Chapter Text
Martyn had a serious problem.
“What do you mean I can’t go?” Martyn demanded, glaring at his roommate in disbelief.
“I mean, you can’t go.” Scott repeated simply, crossing his arms and standing firm with his statement. “You brought this upon yourself, Martyn.”
“Okay, just because I was the only one home does not make it my fault.” He huffed, slumping back in his chair with a pout.
Scott didn’t grace him with a response, instead staring him down in a way that only Scott could. It was his signature ‘I’m not taking any crap’ kind of look. The one only he used when he was angry at Martyn.
It was entirely Martyn’s fault, he will admit that. Never out loud and especially never to Scott of all people. So what if the oven only heated half as fast as before? At least he didn’t fully break it.
It wasn’t like he expected Scott not to get mad at him, that was always a given with any stupid idea he conjured up. Though, most of the time he even went along with the ridiculous plans. Even that time that Martyn decided to get a part time job as a stage mermaid.
That was an interesting few months, but Scott supported him. Was he mercilessly teased by his roommate the whole time? Obviously, but supported nonetheless. There were a few times when Martyn royally messed up and had to properly fix it.
Like now was one of those times, but why?
“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Martyn grumbled, not looking Scott in the eye. “I’ll pay to fix the oven, I’ll even fix it myself! Why can’t I go to the showcase with you anymore?”
The local University’s Biannual Fine Arts Showcase. An event that the city hosted to give the art students a chance to show off what they’ve been working on during the year. Martyn absolutely loved it, being an art major himself; plus, gave him the chance to dress nicely without needing an excuse.
It was the one event that made Martyn believe that the world wasn’t an all out bad place. Since Scott was an alumni of the school’s theater program, he usually got three free tickets for himself and two guests. He usually took Jimmy (his boyfriend) and Martyn himself as his roommate and best friend.
And here he was, refusing Martyn of happiness because he was upset.
“The big deal-” Scott slammed his hands on the table, half standing up out of his chair to glare down Martyn. “-is that I don’t care how sorry you are or if you’ll fix the thing. I’m tired of you being so reckless all the dang time!”
“It’s not all the time!” Martyn defended, but Scott wasn’t having it.
“Of course, you’re so right.” He mocked, standing up fully and stomping towards the door. “It’s only every two weeks now instead of one! How could I be so forgetful?”
“Where are you going?” Martyn called after him, standing up but not quite yet following his upset friend.
He didn’t get a response, Scott ignoring him in favor of pulling on his shoes and shrugging on his jacket. Patting down his pockets, he pulled out his phone to do something before roughly shoving it back.
Martyn felt a flash of annoyance at Scott. Reaching forward, he grabbed ahold of his roommate’s arm to stop him from walking out the door.
“Scott.” Martyn demanded, not asking anything directly, but his question was clear.
Scott took a long, deep breath, answering in a clipped tone. “I’m going to Jimmy’s to get ready. I don’t care what you do but I really don’t want to see you right now.”
Martyn could only stand in stunned silence as Scott wrenched his arm away and walked briskly out the door, leaving it to slam shut behind him. The sound that resonated left a feeling of dread in Martyn’s gut, possibly just losing the only friend he ever had and his one chance at happiness.
_
A couple hours before the showcase was set to begin, Martyn had been busy wallowing in his bed when he got a call.
His incisive ringtone wailed at him, making him cringe at its volume as he picked up, not bothering to look at the contact name before doing so.
“Hello?” He asked, a bit more monotones than intended but having no energy to put any emotion into it.
“Hey Martyn!” Skizz greeted, in the way that only Skizz could, a seemingly endless amount of cheerfulness.
Skizz was another friend of his, not as close as Scott, but still a good friend. They had met during college and Martyn had always viewed the man as some sort of angel. He constantly seemed to make miracles happen, as if he had magic.
“I heard from a certain bird that you aren't going to the showcase tonight?” He asked, though clearly already knowing the answer.
Martyn sighed, wanting to dig a hole and lay himself in it. He figured there was a reason for the call.
“Your ‘birdy’ would be right, Impulse I assume?” Martyn guessed, knowing it could only be one of two people.
“Got it in one. How you feeling? I heard you got into a fight with Scott.”
Martyn groaned, standing up as he began to pace the foot of the bed. “I don’t know what to do.” He admitted. “I want to apologize to Scott, but he doesn’t want to see me right now, much less listen to me.”
“What about the showcase?” Skizz questioned. “I know you were really looking forward to it. Didn’t you already have an outfit too?”
“Well yeah, but…” He sighed defeatedly.
Skizz was right, he had been really excited to go to the showcase. He spent months trying to save any money he could to get a specific outfit. He would take extra shifts and cut where he could. Scott had tried to help him as much as he could, eventually storing the outfit in the trunk of his car so it wouldn't get damaged in the war zone that was his closet.
The car that Scott had driven to Jimmy’s house, which was half way across town.
“Even if I wanted to go, I couldn’t. I have no way of getting there, no ticket to get in, I don’t even have proper clothes to wear! As much as I want it, I can’t.”
Silence, then Skizz hummed, most likely nodding to himself as he did so when he had formulated a plan. A brief rusting of fabric on his end, and a simple question came through.
“What size shoes do you wear?”
Martyn paused his pacing, thrown off by the sheer randomness of the question. “Huh?”
“Just answer the question man.”
“Eleven and a half. What-”
“Great! I’ll be there in ten minutes, see you soon buddy!” Skizz cheered, the line going dead after that.
Martyn brought the phone down from his ear, staring at his lockscreen. He blinked once, twice at it.
What the hell just happened?
_
True to his word, Skizz was at his door ten minutes later, a large box under one arm and a garment bag in the other.
“What’s happening here?” Martyn asked, looking the beaming man up and down.
“We’re getting you to that showcase!” Skizz exclaimed, setting all the stuff in his arms down on the small dining table.
“What, Skizz, how are we supposed to do that? I already told you-”
“I have it covered!” Skizz interrupted, beginning to take smaller bags out of the giant box.
Martyn huffed in disbelief, “What are you? My fairy godmother?’
“Right now? Absolutely.”
Well Martyn couldn’t argue with that logic.
_
Turns out, Skizz was absolutely his fairy godmother.
“Where do you even have the money to do all this?” Martyn gaped, staring at disbelief at the sheer amount of effort Skizz had put into the whole ordeal.
Skizz shrugged in response, adjusting some of the ruffles on the clothing. “Perks of being the heir to a family business.”
The ‘perks’ included the man being able to get an absolutely gorgeous green outfit that matched his eyes on such short notice. It was way better than his original outfit he was going to wear. He even had proper shoes to wear rather than his old sneakers.
“Are you sure this is okay? I know it’s extremely short notice and I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Martyn asked.
Despite how dream come true it was for him, Martyn didn’t want Skizz to be in any sort of trouble because of him. Luckily, he just got waved off.
“Nah, as long as you get back before midnight we’ll be okay.” Skizz informed.
“Sure, any particular reason?”
“Well, do you want Scott to know you were there? He’ll be back around one so you need to be home and in bed before then.”
Martyn nodded, understanding. He did not fancy Scott knowing he would be at the showcase and he would like to prevent that.
“Makes sense. One more question?”
“What’s up buddy?” Skizz hummed, adjusting the outfit more.
“Why did you get me a dress?”
_
Turns out Skizz had also gotten him a limo, which looks so freaking cool. He had never seen one before, so the first twenty minutes of the car ride he spent ogling every little detail of the vehicle.
In addition to the dress– which was much more comfortable than Martyn had thought it would be– Skizz had also provided a matching mask.
The theme for the showcase was hidden treasures, ergo meant they made it a masquerade.
He arrived to the event late, but that didn’t stop him one bit from being excited. Walking into the hall was like walking into a fairy tale castle. Glittering high ceilings, people in fancy clothes mingling about, and the best thing of all: food tables longer than the eye could see.
Despite the strange, slightly disgusted looks he received, Martyn spent the first ten minutes of him being there shoving his face full of food.
Unclassy, sure but sue him, he ate instant noodles most days. There was so much food, he didn’t mind to indulge himself a bit.
It was when he was finishing up his fourth tiny cake, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, wondering who in the world would talk to him. Had Scott recognized him? Was it Jimmy coming to tell him off? Instead, he turned around and nearly choked on his cake.
Martyn was gazing upon a prince, there was no explanation as to why this man was so handsome. Long, shiny brunette hair that was tied and tossed over his shoulder. Bright blue eyes that reminded Martyn of the sky gazed at him from behind a sparkly red mask.
All Martyn could do was blink while this mysterious man who smiled kindly down at him.
“You are quite beautiful, would you care to dance with me, milady?” He asked, an accent from somewhere Martyn couldn’t place. He held a hand out expectantly, but didn’t yet move to touch him.
Martyn tries to answer, at least get himself to say yes, but all that comes out is, “I’m a man.”
The handsome stranger, thankfully, did not startle in any way. Instead, he simply laughed, something akin to a bark, and took Martyn’s hand to slowly begin leading him to the dance floor.
“Well then good sir, allow me at least one song?” He asked, putting them in position to begin a waltz.
Martyn could barely nod before the music started and they were off.
He could never be more eternally grateful that Scott had taught him how to do a proper waltz. Late nights when they had first moved into their apartment, barely any furniture so there was much more room to move around in. He could remember the faint music coming out of his phone speaker as Scott led him through the steps. It made his heart ache to have his best friend back, but he pushed that down for now.
After all, no need to make himself miserable when the man of his dreams was right in front of him.
There was something about dancing in the proper setting that made him realize how truly beautiful it was. Sparkling lights dancing with them high above their heads, dozens of couples moving in sync, the swooshing of dresses as they twirled, and the music becoming one with dance.
It helped that his dancing partner seemed to be seasoned. A hand on the small of his waist, the other guiding him confidently through the steps. Every time he twirled or dipped Martyn to the music was careful, immediately pulling him close once up right.
He doesn’t know how much time passed, hours and minutes blending together into repetitive four step movements. Losing himself in the atmosphere deprives all his senses except for his partner.
It wasn’t until the music fully stopped did everything come back to him in slow waves. His breathing, slightly panting from all the movement. Then, the slight ache in his feet from how tight his shoes were. Finally, hands in his, soft and gentle as they led him back to the food table closer to the drinks this time.
Martyn looked up, meeting the gaze of whom he just danced with.
“What’s your name?” He asked as the other pressed a glass of water into his hands.
“My name?” He chuckled softly, leaning against the wall and smiling at Martyn. “Ren. Ren Lycan.”
Ren, this handsome man who danced with him was named Ren.
Ren.
Ren.
The name seemed to revererate in Martyn’s head as he slowly drank the water. It was a very pretty name, and Martyn found himself struggling to stop thinking about it. It seemed one dance was all it took for him to fall head first in love with a stranger.
“Does the fair man have a name?” Ren asked, a smooth tone carrying a hint of humor with it.
“Me? I’m-” Martyn made the mistake of glancing at the clock and his heart nearly dropped.
The clock hands signaled a minute away from midnight.
Oh, oh Martyn needed to leave. He needed to leave now.
He quickly shoved the glass of water into Ren’s hands, gathering up the front of his dress and giving him a hurried wave. “I must leave! It was wonderful dancing with you.”
“Wait!” Ren called after him, but he was already gone.
He could hear the man calling out behind him as he ran, but he didn’t turn to look. He had no time if he wanted to make it back home on time.
Martyn ducked and weaved through people, hurried apologies coming out of him as he barrelled on. As he ran down the front steps, he nearly tripped, the mask covering his face coming loose in the process. He ripped it off, holding it in his hand as he continued to run.
“Wait, please! Can I at least know your name?”
Maybe it was from his adrenaline, maybe it was because he was tired and still slightly light headed, but he turned around fully just as he was about to get back into the limo to look at Ren.
The other had also taken off his mask, even more handsome without it. Distinct features that were going to be burned into his memory. Blue eyes that stood out even in the dim light of the area.
Martyn couldn’t help but smile at him, heart beating a mile a minute as he threw his own mask at the man. He watched as Ren caught it, bewildered.
Quickly getting into the car, Martyn rolled down the window as it drove off. “Find me again, will ya? I’ll take you out for coffee!” He called out, waving as Ren watched him leave.
On that night, as the clock struck midnight, a prince had found his other half and could only watch as he was whisked away from him with nothing more than a darkened image in his mind and a mask in hand. Ren smiled, face flushed and heart set.
Once he found that man, he would marry him.