Day 5 will come, I promise. Writer’s block is evil and I scratched my original idea. So here’s day 6. Basically, if Marlon was an option to hang out with in episode 2. @twdgrarepairsweek #twdgrarepairsweek
------- Marlontine -------
“Well, I’m headed to the gym, want to make sure no one will get in through there and I might shoot some hoops while I’m at it if you want to join me,” Marlon said as he headed off, Rosie following him.
Clementine watched as Marlon, Louis, and Violet head off to do their tasks. Her gaze landed on a certain blonde and it took a moment for her to gather her courage to follow him. Due to his head start, she lost him on her way to the gym. She had only been there a couple times to grab jump ropes and other things from the equipment storage. Clementine had never been there to just hang out. She followed the sound of a basketball bouncing and sure enough, she found the school’s gymnasium.
It was somewhat a mess. Ceiling beginning to collapse, wooden bleachers torn apart, one basketball hoop on the ground, some broken windows, and a hole in the wall that was covered by the boards torn from the bleachers that lead to the outside narrow alleyway between the gym and the school’s walls now covered in barbed wire. To think this place once housed physical education classes and assemblies. Even seeing a school after so long is a real whirlwind, she didn’t think she’d ever see one again.
Marlon grabbed the basketball again, bounced it a few times as he took a few steps away from the hoop before taking another shot. Clementine smiled as he made it.
He looked over at her as he grabbed the ball. “Hey.”
“Hey,” She said as he walked towards him.
“Here,” He bounce-passed the ball to her. “Have you ever played before?”
“No. My parents put me in soccer when I was little.”
She smirked. “I hated it.”
That got a chuckle out of Marlon. “Try it,” His head jerked to the hoop.
Clementine bounced the ball a couple times, getting a feel for it as she approached the hoop. She aimed and took a shot. It hit the corner of the red rectangle and went straight into the basket.
“You’re a natural. Your parents should have signed you up for basketball instead of soccer.”
Clementine passed the ball back to him. “Did Ericson’s have a basketball team?”
“No, even if we did, I doubt any school would let their team play against our team of troubled youth,” Marlon took another shot, but missed, the ball bouncing back to him. “The gym was open for most of the day though. Louis and I, we sometimes would play together in here.”
Clementine was debating on what to say. “Sounds like you had fun.”
“It was, the coach was a complete asshole though,” Marlon thought. “How about a game of PIG?”
He bounce-passed the ball to her. “We stand here and we take turns shooting. Every time we miss a shot, we get a letter. Whoever spells out PIG loses.”
“I’m also going to add each time we miss, we have to confess something.”
“Big talk for someone so short. Take the shot.”
Clementine bounced the ball a couple times then shot. It bounced off the rim once, twice, then went in.
“Lucky shot,” Marlon grabbed the ball and traded places with Clem.
He took a shot, he made it. They traded places again. Clementine took a shot but it bounced off the rim and missed.
“That’s a letter,” Marlon reminded her. “So what will you be confessing tonight?”
Clementine thought for a moment. “I used to have a pet hamster before all this.”
“I used to feed him cookies, despite my parents telling me no.”
“Such a rebel. I’m shocked,” Marlon said sarcastically, Clem rolled her eyes.
Marlon took a shot, he made it. Clem took a shot, she made it. Marlon missed the next shot.
Clem smirked, waiting for him to confess something.
“Our coach was very strict, and he was especially strict with the equipment here. Even if someone dropped it accidentally, you were either sent to the office or forced to do push-ups. So I would sometimes steal from the equipment room when he wasn’t looking.”
“A troubled youth committing theft? Doesn't surprise me.”
“It pissed him off when he’d realize there were five bean bags missing. You have no idea. I swear he counts everything in that equipment room every night.”
“Nah, I never did. He liked using physical activity as punishments, probably would have made me do a thousand push-ups,” Marlon stepped to the side. “You’re up.”
Clementine aimed her shot, but just as she was about to shoot, Marlon made a buzzer sound that caused her to miss the shot.
“Looks like you missed, that’s another letter.” Marlon taunted, knowing full well what he did.
“That’s not fair! You cheated!” Clem exclaimed, grabbing the ball as it bounced back to her.
“And you still missed. Come on, you got to confess something.”
Clementine rolled her eyes then thought. “Promise not to laugh?”
“Depends. What are you confessing?”
“A few months after everything started, back when I was eight, my group and I ran into these people who owned a dairy farm.”
“And they had a cow, and inside the cow’s barn was a salt lick and I thought it would taste like salt so I licked it.”
Marlon snickered. “How did it taste?”
“If you must know, it didn’t taste a thing like salt.”
He giggled a bit more. Clementine shoved the ball at him. He caught it abruptly and his stifles of laughter stopped. He traded spots with Clementine and bounced the ball a couple times.
Clem thought about pulling the same move he did, but should she cheat?
Well, Marlon did, so it’s only fair.
She made a buzzer noise as he took the shot, he missed too.
The ball bounced back to him and he looked at Clem who had a grin on her face.
“That’s an I, and you have to tell me something.”
Marlon took a moment to think. “I used to have a stuffed dog.”
“You had a stuffed animal?”
“Yeah, his name was Rex, and he was my best friend when I was little. I took him everywhere, even took one of the bowls from the cabinets back home and pretend to feed him.”
Clementine smirked. “That’s adorable.”
“I didn’t think of you as a stuffed animal guy, so where is Rex?”
“I forgot him at home when I got sent here. It’s fine, though, now I have an even better dog.”
Rosie lifted her head and panted.
Marlon gave the ball to Clem. She took a shot, the ball went in.
“Still tied,” She taunted.
“And it’s still going to be tied,” Marlon said to her. He took the shot, bounced on the rim once, twice, but bounced out.
Marlon groaned in annoyance.
“The ball is kind of flat.”
Marlon walked over to where Rosie was and sat next to her. Clementine sat next to him, both of their backs leaning up against the wall. Marlon pulled out a tennis ball from his pocket and threw the ball. Rosie immediately chased after it.
“So what do you want to know?” He asked.
“Figured it’s only fair since you won.”
The dog came back, tennis ball in her mouth, she dropped it in Marlon’s lap. He scratched her head before throwing the ball again.
“How did you end up with Rosie?” Clem asked.
Marlon’s expression changed, it became sad. Clementine became concerned.
“The old ass-master got Rosie when she was a couple years old. He got her from the pound to scare us. I… I think she was abused in her old home and on top of it, ass-master would occasionally hit her snout and leave her outside in the fucking cold.”
Rosie came back over and rested her head on Marlon’s lap, right between him and Clem. Clem scratched Rosie’s head.
“One night, I couldn’t take it anymore, I let her inside and had her sleep with me. She was a cuddler. However, ass-master got mad and I got in trouble, but word spread that Rosie wasn’t a threat. Every time someone saw that fuck hurt her, he’d get something thrown at him. Food, rocks, anything. He then threatened us that he’d put Rosie down if we kept it up… I managed to get the gate open one night and I set Rosie free a week later.”
He rested a hand on Rosie’s soft fur.
“Then after about five days, all the adults hightailed it out of here. We had no idea why… It wasn’t until we saw one of those deadheads when we realized that the world changed. I was being cornered by a walker, twisted ankle, I thought I was going to die… but Rosie came out of nowhere and chomped its head off.”
Clem could see him smile.
“She saved my life and ever since then, she hasn’t left my side.”
Clementine smiled. “She really loves you, you know.”
“I love her, too.” He said. “I think she’s starting to warm up to you as well.”
She scratched the dog’s head.
Silence filled the air. Marlon offered Clementine the ball and she took it. Rosie immediately perked up. She threw the ball and the dog quickly scurried after it.
“It’s crazy,” Marlon spoke. “She could have left, she could have gone anywhere, but she stayed… Even after what ass-master did to her… I… And I just can’t stop thinking of you.”
Clementine didn’t know what to say.
“After finding out about what I’d done, and how we didn’t trust you, and knowing about the Delta and how they could take you or kill you…” Marlon swallowed. “Clementine, you could have left, you didn’t have to deal with all of this, risking your life for people you barely know. And when this is all over, you could still leave… but if you do, Ericson’s won’t be the same without you, and I don’t know how I would feel if you weren’t here anymore.”
Clementine thought about what he said. Those words made her heart flutter, but did she really like him? Are her feelings genuine? Are they just friends? She didn’t know, and what he said to her, were those his feelings for her? Does she feel the same way?
“Marlon, you saved AJ and I from that car crash, even with the walkers coming, you still did. And after being here, meeting everyone, getting to know them, getting to know you, I…” Were they friends? Were they more? She wanted to be. Clem placed a hand on his. “I think I like you.”
Marlon was silent for a second. “You like me?” He asked. “Fuck… I… You sure?” he was getting flustered, he had a smile on his face.
Clementine smiled. But should she take it slow? After losing so much, she’s so used to it. Should she say something? Or should she…
You know what? Fuck it. She didn’t want to regret not doing this.
She leaned in and kissed him and she felt him kiss back. Their hand hold becomes more firm. After a few seconds, they pulled apart and made eye contact. They full on blushed. Marlon huffed out a laugh as he tilted his head down for a moment before looking back up at her.
A small silence passed before he spoke. “So… is this the part where we kiss again?” He asked.
They leaned in again, but they were interrupted by Rosie running over and licking Clementine’s face.
Clem was surprised at first but then giggled at the timing and how it tickled.
The dog stopped licking her and looked at him, tongue hanging out of her mouth.
Clementine wiped the slobber off her face and petted the dog.
It was Ruby. It’s time for her shift.
“I have to go,” She said as they stood up. “Lookout duty.”
“You sure you can’t stay? Maybe for one quick game?”
“I don’t think I can blow off another shift.”
“Do you mind if I walk you out then?
Clementine smiled at that, then they proceeded to walk out of the gymnasium.
Hope you all enjoyed, I tried to make it game like with the basketball stuff.
Bonus: After Marlon asks Clem if she’s sure about liking him, the four options are:
[Kiss him]
Yes!
I want to take it slow
...
Each choice results in something different:
[Kiss him] - Clem kisses him first
Yes! - Marlon kisses her first.
I want to take it slow - They take it slow
... - They both get flustered and both go for the second kiss that gets interrupted by Rosie
