"Huh." Markus furrowed his brow in thought. So he's Greek? Or at least knows Greek. Another thing to add to what he was learning about Nikolas. "I'm guessin' this is a nice car? I don' know much abou' 'em, but you are a racer." He commented, eyeing the car. "Looks cool."
My Other Half // PRIVATE with Crocs
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"Expensive as shit though," Nikolas said, walking over to his car and running a hand over the hood, then lightly tapping a knuckle on the roof above the driverside door. "Hop in. It's a bit of a drive, and I'd rather not take all day by walking." Without seeing if Markus was going to follow, Nikolas opened the door and slid into his seat, starting the car. It came to life with a loud roar, the entire vehicle rumbling as it idled and waited to be instructed. As always when he heard the roar of his beast, Nikolas smiled, absolutely giddy.
Markus got in on the passenger side, folding himself just a bit to fit his long legs in as he shut the door. Halfway to buckling, he paused, eyes caught on Nikolas' giddy expression. Stunning. Again, that happy look had him smiling himself, his seat belt forgotten as he basked in the somewhat rare opportunity to witness such a happy look.
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Nikolas didn't notice Markus's attention as he adjusted the heaters, as it was slightly chilly. After a moment's hesitation, he turned on his seat warmer, then connected his phone to the Bluetooth stereo, turning down the volume as the heavy drums blasted through the speakers. "Whoops," he murmured, then glanced over at Markus finally. He rose a brow at him being folded up. "You know you can move the seat back, right? I won't bite you if you do." His lips quirked up, and he bit down on it to keep from adding onto that.
Markus looked away quickly, cheeks flushing even despite the lack of added comment. The idea didn't sound too horrible. Yes, it does. God, slow your roll. "Oh, uh, a'ight." He muttered, searching for the mechanism before moving the seat back as far as he could, unfurling his legs just a little bit. "Elise doesn't like the seats bein' moved, or me in her car at all. Didn't want t', y'know.." He motioned vaguely, hoping Nikolas got what he meant.
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Nikolas waved his hand lazily, going back to focusing on his car. "Don't worry about it. As long as nothing major breaks, you're fine to do what you want in here. I'm not overly protective of her, unlike some other people that have cars like this. I've met people that barely let you breathe on a car the wrong way." Nikolas snorted softly, then captured his bottom lip between his teeth as he put the car into gear, starting to pull out. He happened to glance over at Markus again and reached out, tapping the man's chest. "Belt?" he reminded with a slight smirk.
"Had a foster father like that. Kicked me out the day after he found ou' I got blood on his car. Little fleck on the hood." Markus said, making a face as he looked off out the window. At the tap on his chest, he blinked, looking down at Nikolas' hand. Trying not to freak out over the fact that Nikolas was touching him, he nodded, stuttering out a 'o-oh, yeah.' as he buckled.
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Nikolas chuckled at Markus's reaction to him touching the boy, retracting his hand. How many times had they touched before and Markus hadn't reacted like that? Maybe it was because it was different, or maybe because they were—probably—looking at each other in a new light. Either way, it was amusing to Nikolas. He could simply touch Markus's chest to get him flustered. He focused on the road as he pulled out, reaching up to press the button to close the garage door without even thinking about it. Soon enough, they were driving towards the outskirts of the city. It was dark and empty, so Nikolas took the opportunity to give in to his urges and sped up just a tad over the speed limit.
Markus took the opportunity in the silence to gather himself again, pretending that the red in his cheeks had never been there as it slowly disappeared. He didn't break the silence, just arched an eyebrow as the car sped up more and more. He wasn't complaining, though. While he was no speed demon, it was sort of fun. Nikolas definitely reached speeds higher than this, and just the thought had Markus' heart beating a tiny bit faster. Sounds like fun.
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Nikolas eventually reached a steady speed, fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he hummed softly. He remained quiet as he drove, eyes sometimes darting up to look at the stars and see if he could identify some constellations, though he didn't get much because of his need to keep his eyes on the road. Soon, the buildings gave way to trees, and they were heading into the more forested area. "When did you get put into the system?" Nikolas finally broke the silence, glancing over at Markus as he asked the question.
"Uh…since I was nine? Good eight years." Markus said, after a moment of thought. "Can' remember too much between thirteen and fifteen though. Or too much 'bout my 'rents." He shrugged, like he didn't care much about the latter and had given up on the former. "Bounced around alot, 'cause no one wants a kid from a drug house."
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Truth or usual story? This was probably the first time Nikolas hesitated on what he should tell someone when offering his past. A little bit of both? "I was born in Greece, but I don't remember much. I guess my family went to America and I was put into the system for some reason. I've been in it for as long as I can remember, so I classify myself as a foster baby I've been in it so long. Bounced around from house to house, lived in streets, you name it." Nikolas shrugged. "Had a sister." His voice softened at that, almost sad.
Markus looked over at Nikolas as he listened to him talk, frowning slightly as his voice changed. Hesitantly, he reached out, placing his hand over Nikolas' for just a second before withdrawing it. "Wow. Tha's a real long time, for sure. Even if a chunk o' it was on the streets." Part of him wanted to ask about the way his voice changed, but it wasn't his place.
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Nikolas took a breath, shaking off the memories after going absolutely blank when Markus laid his hand on his. "Yeah, sure was eventful. But it was my life, so I lived it. Not much I could've done anyway." He glanced over at Markus for a quick second before diverting his eyes back to the road. "I'm an open book from now until dawn. Ask me anything and I'll answer honestly," he said softly, dropping a hand to the gearshift between them, now steering with just a hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. He made up his mind. He would tell the truth with Markus, grant him that much.
Markus nodded in acknowledgement, looking out the window as he thought that over. Anything. He would answer anything honestly. Markus had a million questions he could ask, but the problem was making sure they weren't ones that would have answers Nikolas didn't want to give. Ones he would resent Markus for making him give. "Imma start with an easy one. For…for now. When did ya move out here?"
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"Hmm." Nikolas tilted his head as he thought. "Let's see. I moved out here when I was still in the system but almost done with it. So… a year and a half ago? Maybe? I know I stayed because of Tess." He tapped a short rhythm against the wheel. "Time gets away from me a lot of the time." He looked over at Markus with a half-smile. "C'mon, I know you can do better than that. Hit me."
"I don' wanna piss you off or anythin', man." Markus said, shaking his head as he glanced at Nikolas. "Really don' wanna ruin this. So just…if ya don' wanna answer a question, don't. Got it?" With another shake of his head, he geared up to ask another question. "Ya mentioned a sister. What was…what was she like?"
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"Ah, Kaiti." He smiled fondly, if a bit sad. "Helluva fighter, I'll give her that. I… didn't know her long, but it was enough for her, I think. Always knew what she wanted, always vocal about it." He rubbed his thumb over the corner of his eye, then slid up to run through his hair. "Leukemia. Got too far before they caught it and the doctors couldn't help her in time. She was in and out of the hospital for most of her life. I happened to find her after getting admitted—long story—and the doctors found out we were related after taking a blood sample from me. I ended up staying to donate to her. It… wasn't enough. But it helped."
((Kaiti is pronounced KEH-tee))
"Oh." God, did he regret asking. Even with Nikolas' obvious willingness to answer, he still felt horrible bringing up what was obvious not a good memory. And now, for some reason, he kind of wished he could give the other boy a hug. "Shit, man, I'm-sorry I brought it up." He'd seen exactly one person who wasn't an adult die. A foster brother of his who had pissed off a very drunk and very easily angered foster parent, and earned a beating so harsh he was dead by the time the police showed up. "I guess…least now she ain't gotta live with the cancer. Even though she shoulda gotten the chance t' live."
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Nikolas looked over at Markus with a small smile. "I'm glad, Markus. I'm glad it happened. I got to meet my sister, got to interact with her and feel loved for once, even though it didn't last long. The memory might be bittersweet, but I choose to focus on the 'sweet' part." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck with a soft chuckle. "Well, for the most part. Niky. But even then, I'm thinking of making an exception." He didn't think Markus would tarnish the name, not anymore. He was willing to give the boy a shot, if he was going to take it.
“Tha’s why ya don’ like the nickname.” Markus murmured, a look of slightly horrified realization making it’s way onto his face. He had known there was something, but-Stop. You don’t need to flip out again. He knows how guilty you feel. “Are ya-are you tellin’ me I can call ya that anyway? Ya sure about that? Like a hundred percent?”
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Nikolas nodded slowly as if confirming it with himself as well as Markus. "…Yeah. I have…" He ran a hand through his hair, the strands falling over his eye and obstructing his view of Markus, as well as the boy's view of Nikolas's face. "I have a weird thing about nicknames. I'm picky about who can call me what, like I'm afraid someone can ruin a name forever. Tess calls me Nico, and she's the only one. I'm fine with Nik because it's pretty common of a thing for people to call me." He shrugged, fingers curling and uncurling around the gearshift, thumbnail tracing an invisible line. "I know how you feel about how you used the name, so I trust you to not–I dunno, mess with it." He huffed a breathy laugh. "I make it sound like this precious thing."
“Kinda feels precious.” Markus said softly, carefully avoiding looking in his direction. “But yeah. I won’t fuck with you. Not-not anymore. I still feel like shit for doin’ it before.” That was definitely a promise. It felt sort of like a second chance, and he wasn’t about to fuck it up by being stupid. He’d cherish the opportunity.
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"We both do," Nikolas murmured, falling silent for a bit. Then he shook his head, briefly taking both hands to comb through his hair to fix it with his knees pressed against the wheel so the car didn't swerve. "Moving on to something less depressing…" he prompted, kinda liking the small Q&A between him and Markus. It felt nice to be able to share things about himself with someone, besides the usual 'interesting fact' about himself that new schools always went through.
Markus hummed thoughtfully, brow furrowed as he thought about more casual questions to ask. “A’ight then. Let’s go for a stupidly cliche question, that I think I already know the answer to. Favorite color?” He shot Nikolas a lopsided grin, knowing the question was stupid but trying to lighten the air just a bit.
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Nikolas looked over at Markus as he returned his hands to their previous spots, mimicking Markus's grin with one of his own. "Hot pink," he said instantly, then decided to add onto it for some harmless fun. "It's such a vibrant and universal color, like, I could totally match it with my purse Chihuahua with its totally cute tiara." He didn't last long before he fell into a fit of soft laughter. "Okay okay okay, I'm done. That was horrifying. Nah, it's blue, more like a really deep and rich blue."
“Hey, I wouldn’t knock pink if I were you, mister.” Markus warned, trying to muffle quiet laughter with his hand. “‘Specially around Lily. Even if hot pink isn’t the best color, I wouldn’t say pink is the worst. Your blue sounds like one worth seeing though.” He added, nodding appreciatively.
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Nikolas squinted one eye as he leaned back and looked up at the sky through the windshield. "If you catch it just right, the night sky has that color. Or, if you'd rather something lower, then go deep diving. You'll be surrounded by it." He then flashed a crooked grin, a spark in his eyes. "And I wasn't knocking pick, only the posh stuck-ups st school that don't know what the word 'no' means. There's a difference, Markus," he added with a wink, then returned his attention to the road.
“Fair point.” Markus said, huffing a small laugh. Small or not, the laugh still managed to light up his features exponentially. If anyone knows what no means, it’s Lily. Feel kinda bad about not being able to go to that thing with her… Pulling himself out of that train of thought, he pressed his cheek against the window to look up at the sky. “It’s more black righ’ now, but it does get that color right after sunset, huh?”
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Nikolas hummed a yes, flipping his hand over to knock a knuckle against the gearshift. "But at least with the black, you can see the blue stars." Nikolas then blinked and curled his nose, the action almost adorable with the way his entire face seemed to squint. "Okay, now I really need to shut up about that. I'm starting to sound like a huge nerd that has no life outside of that. Please change the subject."