All Is Hell That Ends With ‘Fair’(Closed ~ One-on-One ~ Rated a possible M)

“I’m sure, sweetheart.” Marcus replied, hoping to at least throw the other off with the pet name. Anything to get him unfocused and away from the mess that dared to bubble and-

“Oh your dad!? You better take that.” Marcus encouraged but the worry and concern behind his eyes was easy to spot. “Be careful.”

Cyrus flashed him a slight smile, but it did not conceal his worry.
“Hello? Yes, I’m out for a couple of nights. Yes- I- I texted you about it? What?”
“I have work for you.”
“More menial tasks, or…?”
“Oh, it’s real work, my boy. Drop by tomorrow, and I’ll give you the assignment.”
Cyrus frowned. “I understand. I’ll be there. Need anything else?”
“Yes. Where have you been?”
Cyrus gritted his teeth and paused for a second.
“Oh, that? I got blackout drunk last night. Took basically all day to recover. Someone at the bar took pity and let me sleep on their couch.”
Lazarus scoffed, but Cyrus couldn’t tell for sure whether it was from amusement or contempt.
“Well, anyway. I’ll be here, waiting for you to drop by tomorrow. You’d better have yourself stone-cold sober and perked up by then, or we’re going to have more problems than we already do.”
“Yessir. I’ll be there.”
“Good. See you then.”
“Bye,” Cyrus said tensely, and then the phone hung up.
He leaned his head back. “Okay, that wasn’t so bad.”

Marcus tried his best to be there for Cyrus without eavesdropping. He didn’t want to listen in, just in case he wasn’t supposed to know something that came up. Marx always made sure he didn’t listen, it was a habit by now.

“Is everything alright?” He asked gently, flexing his fingers. “He didn’t get upset you’ve been gone for so long?”

“It’s not as bad as it could’ve been,” Cyrus muttered, “I think he’s upset and saving it for when I’m there, though. But he says he has work for me. I think he wants me to perform a hit.”

“A hit…” Marcus slid his hand into Cyrus’s, glancing up at the others face as if to make sure that was alright. “Be safe, alright? I’ll be very upset if you don’t make it back here.”

“Yeah, I’ll try. It’s usually pretty easy. Depends heavily on who the target is, though.”
Cyrus gently squeezed Marcus’ hand back.
“I hate killing. I don’t even know how I have the guts.”

Marcus fave a weak smile up at Cyrus, gently hugging him. “I believe you. I don’t like to kill either… but it’ll all be alright, love. We’ll find a way out.”

“Yeah… um… I’ll go to receive the assignment tomorrow. For now, I can stay with you,” Cyrus said, “After I do the job, hopefully the old man will be in a better mood and I can tell him I’m leaving.”

Marcus looked up at Cyrus, trying to read his expression. He knew exactly what it was like going home to a father who harmed you. He bit his lip, thinking over everything that had happened over the past day. It felt like some sort of dream that would vanish if he blinked for too long.

And yet that fear and doubt still grabbed at his heart. "You do really want to stay, right? I don't want to force you into anything, you know." He pressed a small kiss to Cyrus's cheek, his face drawn down in a frown. "He won't hurt you either if you stay with me?"

“He’s going to hurt me either way,” Cyrus replied, “I’m thinking the distance would make things better, though.”
He sighed.
“I want to stay with you, as long as you’re truly okay with it too.”

"I'll help you if he hurts you. You helped me and I want to return the favor." He mumbled quietly, clinging to the other tightly. "I'm more than okay with you staying. I want you to stay with me. I like your company and I really like your warmth. You make me feel good and safe and happy and I want to do the same for you."

Cyrus smiled and nodded.
“You’ve been doing the same for me. I’m glad I’m able to provide that for you as well.”
He shifted away from Marcus, not conscious he had done so. Cyrus shuddered a bit as thoughts started running through his head. How much different what he experienced was from the marks he’d seen on Marcus.
The blunt, brute force of one-sided fistfights, the shattering of glass over his head. The screaming matches… And the occasion where he would get stabbed and have to scurry off to his room to tend to his wounds, fighting back cries of pain.
He could only hope things wouldn’t escalate like that this time.

Marcus almost instantly let go of the other. He knew better than to test Mar- this was Cyrus. Not Marx. He knew that. They felt different, acted different.

He watched the other’s face for a moment, narrowing his eyes. “What’s on your mind…? Want to go cuddle and talk about it?” He asked softly, tugging nervously at the baggy shirt he wore.

“I don’t know what I need, but cuddles wouldn’t hurt…” Cyrus replied, “Honestly not feeling great, but it’s just nerves, you know?”
That was a fucking lie. Sure, he was nervous, but it ran so much deeper than that. He reached out to hold Marcus’ hand.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Just nerves huh? Let’s go cuddle then. We can clean up later.” Of course he could tell it wasn’t just nerves. It never was. It was pure panic. It was tendrils of never knowing if you’d make it out alive again. It was the sting of words and the pain of being so unloveable your own father hurt you.

“Don’t worry about it. Not your fault.” He interlaced their fingers, staring at their hands. Marcus didn’t know why the sight brought a wave giddiness to his chest or why his face heated up at the idea of cuddling. He was starting to grow crazy. That or he was probably sick.

Sick in the mind for sure.

Marcus tugged on Cyrus’s hand, attempting to lead him to the bedroom. “Let’s cuddle. It’ll make some things better for the meantime.”

“Y-yeah. Okay,” Cyrus replied.
He was starting to feel quite tense and irritable, and a little short of breath. Cyrus tried to do some breathing exercises to relieve the tightness in his chest, but it didn’t do much.
Cyrus stood up and went to the bedroom again with Marcus.

Marcus slowly pulled Cyrus into the bed, moving slowly for the other. He let Cyrus move at the speed he needed to, remaining almost completely still for the other. “It’s going to be okay, Cyrus…”

Cyrus pushed his head into Marcus’ chest, taking slow breaths.
“Yeah… I… This is a lot honestly. It’ll be okay, but…”
He snuggled a little closer.

“It is a lot. You have a lot going on, love. Just take a moment to relax.” He murmured, running his fingers through the other’s hair with a soft loving smile. “You don’t have to be okay, either. It’s alright to break down or feel bad every now and then. It’s human.” Marcus nearly snorted at those words. He was such a hypocrite. But they were words he was sure Cyrus needed to hear. “You can always come to me, too. If anything happens let me help.”

"I know… and- and thank you…"
Cyrus placed his hands on Marcus' waist. His body was so tense that his shoulders and back ached, and the tension kept his chest muscles from relaxing enough to take a deep breath.
"I hate this so much… I hate it, I hate it…" he whispered.

Marcus gave a soft nod, letting his eyes slip closed for a moment. He continued the soft touch to Cyrus’s hair, hoping that would help the other to relax.

“I know you hate it. It’s alright… it’ll all be okay.” Marcus let his hands slip down to run slow circles into Cyrus’s back, trying to soothe the tense muscles there. “I’ll help you through it. I promise.”

"O-okay…" Cyrus whispered.
He let out soft breaths against the other's chest, trying to keep calm.
"Alright, alright… It's going to be alright… I'll just get it over with tomorrow…"

“I’ll be here all day tomorrow. Once you’re done you can come back if you’d like.” Marcus pressed his face against Cyrus’s neck, his ginger curls still slightly wet from the shower he had taken.

“Everything will be okay.” He murmured gently, pressing a soft kiss to the other’s neck, rumbling in comfort. “I’ll take care of you, Cyrus. I like you.”

"I like you a lot, too," Cyrus murmured, his voice raising a bit when Marcus' lips brushed against his neck, "And I'll come back. I'll let you know how it all goes, and hopefully I can move in here sooner rather than later."

“Mm I hope you can move in quickly. You’re a great cuddled.” He mused, cracking a weak smile up at Cyrus, pressing another teasing kiss to his neck. “But in all seriousness, I’ll be here every step of the way. I’ll help you move in. We might need to buy another bed or a bigger one as mine is a little small…”

"It'll do for the time being, at least," Cyrus said, "I'll help buy whatever else we need as soon as we figure the exact arrangements out."
Cyrus shuddered at the next kiss to his neck.
"Marcus, you gotta stop that. You're getting me all hot and bothered…" he muttered teasingly.

“It’ll be alright. I have enough. Your payment can be your company.” Marcus was serious. He had large amounts of money deposited into his account by none other than Marx himself. One benefit of being Marx’s fuckbuddy was the payoff. All it cost was his mental well-being…

Marcus let the thoughts drift away as Cyrus spoke again. A giggle left the small male’s throat as he pressed more into Cyrus’s neck. “Stop what~?” He asked innocently, letting his lips brush against the other’s neck. “I’m only giving you soft affection.” Marcus kissed him again, letting his tongue dart out teasingly against the soft skin of Cyrus’s neck.

"You know exactly what you're doing," Cyrus laughed, kind of squirming away, "But anyway… you're sure? I don't want to take too much from you."
Cyrus shifted his hands up to cup Marcus' face, partially to keep him from teasing him any further, and partially so he could look into the other's eyes.

“Mmm maybe I do.” He teased, giggling as his face was grabbed. He hummed sweetly, eyes softening as they took in the handsome features of Cyrus.

“Of course I’m sure. I really really like you, Cyrus. You’ve made me feel twenty times better by just being here with me.” He purred as he leaned into the other’s hands.

"Alright, then," Cyrus replied, his face softening up a bit.
He wasn't completely relaxed by any means, but the cuddling and talking with Marcus was at least doing a very good job of distracting him. Cyrus leaned in to kiss Marcus on the lips.