Work Text:
It was two-thirty, in the afternoon, on a day that was somewhat gloomy but far from messy. Marco liked to think that days like that, where the clouds hid the sun and the rain was clogged for another day, were meant to inspire him to put words to a page and type endless streams of sentences, held together by stringy syntax that was sewn together to form a strong plot. Those days always got him to go further in his story.
And he would have succeeded—"would have" being the key words in this particular situation—if he hadn't been disrupted by the clacking of paws on the hardwood floor and the rumblings of his boyfriend in the living room.
Marco got off of his bed and took a peek at the couch, and he found Jean piling pillows on the couch and shooing their shih tzu, Mimi, away from his handiwork. There was no particular structure to his placement, but it still seemed important that he had his space.
"Babe?" Marco called out, and Jean glanced at him over his shoulder. He couldn't help the amused smile that crept on his face at the complete bewilderment on his boyfriend's face. "What are you doing?"
Jean gently placed Mimi off of the couch, and she trotted over to her other human. "Nothing," he replied. His voice was curt and covert, clearly reluctant to give away anything about his plan.
Marco bent down to pet the dog's head, but still kept eye contact. "You have five pillows taking up the entire couch."
"Six pillows, thank you." Jean dug around in his manmade pile to show off yet another pillow.
Marco snorted and stood up straight again, sighing at his boyfriend. "Jean, what are you trying to do?"
"I already told you it's nothing." Taking the blue fleece off of the back of the sofa, Jean wrapped it around his shoulders and burrowed himself underneath the mound. He whistled once, and Mimi returned to him and hopped onto the pillow, smiling and panting now that she was welcomed back.
"I thought you hated her."
"She's my best friend. Sorry, you've been replaced with a dog." Mimi leaned up to lick his cheek, her tail waving furiously behind her.
Marco laughed, more of a bark than a genuinely amused sound, and returned to their bedroom to finish writing. "I thought you were only into tall girls, not furry ones."
"And I thought you liked cooking products, but you're still dating me, jackass."
"I should break up with you for that lame joke!"
The banter quieted down after a few minutes, and Marco was able to return to his writing and peaceful silence once again. After three pages, however, he heard another commotion, though quiet, from the living room once again. Mimi's claws tapped on the floor, but in a more frantic way akin to her excitement for walks in the park. He knew it wasn't that, because Jean was whispering "you dumb dog" and "Mimi, no, don't chew that" every now and then. And hearing "go to Marco" was especially enticing.
It took another minute, and Marco acted busy so that he at least sounded oblivious, before Mimi appeared at his feet. She was smiling and hopping up on two legs to see him and receive pats for being a good girl, and he gave her that wish and then some. He noticed the folded and somewhat crunched-up piece of paper under her collar almost immediately, indented with a damp ring and some bite marks to boot. While doting more to the greedy shih tzu, Marco unfolded the paper and scanned its content.
to: freckled human
from: shit poo
re: cuddle with me
freckled human,
come to the living room.
The command, in Jean's familiar scribbled handwriting and insult , was complete with a tiny dog paw at the corner and a sloppy heart.
Marco withheld a sigh and stood up, and was barely out in the living room before a crumpled ball whizzed past his head. Mimi chased after it immediately, with a happy bark at the sudden game of fetch.
Marco narrowed his eyes at the couch, which only had a flop of ash blond hair and sharp amber eyes poking out from the mound. "Was that necessary?"
Jean sat up straight to scoff at him. "Yes!" Mimi returned to the living room, ball of paper in her hand, and stood in front of him. "Go to Marco, dummy!"
"Don't yell at the dog, Jean." A single whistle from him and Mimi came scattering over, eager to deliver her prize to him. The note had the same format as the other, but it was more obviously a message from Jean.
to: freckled loser boyfriend
from: your hot boyfriend
re: cuddle with me pt 2
loser,
come fucking cuddle me dammit
ps: take off your pants
"Really?" Marco finally asked, glancing over his glasses at the dork he called a boyfriend.
Jean huffed and burrowed further into his pile of pillows and a cozy blanket. "Mimi thought it was a great idea, not me."
Although he wanted to chide him for his ridiculous antics, Marco couldn't deny that spending time beside Jean, in his weird fort-like creation, sounded great. There were no pressing matters—the next few chapters weren't due for another week—and it wasn't nice enough outside to leave the apartment. And the look in Jean's eyes at the lack of an answer—the impatient waiting, the inevitable wait of a denial, the fear that he had actually bothered him—started to well up.
Instead of using words, Marco used actions. He slid off his pants, put aside his glasses, and he tucked himself inside of Jean's waiting arms.
As soon as Jean wrapped his arms and the blanket around him, he was encompassed in warmth and the scent of his boyfriend from all sides. Mimi joined them, huddling behind their entwined legs for her own special spot. Marco nuzzled into Jean's shoulder, giving a single chaste peck to his neck before settling against him. Thin, lithe fingers entwined into his hair, and a deep, content sigh came from above. He couldn't help but chuckle at Jean, even if it earned him a flick to the back of the head.
"Are we just going to lay here?" Marco asked.
"Yes." The answer was immediate.
"And do nothing?"
"Yes."
"Why couldn't you just ask me that before? I would have said yes."
"I was setting the mood, dammit! Jeez, you're so fucking picky. Can't even do something nice for my ungrateful ass of a boyfriend."
Marco was able to silence him with a kiss to the corner of his mouth, an easy tactic that always successfully stunned his boyfriend into silence. Only now, the gesture was returned and accompanied by a smile that would only ever be for him.