Cigars And Gatorade (Richard x Selfship OC)
Ok so I decided to go and post write selfship fics for here, YAY! I'm going to do some of these once in a while. Not sure how this will do down because I wrote one once on AO3 and didn't think it focused on Richard and Mark's (my selfship OC) relationship enough. Plus I want to make more fics that focus on just Mark and my other Spooky Month F/Os besides Kevin (may make one where Mark kind of adopts Skid and Pump but IDK) as much if not more as anything poly related. So yeah... Hopefully these don't suck. Mark and Richard are husbands real.
This has been also rotting in my drafts for way too long and something has to change. I had to edit like everything for the intro before writing this down that's how old this was as.
TW: Very slight mention of abuse and other mental issues as well as substances and addiction. Mainly cigars and gatorade being said substances.
Richard decided to come out and do his usual morning ritual of smoking a couple of cigars outside early in the morning. It was the only time he felt most comfortable doing because people were asleep and wouldn't bother him about it whatsoever. It was something that made sense to him. He wasn't sure if he was fully comfortable with letting his husband or son Reynold see him smoke anymore. For some reason he couldn't help but feel utter guilt because of it.
That was the main thing Richard was always experiencing nowadays, guilt. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right job in anything really. Sure he was rich and wealthy, also had a good family who loved him and was spending his time with the most handsome and kind hearted man he could ask for. But whenever he was arguing with Reynold or when he thought about all the times he didn't speak up or messed up in some way. He just kind of got extremely hard on himself, he always would go and feel like he didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve this life or the people he knew. Maybe it was because of the high expectations he and his parents set for himself. Maybe it was because some people called him a snob or something. Or maybe it was because he's been harassed by people because he was rich and married to a man. Either way, he just... Felt like he had to hide it most of the time, just to briefly escape for a little while.
It was the weekend, and also somehow a day off for him and his husband Mark. Recently, Mark had always been just working his hands to the bone. He was always doing the same thing he always did as the manager of the local CandyClub but also had been staying there for hours among hours to the point he showed up at almost midnight.
Richard knew that Mark always wanted to put some effort into anything he did. He saw him focus and focus and focus on something endlessly for hours on end, trying to make everything go as well as possible. He'd seen him go mad sometimes, yelling at himself when what he was doing was considered not good enough. Mark always was just so tired from all of this as well. Richard saw himself in Mark, as he also had done the same thing. He was also a maniac at productivity. He would always do so much paperwork and attend every meeting he could to the point where he felt his brain melted. Granted unlike Mark Richard was a greater perfectionist and was generally more furious when Mark was more relaxed and his anger didn't last long.
But he knew that was bad. He knew that for both of them, that wasn't the way to go. They needed some sort of break to settle down and relax every once in a while. They couldn't just spend all day running a store or doing math equations on some paperwork or computer spreadsheet. They had to spend time with each other and their kids. They had to just relax and focus on each other, maybe cuddle for a little bit or more given how Mark was pretty much touched starved due to... Everything that happened to him when he was in highschool and seeing his whole family get ripped apart, manipulated and even physically hurt by his mother's recent husband. Mark sort of moved on from it but it still haunted him just a little bit.
Richard felt sick to his stomach whenever Mark told him about it. It just made Richard feel even more guilty that he didn't do something about it earlier. Even though Mark told him that it wasn't his fault multiple times. Richard had issues going on too with his parents and how... Unsupportive they were that their son had his sights for a man over a woman.
Either way, that was all in the past now. Richard and Mark were happy and lived together for a decade. The way they managed to mix both their differences and similarities in their past and personalities into a stable relationship and a better life for both just warmed Richard's heart, even if his glasses were getting fogged and the cold of the outside was biting his hands a little bit. He thought he was alone for a second, as he took puffs of his cigar. But the rich businessman was proved wrong when he heard the front door open followed by someone sipping a drink and walking over, standing next to him as the figure sighed and looked up at the sky.
"The sky is extremely blue, can't even see the moon or the sun now, they tend to show up a little bit," Said Mark, he was wearing a sweatshirt covering his top half. He was wearing simple nautical pajama pants with anchors on them and he had a bottle of lemon lime Gatorade in his hands. Richard looked at him with a look of concern. Mark just looked at him back with a completely neutral expression that turned into a little smile. "Oh, hey Richard, I decided to be out here because I can't sleep and well... Just want to be around you y'know?"
Richard's shocked look softened into a more understanding one as he heard that. He took another puff of his cigar before he spoke. He wasn't sure whether to be upset or not when he saw Mark show up. He didn't like his husband seeing him smoke but... Richard always appreciated him being here, he loved him with all of his heart.
"Why are you drinking Gatorade so early out here honey?" Richard asked. "It's around five am last time I checked,"
"The same reason why you're currently smoking that cigar in your mouth, we just have addictions," Mark said, Richard couldn't help but agree. "It just feels good unwinding with something you love next to someone you cherish. Besides, I got to wake up somehow, I know coffee is not going to cut it,"
Richard checked his watch, yeah. It's five thirty AM. The sun was barely setting in as it was covered by a dark blue sky and a few clouds. He took a look at his husband, taking sips of gatorade and looking like he had five bags under his eyes. Richard now felt even more guilty as he saw Mark just stand there and look into nothing, taking a sip of gatorade like nothing happened. Did Mark ever sleep? Richard couldn't help but wonder whether or not Mark was tired or not. Mark yawned a little bit, grumbling a bit before he put the bottle of gatorade on the porch and rested his head on one of his hands. Yeah... Mark was probably sleeping four hours only again, and Richard didn't like it at all.
To make it worse, Richard was just no better either. He too felt like he only slept four hours or less every day. He was trying not to close his eyes at least every second he was out here. Every time he couldn't stop thinking about his parents and how they didn't want to talk to them after finding out their only son was bi or his son Roy. And all the questions he would ask that were always the hard ones like why was his Dad always going into the woods with some wrestler or why despite them being rich that they didn't feel all that well half of the time. For some reason these questions and more were just... Making Richard want to scream.
"Did you sleep well?" Richard asked, trying to drown out the thoughts pestering his mind. "You look like you didn't sleep that well,"
"That's because I didn't really, I tried but you know, I got too busy reading again," Mark said, Richard's look of shame was very apparent as Mark looked back at him. "Look, I know you told me not to do it but... I was a couple of chapters done with Frankenstein. Of course I wanted to finish it in one go,"
"I just don't want to see you always walking around with barely any time to properly recover Mark, it's been too long since you shaved and that gives me a sign that you need to take a second to rest more often," Mark was about to say something when Richard stopped him with a gesture. "Yeah I know, I should follow my own advice too, you've been pretty open about it. Same with Reynold. I just... I worry I guess that I don't pay attention to myself either,"
Mark chuckled and smiled, at least a little bit. Richard's heart melted when he saw that. Mark didn't know how rarely he smiled, probably because of the fact that he always had either been plagued with sadness and the mistakes he made in the past or was too busy talking to others to consider it. Mark didn't understand how much that meant to Richard when he looked happy.
"That just means we work hard and care about what's important to us," Mark said. "There's a reason why Veronica and Roy are happy most of the time. We just... Try. I feel like that's the only reason why we're still here. We put some effort into things even if we don't want to,"
Richard found himself grinning too as he felt his cheeks grow a little bit pink as he looked at Mark. He had such a way with words. It was pretty odd how he manages to come up with things like that. But that's one of the reasons why Richard married and loves him so much. He nodded in agreement before he just put his cigar into the nearby ash tray and smooshed it. Richard thought smoking could wait for later. He just wanted to spend some time with his husband and probably rest.
Richard went over and gently pulled his taller husband's face closer to his and then kissed his forehead followed by his cheeks. Mark just immediately felt a little surprised but he just relaxed and wrapped his arms around Richard in response. Richard immediately felt his body get gently pressed against Mark's body curve over him like some protective shield. Richard smiled and pressed his forehead against Mark's, closing his eyes and letting the warmth soothe him.
He already knew that Mark was touch starved, going to sleep without Mark cuddling with him was impossible most of the time. Richard was used to Mark nuzzling his head against his chest every night before he dozed off. It was just cute to Richard, he couldn't say no to that. Keeping Mark close to him was just... The best feeling he could have asked for, made him relaxed, especially when he reads the newspapers. He was just relaxing as Mark just sighed and went to nuzzling his head against Richard's shoulder.
"Do you want to get out of here and rest together inside the house then dear?" Richard asked smiling as he ran his head through Mark's hair. "We're both tired and I know you want me to hold you a little bit,"
"Sounds fair," Mark muttered out tiredly, he then lifted his head back up just to kiss Richard on the lips. Richard kissed back with a smirk. "I wouldn't mind passing out again, the gatorade is not enough I suppose,"
"Splendid," Richard said in response.
Richard let go and pulled away from Mark as he held his hands. Mark was a little disappointed by that, but he wasn't when they both walked into the house. And then went into the bedroom to cuddle after Mark put his bottle of gatorade into the fridge. They both passed out a few minutes later, only to be woken up by Roy who was shocked his parents were doing gross lovely dovely romantic stuff yet again. When will it end?! Roy thought as he looked at them before going into the kitchen to sneak in a soda or two. When will it ever end?!
