he had just finished his winter deep cleaning and was not looking forwards to getting his floor wet again.And he wouldn’t even dare look at his shoes,he knew they would be the worst out of everything.He observed John,his face making a strange grimace as if he was unexcited to see the younger man at his door,which both John and him knew that he really wasn’t.
Marcus hadn’t seen John in over a week,which worried him because the younger man would often end up at his doorstep at any chance given.The bags under his eyes explained it all,he’d been having sleepless nights.
John’s eyes were desperate,he needed something,needed to let something out of him.They looked at Marcus in a familiar way, a way that he knew meant that the younger man needed advice,not something he hasn’t dealt with before but Marcus felt something different,something new in his expression.
“If you get any of the carpets wet I’m not letting you in again”
he said with a stern voice in a manner that sounded a bit as if he was annoyed,which he wasn’t,he enjoyed the younger man’s company wether it got his brand new carpets dirty or not.
John’s eyes moved a bit scanning the man in front of him from up to down,his dark but somehow soft gaze almost hidden behind the hair in his face.Marcus moved out of his way so he could walk through and John got the memo.He stepped through the door quickly before feeling a hand on the back on his leather jacket pulling him back.He froze,not wanting to make the wrong move to offend or threaten the older man,even tho they were close John still felt like he needed to give the right amount of respect to the other,specially since he was in is house.
Marcus pulled John towards him.It was quite and only the squeaking of the gripped leather and John’s shoes against the floor was being heard.The hand gripping the back in his jacket slithered up from his neck to the back on his head and pushed it a bit to look down.John was like a puppet on strings,unwilling to do anything else.
“Slippers”
John’s heart felt relieved,as if the weight of anxiety had been lifted off his chest.
“I’m not letting you in without slippers”
the stern voice behind him spoke again,this time he didn’t feel the older man’s warm hand on the back of his wet hair and he quickly changed his shoes into what the man requested.
He could see in the edge of his eyes a figure walking away towards a different section of the house and he quickly rushed behind him,hopping on one foot while attempting to get his left slipper on trying not to loose Marcus out of his sight.He’s been in this house more times than he can count but the walls decorated with Victorian paintings and the tall ceilings which seemed endless confused him to this day,and the last thing he wanted was to stumble into a room he wasn’t supposed to go into.
John quickly followed the older into what he usually recognized as the living room.But it wasn’t a living room that Marcus invited everyone in,only for his closest friends.He kept his business out of his personal life.This living room was decorated in a way that fulfilled all of Marcus’s interests: taxidermized butterflies of all colors,trinkets from different countries of his interests and paintings of local scenery that he took the time to create himself.John was captivated by the sight of the room every time he entered it,and to Marcus it was entertaining to see the young man gush over his paintings every single time.
John spotted a familiar armchair in which Marcus always sat in,it’s dark green color blending in with the rest of the decor.Marcus had made sure to turn the chair so it would be sitting at the corner of the coffee table,that way he can have more leg space and be able to place things on it.John knew he could sit anywhere he wanted.If you were allowed to enter this room it was guaranteed that you’d be allowed to sit anywhere you wished.He quietly walked over and sat cross legged by the coffee table on the carpet parallel to the chair.
Marcus sat on his signature armchair a few minuets later after placing down two glasses with a clear-ish brown liquid in them on the coffee table.John picked up the one closest to him and was ready for the stringing flavor of alcohol to hit his tongue but he only tasted sweetness.His expression changed into a very confused one and he looked up at Marcus with frowned brows.
“What happened to serving your guests drinks?”
He really meant it as a joke and meant no offense.
“This is a drink”
Marcus smirked and took a sip from his own crystal glass.
“You know when I say drink I mean a proper drink,like alcohol”
John felt a lot more comfortable now,he leaned back against the bottom part of the sofa dragging his glass with him and balancing the arm holding the glass on his knee.
“Ice Tea is a proper drink”
John rolled his eyes at that.He knew the older man loved to joke around and play it smart.He reached into his pocket with his empty hand and pulled out a small tin box of mints.He leaned forwards towards the table placing his glass down and the box and using his now free hand to open it.
“John I’ve taught you better than to snack on mints with a drink-“
His playful expression quickly turned into a judgy one as he saw a very badly rolled up blunt and a neon green lighter which John had definitely bought at a cheap corner store.Marcus’s eyes moved from the tin box to John’s face which had a “I’ve done nothing wrong” expression plastered on it.
“You know your face looks so innocent but you sometimes make me reach my limit”
John knew he really didn’t mean that,and so did Marcus.It was just another way to go along with it and making the younger one feel happy but at the same time scold him a bit.Marcus placed his own glass on the table and grabbed the cigarette and lighter and lit it as if it was the most casual thing ever.
John was taken aback by the sudden action,he watched the older man take a long drag into his lungs and then place the cig into an ashtray and releasing a big long sigh.
“One of the guys at work gave it to me for “my first time””
he desperately tried to explain himself before he got into any trouble,which he knew he wouldn’t but his childhood instincts kicked in instantly.
“I’m not scolding you.You just never know what could be in there,specially since it’s foreign”
John frowned a bit at that.He remembers telling Marcus that he’d be away in Japan but he didn’t expect him to connect the dots like that.He moved to get the blunt wanting to taste it before it went to waste.He had smoked a cigarette before,so the feeling wasn’t that different,it just wasn’t something that he was used to so his body let out a few soft coughs a few times.
John took another long drag before letting his head freely hang a bit as if his neck felt heavy.He stretched his arm with the blunt out towards the older man waiting for him to take it out of his hand.Marcus complied and gently picked it off of him and took a few puffs.The older man crossed his legs and sat in a more elegant position before deciding that it was far too uncomfortable.His silk robe didn’t lay as nice as he thought it would so he just accepted his fate and spread his legs comfortably and stretched them out in front of himself with a loud sigh.
John lifted his head up and leaned into his hand that was placed on the coffee table,his body feeling heavier than ever.He looked at Marcus who seemed like he was already floating in the 8th dimension.
“So you know how I went on that small trip right?”
John entered the dangerous waters of this conversation carefully,introducing the topic lightly to the older man.Who seemed out of the world right now.
“uuh huuh..”
Marcus mumbled
Jesus that hit him a lot more that it did me,John thought.
“And I was assigned to lookout for a guy while he was attending a meeting with a manager?”
He spared him the details because Marcus had already been informed about all of that by John as soon as the younger one found out he was going overseas.Which led to a very long conversation about professional etiquette.
“uh huuuuuuuh..”
“Well I met this guy there who caught my eye”
His eyes trailed towards his glass,he wasn’t sure what he was feeling.And he certainly wasn’t sure what Marcus would think.Although he was been okay with the fact that John had experimented before he wasn’t certain how the older man would take the news of him having new feelings for someone,specially for someone at a very high professional level.
Marcus very quickly lifted his head up from staring at the ceiling to face John, who sure as hell now had sweat through all of his clothes and made them wet again out of nervousness.The man in the chair handed the one on the floor the blunt quickly and hit the back of his armchair with force,almost sinking into it, but then quickly straightening his posture and moving his hands around dramatically in a rotating manner before he spoke.
“So what you are saying is that you might…like him?”
There was a pause.A long silence between the two men.”Like” could mean anything,but he hoped that Marcus got the point.John stared at Marcus waiting for him to say something because he looked as if he still had words hanging at the edge of his tongue and Marcus stared at John waiting for an answer.
“Ye-“
“John you’re gay?!”
“No…”John’s brows furrowed with confusion “Marcus you’ve seen me with women before”Which was true,he had announced to Marcus that he was dating a nice girl outside of the criminal world a few years back but that sadly didn’t last long.
John felt the weed hit him a lot more now,a wave of confusion washing over him.Now even he couldn’t figure out what was going on.The feeling of anxiety came back again,he knew nothing bad would happen but the fear was still there.
Both of the men sat in confusion just looking at each other.Marcus’s expression relaxed,as he had realized that he might have over reacted a bit.He sank back into his armchair in a more gentle way,observing the younger man with a much softer gaze.A look that indicated that there was nothing for John to fear.
“I’m very interested in him..”
John carefully continued,not knowing if Marcus would be hit with another wave of energy to overexaggerate his reaction.
“..and I’m bisexual.”
Marcus’s eyes stayed put on the man in front of him.Eyes narrow,starring John down as if he were prey.Then his gaze relaxed for the second time,eyes going soft as if he was seeing his child for the first time,as if John was the most precious thing in front of him and he had to show that he cared about him in every way possible.John looked back at him,locking eyes with the older.Time felt slow,as if the universe had stopped moving and they were the only two in motion.He surely was overthinking now.There was no way Marcus would say anything negative from how he looked at John.
Marcus leaned forward,almost sliding off of his chair.He stretched his arm forward and cupped Johns face.He wasn’t a man who got physical often so when ever he did John appreciated every moment of it.
“I’m proud of you,John”
This time his voice was soft,a lot softer then he had ever heard.John could feel his face heat up and his vision go a bit blurry from the tears forming in his eyes,but he knew how to control himself and sustained the urge to shed a few tears.
Marcus pulled away and sat back comfortably,now feeling more confident with crossing his legs.He ran his hand through his hair which activated a chain reaction and urged John to slightly brush the hair out of his own eyes.
“I really thought you would reacted differently”
John’s voice was also soft now,more quite than before.
“I understand how difficult this was for you.The Ruska Roma teach how men and women get together but they never mention the fact that two men can be together”There was a pause as if Marcus was trying to find the right words to form a non offensive sentence.”Not that they’re strictly against that,they just never mention it”
He shrugged a bit feeling confident with what he stated.Marcus was right of course,although John didn’t face any backlash when The Director found out about his past relationship,homosexuality wasn’t a topic they would openly discuss on a daily basis.
The rain outside got worse.The sound of the droplets hitting any surface was louder and John looked at the half curtained window startled by the loud noise.Marcus got the memo immediately.He knew exactly what John was implying when he faced in the direction of any noise,plus he wasn’t about to let the younger man walk all the way home while high in the middle of the night.
“Just don’t get yourself into any trouble I can’t pull you out of”
He moved to stand up from his chair and wobbled slightly towards the hallway,his high still present.John got up aswell and almost tripped on his own feet,something which Marcus chuckled at lightly.The younger man moved his head to face the other acting as if he was offended jokingly.
“I’ll try my best”
John replied with a playful voice while following the man who was already halfway up on the staircase.
He followed him into another familiar room which this time was decorated the way John had wanted,well partly.He had added a few things of his own like the bed sheets or some posters of his two or three favorite bands and a punching bag,but Marcus had a strict view of what a room should have so talking him out of getting the work desk out of John’s room was no use.
John walked into the room before stopping and turning to face Marcus,who was looking at him with the biggest smile the older man had probably ever made.John almost fell on the other from how hard he hugged him.His arms locking Marcus in and making him unable to move.Which Marcus didn’t mind at all,he happily accepted the gesture and patted the others back lightly as best as he could from his current position.John pulled away smiling and the two just looked at each other for a moment,appreciating the loving atmosphere around them.
“Goodnight,Marcus ”John almost whispered like it was some sort of secret.
“Goodnight,John.Don’t leave the window open too much”
John flashed another smile at that and silently closed the door to his bedroom to rest for the night.