Vlad simply chuckled in response, noting the boy as he moved closer to him. Somehow they had fallen right back into their comfortable friendship, both able to stand quietly and enjoy each others company. They didn’t need to fill the silence with chattering and they didn’t need to ask the other what they were thinking self consciously. Though Vlad would love to know just what the younger man was thinking about, he knew better then to ask. Marcus’ thoughts were his own.
Locking eye contact with Marcus for a moment, the corner of his eyes crinkled happily before he turned back to the building and headed towards the door. He needed to see inside and he was honestly pretty glad Marcus was there to see it with him. He would make everything…easier. Just by being there. Once he pushed the creaky door open, it’s hinges complaining loudly, Vlad turned back to Marcus and held out his hand in offering. He wanted Marcus to know he was needed. It was until the young boy had joined him that he continued.
The inside of the restaurant was a complete ruin, some parts burned down, others covered in layers of poorly done graffiti. It was painful to look at and Vlad squeezed Marcus’s hand in response to his sadness seeing his beautiful restaurant in ruins. He had to fix this. Pulling his hand out of Marcus’s reluctantly, he sat down heavily on a dusty chair, his head in his hands. It was all too much. Being back in Hogsmeade. Seeing this restaurant. All of the memories associated with this place, both light and dark. Running into Marcus. He was overwhelmed and honestly a little embarrassed to be having a mini panic attack in front of the young boy. “How could I let this happen…” He mumbled, not speaking about anything in particular, simply referring to his train wreck of a life in general.
Marcus watched as Vlad ventured over to the doorway of the crumbling building, still stuck a bit on the way his eyes had crinkled at the edges. His curiosity won out, however, interest very much piqued, and so his attention turned back to the building itself. Despite having visited the place multiple times since his return, he had yet to go inside--now, though, it seemed as if Vlad intended to do so and Marcus was more than ready to follow. He wanted to see for himself what was left.
Except Vlad offering his hand threw Marcus off again, and he floundered for a moment before stepping closer and slipping his own hand into Vlad’s. Holding hands. They were holding hands. This new level of intimacy between them was definitely going to take some getting used to, especially when the older man kept doing things like--like that. Vague affection coupled with all these feelings was just a recipe for disaster. Marcus didn’t hold hands with people, after all.
But he supposed he did now.
He forced himself to just relax as they entered the building, because Vlad was treating it as nothing and he was only working himself up. Of course, just as he was getting used to it, Vlad dropped his hand, and Marcus had to concentrate hard on his surroundings to keep from thinking too much about how Vlad had been so warm and now he was cold again.
With an internal eye roll directed at himself, he started looking around at the interior of the restaurant. It had most definitely seen better days... “Vlad,” Marcus turned to frown at the man in the chair, squinting at his defeated frame, “You mean this? There wasn’t anything you could have done, idiot. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” He wasn’t actually entirely sure if it was true, and so, both to lighten the situation and distract Vlad from what was possibly a blatant lie, he added, “Really, if you think about it, you did yourself a favor here. That decorating was way out of date.”
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