“I like listenin’ t’ ya talk about the stars.” Markus complained, glancing over at Nikolas and biting his lip to keep from smiling. He’s adorable, holy shit. “‘S cu-uh, nice, seein’ a side o’ you I never used t’ get to see.”
My Other Half // PRIVATE with Crocs
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Nikolas, letting his guard down again, grumbled in fluent Greek, his old and usually well-hidden accent slipping through a little bit, thickening his voice by a tiny amount. "Fine, fine. Since you want to see me nerd out, I'll start out with how stars are constantly fighting against themselves. Its gravity pulls it inwards, pressuring the star to collapse in on itself, while light pushes back and keeps it from doing just that. The more light, the bigger the star."
Markus’ smile grew as Nikolas continued to talk, glad he’d convinced him to keep talking about the stars. Even though he hadn’t been able to say it was cute, he definitely thought it was. “Huh. How do the stars get more light? Or are some o’ ‘em just like that? And do they explode when they collapse in? What happens if the light out plays the gravity, if that can even happen?” A lot of questions, sure, but Markus did like learning.
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Nikolas hummed and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "I'll answer you in order and tell you if I don't know. Stars naturally produce light through nuclear reactions, so I'm assuming they can get more through more reactions. Different stars collapse differently. Some smaller ones, like the sun, shrink down and create a heap about the diameter of Earth, creating a white dwarf star because of the small size and the white-hot heat generated by the collapse. However," he leaned his head forward in emphasis, keeping his gaze on the road instead of Markus because he knew he would start to geek out even more—and, of course, to avoid crashing, "stars about five times the size of the sun don't collapse so neatly. The outer layers of the star are ejected into space and create a supernova explosion. After that, all that's left is a collapsed star called a neutron star."
He licked his lips slowly, thinking about the last question. "That last one is a tricky one. It depends on the size of the star, which is up to about seven times the mass of the sun, reaches its red giant phase—when the star expands to hundreds of times its size—that's when the core will have enough pressure to make a bunch of reactions with helium and halt its collapse. The core is essentially where the light is coming from. Uhm, the helium eventually disappears and the star gets rid of most of its mass, which creates a cloud of material called a planetary nebula. The core of the star cools and shrinks until all that's left is a small and hot ball called a white dwarf, which doesn't collapse against gravity because pressure and electrons and blah blah blah. Anything larger than that explodes in a supernova."
Markus listened with slightly wide eyes, an attentive look on his face as Nikolas talked about stars. Though, to be honest, he caught himself paying a bit more attention to the boy speaking than the words being spoken, watching his facial expressions and the way his eyes lit up every time he got to talk about stars. Markus knew he sounded like a broken record, but Nikolas was absolutely stunning when he got this excited.
Smiling softly, he arched a brow as Nikolas finished, nodding. "Tha's a lotta facts. Good t' know, though. Never know when that shit comes in handy."
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"Trust me," Nikolas said with a laugh—a small one, but rich instead of breathy, his real laugh, "It only comes in handy when you want to show off." He didn't notice Markus's attention, almost afraid to look over. He didn't know what he would see. Maybe he'd see the other boy judging him behind his back, or maybe he'd see something else—he didn't really want to find out.
"Showin' off is fun sometimes. And it's comin' in handy now, ain't it." Markus pointed out, his smile growing just a bit. "'Cause ya can talk t' me. Ain't that much, but it's somethin'. An' I'm glad t' listen." He said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, hunching just a bit. Relaxing in Nikolas' presence.
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"Good to know I'm not boring you to death," Nikolas said with a chuckle, risking a glance over at Markus. How rare was that smile? Incredibly rare, that's what. And it was directed over at Nikolas, and it was making him freak out. He quickly looked away, spotting the familiar trees that led to the dirt and abandoned road veering off into the trees. He slowed down and turned onto the road, now keeping a closer eye on his surroundings.
"Takes a lot to bore me, Niky." Markus said with a small laugh, turning away to look out the window at their surroundings. Testing out the nickname, and making sure Nikolas really was okay with him using it. "We close?" He asked, unaware of Nikolas' slight panic.
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Nikolas bit the corner of his bottom lip when Markus used the nickname and the laugh that followed. This was different from the way he had throw it into Nikolas's face before. He was okay with this, and it made him smile softly. "Yeah, we're close. Just another minute."
"Good. Gettin' kinda antsy." He joked, wiggling just a tiny bit as though proving his point. His own antics made him snort, and he shook his head. "So, who all have ya taken out here? Who's seen the mystery Spot belonging to our mysterious Nikolas?"
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Nikolas laughed softly at Markus's joke, quickly glancing over at him to see him wiggling around. "Uhh, Tess knows about it but never wanted to come, twins don't care, and I've only ever had one official date there." He shrugged, then scratched the back of his head almost sheepishly. "No one's really interested, and I'm not hugely keen on taking a bunch of people here."
One official date. Markus, curse his traitorous mind, found himself wondering what exactly it would be like to go on a date with Nikolas. "How could anyone not be interested? Accordin' t' you, it's the best place to see the stars. Sounds like reason enough to me." He said, trying to cut off his own thoughts and get rid of the red rising to his cheeks.
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"Not everyone is interested in them like I am, nor are they interested in spending extra time with me." He shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me. I'm not exactly the most lively of people." He glanced over at Markus with a quirk of his lips, looking away too quickly to notice the growing red to Markus's cheeks. "I'm a night owl, so I'm up when people are sleeping."
"I'm interested in spendin' extra time with ya, if that counts for anythin'." He muttered, hunching his shoulders and facing out his window as his blush deepened. "I think I kinda accidentally made myself a night owl. Crammin' for tests and assignments t' keep teachers and foster parents off my back. Night's peaceful, if you're in the right environment, too."
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Nikolas nodded slowly, focused on the road ahead as he made a turn, slowing down even more. "I appreciate it," he murmured with a soft smile, glancing over at Markus again. He reached a clearing, and the road stopped, forcing him to come to a stop as well. He wasn't deterred, however, simply shut off the car and got out. "We're here," he announced with a bright grin, leaning down to peek through the open door so he could talk to Markus.
Not far off from where they were parked, there was a treehouse perched in a great tree, the rounded deck on the opposite side overlooking a lake perfectly reflecting the clear and starry night above. Owls chanted their songs, bats chittered and fluttered about, fireflies floated around like little moving lanterns. Real lanterns hung from multiple branches of the giant tree, as well as some of the neighboring trees. Deer paused in their grazing to bound away into the trees, snorting and huffing their annoyance.
Nikolas strode over to the clearing right before the staircase, head tipped back to look up at the brilliant moon above, his silver and fog-free eyes seemingly glowing. Out of any place, this is where he looked at home, in the wild, in the light of the moon's gaze. His thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his jeans, his eyes darting around to silently identify each cluster of stars.
It was honestly like something out of one of those fairy tales Lily liked reading and making fun of. Markus found himself slightly awe struck as he looked around the clearing, climbing out and pausing to let his eyes catch on every new thing, including the incredible tree house. If there was one thing his eyes caught on and refused to leave, though, it was Nikolas. Markus had seen him slowly beginning to relax, but he had never seen him quite like this.
He looked at home. Peaceful and not worried, like he belonged nowhere in the world but in that clearing right there, and Markus was so glad he'd decided coming with him was a good idea. "Beautiful."
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Nikolas turned to look at Markus as if forgetting he was there, a light pink to his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned so that he was partially facing the other male. "Uh, yeah, here's my home away from home. Found it a while back and decided to spruce it up. Took a bit to get it fixed and remodeled, lotta money and lotta things to hide… I'm, yeah, I'm just gonna shut up now." Nikolas shut his mouth when he realized he was starting to ramble, slightly nervous for some reason.
"It's uh, it's nice. Real nice. Kinda magical." Markus said, flushing as he looked away. You just called him beautiful. Maybe. You're lucky he didn't notice. "You ain't gotta shut up. I like listenin' t' you talk about things ya like. You get all happy." He said, voice soft as he spoke, eyes on everything around them.
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"Yeah, well, I'd rather not blab right now." Nikolas walked over to Markus and smiled softly as he hooked his fingers over the collar of Markus's shirt, starting to walk backwards. "C'mon, the inside is even better—especially the balcony." He spoke softly as he tugged the other boy along with him, not moving his gaze from Markus's face as he slowly walked backwards towards the staircase.
Markus blinked as Nikolas grabbed his shirt again, almost stupidly letting him pull him along. His eyes flickered around, from different points on the other boy's face, to his eyes, finally. "Ya put a lot o' work into that, huh. Ya fixed it all up yourself?" He asked, tilting his head and pretending he wasn't blushing furiously.
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Nikolas smiled at the blatant blush on Markus's cheeks, biting his lips at what that could mean and too try and hide said smile. "Yeah, I worked on it alone. Gave me a good excuse to have some me time." He turned around when he knew the steps were coming up, his grip slipping from around the other male's shirt to around his wrist, his touch light but insistent as he started to climb the stairs. "Call it a pet project."
From his shirt to his wrist, and Markus wasn't sure it was a step up for his poor heart, which was beating just a bit too fast. "I get that. Kinda like…my boxing." He said, nodding. "So, ya spent a while workin' on this alone. What can I expect from Niky's mysterious and amazing tree house?"
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Nikolas chuckled softly as he led Markus up the stairs, then let go of him to unlock the door. He unearthed the key from between two boards in the wall of the tree house, fingers nimbly finding it without even needing to look. The door swung open, and a cozy living room lit by battery powered candles greeted them. It was different from his usual silver and black, instead a warmer and earthier color scheme, topped with an electric fireplace.
"Oh, wow." Markus breathed, stopping just inside the doorway to look around, that same innocent awe softening his features. His eyes caught the electric candle light, the same they had in the kitchen earlier that day. "Hard t' imagine this is a treehouse, and not some fancy cabin or somethin'."
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Nikolas shrugged and stood off to the side, hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans as he watched Markus carefully. "Year or so of on and off work. Most of it was in pretty good shape anyway, so I just have to polish it up. Dunno who originally built it or why. I use it as an escape of a sorts. Sometimes spend a few days here on my own." He looked around with a small but fond smile, a breathy chuckle huffing through his lips. "Sometimes gets lonely, but it's away from the usual crowd."
"I don' blame ya. I'd spend forever here if I could. Get away from Elise, and enjoy the quiet and comfort." Markus said, still looking around. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, shoulders slumped just enough to make him look even softer, despite his height. "It seems like the perfect get away."
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Nikolas studied Markus in silence for a few beats, noting how soft the taller boy seemed to look right then. Nikolas finally spoke, his voice quiet but still noticeable. "You're welcome here whenever you want," he murmured, not looking away from Markus as if challenging himself to not shy away, "I can show you where the key is 'nd other stuff."
Markus blinked, eyes finally meeting Nikolas', everything about him still looking soft. "Ya ain't gotta do that, Niky. 'S your place. I'm just glad ya invited me here at all. Feels kinda like somethin' I should treasure." He said, giving Nikolas a soft smile.
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Nikolas shrugged and jerked his chin to indicate the place. "I don't use it as often as I should, and you seem to need an escape more than I do. I'm serious, Markus, you're free crash here whenever, no need to ask." He glanced out a window, then made a noise in the back of his throat, getting excited once again. He strode over to Markus and lightly gripped his wrist, pulling him up a spiral staircase and into the single room upstairs, which happened to be the bedroom. A balcony overlooking the lake led from the set of double doors, and Nikolas brought him outside onto the balcony. "This is what I wanted to show you," he whispered, forgetting about his lingering grasp as he gazed out.
The lake acted as a mirror, perfectly reflecting the night sky above and creating a wide and beautiful expanse of stars framed by darkened trees. Not a single thing disrupted the water.