Summary: Headcanons of Nicholas taking care of sick reader
A/N: I’m really fucking sick & i can’t stop thinking about it, so here we are.
Disclaimer: I’ve never really written headcanons in a structured way like this so idk sorry if they suck lol also i wrote so much who’s surprised
Other work masterlists: virality // intertwined 
- Nick can tell when you’re getting sick before you do - maybe it’s a little extra sniffle in the morning or an extra subtle rasp in your voice before you take your first sip of coffee - but he knows
- He pretends to believe you, in your firm stance that you’re fine, but secretly tries to locate any medicine that may be needed
- You don’t even need to speak the next day for him to know he was was right - just the way your shivering body clung on to his warm one the next morning was enough
- He silences all your alarms and screens all your calls so that you can rest.
- Even if he’s got errands to run, sketches to draw, or plans with the boys, he cancels all of them for you - he doesn’t let you know that though
- The only time he does leave your side is to pick some mystery supplies & more medicine
- He stumbles through the door carrying a million grocery bags & quickly but clumsily kicks the front door closed to make sure the cats don’t escape
- He feels guilty for taking so long but the depleted half smile on your face when he brings you some gifts eases his worry
- He hands you a stuffie he found at the store that looks like one of your cats, your favorite flavor gatorade, and of course a giant bottle of water
- “Now I gotta go do something in the kitchen, but can I get you anything else first?” He insists
- He goes into the kitchen just to turn right back around to you
- “I forgot! I got this little bell at the store, if you need anything, just ring it okay?”
- You shake your head & cough, “You’re ridiculous.”
- He places a kiss on your burning hot forehead, “The only thing ridiculous around here is how you haven’t taken your meds yet.” And waves a strict finger at you
- You don’t realize that you dozed off until you sense each of your cats nuzzling into your sides then cooing when Nick enters with a breakfast-in-bed tray & a giant bowl of soup
- “It’s a family recipe, I grew up eating it when I got sick.” He shifts back & forth on his heels like he’s anxious. “I’ve never made it for anyone before … and I didn’t let it boil long enough, so if it’s not good I’m so-“
- You shush him and thank him with a big smile
- The soup is warm, savory and comforting - exactly what you needed. Even in your sickly state, you give him a little food-happy dance with a closed-eyed smile
- He beams at your response and you can tell how much he loves feeling needed
- “Anything else I can get you my love, before I go clean up?”
- You tell him you’d love not to eat alone, so that he brings a bowl of soup for himself and you spend the rest of the night watching your comfort show with your boyfriend and your cats 💕
Summary: The Captain (you) has had enough of this god-forsaken loop. And it's about time that they told someone.
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff???
Word count: 4k+
Paring: (Sort of) Head Engineer Mark / [Gender Neutral]Captain, written platonic but it's up to your interpretation :D
A/N: Bolded and Italicized words are thoughts, I wasn’t sure how else to show that since using the same tag started to feel a little repetitive. Got a little carried away, but its whatever. Also my first time posting one of my self indulgent fics, so let me know if you want more and if there's anything I should work on.
All you wanted to do was to get the colonists and your crew to your new home as quickly and as safely as possible. It all sounded so easy. But not one of your previous missions or any of your training could have prepared you for this.
Everyone was gone.
You woke up in your cryo pod, alone. Disturbed and very worried, you had searched across the entire ship, checking every cryo pod aboard the Invincible 2. Yet you couldn’t find a single person. You were completely and utterly alone, drifting in the middle of space. The warp core had malfunctioned, and the ship's power failed days ago. The silence that surrounded you felt suffocating, the only sounds you did hear were the groaning of the ship's hull, and the echoing of their screams. Their cries and pleas for you still rang in your ears.
After countless deaths, and a seemingly never-ending repeat of the same days, you wanted nothing more than for it all to stop. That this time, after you fell asleep, you wouldn’t wake back up. The ship's oxygen was running low. Finally giving in you let your back slide down the cold hull of the Invincible. Your mind, foggy and tired, slipped into sweet unconsciousness.
“Good morning Captain. Coffee’s on route. Ship’s status is, nominal.”
You woke up, right back in your cryo pod. You slid to the floor, you brought your knees to act as a platform for your head. Your hands ran through your hair, while it was previously greasy with dust, blood, and sweat, it felt soft and clean between your fingers. Nothing had happened here, not yet at least. Your hands held onto the back of your neck, pressing your head further into your knees. That cursed announcement. Its false hope had tricked you to keep moving forward, and you debated staying put. A shaky breath escaped your lungs, sounding more like a frustrated sigh.
“Captain?” You lessened the grip on your neck upon hearing his voice. That’s right, of course he’d be okay.
“I’m not sure if you’re awake yet, but it looks like we’re rapidly approaching our destination! Still a way out but-” he paused, listening to the rustling of a stiff uniform coming from inside the pod, “-no time like the present for a fresh cup of coffee! And we might as well run a ship-wide station check since we’re up.”
The joints in your knees and back felt stiff as you fought with them to stand. The aftermath of running and being thrashed around from violent explosions and shakes still lingered in your body. Every inch of you begged for real sleep, a true moment of rest. However, you would tell yourself “Not yet, Mark’s out there. I want to see my crew alive first.”
The cryo pod door opened with a hiss, your boots created a gentle thud against the ship's linoleum floor. While you tried your best to hide the look of general disdain and exhaustion, Mark, your head engineer, couldn’t ignore how tired you looked. “Captain? You alright-”
“Yes, thank you, Mark.” His eyes lit up, he was surprised, very very surprised.
Across the many events and meetings, you were a part of, your reputation stood strong. Very few had ever heard you speak, aside from your “great” speeches, it was known that you had kept to yourself over the years. Referred to as “the silent one” all throughout your years of schooling and training. You led successfully with very few words, since, unless it was an emergency, words were never truly required for your job.
“I- I um, uh” he fumbled. Clearing his throat he continued, “the ship is due for some, um, routine maintenance.” His initial concern for you fled as quickly as it had formed. With a firm pat on his shoulder and an agreeing nod, he took to the main terminal, typing in various commands to wake up the remaining crew.
You flinched as he approached the terminal, expecting it to combust as he touched it. You reminded yourself that those events had no effect on this current loop, if the terminal were to set fire it would have done so sooner, like it had in previous attempts.
After a moment, you followed the flustered engineer, monitoring his actions over his shoulder, as a captain would. He, while being close to your height, seemingly shrank quite a few inches. You let out a hearty laugh as you patted his mid-back, somewhat forcing him to stand straight. Smiling at him, you allowed yourself to push the unpleasant memories as far away as you physically could. “No use for those now, they won’t help you.” He straightened his posture, confidence returning to his face.
You weren't entirely sure why, but most people took a liking to you rather quickly. While you were fairly oblivious when it came to romantic advances, the fact that a large majority of your crew seemed in awe when you were first introduced gave you enough of a hint. Considering more than one tried to throw themselves into your arms was evidence enough.
One would think that being practically silent would make someone seem unreliable and secretive. However it seemed to have had the exact opposite effect on you, as even in your younger years, you were trusted with a leader's role. It was exhausting, but you couldn’t deny that it felt good to be so trusted.
After a while of calling the Invincible’s crew to the control room, they began to trickle in. Most were groggy or disoriented, as was a common symptom of cryo sleep. As they stood together on the makeshift stage in front of the window. You had to physically stop yourself from sealing the blockhead, preventing them from getting sucked through the glass into the vastness of space. “No, don't. Everything is FINE.” Once everyone had finally gathered in front of you, waiting for Mark to begin the announcement, you took the opportunity to speak first.
“Good ‘morning’ everyone! I know that it is a little early to be waking up, but considering our distance from our final destination, I wanted to be absolutely sure that everything is in proper working order before we get any closer. That being said, I also wanted to personally thank and congratulate each and every one of you.”
You held back a laugh at the reactions of your crew at your impromptu speech. While the reactions were the same at every speech you gave, you couldn’t help but find it funny each time.
You cleared your throat before continuing,
“Space, in and of itself, is a treacherous and unforgiving front. One wrong choice and it’s game over. I have had the responsibility of leading an immense amount of missions in space, and I have become painfully aware of the risks. And while knowing this can cause a reasonable amount of doubt in any person, I have the greatest pleasure to be leading such a remarkable crew.”
You take a few steps forward, smiling at them. “And honestly I could not have asked for a better group of people. Your determination and love for this mission has shone through at every uncertainty. Now, I would also like to acknowledge the crew leads, as they have the responsibility of managing their sector as well as having to work alongside you all.-” You look from Burt, to Gunther, to Celci, and finally to Mark. You take a deep breath before you continue, you throat beginning to burn from the effort of talking,
“-I couldn’t be prouder of the work you’ve all put into this mission. That being said, I would like for each section to run a full inspection. We won’t know our landing conditions until we get there, so let's make sure that we’re prepared for whatever may come our way. Once your areas are finished and I’ve checked in, take a moment to eat some real food, and then head back to your pods. The next time you’ll hear from me, we will be landing on our planet. So, go get some real food and get let’s this mission finished!”
It takes your crew a moment before they fill the small room with excited cheers and chants. While the shock was still present on their faces, your speech definitely boosted the crews' confidence.
As they passed you, heading back to their respective stations, many of them exchanged salutes or high-fives as they exited. The last to leave were the crew leads. Their faces reflected their trust and admiration for you. They were happy to hear the promised speech that was interrupted before they entered the wormhole.
You turned back to them, a grin present on your face. You were rapidly running out of energy, speaking, let alone a full speech, was an exhausting thing on in and of itself, but along with everything else that you've gone through, you weren't entirely sure how you were still standing straight.
They would want to speak with you personally before leaving. You couldn’t fault them for that, you were their Captain after all. Still, part of you had hoped that they would have left by now.
Their shoulders instinctively rolled back, hands placed either by their sides or at the small of their backs, standing at attention. Walking forward, your hands rest on Mark’s and Celci’s upper arms. You cleared your throat quietly, “I mean it when I said that I was proud. Just please stop fighting with each other-” Everyone chuckled other than Celci and Mark, embarrassment evident as they looked away from each other, grumbling to themselves. “-this was- no is a team effort, it takes everyone to run the ship, and it’ll take a strong team to successfully set up and run a colony. I expect you all to be a part of that when the time comes, but for now though, go join your groups. I’ll come in and check shortly.” They break away, exchanging their gratitude with you as they exit through the control room door.
The room became so much quieter as the door shut, separating the rest of the ship from yourself and Mark. Your hand ran over your throat, messaging it slightly, as if trying to rub away the ever-growing ache.
It had been a long while since you had spoken at all, during the last few loops there wasn’t time to stop and talk between the constant emergencies, not like there was much to talk about anyway. To say that you were out of practice was an understatement, and “waking up” from cryo did not help.
“Captain, that was- that was amazing! I haven’t heard one of your speeches in years! And for one of them to happen on my, sorry, our ship, is truly exciting! Did you see-” He continued to ramble and rant, pacing back and forth in front of the window. His enthusiasm was endearing, not quite cute, but it was sweet to see how one of your speeches had an effect on someone close to you.
Without warning, a wave of dizziness swept over you, a loud ringing present in your ears. You reached for the terminal to stop yourself from falling. “No no no nonono, come on breath.” Your vision was going dark, your heartbeat rang in your head.
He turned back to you, slowly ending his rant. He was so caught up in his own excitement that he hadn't noticed you gripping on to the terminal, leaning the majority of your weight against it. Your knuckles had gone white as you held onto the edge, just barely able to hold yourself upright. Your body was being pulled under by an ocean of exhaustion and stress.
“Oh god why now? I just need to make it a little more. Just perform a routine check. That’s all there is, you’ve done them a thousand times before.” You were in your own world at this point. “Just check in and then you can sleep. Please let it be this time. Please let me finish this loop this time-”
“Captain?”
Your mind snapped out of whatever trance it was in. As you regained focus, you felt Mark's hand against your shoulder. He was looking down at you. Knowing him over many years, and after meeting at a conference going over the details of this very mission, going to bars and meetings, you had never seen your friend so worried before.
“Hey, Cap. What's going on? You look, eh, not well.”
“I-” Your voice broke, struggling to repress a sob “-I’m fine- Mark, really tired, is’all.”
You tried to push him away from you, but in doing so you noticed that the support from his hand was keeping your upper body stable. You staggered as he spoke,
“I don’t think I believe that. You know that you can talk to me.”
Before you could argue a crew member opened the door. You quickly stood straight, or as close to straight as possible. “Hey Captain! All stations are ready when you are!”
Swallowing hard you nodded at them. “Just a little more”.
Following behind them, Mark tugged back on your uniform. “Captain please.”
You were stopped as his other hand held your wrist. “Talk to me.”
His eyes pleaded with you. You mustered together a smile, “After.”
He hesitated, fully aware that he couldn’t stop you. You were stubborn, and he knew that. He looked over your face again. Now getting a better look at your expression he could tell that your smile was pained. You were faking it for the crew. Before he let go of you he looked you in the eyes as said a simple, “Okay.” He gave you a small smile before you turned to leave.
You left the room, followed directly by Mark.
As you made your way from room to room he watched your every movement. He was always standing either directly behind or at arms length away from you, prepared to catch you if you needed it. Whatever was eating away at you, you obviously didn’t want the crew to notice it. So, he didn’t pry. You would tell him like you said you would, he figured that you just needed time. He tried not to do anything but listen, but he began to step in when your crew mates decided that they wanted to hear more from their captain. Unknowingly to you, he shot subtle glares at those who tried to push at you.
You fell into a routine of only reaffirming his responses with nods. You didn’t want to disappoint your crew, but then again, Mark had taken it into his own hands to keep you from talking.
During the walk back to the control room, he noticed that you held onto the back of his uniform. Whether or not you knew that you were holding onto him was up for debate, but he refrained from mentioning it. Perhaps you just needed to remind yourself that he was actually there.
Once the two of you reached the control room door he turned to face you. “I’m going to meet with the crew leads before they head back into their pods. I’ll meet you inside okay?”
You nodded, stepping inside. You slid down against the lockers, taking deep breaths trying to calm yourself. Your eyes clamped shut, just trying to focus on breathing. After an unknown amount of time passed, the sound of the door opening grounded you back to reality. You didn’t open your eyes to look as you heard Mark close the door behind him.
“Hey…” he said softly, kneeling down next to you. While you hated it, small tears pricked at your eyelids as you opened them.
“Hey, hey. What's wrong? And you can't say that there's nothing wrong, because there definitely is something. In all of our time together I've never seen you so upset.”
You turned your head away from him, not wanting him to see how pathetic you felt. You knew that you owed him an answer, but you weren't sure if he’d believe you. In the past loops he would sometimes remember, others not so much, but he’d shown no signs of it this round. You didn’t want to look like a crazy fool, especially not when everything seemed to be going so well.
He grabbed your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m really worried about you.”
The damn you so carefully constructed broke, bringing up the other hand to desperately trying to cover your face as you wept. Your chest and shoulders shook with your shallow, uneven breaths.
“F-fuck -I, I’m sor-sorry. I t-tried so so hard to keep it, it together. I did-didn’t want any of you t-to see your Captain a mess like t-this.”
He was shocked, not sure what to do except just listening to you.
When you eventually let him, he brought you in close to him so he could hold you. During your friendship on earth, he often showed his appreciation and encouragement through touch, not that it bothered you, but you had missed it during your times away from each other.
His arms wrapped around you as you spoke of terrifying events. He rested his forehead against the back of your head as you recounted every time that you saw either him or one of the others die in front of you. He, occasionally, would shush you, like a mother would to a distressed child, reminding you that “it was okay now” and to “breathe”.
How long had you gone without talking to someone, how long had you felt the need to bundle all of this pain and distress up inside of you. As you started to calm back down he let you hold on to him tighter. You managed to get a full breath in. Muffled in his uniform he heard you finally say, “I can't lose everyone again. I can’t lose you again. I only ever wanted to get everyone to our new home, now I’m trapped in a never ending loop, watching the people I care about get killed over and over again, dying over and over again.” After a pause you said even quieter, “I don’t want to be left alone again.”
He was confused at first, he didn’t remember any of that. Why would he have left you alone? According to his memories, he had practically glued himself to your side once you boarded the Invincible. But, as if a flashbang went off in his head, he recalled everything. He remembered getting thrown out of the ship's window. He remembered getting shot, surprisingly, more than once and by different things. He remembered dying, over and over and over again, even by his own choice. He remembered you, throwing yourself out of the airlock in a desperate attempt to fix things.
He remembered all of it.
And at the center of it all was you. His dear friend, the one that he trusted above even himself, trembling and pleading for whatever was causing this to stop.
“God, please don’t disappear again, don’t die again, please don’t go. I never wanted you to see this, I wanted to prove that I could take it, that I deserved to be in charge, that I could fix this. But I don’t know if I can.”
Looking back down at you, he saw someone so brave and determined that they felt that they could fix everything on their own. He saw someone so stunning and confident enough to woo and impress anyone that they wanted. He saw his most beloved Captain, who trusted him in setting up this mission. He saw his closest friend, who had been broken and beaten way too many times. “I won’t. I actually don’t think I can leave your side.”
“What if, when I get back in that pod, and I close my eyes, you’re gone again. What if I wake up and we’re back at the beginning of this god forsaken mess? Or if everyone is already dead? My sole purpose is to keep people safe and to lead them to safety, and even that seems impossible now. I feel that I’ve failed everyone.”
He leaned back so that he could look you in the eyes. Compassion and love radiated from the look he gave you.
“Now you listen to me Cap’. In no possible way have you failed anybody, Sure, we’ve both made some, questionable, decisions, those were the cards dealt to us. Y’a can’t blame yourself for having a bad deck.” He wiped away some of the tears that remained on your cheek with his gloved hand. “I could tell you for hours of what you’ve done for us and how incredible of a person that you are. Like, ok so we don’t have hours but I’ll keep this quick, you buried all of this pain and guilt deep down in your gut, just so we would get excited about our progress. You encouraged us to keep doing well with praise and with your speech, when it physically hurt you to do so. And while I wish you had confided in me earlier, I understand why you felt the need to keep your head high. But please understand that letting all of those feelings out doesn't make you ‘pathetic’, especially not in my eyes. I’m your head engineer after all! I trust you and your judgment, even more so than my own!” The two of you shared a light chuckle, “And even if it was to all restart, I’d still be there for you. I’m here for you, both as your head engineer and as your friend. You won’t ever be alone like that again, okay?” He smiled, lifting your chin up slightly so you would look at him.
While hesitantly, you smiled back. After a moment, he laid your head back against his chest as he lifted you both up. “Okay Captain, there we go-” He lets you hold on to him as you regain your balance on your feet. “-I think it’s time for us to return to our pods.” He was stopped from turning away as you still held his arm against your body.
Looking you up and down, he playfully sighed, “But, if you’re still worried about me leaving you, once again I would never, I think that there's room enough for us both. Celci said something about them having to be big enough for people to sit comfortably if need be, so be sure to thank her.” He had a smug look on his face after suggesting that one of her ideas was “good”, but he pushed past it. “I don’t mind sharing a pod, but only if you’re okay with it of course.”
Nodding, he walks you over to your pod.
He steps into it first, making sure to leave you enough room to get comfortable. While theoretically yes, there was enough room for the two of you, there was an awkward space as you stood slightly apart from him. You folded your arms in front of your chest, he huffs, bringing you into a tight hug. Eventually you relax into his embrace, letting your own arms unfold and wrap around his body.
The cryo pod hums to life, as the warmth from your companion and the pods chill gently begins to lull you to sleep. As you feel your mind fill with fog, you feel Mark hold onto you a little tighter, he whispers something into the crown of your head. Barely able to hear it, you make out a quiet, “I’ve got you, Cap. I’ve got you.”
With that, your mind slipped into sweet unconsciousness.
And when you did eventually wake up, he was still holding on to you.
Just like he promised.
Unlike every other time you woke up in that pod, this time you heard his voice replacing the computers.
So I forgot it was Marichat May (I’m a disgrace to the ML community) and as soon as I remembered I was like SHIT because Marichat is my life force and I scribbled this down and here ya go
.
Adrien grabbed the can of pink 0489 spray paint off the shelf–why there were 488 others was beyond him–and walked up to the counter to check out. He handed over the six dollars and scampered out of the store, giggling.
Why was he giggling, you ask?
Well, the answer was simple. He was off to prank one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The spray paint was washable, of course, which was why he had decided to spray-paint “MARRY ME MARINETTE” on a huge piece of cardboard he hd stolen from his dad’s office.
He would also “accidentally” get pink paint all over his Chat Noir suit. because, you know, subtlety and all that.
Plus, Plagg had scolded him and told him that if he said “From Chat Noir”, Hawk Moth would target Marinette.
And he definitely didn’t want that.
So, at 7:15, he snuck out the window, transformed, and grabbed the huge piece of cardboard. After a few minutes of hard work, he had a pretty dang good sign and quite a lot of paint all over him.
Well, at least it looked natural. He looked at the sign happily and shot off to the Eiffel Tower to hang it. Only, he couldn’t, because the cardboard thing was so big. So he had to lug it across the city, step by step. Thank god it was May, because the daylight would’ve far past dwindled if it was winter.
Once he was satisfied with how he had hung the sign (and how blatantly obvious that it was him who had hung it there) he bounded off to Marinette’s balcony.
To watch some anime, of course!
He landed on the balcony, he looked around to make sure there was no one there, and struck a pose like a gymnast after a particularly complex routine.
“Wow, Chat Noir on my porch?“ a voice said from behind him.
“Cut the sass, princess, you of all people should know why I’m here. Also, that scared me.“
“Yeah. I’ve got the popcorn and soda all ready. The TV’s already on. Ready for a Cardcaptor Sakura marathon?“
“I’m always ready, ‘Nette.“ he joked, linking his arm through hers and leading her downstairs to the couch.
Once she was asleep, he left, mostly because he didn’t want to face her wrath first thing in the morning.
True to form, the next day at school, Alya was showing off pictures of not only the sign, but Adrien (as Chat) covered in pink paint.
“The facts don’t lie, Master Marinette Dupain-Cheng,“ she crowed as Marinette flopped over on their shared desk. “You’ve gotta accept the proposal. When’s the wedding?“
“That dumb cat! Oh, and we were thinking sometime in August, all those nice flowers’ll be great for the ‘garden’ theme we were going for.“
Adrien had to bite down on his pencil to keep from laughing, and it certainly didn’t help that Nino was looking at him like he had turned into a frog.
But out of the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help noticing how cute Marinette looked, chatting exaggeratedly with Alya about their ‘wedding’.
Plagg, on the other hand, was splotched all over with pink, and looked very disgruntled. “You get paint on the suit, you get paint on me,” he grouched. “Only I can’t get it off until you transform.”
[2:24 am] drunk!johnny calls you up to tell you how deeply in love he is with you only to remember that he’s drunk and he’ll probably forget in the morning.
mark doesn’t want to shut up about how hard donghyuck hits his wrist.
“i get it that they are trying to stick with the original set but wouldn’t it be more appropiate if the screen and the chair is suitable enough for use by adults? it’s not like their target sales is a bunch of elementary school kids.” donghyuck mutters, more to himself, as he stands up from his low chair.
donghyuck starts to stretch his body as well as the staffs begin to tidy up the equipment― there aren’t much of it actually, just some cameras and tripods―before continuing the filming outside. he lets out a loud and excessive groan that last for at least five seconds after the series of popping sound from his joints ended.
it turns out that donghyuck can’t find the enjoyment when he got to play a football arcade game like when he was still a middle schooler or younger than that. not when he has to folds his 107 centimeter long legs and bends his back in order to look at the screen properly. let alone his hands that had grown bigger than the game tools, makes donghyuck a little worried he’d break ones when he played it earlier.
however, it’s a different story when he won by a landslide against mark. it’s been so long since the last time he could feel the adrenaline, the excitement, and the euphoria when he played his childhood game. and playing it with mark earlier pretty much brought back all those feelings. (except the adrenaline, it just lasted only for the first two minutes when mark started to constantly let out a depressed screaming and already looked like giving up) (after that the game went way indubitably too easy for donghyuck’s level) (because mark lee is a complete loser when it comes to games)
"let's go, hyung, what on earth are you doing there?" donghyuck looks at mark who still sits on his low chair as he sips some chocolate liquid into his mouth. there’s a brief silence before mark looks up and says something in a low voice.
"that was oba…" donghyuck frowns at the tone that mark uses, before he realises that mark is holding his left wrist. oh, donghyuck knows where this will lead. he lets out a sigh.
"what? are you going to tell me again that i was cheat-"
"it was goddamn hurt you know? look! it’s burning!" mark stuck his left arm up to shows his bloody red wrist to donghyuck’s face.
donghyuck merely glances at it. he stops chewing his straw and says, "eeey… what are you, hyung? five?" he almost rolls his eyes.
but much to his surprise, donghyuck can't deny that he can completely feel the sting just by take a quick glance at the older wrist. it’s obviously red, a burning red. yet to say that the redness match with donghyuck’s hair color (which has begun to fade, he noticed it yesterday) is an understatement because its hues look more striking than it should have been. probably since mark himself already gifted with a bright skin tone.
"give me your wrist now then! i’ll let you know how sting your hit was!"
donghyuck giggles as mark starts to attack him. the latter barely makes any efforts actually, he is still on his low chair, stretching out his hands here and there in an attempt to catch donghyuck’s wrist. but with no avail because just then donghyuck catch his left wrist instead.
dropping his body to his low chair beside mark, donghyuck pulls mark’s wrist closer, attempting to looks like he is examining the outcome of his hit carefully. still, it is not so much a big deal for donghyuck. (it actually is because that's nothing but a punishment that both of them agreed upon before started the game)
"ck, it’s nothing hyung,” he tilts his head as he look back at mark, “it’s not like the sting would transform into something that’d infect your skin in a way that it’d cause a freaking cancer." donghyuck lowers mark's wrist while making half-assed effort to gently rubs the red area with his thumb.
"okay, i got it, i got it,” mark shifts a little on his seat to face donghyuck properly and donghyuck… he don’t know why and how it comes to him but, like a revelation, he sure enough what is going to happen the seconds mark opens his mouth again. he takes a deep breath.
“but the thing is, you don't have to hit that hard, though?” mark shakes his wrist that still in donghyuck’s grip. “the deal was just we have to hit the wrist of the player who lost nine times, there's no one who said that it have to be hard or-"
that is. mark nags at him again. like the amount of time when the camera still rolling earlier didn’t enough (it probably going to be edited though). instead of defend himself, donghyuck choose to ignores by casually examining the café interior while occasionally maintaining his gaze with mark’s so he still appears like diligently listens to him.
the first thing he notices is how he likes the warm lighting that illuminate the whole café and how the minimalize interior build such an atmosphere. old retro posters that being stuck on several spots gives a distinct impression. it also impress donghyuck how the music that has been quietly played so far meets his taste.
donghyuck didn’t expect that he’d be too engrossed examining his surroundings (while sipping his chocolate beverage) that it takes some time for him to realises that all the staff already outside, leaving only him and mark still in the arcade game spot.
“hyung, we have-“
“no, hyuck. it’s not that i’m angry at you or-”
“but we have to-”
“shhh, or i couldn’t accept my defeat, my point is-”
donghyuck closes his eyes in frustration as mark continues nagging. he almost convinced by his own statement that the older is actually just a five in a 17 years old body. the younger was about to cut in mark’s nags again but he barely made it when a thought slips into his head. he flinches at the thought as it abruptly makes his other thoughts banish in a second. from the corner of his eyes donghyuck can see his grip still embracing mark’s wrist tightly.
mark still has not shown any indication to stop his nags when donghyuck trying to shrugs that single thought off his skull. but much to his displeasure, it lowkey lingers there and slowly takes major parts of donghyuck’s head as he unconsciously takes mark’s wrist closer to his face. and before he can do anything about that thought, consider it or even digest it properly, it happens just like that.
donghyuck gives a light peck on mark's wrist.
mark’s nagging shrink slowly before completely disappears. he finally shuts his mouth as he notices how some dribblets of donghyuck’s chocolate beverage scattered on top of his red skin. he can’t deny that it's actually a bit… gross but he also can’t ignores the odd feelings in his chest. that was a light peck but it surprisingly soothe his mad skin. not completely but still. probably because donghyuck's lips was wet and cold when it touched (oh, mark feels a little dizzy now).
slightly different from mark, donghyuck feels so overwhelmed from where he sits beside the older. he gives himself an imaginary slaps upon what he had just done. he bites his lips and starts to think that he might had ordered a wrong beverage or probably the barista accidentally mixed up his ice chocolate with what might be alcohol? oh whatever, he saw it printed on the other side of the menu earlier.
donghyuck takes a deep breath as he decides to look up. and as if on cue, he accidentally meet mark’s eyes that already fixated on him since god knows when.
donghyuck curses at himself when he find that mark’s cheekbone tinted with a blatant redness. it’s absolutely nothing new for donghyuck since he often found mark in that very state every time he teased the older. but this time it feels different. he enjoyed how mark turning into a complete red from his teasing but this time it feels different. it feels strange and odd and foreign and the little tingle in his stomach is something else he couldn’t quite understand.
yet donghyuck, with all the chaos inside his head and his heart, still has his grip around mark’s left wrist nonetheless. even when he can feel their body tense, even when they shift uncomfortably on their respective chairs, even when minutes have passed and one of the staff has called them to come outside quickly. donghyuck straightens his back and casually clears his throat in an attempt to eliminate the odd atmosphere between them.
“t-that was unnecessary i know, i’m sorry, i was out of my mind,” donghyuck stutters. he finally unleashed his grip off mark’s wrist and quickly stand up to walks first.
donghyuck can feel something inside his chest starts to thump horribly loud in every steps he takes. he tries to calm it down by taking a deep breath and exhale it through his mouth several times. his hand lifts up his ice chocolate beverage to be right next to his cheeks that feel like blazing out of embarrassment. and just when he reaches the front door, mark suddenly caught his arm before stopping right in front of him.
donghyuck backs a little when mark, whose tip of ears looks bright red, places his hand on top of his shoulder. he glances at it and back at the older boy who smiling widely his cheekbone looks protrude. and now donghyuck pretty much bewildered because mark is so close his face fills up donghyuck’s eyesight.
mark lift up his beverage same like the one that doghyuck has. he maintains his eyes on donghyuck’s as he sips it few times and swallowing it. donghyuck can’t help but hold his breath as mark leaning closer into his ear and whispering something. mark’s cold and wet lips touched his earlobe accidentally.
“i don’t know what your plan if i nag you for the rest of the day.”
mark lips doesn’t move for a brief moment and donghyuck swears he can feel the older boy sniffing his hair. it’s fortunately doesn’t last long when mark lets out an ugly laugh that echoing right in donghyuck’s ears before he drawback from donghyuck and leave to walk first. it takes some time for donghyuck to be able to find the door frame in order to avoid himself from collapsing onto the floor. he tries to comprehend everything that just happened, about why mark seems enjoying what he had just done to him even though his tip of ears tinted with a bright shade of red, but the tingles inside donghyuck’s stomach become unbearable for him to be able to untangle his knotty thoughts and feelings.
in the midst of mess he’s having, donghyuck completely unaware that the boy who is couple steps in front of him, despite the act that he’d shown earlier somehow seemed composed, is also dealing with unbearable tingles of butterfly inside his stomach and a rapid thumping of something inside his chest.
