plaguedrat: (No!)
Rat ([personal profile] plaguedrat) wrote2015-04-20 10:14 pm

Too much to believe, too much to deny, you fool me again to quiet my pride

He'd stubbornly avoided the city's latest mischief. Any glimmer of glass or crystal had sent him walking in the opposite direction, determined not to get involved. Didn't want to see his future, didn't trust destiny or fate or any preconceived future.

But lately it seemed as though the damn things were following him. The more he walked away, the more Rat found the glinting spheres in his other directions. Apparently, they had a message for him.

"Fuck you," he muttered, even as scooped the stone into his palm.

Grey. Grey back but his rat tattoo nowhere to be seen. Grey who lounged by Curtis, exchanging lazy kisses with the devotion he used to think he would enjoy forever. Now he had no interest, no memory of Rat. All he wanted was Curtis.

Curtis pinning Grey to the bed with his good arm, forearm across his shoulder blades, marking him up with bites. Kisses. Fucking him.

Rat, unloved, alone.


Snarling, Rat threw the crystal aside. "It's not real."
pontmercyfriend: (Heavy)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-22 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
He can tell by the way Rat pronounces 'nothing' that something has, indeed, happened. The other man is visibly upset; his body folds in on itself like an animal trying to shield itself from the edges of a cadge. Marius approaches slowly, taking care to keep some distance between them so as not to seem as though he's encroaching on Rat.

He glances again at the crystal tossed off to the side; such a seemingly innocent object, yet clearly capable of causing much pain, if Rat's expression is anything to go by.

"What did you see?" He asks, quietly. He won't make the man talk if he doesn't want to, but he's not going to leave him alone.
pontmercyfriend: (Listening)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-23 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Reminder?" He asks, keeping his voice calm and even as he speaks. Rat seems to him as brittle as a branch in the wake of winter; vulnerable, and prone to snapping at any moment. Still, he doesn't back away; instead, he gradually inches closer, tilting his head to gesture the abandoned ball. "And you're certain that what you saw in that is the truth? Not an illusion designed by the city to mess with your head?"

For his own part, his stomach knots every time he so much as looks at the ball; he's heard the rumors, of course. Of stones showing people various possibilities of their fates. So far, he's been able to avoid seeing them for himself. This one, of course, seems to have cornered Rat.

"Do you want to be alone?" He asks, stilling for a moment. He wants to reach out and pull the other man in for a hug; he wants to hold him and keep the loneliness at bay. He doesn't want to cause Rat discomfort; he also wants Rat to know that he's not just going to go away. He knows full well what he feels for Rat. Perhaps, in the Paris he left behind, some version of himself is with Cosette - married to her by now, probably. But himself, now - he isn't that person, and he's not going to forget Rat anytime soon, on a whim or otherwise.
pontmercyfriend: (Serious)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-24 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
"No one should have to be alone," Marius says. Solitude, he knows, is its own poison; he once clung to it, in protest against his grandfather and as a way to hide from the rest of the world. It proves a solid defense, sure enough, for a time. But even the most well-built defenses crack. He wishes he could get Rat to see that. "Remember myself? What about myself do I have to remember? I know who I am." Who he is is leaning against the wall next to Rat. And he's not going to leave, even as the man's next words sting.

"People," he replies, voice quiet. "We're two, lonely people who found solace in each other. I didn't think we were trying to fool anyone."

He folds his arms across his chest as he keeps his gaze on Rat. "You know that for certain?"
pontmercyfriend: (Heavy)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-24 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Likely, Rat will actually shove him away for what he's about to do. Or punch him. Or both. But Marius, once he catches the glimmer of tears fighting their way through on Rat's face, doesn't pause to consider the consequences. He reaches forward and grasps him by the face, his touch warm, but firm.

"This damn city likes to hurt us like this all the time," he says, never tearing his eyes away from Rat. "It likes to torment us with possibilities, like with these crystal balls, or it likes to remind us of our past by giving us objects from it."

"That stone showed you what it wanted you to see," he says. "That doesn't make it the truth."
pontmercyfriend: (Daydreaming~)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-25 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Marius keeps his hands sturdy around Rat's face, holding him with a certainty he wants the other man to feel. He can see and feel the tension in his expression; he wants to soothe it, to assure him that he's not going anywhere. Briefly, quietly, his thumbs stroke over the corners of Rat's cheeks.

"I'm not going to see it because I am going to show you that you deserve to be loved," Marius replies, his voice determined, yet still soft. Leaning in closer, he rests his forehead against Rat's. "No matter how long it takes."
pontmercyfriend: (Listening)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-25 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, I do barely know you," Marius agrees, keeping his grip on Rat's face steady as he continues to brush over it gently with his fingers. His heart aches at the tightness in Rat's voice; he wishes he could do more to soothe the man's obvious hurt.

"But I want to know you," he tells him. "And I want you."
pontmercyfriend: (Heart full of love)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-25 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Marius feels Rat's tears as they fall; his moves his thumbs to start wiping them away. He moves one hand to start stroking through his hair, trying to radiate tranquility, peace.

He lets out a shaky breath as Rat's forehead drops, nose brushing against his own. For a moment, he just breathes with him, letting their closeness wash over him.

"Come home with me," he offers, voice barely above a whisper. "Let me make you tea."
pontmercyfriend: (All the little lights)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-26 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
He stays still, holding Rat up as they lean together, letting him cry as much as he needs to. His own heart aches, seeing Rat, usually composed, collected Rat, fall apart in this way. He moves to nuzzle him a bit with his nose, slow and gentle.

"No, tea won't fix it," he says, looking directly into Rat's eyes. "But it can help, even just as a brief distraction."
pontmercyfriend: (Heavy)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-27 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Marius, as someone who generally tends to sport his emotions openly, through fraught hand gestures, outright crying, or just letting words spill out of him like wine, feels the intensity radiating off Rat next to him. He might not understand keeping one's feelings so close to the chest, but he certainly knows the aftermath of losing oneself to tears, the way it drains a person dry.

"I live in Dimera," he tells him, bringing one hand around to pull Rat closer to him and to stroke through his hair. "I know a short cut from here; it isn't too far."
pontmercyfriend: (A young man in love)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-27 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
"Good," he says, letting his thumb brush across the back of Rat's ear briefly as they remain like that for a moment or two. "It's not too far, I promise."

He moves to help the other man up, moving his arm to around his shoulder to keep him steady. If Rat wants, Marius is prepared for him to lean on him the entire journey to his apartment.
pontmercyfriend: (Meandering)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-28 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Marius keeps his pace slow and steady, well aware of Rat's exhaustion by the way he carries himself, head low as he slouches forward. It looks to Marius like a defensive stance; he aches to see the other man in such a state.

He takes him down a narrow side street, much how they used to build roads in Paris. It's filled with shadows and garbage, and, truth be told, it's one of Marius' favorite routes for how much it reminds him of home.

He glances down when Rat's hand bumps against his; he doesn't even think when he reaches out, taking Rat's hand in his.
pontmercyfriend: (Looking forward)

[personal profile] pontmercyfriend 2015-04-29 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
Marius lets his thumb stroke across the back of Rat's hand briefly, as they walk. He knows, from past experience, that he shouldn't pour himself so readily into caring for another person. But from the warmth that radiates between their entwined fingers and the way he yearns to help Rat take his mind of the stone, Marius knows, without a doubt, that he is already in deep.

"Actually," he mentions, relieved to hear the familiarity of Rat's sarcasm. "I was thinking of mine. Only without the parade of gamins."

Not funny, perhaps, but true enough.

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