what’s in a name *punches the wall* I’m back. Daddy’s home //gets booed off the stage

Summary: 3 times Marius uses Luke’s last name, and the 1 time he doesn’t

Tags: One-sided pining, JK ITS MUTUAL, oblivious Marius, fluff and humor, unreliable narrator

- Accident -

“Why did you name yourself that” Vyn asks.

“Don’t ask me any questions,” Marius orders. His phone is about two millimeters from plastering itself to his eye, the other one winked shut so he can direct all his concentration into the one he’s using. He has to get the exact shade of his character’s chest plate color right or he’s going to sue the whole company. “I’m concentrating.”

“Concentrate with your phone a safer distance from your eyes,” Artem admonishes, forcefully tugging Marius’ phone back despite Marius’ squawking protests. His own phone remains loosely held in his other hand, displaying the pixelated world of Lucis.

Marius was surprised Artem had decided to participate, but he was about ready to declare a world-ending apocalypse when Vyn agreed too. But it was Rosa who ‘asked’, so a few minutes were added back onto the doomsday clock. Not enough to make up the difference that Marius mentally subtracted though.

“I almost got the exact shade”[a] Marius whines. He clicks his tongue, snapping his eyes back to the screen to once again, restarting his half-hour long process of adjusting his character’s color palette. He’d spent about three hours on the initial character creation screen alone, but now he’s gotten new armor and he has the choice to customize said armor in the city’s salon.

He needs to change his armor color so it matches his hair and chibi-sized, pixelated eyes.

“Answer my question,” Vyn commands.

Marius decides to not dignify him with a response, so he remains quietly focused on the color sliders.

Rosa laughs nervously. “Maybe it was a mistake.” She’s trying to save him face. God bless her.

It’s not as if Rosa’s wrong.

His choice in name was a mistake. A very, very honest one too. He’s very meticulous with what he does, hence why he’d spent a couple hours on the character creation screen, far longer than anyone else. But it’s because he’d spent so long that he wasn’t able to pour even a single drop of that same attentiveness into his name, everyone else badgering him to just hurry up.

So he’d just checked that his first name was spelled correctly, let his phone auto fill his surname and birthday, before clicking ‘enter world’.

He hadn’t even realized when he’d spawned into the game, exiting from a portal by the city’s entrance. His screen doesn’t show his gamer tag.

It’s not until after he’d completed the tutorial (where he’d gotten the new armor) and met up with everyone else in Central Square that he’d realized (i.e. the rest of them sending him varying looks of befuddlement) just how big of an error he’d made by not double—triple checking his inputs.

Granted it’s a game so a name doesn’t really matter, but still.

“And how would you make that egregious of a mistake” Vyn questions. His sharp eyes are pointedly not directed at Rosa, who’d responded to him, but at Marius, malefactor of said mistake.

Indirect victim of said mistake has his eyes glued to his phone too, his thumbs rapidly circling around and tapping his own screen. Seemingly indifferent, but Marius is sitting directly across from him, so he catches the quick and surreptitious glances Luke throws at him whenever any of them opens their mouths, sans Marius.

Honestly, Marius could just bestow them with the truth. It’s harmless enough, and it’s not like autofill knows any better. His phone’s OS is incomparable to DAVIS, regardless of it being Pax brand.

But then Vyn will start digging even further like: ‘Why would your phone automatically fill in Luke’s surname in place of your own’ 

Oh I don’t know Vyn, why don’t you shut your ugly face up first [b]

And then he would just incriminate himself.

Luke as well, because Luke is the reason why his phone had found a new name to auto fill. And said reason is supposed to be kept a secret, especially from Rosa.

Marius had helped Luke book out the entire venue for a couple of hours for an art showcase two weeks from now. This particular showcase—an amalgamation of all of the most famous foreign pieces from both the past and present—would only be in Stellis for a few scant days. Time slots run out fast, and tickets run out even faster. Ten minutes is already pushing it, much less two hours.

Marius had helped Luke book it for an outing he wanted to take Rosa on, and not only had Marius complained the whole time about Art being his motif, Luke had the audacity to ask him for the favor without even extending a courtesy (pity) invite.

Vincent had had to deal with his foul mood for the next three meetings.

But while Marius had been the one to order it, he had filled out Luke’s name on the form, just so Luke could easily provide them with proof of identity when the time came and Marius wouldn’t have to show up personally.

And because it was a new website he was inputting information into, combined with him being in a rush to get a placating Luke (who definitely sensed his bad mood) out of his office, he’d accidentally pressed ‘yes’ when his browser had prompted if he’d wanted to save the new input as his default. [c]

And then he’d just never bothered to change it back because no other app/website he uses prompts an auto fill that isn’t already his primary username and password.

Marius clicks his tongue. He’s finally done with his armor customization. It cost him 200 credits. He’s broke now. Practically unheard of. [d]

“It’s a gag we’re running with,” Marius hedges flippantly.

He exits the salon, where he finds Vyn’s little serpentine character. His own has very distinct draconic features. As for everyone else, based on the combat music drifting from Rosa’s phone, she, Artem, and Luke must be busy farming.

Vyn’s lazy,[e] so of course he wouldn’t follow. Not when they’re physically all sitting in the same room, and the MMO aspect of this game would expect them all to work together anyways. It doesn’t matter if Vyn pulls his weight or not, in the end they’ll all share the loot.

The loot being: an all-expense paid, two day trip to a famous scenic garden overseas, where the scenery had heavily inspired the setting of one of the MMO’s company’s older games. Rosa had expressed interest in it as a gift for Kiki, not because Kiki cared about the game, but because one of her favorite drama confession scenes was filmed there[f].

Marius had offered to just buy it for Rosa, but she had ardently refused. It would lose all meaning as a gift if Marius bought it when Rosa was the one who wanted to give it to her as a surprise.

But the loot could only be achieved if they could beat the Ultra-boss that would spawn for two hours at the end of the month. Names will be thrown into the raffle depending on who’s present in the boss room during the battle, three boss rooms across four servers, and the amount of times a name could be thrown in depends on how many times the boss is beaten. With the five of them, their chances are probably better than if Rosa played on her own.

So now they’re leveling. The stronger they are, the faster they beat the boss. And the faster they beat the boss, the more they can raffle their names.

Vyn scoffs. “Where were the rest of us when this aforementioned gag was established”

“Asleep most likely,” Marius retorts, shooting a dirty look off to the side. “Oh wait, that would just be you. Also why aren’t you farming Bold of you to criticize my name when you’re out here flouncing your lack of duty.”

“I did not spend fifteen minutes adjusting my armor color when it’s five pixels at most,” Vyn rebukes coldly.

“Amazing you know how pixels work you fossil.[g]” Marius smirks, leading his character to the city’s entrance, dutifully ignoring but ultimately conscious of the ‘Marius Pearce’ that must hover above his character (fake names be damned, he’s going to flaunt himself like a peacock if it’s the last thing he does[h]). He’s a rogue-like character, so he’s going to need as many points in his dexterity stat as he can get. “Now get your ass in gear.”

“I am not that much older.”

“Your receding hairline says otherwise.”

Artem chokes, the actual fossil in the room[i].

—

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 8h ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a message — 1m ago]

[This player is not in your friend list. Accept message request]

[Yes.]

Marius Pearce: [j]Y the fuck are you awake it’s 2 in the morning

Luke Pearce: Why are YOU awake o_O[k])

Luke Pearce: Also why haven’t you accepted my friend request You accepted everyone else’s

Marius Pearce: I was just going to bed.

Marius Pearce: wdym I didn’t accept it I totally did

Marius Pearce: send it again

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

Marius Pearce: I accepted it

Luke Pearce: No you didn’t.

Marius Pearce: Are you the friendship police Maybe the game is hacked, or maybe you reached the friend list cap.

Luke Pearce: I clearly have 5 slots left You’re just not accepting it on purpose

Marius Pearce: GASP

Marius Peace: how DARE you detective Pearce

Marius Pearce: Libel. Libel Order in the court [l]

Luke Pearce: is this about the art gallery

Marius Pearce: No

Luke Pearce: It’s a surprise, okay You’ll see soon. I promise.

Luke Pearce: Also your last name is ALSO Pearce so I hope you know calling me by my last name loses all its meaning if you’re trying to be spiteful.

[Marius Pearce is offline.[m]]

Luke Pearce: …



- Coincidence -

“And what type of bread would you like with your lean roast beef sandwich” The cashier asks.

Marius hums, rocking back on his heels as he ruminates over the options available on the overhead menu. Luke is something of a metronome, either going for the greasiest, most fattening item on the menu, or the leanest and healthiest[n]. Marius doesn’t know when or where he would be craving either, but he can at least count on the fact that Luke prefers the sandwiches from this cafe, so healthy it is.

“Oat bread.”

“Alright And can I have a name for the order” The cashier smiles at him as Marius pulls out his wallet for his card.

“Luke Pearce. And can I add a fruit tart to the order Under Marius.” Might as well give it to one of his advertisement managers. He’d had a brief chat with her last night just as he was leaving, not knowing why she would still be working at midnight, until she’d presented him the promotional Q2 drafts for this year.

“Sure thing Same name or different”

Marius raises an eyebrow at her, only to be met with an innocent smile and doe-eyed blinks. Maybe she hadn’t heard him. “Yeah, same name.”

The cashier smiles and nods. “Perfect I’ll call your name when your order’s ready. Your total will be 250 Stellin.”

“Actually, could you bring it to my table instead” Marius asks as he swipes his card. He points to a booth further into the cafe, where both Artem and the Development Manager of the VR company he’s hoping to secure a partnership deal with sits at. “I don’t need a receipt either.”

“Sure thing, sir Thank you very much.”

Marius smiles genially at her one last time, before making his way back over to his table. They could’ve had this meeting back in his office, but the DM had flown over two cities at 4 in the morning in order to make this meeting with him at Marius’ behest, so the least he could do is treat him to lunch. Artem is in charge of the contract, regardless of it being a two-day event, so Marius is graciously treating him too.

“Sorry for the delay.” Marius smiles as he sits back down beside Artem. “My friend is a detective who’s recently taken up a case near here, so I offered to buy him lunch when he would inevitably pass by.”

Artem raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t comment. [o]

“Don’t worry, we’ve basically settled most of the broader terms of the deal,” the DM says kindly. He’s a younger hire, just a few years Marius’ senior, but very proficient in communication about his technical knowledge. “I’ll submit my report to the VP, and then we can schedule more follow-up meetings to solidify some of the more finer details.”

Marius nods. “Perfect. I’ll let you know if either of our schedules conflict with any of yours. In the meantime, please continue enjoying your meal. I remember that your flight is for later this evening Any plans until then”

The DM shakes his head. “I’ve heard a lot about Stellis, but I’ve had very few opportunities to travel here. Any recommendations”

“Well it depends on what you would prefer doing,” Marius says. “If you’re looking for more leisurely activities, my attorney here would probably have better suggestions.”

“Ah, I did hear you’ve only been back in Stellis recently.”

Marius nods abashedly.

The DM smiles, before turning towards Artem, who lowers his spoon to meet the DM’s expectant smile. “What would you recommend, Mr. Wing I’d like to keep my sightseeing close to the Central Business District, if possible.”

Artem straightens up imperceptibly. “Well—“

“Here’s your order sir” A waitress chirps as she stops by their table with a paper lunch bag and cake box. “One roast beef sandwich for Luke Pearce, and one fruit tart for Marius Pearce.”

Marius stops short, widening his eyes as the waitress places both items before him, completely guileless. She gives them all one last perfunctory smile, before turning and ambling away, completely oblivious to the panic and confusion she’d erupted in her wake.

“Oh.” The DM laughs lightly, his shoulders shaking in his amusement. He’s probably nose-diving into all the wrong assumptions. “Have I been using the wrong surname this whole time”

“No, I wonder if that’s the case too,” Artem comments, blinking expectantly at Marius.[p] He’s no doubt remembering what Marius had accidentally named himself in-game too.

Marius shakes his head, smiling sheepishly. But the curl of his lips feels unnatural on his skin, the corners twitching in thinly veiled discomfort. “No, I think they just misunderstood what I said when I was ordering.”

“Ah.” The DM nods in understanding. Thank god, Marius doesn’t feel like arguing with anyone, especially not about this. His little squabble with Vyn had been enough. “Is Luke Pearce the detective friend”

“Y-yeah.” Marius checks his digital watch. “Actually he should be nearing this cafe soon.” He slides himself out of his seat, shooting a surreptitious warning glance at Artem, even though he knows Artem is the least likely out of all of them to tease.

Marius doubts he even cares.

But Artem would be curious. And Marius wouldn’t be able to give him any answer other than ‘it was an honest mistake’. But as the saying goes, once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, uncanny as it may be, and that’s when anyone would start getting suspicious.

“I’ll be right back.”

Marius grabs the paper bag and makes his way out of the cafe, trying to fight the itch underneath his skin. His footfalls are lighter than he’s used to, too eager to leave.

His relief comes in the form of a familiar amber-head leaning against the cafe’s entrance, hands stuffed in the bomber jacket Marius had bought him a couple months ago. Of course, he’d bought everyone something, having gone abroad for a fashion show, but no one has worn his gift as often as Luke has[q]. He can physically feel his shoulders loosening when Luke meets his eyes, an exuberant grin subsequently spreading across Luke’s lips.

“Kind of pathetic of you to beg for food,” Marius smirks as he dangles the bag in front of him, striding up to Luke. Marius has an obvious height advantage between the two of them, but Luke’s standing on a raised ledge by the cafe’s windows, so he’s managed to gain just an inch over him.

Luke rolls his eyes, holding his hand out for the bag Marius humbly deposits. “You begged me to buy me lunch. I just said I would be in the area.”

Marius tucks his hands into his pants pocket, tilting his head. “And you weren’t the one who wanted to meet up in the first place”

Luke’s cheeks color, something Marius doesn’t comment on, magnanimously side-stepping the opportunity to make fun of Luke and his easy embarrassment. Luke should be grateful. He doesn’t know the Herculean strength it takes for Marius to not be a shit-eating gremlin.

“You said yes,” Luke mutters, lowering his eyes to dig through the bag. Marius hears both the sound of a receipt crinkling and parchment paper rustling.

Marius shrugs, smiling smugly. “Because I’m generous like that.”

There’s a few beats of silence, where Luke stares down at the receipt in his hand. His expression shutters, the corners of his lips twitching.

Marius raises an eyebrow. “Oh you don’t have to pay me back by the way.”

“You wouldn’t let me even if I tried,” Luke scoffs. “Next time I’ll just take you out to a proper dinner. Candle-lit and everything.”

Marius smiles humorlessly. How brazen[r]. “I’ll see if I can fit you into my schedule.”

“Oh I’m sure you could make an exception for me. Isn’t that right, Marius Pearce[s]” Luke smirks, flipping the receipt around between his fingers.

Marius freezes, staring at the offending piece of thermal paper[t] as if it’s offended both him and his future nine generations. He hadn’t questioned why he’d had to pay only once, assuming that the cashier would just type a little note underneath each item to label each order with a separate name. But no, that’s not what she’d done.

The cashier had typed, at the very top of the receipt, right underneath the server name, ‘Luke & Marius Pearce’.[u] 

“She misunderstood me,” Marius quickly defends.

“You still haven’t accepted my friend request,” Luke pouts, raising his arm overhead when Marius swipes a hand out to snatch the incriminating receipt.

“I literally accepted the first one you sent,” Marius grunts, rising on his tip-toes when Luke does the same. But Luke is the one with a height advantage this time, and the tips of Marius’ fingers only reach his palm because of it. He can tug at Luke’s wrist, but Luke is stronger than he is, so he’d lose that tug of war if it came down to it.

Damn secret agent and his super strength.

“No you didn’t,” Luke argues. “I sent you five more when we were farming yesterday. How hard is it to press one button”

“Really not that hard, so I think you should get your eyes checked instead,” Marius snaps back. He grabs at Luke’s shoulder, hoping to use it as a leverage to raise himself up further. Luke lets him, winding an arm around his waist to keep him steady when Marius starts wobbling. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Also this is definitely about the art showcase isn’t it”

Marius clicks his tongue. Fuck the art showcase. Wait no, that’s not what he meant, he would never disrespect people’s creativity and livelihood like that. It’s just, he just—whatever He could care less, Luke can do whatever he wants with his free time. Why would Marius be angry anyway “Why do you keep bringing that up Your obsession with me is too obvious.”

Luke splutters. “I just want you to accept my friend request”

“Fine Just let me—” Marius doesn’t realize how close they had gotten until he drops his chin to meet Luke’s gaze, his fingers still outstretched to grab at the receipt. They’re practically nose to nose, and Marius can see the flecks of gold that swim in the coral sea of Luke’s irises. Luke’s skin is warm beneath his sensitive fingertips, his hand a heavyweight on the small of Marius’ back..

He doesn’t realize how long their gazes hold until he blinks, refocusing his periphery and glimpsing the astonished expressions of both Artem and the DM staring out at him from beyond the translucent glass. [v]The DM has his cup of tea raised to his lips, but the tea is trickling down his chin and into his lap, jaw dropped. Artem’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out of his head.

Marius can only guess what they’re seeing from their perspective. He kisses the VR partnership goodbye. At least the event would’ve been held in another city. It’s not the biggest loss he’s ever suffered.

To say that the wind gets knocked out of him is an understatement, because he’s quite literally suffocating when he scrambles out of Luke’s arms.

You know what. Marius got up at five in the morning today. He’s about to lose a business deal. He has remittance reports to look over later. Artem has probably taken fifty pictures on his phone and sent maybe half of those to Rosa. He doesn’t have the mental stability to be dealing with this.

“So you’ll accept my friend request” Luke asks, visibly perking up. He tucks the receipt into his pocket.

Marius sighs in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose as he eyes Luke’s pocket warily. He thinks, before an idea pops into his head. He snaps, smirking at Luke as a last-ditch attempt to regain the upper hand. “If you beg….[w]”

“Aha So you admit you haven’t accepted it”

Marius shrugs helplessly, throwing his hands up as an act of surrender. “What can I say I’m a highly sought after man. My friend list capped out so I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

Luke gapes at him. “You accepted other people before me”

Obviously he didn’t. He barely plays the game outside of when the others are on. But Luke doesn’t know that.

Marius brings a finger up to his lip and winks. The blood pumping out of his heart sings. “Remember what I said. I’ll judge how desperate you are later, and whether or not it suits my tastes.”  

Luke flushes, looking away. “Don’t say it like that.”

“I’ll prep myself, but you’ll be at my mercy for the rest of the night.”

Luke grits his teeth, his flush deepening. “Why do you keep—”

Faith in humanity, and most importantly his ego, restored, Marius readjusts his suit jacket and cuff links. Gottem. He'll remain the reigning champion of the ‘shameless’ title, thank you very much. “Now if you excuse me, I have a deal to fix.”

And misplaced scrutiny to endure.

—

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]

Marius Pearce: OMFG WUT R U DOING WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BOSS RAID

Luke Pearce: I’m begging

Rosa: This is a public chat… [x]

Marius Pearce: THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT

Luke Pearce: then how else

Vyn Richter: Are you two serious.

Marius Pearce: THE F/U/C/K

Luke Pearce: You want potions or something How else am I supposed to beg Please Please Please Pretty please ówò[y]

Artem Wing: Severely

Noob#69420: Why am I watching a married couple fighting

Someguy: that’s digesting[z] bro

Someguy: what if their siblings

DaHosGonLuvDis: why tf would you use your full government name

Vyn Richter: They’re unrelated.

Noob#69420: idgaf can y’all start doing damage[aa] 

[Luke Pearce has sent a friend request — 0m ago]



- Pattern -

“What do you mean you’re going to be in Sauvoi” Luke demands over the phone. “And you’re going to be there until tomorrow night”

Marius throws his head back over his chair, spinning idly in the temporary cubicle he’d been directed to as soon as he had arrived at the engineering firm. The receptionist had led him and the rest of his team into the office area when they’d first arrived, and now they’re waiting for the senior engineer to come fetch them for the site tour. It’s smaller than what he’s used to seeing at the Pax Group’s head office, but given that the settlement area is largely rural, he won’t blame the architecture here.

“Like I said, I need to be here for the feasibility assessment. Since Pax is a major investor, they’re going to be directing me through some of the site and financial audits.”

“But the art showcase,” Luke trails off, his voice audibly deflating. Ah yes, the art showcase, which is supposed to be later this afternoon. So rather than Rosa, you know, the actual person Luke had intended to invite, Marius doesn’t know why Luke is calling him about it.

Marius rolls his eyes, before sighing. “Give me a minute, I’m going outside.” It’s a short distance, the cubicle he had occupied directly situated in front of the back door. He makes sure that the door is clicked shut behind him before he speaks, keeping his voice soft despite the freedom now to say as he pleases. “You already know that’s why I signed up with your name. You don’t need my proof of identity.”

Luke huffs. “I know that. But your meeting had to be this week Specifically Thursday through Friday Er, Vincent didn’t say anything”

Oddly enough, Vincent did say something, offering a lot of alternatives that were sorely unneeded. Truthfully, Marius’ schedule had been dreadfully free that Thursday afternoon and onwards. Marius had thought that Vincent merely kept it open as a contingency for one meeting or another, but he’d reached the beginning of the week with nothing amiss.

And it would’ve stayed that way if the original accountant’s—the one he had originally employed for this new development project in Sauvoi—wife hadn’t gone into sudden labor. But because Marius hadn’t wanted to separate his accountant from his wife so soon postpartum, Marius had just offered to take the planned trip to Sauvoi for him. That report the accountant would’ve written would’ve ultimately landed on his desk anyways.

He’d tested for his license sometime when he’d come back to Stellis, and he’s pretty sure it hadn’t expired yet. Marius is just saving himself the trouble.

Since Marius was free anyways, it all worked out. Until Vincent started smoothly interjecting with offering to push the meeting back to next Sunday, or offering to hire another accountant, or even delaying his Thursday morning flight until after 6 pm.

Marius narrows his eyes. Now that he thinks about it, it had been a little suspicious, but he’d brushed it off as Vincent just merely worrying for him as always. It was the only free slot he’d had in a long while. “What did you plan with him behind my back”

“N-nothing” Luke stammers. Marius raises his eyebrows. Luke sighs. “Nothing now, you won’t even be here.”

“Aww,” Marius coos. “Come on now, don’t be shy, you know I get happy whenever you think about me. But come on, you’ll be busy with Rosa this afternoon anyway. Inviting me to dinner after hogging Rosa all to yourself in an art gallery, I would’ve said no anyways. The audacity.”

“That’s not—“ [ab]

“Sir.” There’s soft rapping of knuckles against the door, before the head of the tall and broad shouldered junior engineer from this firm pops out behind the door. Everyone else who had been idling must’ve already heard her announcement, because Marius hears varying degrees of shuffling from the other cubicles. “Vaan’s ready with the trucks. You guys will be going directly to the site with your team.”

“Got it, I’ll be right there,” Marius answers, nodding. She shuts the door behind her, leaving him to say his final words to the phone. “I gotta go. Don’t miss me too much,” Marius teases playfully, not really meaning anything by it.

“Wait” There’s a crash from the other end of the line, followed by muffled curses. He thinks he vaguely hears a sharp, ‘Don’t’. Luke…must be talking to Peanut, he wouldn’t have called Marius otherwise, still not having reached the end of his working hours.

Marius smiles absentmindedly, gently thumping the back of his head against the wall. “I don’t have all day, detective. I’m a luxury you can barely afford as is. Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Luke clicks his tongue. “Funny, I vaguely remember you employing me at some point.”

“And I paid you handsomely by your standards.” Marius sniffs. “Hardly a Stellin for me.”

“Pretentious bastard.”

“Actually I prefer the term ‘ostentatious’,” Marius smirks. “Maybe your vocabulary would be bigger if you’d spent more time with your nose out of those physics textbooks.”

“There’s no way you’re insulting my intelligence by mocking my proficiency in physics. Physics, Marius. What did you get in physics[ac]”

Marius’s smile softens, closing his eyes briefly to reminisce over the red marks he hasn’t gotten for over ten years now. And then he ponders over a hypothetical situation, one that ebbs as soon as it flows. Of reaching over and poking the senior high school student who’s curled too tightly over his textbooks, if only to just glimpse the diagram Marius undoubtedly would’ve missed at least one vector from on the mock exam. “Failed every single test.”

“You’re bluffing.” And then without missing a beat. “Wanna farm later”

“Just the two of us” Marius startles at another knock on the door, and he quickly latches a hand onto the doorknob. “Actually, tell me later. I’m going.” He doesn’t hang up until he hears Luke bid him goodbye, but he’s already halfway out of the office by then.

It seems he’d spent longer talking on the phone than he’d thought, because a majority of his team is gone by the time he exits through the front door. If he squints, he can see the truck that his five person team had taken rumbling down the road, kicking up dust along the underdeveloped road. The only people left are the junior engineer, Marius’ temporary assistant that Vincent had appointed in his absence, and Vaan.

Vaan is exactly how Marius pictured him when he first heard the other’s gruff voice over the phone. Short and stocky, five o’clock shadow, and a permanent furrow between his brows. Even his arms are tightly crossed as he stands bow legged in front of the passenger door of his van. Not a smoker, but definitely a drinker, and not a heavy one either.

Maarius smiles amicably, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Mariu–”

Vaan raises his eyebrow.

And it’s then that Marius remembers the minor detail that he could’ve neglected if he were the actual accountant who was supposed to have been here today. Always do avid research on potential investments, and the employees of said investments, especially if they’re prominent. Say, for example, the senior engineer standing before him, the one who will be project manager for this next development. Staunch collector of all the different species of apples, avid denouncer of celebrities.

A title of which Marius inadvertently carries.

“—nopoly.” Marius sweats[ad], resisting the urge to wipe his palm against his jacket when his temporary assistant whips her head around to gape at him in bewilderment. “P-Pearce.”

His temporary assistant’s jaw drops to the floor. “Mr.—”

“Pearce,” Marius interrupts, smiling affably. He’s already dug this far, might as well finish up that grave before he dives right in. “But you’re free to just call me M.”

“Pearce,” Vaan grunts. Marius’ smile tightens. Of course Vaan would be the type of man to refer to other people by their surnames. It’s just a two day trip. No one else besides his team will know, and he doubts that Vaan will have many more opportunities to call him by that name. “Why’d you pause Change your name recently or somethin”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Did you get married” The junior engineer asks curiously, propping a hand on her hip. His temporary assistant dutifully clamps her mouth shut, hugging her tablet to her chest as she stands ramrod straight, flicking her wild eyes between Marius and the two engineers.

Marius laughs abashedly, feeling his fingers twitch against his thigh. “Yeah. We compromised. We take his last name, and I get to decide everything else.”

Vaan, surprisingly, breaks out into a bout of barking laughter. The edge lays off Marius’ shoulders because of it, but only just. At least Vaan’s not eyeing him like a fresh cut of meat anymore, ready to mince him up into pieces. “I’ve heard that one before. Sounds just like my wife.” Vaan rounds his van, jingling his keys in his palm. “Come on kid, you got a long day ahead of you.”

‘Good job,’ the junior engineer mouths, as if Marius has just passed some kind of preliminary test as to whether or not Vaan will tolerate him for the next sixteen hours. She shoots Marius a fleeting grin, before following after Vaan. “I’ll let you ride shotgun”

Marius swallows thickly, blowing out a shaky breath. He turns towards his temporary assistant, before bringing his finger up to his lips, leaning in close as if sharing a secret with her. She instinctively leans in too, turning her ear towards him. “He doesn’t like celebrities.”

Her mouth parts in understanding, before she nods fervently. “Then should I call you Mr. Pearce for the duration of this visit”

Marius winks. “If you could. You’ll be my accomplice.”

—
[Private - Luke Pearce] 

Marius Pearce: Y r we farming for daggers

Marius Pearce: Rosa doesn’t use daggers

Luke Pearce: hu sayd its 4 rosa

Marius Pearce: Dude we’ve been here for two hours now

Marius Pearce: It’s not gonna drop

Luke Pearce: But the poison and bleed This weapon is practically broken

Marius Pearce: There’s like fifty other players here

Marius Pearce: Wat r the chances itll drop with us

[SSS Boss Drop — Marius Pearce has gained Mithril Vortex]

Luke Pearce: You were saying [smug][smug][smug]

Marius Pearce: I was literally just standing in the corner

[Public] 

DaHosGonLuvDis: aint no way some pleb who didn’t do jack s/h/i/t got the boss drop

Marius Pearce: aint no way you just called me a pleb

Marius Pearce: I can BUY you AND your land [ae]

DaHosGonLuvDis: do it b/i/t/c/h

[DaHosGonLuvDis is offline.]

Someguy:  HELLO

Noob#69420: Again.

Someguy: BROS JUST GOT IRL SNIPED

Someguy: SOMEBODY KILLED HIM

Noob#69420: There’s two more copies left. I need it.

Someguy: he would’ve fought

Someguy: omg marius pearce killed him

Luke Pearce: I did. [af]

Someguy: Da//mn

Noob#69420: Da//mn

Marius Pearce: Da//mn

—

Marius rubs at his eyes, the rumbling of the truck’s engine unexpectedly lulling him to sleep easier than he’d anticipated. Vaan had offered to drive Marius back to the airport since Marius had been staying at a lodging near where he lived, after having gotten an emergency call from Vincent about an urgent meeting from one of their clients. They wanted an in-person meeting this afternoon at the latest, so now here Marius was. Riding shotgun at four a.m. on a Friday morning, in order to catch a six a.m., two hour flight back to Stellis.

The rest of his team as well as his assistant could return at their original scheduled time. Marius can at least handle this much himself.

“No I did not eat,” Marius gripes. Luke’s on the phone with him too, even though it’s probably rude to Vaan, but the man seems to like Marius well enough to not seem bothered by it. “Yes, I will buy an airport sandwich.” And the only reason why Luke is on the phone with him is because farming for those daggers had taken all night. Luke had refused to stop, and it’s not like Marius could just leave him. “No, I do not need a ride from you at the airport—get back in your apartment”

Marius glares at the dashboard, listening to the sound of clothing shuffling over the receiver.

He can’t help it. He’s running on negative ten hours of sleep, he hasn’t eaten in sixteen hours, and Luke had told him—right before Vincent’s call—that he had refunded the tickets to the art showcase and even helped with the last minute sales of them. He’d essentially sold them at a lower price to students who didn’t have the means to purchase them at full price, making up the difference out of his own pocket.

But that’s not what Marius is miffed about. He’s grateful for that even. Marius has already asked Vincent to reimburse Luke against his will, in cold hard cash if needed.

No, what he’s mad about is that he’s only found out now. And Luke won’t tell him why.

“Luke” Marius shouts, immediately regretting it when the shuffling abruptly cuts short. Even Vaan discreetly turns off the air conditioner, when having it on perpetuates a concerning clicking sound. He inhales deeply, gripping his phone tighter, before slumping back against the seat. “I still have a two hour flight. You won’t see me until at least nine.” Marius closes his eyes, knowing well enough that that’s exactly the time Luke will be preoccupied at the gym. “You’re busy, let it go.”

Marius doesn’t wait for a response and ends the call, dropping his phone into his lap.

“That your husband” Vaan asks, his voice still hoarse from the early hour.

Marius doesn’t even flinch, having fed Vaan almost half of those lies, and letting the man fill in the rest through speculation. “Yeah.”

“Kind of a worrywart.” Vaan hums contemplatively when Marius doesn’t respond. He can tease Luke, drag Luke’s persona even further through the mud than he already has with all the embarrassing half-truths he’s already let loose. But he’s tired. He’s tired of this pretense in particular. He doesn’t like how tantalizing it is, knowing it will never be realized. “I’m sure he means well.”

Marius sighs. “Yeah.”

Vaan snorts. “You took his last name, at least try to sympathize with what that means for the both of you, Pearce. You know I’m an engineer, but my wife’s an artist. She taught me the beauty of life.”

Marius thins his lips. He doesn’t like how closely this story hits to home, the similarities almost jarring, so grabs at his phone that he’d thrown between his thighs. But he freezes when he presses the power button, belatedly realizing that he hadn’t prematurely ended the call like he’d thought. There’s a low chance Luke could’ve heard all that he and Vaan had said, but the chance is still no longer non-zero.

“You said the two of you compromised” Vaan grunts. “Sounds to me like you two need to learn how to again.” [ag]

Marius ends the call for sure this time, tapping his thumb against the red button with finality.



- Interlude -

“Ready to go” Luke asks.

Luke’s leaning against the trunk of Marius’ sportscar right outside the busy terminal with the emergency flashers on, probably to help Marius with his nonexistent luggage. There are dark circles smudged underneath his eyes, and Marius probably mirrors him, but his own would undoubtedly be more red than purple compared to Luke’s. Luke’s posture isn’t exactly lax, almost plaintive, and the taciturn smile tugging at his lips largely matches it.

You said the two of you compromised

“You ignored me,” Marius accuses, but the heavy exhaustion weighing down on him makes it so that his voice isn’t as cutting as he wants it to be. Truth be told, he holds no vitriol at all. He’s merely just, tired. Of speculating, and having to draw his own assumptions from his observations.

He’s not stupid. Even without Vyn’s additional lessons in reading a person’s countenance, he could read even the most reticent face well enough, with at least a 60% accuracy. Willfully oblivious, maybe. Unwilling to accept what’s right before his eyes, because he knows it won’t do anyone any good.

Sounds to me like you two need to learn how to again.

“Yeah,” Luke exhales. His smile grows helplessly, no trace of regret even daring to draw itself across his features. “Sorry.”

Marius sighs, staggering forward until he’s toe to toe with Luke. Luke is slow to straighten up, but as soon as he does, Marius doesn’t hesitate to drop his forehead into the junction of Luke’s neck, breathing in the fresh scent of ocean breeze soap. The collar of Luke’s shirt is damp against Marius’ cheek, his skin still soft from the shower he must’ve taken before leaving for the airport. “S’fine.”

Luke doesn’t lift his arms to hold him, and neither does Mariius, the two of them stuck in this weird limbo that neither refuses to break. “You never mean what you say,” Luke croaks.

“You never say what you mean,” Marius quips back. He’s slow to push himself away, his hand lingering on Luke’s chest before he finally detaches himself from Luke’s neck. Luke watches him as he goes, his eyes gleaming with rapt attention, even though his eyebrows remain furrowed. Marius smiles wearily. “Let’s go, I need to change my clothes first. Don’t crash.”

Luke drops his eyes to his chest, where Marius finally slides his fingers away, and nods once.

Luke drives him both home, and to work, before promising to pick him up, so Luke can properly return his car.  



- Habit -

“So when will the results of the raffle come out” Marius asks. He has an arm thrown over his eyes, hogging one of the couches with a leg thrown over the back, dangling his other foot over the opposite armrest. They’d managed to beat the boss a total of eight times within that two hour span, which means forty tickets were thrown into the pool, as opposed to the other couple thousands.

A 0.9% chance of winning doesn’t seem that bad. Of course, Marius is being generous.

Their chances are probably even lower than that.

Rosa sighs, anxiously checking her phone, no doubt opened up to the MMO’s official website. Their servers are still up, but there’s probably only a fraction of the players left, now that the main event is over. “In just a few minutes, but I’m nervous thinking about it. I know our chances of winning are low but—”

“Ah ah,” Marius wags a finger in the air, even though he can’t really see what he’s doing. “Don’t jinx us early, Miss I got those three per server daggers, I’m going to win this raffle too.”

“Need I remind you that you expended no effort into acquiring those daggers” Vyn sounds as if he’s rolling his eyes.

“All the more reason,” Marius says smugly. He drops his hand onto his stomach and shrugs with one shoulder. “I do nothing and good fortune still comes to me. If I wasn’t there, I doubt Luke could’ve gotten even one of those daggers. Take some notes Vyn, it’s because I don’t perpetually have a stick up my—”

“Results are out” Rosa deftly interrupts. “Oh god I can’t look”

Marius exhales lightly, suppressing a yawn that hurts his nose in the process.

“Do you want me to read it for you” Artem asks in the background.

“Are you tired” A voice that is far too close to his ear asks, splaying a huff of warm breath that tickles his cheek.

Marius lifts his arm just a fraction, turning his head to lock his tired eyes with a warm and concerned gaze. Luke has his chin propped up on his forearms, crossed atop the edge of the couch cushion that Marius hadn’t managed to occupy despite his large frame. He’s probably crouched in front of him in order to be eye level with Marius, and Marius can’t help the way his body subconsciously reciprocates, twisting his neck even further so that their noses brush lightly against each other’s.

Marius conscientiously keeps their gazes locked, refusing to drift his eyes to anywhere besides Luke’s own.

“Yes, please,” Rosa says bashfully.

Marius, regretfully, isn’t really thinking when he cranes his neck up, reaching his hands out until his fingers slide against the smooth skin of Luke’s face. Luke doesn’t have the capacity to grow facial hair, at least not from what Marius’ seen, so the thin scab his middle finger grazes over when he cups Luke’s cheek must be from something else other than a razor. He did come back from another mission lately. Maybe it’s from that.

Artem hums. “I’ll let you know if I recognize any of our usernames or IDs.”

Marius closes his eyes when he knocks his forehead against Luke’s, feeling Luke’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks to signify that he’s done the same. Marius inhales, slow and deep, tilting his head so the tips of their noses tickle each other’s with each incidental sweep. He can feel Luke puffing out his cheeks slightly, just enough that more of his skin makes contact with Marius’ palms, filling out the curves.

“It seems as if the awardees will be traveling there in waves. Thirty people total, ten per trip,” Vyn comments, before finishing dryly. “Surely it doesn’t take that long to read over a list that short.”

“M’tired,” Marius murmurs under his breath, raspy enough that it ensures only Luke would be able to hear. “Let’s go home”

“It takes longer because I have to check the ID numbers too,” Artem says. “Anyone can have the same usernames.”

Luke pulls back, but only just enough centimeters away that they can stare at each other with half-lidded gazes, laden with desire that is for once, wholly innocent. Marius just wants to sleep, and he wants Luke to be in the room with him when he inevitably drifts off. With any luck, he won’t dream, and time will pass without any of his cognizance working overtime. “Which one”

“We used our names, how many others would have done the same And with our names in particular” Vyn questions.

“Any.” Marius slides his hands away from Luke’s face, dropping his head back down onto the arm of the couch. But Luke grabs one of his hands before he can throw his arm back over his eyes, intertwining their fingers. Marius’ eyes hurt, but they still crinkle at the edges when he smiles tenderly at Luke, Luke returning the warmth tenfold. It would overheat him, if the cool air of their meeting room wasn’t steadily seeping into his bones, made much more noticeable from how fatigued he is. “Anywhere. Jus’ wanna sleep.”

“Surprisingly, too many,” Artem answers dubiously. “Ah, here it is. Congratulations Marius, you’ve won.”

Marius jolts, jerking his body upright into a sitting position. His head pounds. “Really” Marius smirks, laughing from the base of his chest as he flips his bangs. “Of course I would. I’m the King” [ah]

No one else dignifies that with a response, so Marius just pulls out his phone and holds it out for Rosa to take, before flopping back down and closing his eyes. “Miss, you know my password, just log in and put in any information you need for the prize. I’m handing it all over to you.”

Rosa laughs. “In the end, you still ended up giving me the ticket, with or without you buying it.” Rosa’s voice softens. “Thank you, Marius.”

Marius attempts to smirk, but finds that the endeavor falls through, faux bravado refusing to cooperate with him today. His voice is quiet, sickly soft against the whirring of the machinery in the room. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

“There’s a complimentary gold ticket that they print for you in addition to the actual ticket, do you want that” Rosa asks.

“Sure.”

“What name do you want on it” Rosa asks, obviously meaning to tease.

But Marius is completely serious when he answers. “Marius Wing.”

There is a very, very pregnant pause.

“You can’t be serious,” Vyn says flatly.
Marius furrows his eyebrows, petulantly turning onto his side. Except he can’t fully turn because of the way that Luke’s intertwined their fingers together. “I’m drop-dead gorgeously serious. I started this gag on this hill with a gazillion Stellin to my name and it’s where I’ll die.”

Luke’s grip on his hand tightens. “So you’ll just use anyone’s last name” Marius can’t discern whether the dip in his voice is due to him sulking or being painfully vexed. For once, Marius can’t find it within himself to pick the meaning apart, simply letting the words hang in the air with no expectations placed upon them. He’s taking them at face value or he won’t take them at all.

“No.” Marius turns his nose up. “I’m using Artem’s.”

Artem quickly shoots him down. “Don’t drag me into this.”[ai]

“I’m tired of using Luke’s last name, why can’t I switch it up”

“Why do you need to switch it up at all” Luke asks, his voice almost shrill, before the volume starts dropping with each word, punctuated with stammers. Luke loosens his grip, but he knotts their fingers even closer together, rubbing his thumb over the side of Marius’ palm. It’s distracting, though Marius doesn't know if it’s meant to affect Marius, or to soothe Luke. “J-just keep, using it.”

Marius hums contemplatively, before he shifts back onto his back. He smirks, though it’s pathetic when his eyes wince because of how dry and crusty they are. This is why he’d just wanted to go home. He has a skincare routine he still has to get through but he can’t do that if he’s still stuck here. He’s been in Vyn’s presence for too long. He’s starting to get hives. “Then beg.”

The rest of the room groans, sans Luke, who frowns at seeing Marius’ state.

“Let’s go home” Marius pleads.

Luke’s face crumples, before he nods, raising himself from his knees. “I’ll carry you.”

Marius shakes his head, propping himself up on the elbow that Luke still has their hands clasped together with. “I don’t need you to, just come home with me.” He reaches his other arm out, throwing it over Luke’s shoulder and pulling him down. Except Luke holds fast, helping Marius up to his feet rather than letting himself get dragged down. It’s not long until Marius is on his feet, leaning most if not all of his weight into Luke’s side.

Rosa meets his eyes with a concerned gaze when he looks up. Marius smiles gently at her. “Put your name on the ticket, I’d prefer that instead. Take a picture of it with Kiki, and I’ll be more than happy Miss.”

“Marius, are you okay” Rosa asks, her eyes blown wide and misty.

“I’m fine, just tired.” Marius holds his hand out for his phone, which Rosa readily hands over. He quickly types in Rosa’s name with one hand, already trusting that the information for the actual prize has already been inputted, before clicking the final ‘submit’ button. There’s a confirmation screen with the receipt that will be sent to one of Rosa’s emails, so he swipes out of the game once he double checks that the spelling’s all been correct and accounted for. “Okay, I’m going to go crash.”

“Please don’t.”

Marius rolls his eyes. “Metaphors exist, Vyn. Aren’t you always pretentiously speaking in them”

“Rest well.” Artem nods at Marius when they pass. “Drive safe.”

“I got him,” Luke reassures.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Thank you again Marius”

Marius’ eyes twinkle at the final parting bestowed upon him, before knocking his head against Luke’s head once they exit the meeting room. Luke hums, readjusting their stances so that they’re comfortably pressed into each other’s sides, Marius’ arm still thrown over Luke’s shoulder. “Yeah, you got me.”

Luke huffs in amusement. “I’m borrowing your car again.”

“I’m going to start charging you rent.”

“Your payment is me driving you home.”

“And what do you pay for being in my resplendent presence”

Luke snickers, his smirk handsomely ticking across his features when he turns it towards Marius. Exuberance is a beautiful color on him, but easy confidence is a shade that Luke wears just as well. “My last name.” [aj]

Marius must be delirious from the sleep deprivation, because he instinctively closes the distance and kisses him.

It’s not a bad deal.