Thankfully Saturday turned out to be an uneventful shift and the sleepy little town didn't seem to mind that their map security went to work with one arm in a sling. Hargrove was good enough to pick him up at home too for their shift, and as promised, when their shift ended, Marcus went to pick up some food from the supermarket and would make them both dinner for his partner's troubles.
"Hope you like steak," Marcus said, deciding to having gone with the easier choices. He could make nice authentic cuisine from most parts of the world, but it was probably a safer choice to go with something an American boy would be comfortable with.
Nothing happened throughout their shift and the day had dragged until they were finally ready to clock out and head back to Marcus' so that Billy could fill him in on what had actually happened in this crazy ass town.
"Steak is good. Steak and booze is a great way to end the day."
Marcus grabbed some potatoes and vegetables to be their sides, and figured
the rest he got at home already. These he threw into the basket Hargrove
carried for him. "Grab anything you want to add," he said on their way to
the check out. "Last chance to grab beers if you want any," he said as they
went down the fresh produce section.
Billy changes his mind and does grab a six pack. He also throws in a bag of potato chips too so that he can snack when he starts to feel anxious instead of picking at his nails like he usually does.
"Nope, that's all," Marcus said, paying with a credit card made to his new
name. It was a good identity that he had set up, a reason why he became the
Sinnerman in the first place, for those unbeatable connections.
"Let's get rolling and I'll have dinner started."
Marcus' new place was just a simple bungalow with rustic decor. Most of his
furniture came with the place when he bought it, with very few personal
touches around except a very large, and very encompassing rock collection.
They were on nearly every surface, windowsills, banisters, shelves. "Come
right in," he said, "Thanks for carrying the stuff."
Billy stays quiet while Marcus pays and carries the groceries back out to his car with ease, waiting until Marcus is buckled in to follow his directions to the man's place.
He whistles when he walks in; his own place is far less decorated -for reasons that he doesn't want to look into- and he likes it. "Nice place. You have a thing for rocks, huh?" Billy places the groceries down on the bench and leans against it, smirking at the other man.
"They're unchanging, and survive through time better than anything the
world has seen. I've picked them up from places I've been to," Marcus said
as he indicated for where to put the groceries.
"Take a seat, dinner shouldn't take too long." Even one handed he handled
the cooking easily, not asking for help much. It was simple, steak and
baked potatoes with a side of vegetables with a little spice.
"Right. You sound like you should be working in a museum." Billy sits and watches Marcus work his way around the kitchen. Even with only one arm, he seems to have no issue with his task and Billy just enjoys watching him work, cracking open a beer for the both of them and placing one within Marcus' reach.
"Thanks," Marcus noted when he saw the beer. "Food should be ready soon."
He was finishing up with the steaks as he spoke, the sides already done and
plated, cooked to perfection and with some secret traditional recipes that
seemed simple but he picked up over the years. "Medium rare alright for
your steaks?" he asked as he started on the second one. Just a few minutes
and that should be done as well.
The kitchen smells amazing and Billy is enjoying watching Marcus work. There's no denying that Marcus is an attractive man and Billy is a red blooded man who knows what he wants and Marcus is definitely on that list.
If the man doesn't bail the moment Billy tells his story because he thinks the blond is a nut case.
True to his words, for was served in a few minutes and two large portions
were set on the table. "Eat up, there's more sides of you want seconds," he
said, settling down across from Billy. He already cut up his own portion,
making it easier to rest eat with one hand.
"So..." Marcus said as they got settled with their beers and food. "You
wanna tell me what happened here?"
"Thanks." Billy stabs a potato and eats it in one mouthful, mostly because it buys him some time to figure out where to start and to make sure he's 100% positive that he wants to open Marcus up to the possibility of Owens and the others finding out he'd been told.
With a loud sigh and after swallowing his food, Billy gets ready to start the story.
"It started in 1983 when a kid went missing and another kid showed up. Y'know that closed down lab? They were... into some dangerous shit and they opened a portal to an alternate dimension and let something out..." Billy goes through what he's been told about what happened to Will and Elle and Nancy's friend B-something and then everything that happened the following year with Will and the Mind Flayer.
He's already several beers in when he gets to the part about himself and it's far harder to tell that part, admitting to all the lives he'd ended and how he'd tried to kill several kids as well.
"When I came to, I was in hospital, the gate was closed and the monster was gone. And that's how I ended up with powers. Some of them were from El the rest... from him."
Whether Marcus believed it or not, it was clear to him that Billy did, and
it affected the young man. Part way through the telling he got up to grab
two tumblers and poured them two shots of whiskey, figuring the kid needed
something stronger than just beer.
"So let me get it straight," he said when Billy was done and looking guilty
like he was personally responsible for killing those people. "There was a
dimensional portal that opened to an alternate world where a thing... mind
flayer, came through and hitched a ride inside of you to make you its
killing puppet. Does that sound about right?" Marcus still couldn't be
certain that it wasn't some sort of mass hallucination from a government
project or hypnosis, but one thing was certain, Billy could move things
with his mind. And with all that he had seen in life, he wasn't ready to
completely dismiss his story either.
He placed his empty beer bottle on the table between them. "Can you move
this?" he asked, less afraid and more curious by what happened.
Marcus gave Billy the time to back out, but in the two weeks following Billy only seemed more determined to be closer, to get to know him more, and Marcus tried to be as open as he could. Except for a few secrets, he answered everything that Billy wanted to know about him, clearly showing that he was jumping into this with both feet.
They both quit their jobs and Marcus sold his place. And in one month, they moved into LA together, a nice location that Marcus acquired that had a great view of the ocean and just far enough from the downtown to be private. It wasn't a cheap area, but Marcus wasn't concerned for the money, and told Billy to not worry about it either.
So despite how Billy had spent a few nights over in the party few weeks, today marked the first day of them actually living together, although everything was still packed in boxes they brought down by Uhaul.
Billy knew Marcus was waiting for him to run but he'd stuck by him and kept asking questions, kept trying to get to know him. Marcus' life had been fascinating and for everything that Marcus shared with him, he shared something in return. He hadn't divulged too much about his mum leaving but he'd been open about his father and the things he'd done to Billy.
The area Marcus moved them to was beyond amazing and their new home was more than Billy had ever even dreamed of.
They'd ordered pizza and gotten beers and they'd managed to unpack a few necessities and set up their bed but otherwise, nothing else had made it out of the boxes. They were sprawled on the couch, surrounded by boxes and Billy felt content.
Marcus was sprawled next to Billy, one arm over the back of the couch and
several of their boxes used as makeshift tables for the two empty pizza
containers. It was quite satisfying, and half a dozen empty bottles stood
on the ground by the corner of the couch.
"Yeah... Yeah I can. Because we're already here. You're here." He smiled,
their couch was currently turned towards the large windows facing the
ocean, and with it only being late evening, some of the twilight purples
and reds were still hanging on the horizon. "Do you think you can live here
for a while?"
Billy sidles on up to press into Marcus' side, resting against his shoulder and encouraging him to pull his arm around Billy's own shoulders. He rests his beer on his knee with a loose grip around the neck.
"As long as I get to do it with you. Fuck I missed the beach."
Marcus didn't get it, what a young man saw in an ancient human like him. In
the few relationships he's had, he told his lovers by necessity when the
secret came out, like they saw him injured, or how he didn't age. But never
had he started a relationship with someone who already knew.
When Billy pressed close, Marcus obliged by moving his arm from around the
couch to around Billy's shoulders, holding him. "I'm not going anywhere."
He rubbed his hand over Billy's shoulder as he said idly, "There's a beach
within walking distance. We can head out there tomorrow and take a look."
If he wasn't so weary of the steps he would have offered Billy a proper
chase, a courtship, the traditional dance that started relationships before
they moved in together... But he only wanted to skip to obtaining
companionship. Maybe living where Billy wanted was his way of making up for
that.
The younger man is more than aware that Marcus still worries about the age difference between them but Billy does his best to reassure him that he doesn't care. Maybe they'd rushed things by moving in together already and in an entirely new city but Billy wasn't bothered by that either. Billy was happy and he hoped Marcus was too.
"Good." Billy presses a kiss to the side of Marcus' jaw and then moves to kiss him properly because he can. He couldn't wait to see the beach tomorrow, to smell the salty air and shove his toes into the sand.
"Do you know how to surf? I haven't surfed in years! Who knows if I even remember how!" He smiles and shifts to put himself in Marcus' lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Thank you. For bringing me here. I can't remember when I was this happy."
Marcus smiled back because with how obviously happy Billy was, it was
infectious. "No," he answered, one of the few things he didn't find
appealing enough to try. "But I heard it's like riding a bike. Once you
know it you wouldn't forget."
Resting his hands on Billy's hips, Marcus was thinking this was getting to
be his favorite position of his lover. It was intimate without getting
sexual, and it was like a soothing balm to his loneliness.
"I'm glad you're happy." He leaned forward to kiss Billy gently. "You
should look into getting some equipment if we're going to be living here
for a while. You'll have plenty of opportunities."
"I was really good. I'd been doing it since I was a kid." It's one of his fondest memories with his mum; the two of them just laughing and having fun on the beach, Neil Hargrove out of their minds for a few hours.
Billy enjoys sitting like this, close and comfortable, the rest of the world disappearing and leaving them alone. Now in their new home with a gorgeous view and the smell of cow shit a distant memory.
"Yeah? Maybe I will. I know where to get a good board too, if they're still open. D'you wanna learn? I've heard I'm a great teacher."
Surfing really wasn't his sort of activity, but Marcus couldn't turn it
down in the face of Billy's enthusiasm. So he smiled and agreed. "Sure." It
was rare enough to find an activity he hadn't learned already, so there was
that. "We can drop by the beach and check it out first to see if it's any
good for surfing," Marcus suggested.
"Have you thought what you might want to do here? What job you want to look
into? Something by the water? Or back in security?" Marcus might be able to
find them something with his connections. But he wasn't sure they would be
doing security in a big city like LA, even the suburbs.
"Sounds good. I can't wait." Billy brushes a hand through Marcus' hair and steals a kiss, making himself comfortable on Marcus' lap again.
"Definitely something by the water. Like a life guard or an instructor or something. I knew I missed the beach but I didn't realise how much until I was back here. What about you? Is there anything you haven't done yet?"
"Nothing that I wanted to try," Marcus admitted, just comfortable with letting Billy's hands roam. He enjoyed it a lot, and always leaned into them even though his own remained steady on Billy's hips to steady him. They roamed when they were in bed, but he kept his hands mainly stationary when they weren't.
"Maybe I could set up a bar by the beach," he said, thinking that might not be a bad idea if Billy wanted to stay near the water. It would allow Marcus to be close to Billy as well, and he hadn't tried tending a bar for a few lifetimes now. "How passionate are you about surfing? Want to make a career in connection with it?"
Billy leans in for a kiss. "A bar by the beach, huh? You'd be a hot bartender." There's a smirk and a wink and Billy kisses him again.
"Like a competition surfer? I don't think I'm that good. But I could teach kids how to surf and it wouldn't be the first time I've been in charge of making sure they didn't drown."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"Hope you like steak," Marcus said, deciding to having gone with the easier choices. He could make nice authentic cuisine from most parts of the world, but it was probably a safer choice to go with something an American boy would be comfortable with.
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"Steak is good. Steak and booze is a great way to end the day."
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Marcus grabbed some potatoes and vegetables to be their sides, and figured the rest he got at home already. These he threw into the basket Hargrove carried for him. "Grab anything you want to add," he said on their way to the check out. "Last chance to grab beers if you want any," he said as they went down the fresh produce section.
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"Anything else we need?"
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"Nope, that's all," Marcus said, paying with a credit card made to his new name. It was a good identity that he had set up, a reason why he became the Sinnerman in the first place, for those unbeatable connections.
"Let's get rolling and I'll have dinner started."
Marcus' new place was just a simple bungalow with rustic decor. Most of his furniture came with the place when he bought it, with very few personal touches around except a very large, and very encompassing rock collection. They were on nearly every surface, windowsills, banisters, shelves. "Come right in," he said, "Thanks for carrying the stuff."
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He whistles when he walks in; his own place is far less decorated -for reasons that he doesn't want to look into- and he likes it. "Nice place. You have a thing for rocks, huh?" Billy places the groceries down on the bench and leans against it, smirking at the other man.
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"They're unchanging, and survive through time better than anything the world has seen. I've picked them up from places I've been to," Marcus said as he indicated for where to put the groceries.
"Take a seat, dinner shouldn't take too long." Even one handed he handled the cooking easily, not asking for help much. It was simple, steak and baked potatoes with a side of vegetables with a little spice.
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"Thanks," Marcus noted when he saw the beer. "Food should be ready soon." He was finishing up with the steaks as he spoke, the sides already done and plated, cooked to perfection and with some secret traditional recipes that seemed simple but he picked up over the years. "Medium rare alright for your steaks?" he asked as he started on the second one. Just a few minutes and that should be done as well.
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If the man doesn't bail the moment Billy tells his story because he thinks the blond is a nut case.
"Sounds perfect."
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True to his words, for was served in a few minutes and two large portions were set on the table. "Eat up, there's more sides of you want seconds," he said, settling down across from Billy. He already cut up his own portion, making it easier to rest eat with one hand.
"So..." Marcus said as they got settled with their beers and food. "You wanna tell me what happened here?"
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With a loud sigh and after swallowing his food, Billy gets ready to start the story.
"It started in 1983 when a kid went missing and another kid showed up. Y'know that closed down lab? They were... into some dangerous shit and they opened a portal to an alternate dimension and let something out..." Billy goes through what he's been told about what happened to Will and Elle and Nancy's friend B-something and then everything that happened the following year with Will and the Mind Flayer.
He's already several beers in when he gets to the part about himself and it's far harder to tell that part, admitting to all the lives he'd ended and how he'd tried to kill several kids as well.
"When I came to, I was in hospital, the gate was closed and the monster was gone. And that's how I ended up with powers. Some of them were from El the rest... from him."
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Whether Marcus believed it or not, it was clear to him that Billy did, and it affected the young man. Part way through the telling he got up to grab two tumblers and poured them two shots of whiskey, figuring the kid needed something stronger than just beer.
"So let me get it straight," he said when Billy was done and looking guilty like he was personally responsible for killing those people. "There was a dimensional portal that opened to an alternate world where a thing... mind flayer, came through and hitched a ride inside of you to make you its killing puppet. Does that sound about right?" Marcus still couldn't be certain that it wasn't some sort of mass hallucination from a government project or hypnosis, but one thing was certain, Billy could move things with his mind. And with all that he had seen in life, he wasn't ready to completely dismiss his story either.
He placed his empty beer bottle on the table between them. "Can you move this?" he asked, less afraid and more curious by what happened.
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They both quit their jobs and Marcus sold his place. And in one month, they moved into LA together, a nice location that Marcus acquired that had a great view of the ocean and just far enough from the downtown to be private. It wasn't a cheap area, but Marcus wasn't concerned for the money, and told Billy to not worry about it either.
So despite how Billy had spent a few nights over in the party few weeks, today marked the first day of them actually living together, although everything was still packed in boxes they brought down by Uhaul.
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The area Marcus moved them to was beyond amazing and their new home was more than Billy had ever even dreamed of.
They'd ordered pizza and gotten beers and they'd managed to unpack a few necessities and set up their bed but otherwise, nothing else had made it out of the boxes. They were sprawled on the couch, surrounded by boxes and Billy felt content.
"Can you believe we're here?"
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Marcus was sprawled next to Billy, one arm over the back of the couch and several of their boxes used as makeshift tables for the two empty pizza containers. It was quite satisfying, and half a dozen empty bottles stood on the ground by the corner of the couch.
"Yeah... Yeah I can. Because we're already here. You're here." He smiled, their couch was currently turned towards the large windows facing the ocean, and with it only being late evening, some of the twilight purples and reds were still hanging on the horizon. "Do you think you can live here for a while?"
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"As long as I get to do it with you. Fuck I missed the beach."
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Marcus didn't get it, what a young man saw in an ancient human like him. In the few relationships he's had, he told his lovers by necessity when the secret came out, like they saw him injured, or how he didn't age. But never had he started a relationship with someone who already knew.
When Billy pressed close, Marcus obliged by moving his arm from around the couch to around Billy's shoulders, holding him. "I'm not going anywhere." He rubbed his hand over Billy's shoulder as he said idly, "There's a beach within walking distance. We can head out there tomorrow and take a look."
If he wasn't so weary of the steps he would have offered Billy a proper chase, a courtship, the traditional dance that started relationships before they moved in together... But he only wanted to skip to obtaining companionship. Maybe living where Billy wanted was his way of making up for that.
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"Good." Billy presses a kiss to the side of Marcus' jaw and then moves to kiss him properly because he can. He couldn't wait to see the beach tomorrow, to smell the salty air and shove his toes into the sand.
"Do you know how to surf? I haven't surfed in years! Who knows if I even remember how!" He smiles and shifts to put himself in Marcus' lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Thank you. For bringing me here. I can't remember when I was this happy."
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Marcus smiled back because with how obviously happy Billy was, it was infectious. "No," he answered, one of the few things he didn't find appealing enough to try. "But I heard it's like riding a bike. Once you know it you wouldn't forget."
Resting his hands on Billy's hips, Marcus was thinking this was getting to be his favorite position of his lover. It was intimate without getting sexual, and it was like a soothing balm to his loneliness.
"I'm glad you're happy." He leaned forward to kiss Billy gently. "You should look into getting some equipment if we're going to be living here for a while. You'll have plenty of opportunities."
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Billy enjoys sitting like this, close and comfortable, the rest of the world disappearing and leaving them alone. Now in their new home with a gorgeous view and the smell of cow shit a distant memory.
"Yeah? Maybe I will. I know where to get a good board too, if they're still open. D'you wanna learn? I've heard I'm a great teacher."
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Surfing really wasn't his sort of activity, but Marcus couldn't turn it down in the face of Billy's enthusiasm. So he smiled and agreed. "Sure." It was rare enough to find an activity he hadn't learned already, so there was that. "We can drop by the beach and check it out first to see if it's any good for surfing," Marcus suggested.
"Have you thought what you might want to do here? What job you want to look into? Something by the water? Or back in security?" Marcus might be able to find them something with his connections. But he wasn't sure they would be doing security in a big city like LA, even the suburbs.
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"Definitely something by the water. Like a life guard or an instructor or something. I knew I missed the beach but I didn't realise how much until I was back here. What about you? Is there anything you haven't done yet?"
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"Maybe I could set up a bar by the beach," he said, thinking that might not be a bad idea if Billy wanted to stay near the water. It would allow Marcus to be close to Billy as well, and he hadn't tried tending a bar for a few lifetimes now. "How passionate are you about surfing? Want to make a career in connection with it?"
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"Like a competition surfer? I don't think I'm that good. But I could teach kids how to surf and it wouldn't be the first time I've been in charge of making sure they didn't drown."
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