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It’s probably a good thing that Markus doesn't have to close the mansion door himself, his joints twitching with pent up agitation. He shoves his hands in his pockets as he makes his way through the entree way and into the living room. If Carl has kept his schedule the same, he should be having dinner.
When the doors slide open, Carl is already looking up, his current carer refilling his cup.
“Markus, what a surprise. Is everything alright?”
Immediately he could feel the tightness in his chest loosen, and he makes his way over to the table. “Yeah, yeah, I just um, was wondering if I could stay the night.”
“Of course, you don’t even need to ask.” Carl says as he waves the carer away, leaving just the two of them in the room. Markus pulls out the chair directly across from Carl, and he sits, his hands folded on the table.
Carl is silent for only a moment before speaking again, “What’s going on Markus, what happened?”
Markus sighs, hanging his head. He doesn't look up when he says, “Simon and I got into it a little bit.”
Markus hears Carl put his fork down, “You did? Over what?”
Markus looks up, and he sees the incredulous expression that Carl wears. It was stupid really, and the conversation had started off innocent enough. He couldn’t even remember what it was that Simon had originally said, though maybe that’s part of the problem.
“You never listen to me.”
Markus had looked over at Simon, who was scrubbing a plate in the sink. They had some human representatives over for dinner, their dishes getting some rare use. Markus was leaning against the island across from the sink, his brow cocked with a crooked smile.
“What? Of course I do.”
Simon just shook his head at him, continuing to clean the dishes by hand. Markus had pushed off the counter and walked over so he was standing next to Simon. He put a hand on Simon’s shoulder, but the other android just shrugged it off.
“Come on Si, don’t be like that.”
“I told you not to bring up the conference-”
“I thought it would put some pressure on them to respond. We don’t know that it didn’t work, they’ve barely been gone half an hour, Simon. Take it easy, won’t you? It’ll be okay.”
“But it isn’t just tonight, is it?” Simon had started to scrub the plate in earnest, even though it was already spotless. Markus worried it was going to shatter in his hands, “I’ve spent the last three weeks trying to get you to take care of yourself for a day, just one, and everytime I get told off. When it comes to the movement, to your health, Markus knows best, always.”
Markus was stunned, never having heard Simon talk like this, not towards him, anyway. It made something hot twist in his chest, his hands clenching at his side.
“Where is this coming from?”
Simon puts the plate on the counter, and he yanks the handle of the sink, shutting it off. He turns on Markus then, and he isn’t sure he liked the look in his eyes.
“Don’t act like this hasn’t been the case since the day we met, Markus. I was a leader once too, I know it’s not something you can exactly do alone.”
“Oh yeah what a tough act to follow. When I showed up at Jericho you were hiding like rats in the dark, it wasn’t like you were out here making any actual decisions.”
Simon rolled his eyes at him, “Forgive me for not wanting to risk our meager numbers on the mere possibility of a chance.”
“It worked, didn’t it? Why are you acting like I did something wrong?”
Markus could feel his voice raising, his hand going to his chest. Simon had a hand propped against the lip of the sink, and his eyes were hard as he gazed at Markus.
“That’s not, I’m…No one is saying that you aren’t a great leader, or that you did the wrong thing. What I am saying is that you have a bad habit of being needlessly reckless. Back then, and now.”
Simon shifts, pointing a finger at Markus, “You’re overworked, and if you don’t start looking after yourself you’re not going to be able to help anyone. And, sometimes, it pays to be cautious, especially when dealing with politicians, Markus . This isn’t the battlefield anymore, we can’t just build a barricade in the middle of town until we get our way. But hey, what do I know, since you don’t listen to anyone but yourself!”
“You know that’s not true, Simon. I don’t know everything, and I know that-”
“You certainly act like you do.”
“Would you cut it out? What is this really about?”
“You’re still not fucking listening-”
“I am! I am listening but you’re not telling me anything! You’re just yelling at me!”
Simon took a large breath, letting it out of his nose, eyes closed. He then puts his hands up.
“I’m going to bed. Sleep wherever you want, just leave me be. You’re good at that, anyway.”
The way Simon spoke to him made Markus run hot, and not in a good way. He grunts, resisting the urge to kick something. He and Simon have never fought like that before. Sure they’ve disagreed, and a couple times Simon would need to be on his own for a while, but after a couple hours they’d seek each other out, apologies whispered between them. But this one felt different, and Markus didn’t think he’d be able to sneak into bed a few hours later and be welcomed. So he went to the one place he knew would always be open to him.
Markus looks up at Carl, “He thinks I don’t listen to him.”
Carl gestures vaguely, “Well do you?”
Markus frowns at the question, “Of course I do.”
“Well there must be a reason why he would think otherwise, right?”
That’s the one downside to going to someone wise; they don’t always agree with you when you want them to.
When Markus doesn’t say anything, Carl tries again, “What do you think started this in the first place?”
Markus’s fingers twitch where they’re laced together, “It started after dinner, we had some humanitarian representatives over. He told me not to mention an upcoming conference, but I thought it would help push their involvement. So I told them about it. But then it blew up into something else, and I just...”
“Is this the first time you’ve brushed off his concerns?”
Markus clicks his tongue, “I don’t brush him off.”
“Markus.”
Markus sighs, “No.”
“It sounds like he doesn’t feel heard by you.”
Maybe. Has he let his status go to his head? He didn’t think so, wanting to maintain that he wasn’t just for his people but was also one of them. He held a lot of power, power he acquired alarmingly fast. He knows he made the right decisions, did what he had to to get the job done, to protect his people.
He wasn’t just talking about the revolution, says the voice in the back of his head. That was the part Markus had focused on, as it seemed to be the only thing on his mind lately. Simon was a worrier, and he had a bad habit of being overly cautious. He trusted Markus to make the right decisions though, everytime. He was the only one who wasn’t consistently pushing his opinions on Markus, something he really appreciated about him. Maybe he’s been taking advantage of the fact that Simon tends to defer, making it easy to push his words off to the side when he was busy.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“It’s not an unfixable problem, it’ll just take a bit of effort. But he’s worth it, isn’t he?”
“Absolutely.” Markus automatically. He loves Simon, wholly and unconditionally. Already his chest aches at the knowledge that he would be spending the night without him.
Carl puts his hand out on the table, palm up. Markus easily puts his on top, Carl wrapping his fingers around his hand, squeezing.
“You’ll be alright. That boy is just as crazy about you as you are about him.”
Markus huffs a laugh, “Thanks dad.”
Carl smiles at him. “The spare bedroom is ready for you, if you want to go get ready for bed, I’m almost done here.”
He picks his silverware back up, and Markus stands, weary, and he heads to the now familiar bedroom.
The next day, after enjoying a nice morning with his dad, Markus heads back to New Jericho. He finds himself taking a longer route than usual, knowing that he’s stalling the inevitable. He doesn’t know what mood he’s going to find Simon in, is he still going to be upset? Will he even want to talk to Markus?
When he enters their apartment at the top of New Jericho, the first thing Markus notices is the sound of the vacuum, though Markus knows that the floor is already spotless. Simon had insisted on getting an actual vacuum cleaner instead of the automatic roaming ones, claiming that the action of using the vacuum himself was calming, familiar and comforting. Markus steels himself.
He walks into the main living area where he can see Simon making perfectly even lines in the carpet, his gaze fixated on the ground. Markus walks a little closer, hoping that Simon would notice him. When he doesn’t, he clears his throat. Simon’s head jerks to look his way, and he clicks off the vacuum, the hum of it dying and leaving the living room in an overbearing silence.
Markus shifts his weight from one foot to another, his mind running through a hundred things to say before landing on, “Hey.”
Simon straightens, locking the vacuum in the upright position, “Hey.”
Markus’s tongue pokes the inside of his cheek for a minute before he speaks again, “You uh, you okay?”
Simon raises a brow, “I’m fine.”
Markus nods, and he sighs, “I just, I want to apologize. For yesterday, and everything leading up to it. I thought about it, and you were right.”
Simon nods, but remains silent. Markus sticks his hands in his pockets, “So, since I took everything you said into consideration, I’ve decided to take the day off. No meetings, no doing things for other people, today I’m yours.”
The corner of Simon’s mouth twitches upwards, “Only today?”
Markus’s first reaction is to say, ‘well, I need to work sometime’, but he takes a moment to really understand what it was Simon was asking him.
“I’m always yours, but today nothing exists outside that door.” He says, pointing towards the front door.
Simon walks up to Markus, arms crossed, “And you promise to try and make more time to take care of yourself? Not just one day every blue moon, I mean create better habits.”
Markus reaches out, grabbing Simon by the hips and pulling him closer, “I promise to try.”
Simon uncrosses his arms, allowing himself to be pulled into Markus, wrapping his own arms around Markus’s neck, “Okay.”
They kiss, and after a moment pull apart slightly, “I’m sorry for getting so angry with you, I should’ve talked to you calmly about it first.” Simon says.
“Apology accepted.” Markus says, kissing Simon once again.