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It's eerily quiet in the hackerspace, just a bit after midnight. Everyone had respectfully given Wrench space to himself seeing as he was not quite back to his usual self following the FBI fiasco. Even with Marcus heroically getting his mask back, and the talk that resulted on the root thereafter, Wrench couldn't bring it upon himself to even fake his usual shenanigans. The anarchist sat on the small couch, his trusty bench abandoned. Slender fingers ran anxiously through ash-blond hair as another sigh empties into the otherwise silent room. He curls his fingers into a fist and rests his chin upon them.
The entire mess with the FBI, his mask, and Dusan played in his head over-and-over again. He had slipped up. It wasn't the first time the FBI had tried to grab hold of him. He was the easiest target really. Considering his background, personal aesthetics, and tendency to blow things up, arresting him was no stretch. It would be fairly easy to find something to pin on him. The arrest wasn't a big deal. The interrogation wasn't even that big of a deal either, even with them taking his mask off. But Marcus saw all of it. Scratch that, everyone saw it. He wasn't sure which was worse. That and the following hours after they had let him go, was a nightmare. He hadn't gone that long without his mask in years. He thought back to how he had felt his heart drop into his feet upon having to step outside into the real world. Dusan's words echoed in his head.
"...And let the world see you for who you really are..."
What was he, really? Certainly not someone who needed to show his real face. Wrench had sped walked until he found the nearest rooftop where he could hide while he tried to figure out what to do. But Marcus had taken care of that for him. He half wished that Marcus had been with him instead of hunting down the mask. While he could never thank Marcus enough for returning it, the hours he spent on the rooftop were particularly damaging. A part of him fell as a result of the entire ordeal, and he wasn't sure how to just let that go.
That was hours ago. Yet, here he was still mulling over it. Why did it even matter this much? The others didn't speak about the fact that they saw the interrogation, even though he knew they had. They were good friends like that. They had even given him statements of support and a bit of validation. Even going so far as to promise to fuck with the FBI a bit more as payback. But after everyone had cleared out of the hackerspace for the night, he found himself feeling oddly alienated. Ultimately, everyone was ready to pretend it didn't happen. Except for Wrench, of course.
His thoughts wandered to when Marcus had found him on the roof, and swiftly returned the mask to him. He had told him that they couldn't do this without each other. Whatever 'this' was. He wasn't sure if Marcus meant dedsec, or something else. Not that Wrench had the luxury to hope that Marcus might return his feelings. Marcus was probably the most popular member of dedsec, which made sense. He was extremely charming, not to mention equally handsome. He was everything that Wrench wasn't, and could never hope to be. They were world's apart, and he always wondered what the dark skinned hipster saw in him. But he must see something because Marcus was always by his side. Well, except for right now.
'Though that's kinda my bad.', he thought to himself as he leaned back into the sagging couch, letting his mask lay on the cushion beside him. He jumped as the sound of a code being punched in upstairs reached his ears, and eventually the sound of footsteps followed shortly after. Wrench scrambled to put his mask back on worrying it was Sitara or Josh but stopped his efforts when it was Marcus. He turned his face away but kept his mask in his hands instead.
The dark-skinned hipster removed his earbuds and flicked on the light, not expecting anyone to still be in here considering how deserted it seemed. He squinted a bit at the hunched form the couch before recognizing who it was. He quietly made his way over before sitting down next to the other male and put his phone back into his pocket.
"You good man? I thought you'd be at your garage smashing toasters, not sitting here...you know", he said as he made a gesture to the area around him. Wrench made a noncommittal grunt before turning slightly towards his friend.
"Sounds tempting, M. But I got a lot of shit on my mind. So, no sledgehammer action for now." Wrench half-joked and both chuckle before falling into silence. Marcus stared at the side of his best friends head, not knowing what to say at first. He didn't want to pry but he knew Wrench well enough to know when something was bothering him. Not that it took a genius to know that there was something wrong, after how today went down. Marcus felt a bit of anger swell in his chest again as the events of the day played back in his head briefly. Wrench meant a lot to him, and he had always felt like he needed to make sure that nothing bad befell his masked friend. Yet, he hadn't been able to protect him from being captured or from them taking the mask that his friend needed to function. While he was able to retrieve it and return it to its rightful owner, he knew that the ordeal had shaken Wrench whether he would admit it or not.
It was weird thinking about what Wrench was like without mask. When they were chatting on the rooftops earlier that evening, he was much quieter than Marcus had ever remembered him being. The anarchist seemed like a watered down version of his usual loud self, and it hurt Marcus to think that the other felt exposed without consent. The hipster thought that everything was fine after Wrench put his mask back on, and they did their trademark fist bump. Yet, the body language of the other male tells him otherwise.
"You...wanna talk about it?", he asked choosing his words carefully. Wrench hated pity, Marcus knew that. The anarchist sighed before shaking his head.
"I'm fine, M." he replied. Marcus rolls warm brown eyes before fixing Wrench with a look he knew the other couldn't see since he was still turned away.
"Right. So you normally make it a habit of sitting in dark basements alone then?" he counters with a half joke of his own in hopes to ease the tension and get Wrench to open up to him. Wrench covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he gave it a good chuckle, before shaking his head again.
"Okay okay, I get your point." he concedes before going silent to collect his thoughts. The silence stretched on so long that Marcus was going to ask him if he was actually going to elaborate, but the other spoke before he could.
"I...like having control over what people do and don't know about me, M. And the bullshit with the FBI put all of my business out there for you guys to see. I was fine with none of you knowing what I looked like." Wrench fixed his jaw feeling irritated.
"With my mask on, I don't have to worry about what people think of me and how I look. I don't have to make eye contact or have people make eye contact with me. Or see how they judge me. I know people think I'm strange for how I dress but...fuck, that's different ya know?" He didn't see Marcus nod beside him but knew his friend was still listening.
"The person I am with the mask on is way fucking better than the person without, and them showing my face like that..." He paused feeling his voice tremble a bit for reasons he was unsure of. He ran a tired hand through his exposed hair before whispering.
"I just didn't want you to see me like that..."
Marcus felt his heart jump at the way Wrench stressed the word 'you'. Something about the way those words left his mouth set Marcus ablaze. He felt his hand tingle to reach out to touch Wrench's bare face but decided against it before settling on his shoulder instead.
"Wrench." he started but the other stubbornly stared at the ground refusing to look the hipster in the eye. Marcus shook his head before scooting closer. "Wrench, look at me. Please." He knew the other wouldn't deny him at that point. Slowly, Wrench turned enough to fix the other with a blank stare. Marcus fixes him with a comforting one of his own.
"Look, I know you have your hangups about your face. I'm still sorry that they did that to you because you didn't deserve it. But if you're worried about your face bothering me, you got the wrong idea dude. I mean, you look good to me..." He trailed off before chuckling nervously at the vague confession he just gave. Wrench continued to stare at him blankly before shaking his head in slight amusement.
"I don't know if you're full of shit or just delusional, Marcus," he said before slowly touching the burn mark on his face, mentally coming up with a million reasons he didn't deserve the other. He jumped when two dark hands gently grabbed his face forcing him to look back at the owner of said hands. Brown eyes drilled into blue.
"Whatever is going on in that crazy heads of yours, just stop it. You might not think much of you, but am I not allowed to?" Wrench didn't answer, settling on lowering his gaze. Marcus slowly and carefully grazed his thumb across the bottom of the burn mark, waiting for a signal from Wrench to stop. When he received none, he slowly lifted his hand to touch the top of it, where it surrounded the other's eyebrow. He lowered his hand back to where it was resting before and gave the anarchist a winning smile.
"See? Haven't burst into flames yet." His smiled widened as blue eyes rolled at his comment before he turned somewhat serious again. "Really, though, Wrench. You..." He stopped before groaning out loud in annoyance with himself. Wrench sat up a bit straighter as the hands that were on his face moved to grab his pale ones.
"M?" He asked. It was rare for Marcus to be tongue-tied as he was normally a smooth-talker of sorts. The tanned hipster adjusted himself to sit facing Wrench and kept hold of his hands.
"I'm going to just be real with you right now, okay?" He let the words rush out and watched Wrench slowly nod not knowing what to expect next. Marcus shoved his nervousness down before speaking again.
"I know we're best friends, but I can't lie and say I don't feel more than that man. Literally, since the day I joined dedsec, I couldn't help but want to be around you--all of the time. I just assumed it was because I had never met anyone I had so much in common with before but..." He paused before shaking his head.
"It grew to be much larger than that, Wrench. Shit man, you're so much more than you give yourself credit for. And I know I tried to set you up with that waitress at 10donuts but that's only cause I thought that would make you happy...and the only thing I want is for you to be happy, even if it isn't with me. Does...that make sense?" A few moments of silent went by before Wrench squinted at the other male before his eyes widened.
"Oh fuck, you like me!"
Marcus groans loudly and lets his head drop down to where their hands were still together. He sat back up and removed one hand to run it down his face. "Yes, dude. That's what I've been trying to tell you." Wrench's mouth formed a small "o", before forming a thin line.
"Well, why didn't you just say so? I've liked your hipster ass for the longest. I didn't say anything cause you're you, M. You could have literally anyone you wanted, so I have zero reasons to think you'd like me like that." Wrench said as he shook his head before his lips curled into a tiny smile of mischief. He leaned forward a bit and fixed the other with an accusatory expression.
"So you were checking out my ass at Swelter Skelter, weren't you?" He whispered and Marcus rolled his eyes before giving him that "Why do you say shit like this" look. He was thankful the tension had been relieved, at least, and Wrench was being more like himself.
"I may have snuck a peek or two. But how could I not? You were practically naked, Wrench." He said in mock offense. Wrench removed his hand from where they were intertwined with Marcus's before waving a finger in disapproval.
"Tsk. I'm not a piece of meat, M. At least buy me dinner first."
"I buy literally all of your meals, Wrench." Marcus deadpanned.
"Fair point."
Marcus chuckled before laying back. "So...I mean. Are we gonna give this a shot, then?" Wrench toyed with the short hairs on the back of his neck before nodding slowly.
"We might as well. I mean we've been practically dating this whole time, minus the kissing and sex. I'm also fairly certain everyone already thinks we're a thing so..." He trailed off before shrugging at the surprised look that crossed the hipster's face.
"Don't ask. Sitara said something about shipping. I don't fucking know. Whatever. So yeah, I think we can give this a go." He said as Marcus fixes him with one of those killer smiles, which then reminds Wrench of something else.
"But just to be clear, that doesn't mean I'll be without my mask all the time. Today was traumatizing enough so it may be awhile before I take it back off, minus right now. Not that it bothers me if you see me but...okay, it kinda does." He rambled on and then nearly jumped off the couch when Marcus was suddenly very close to his person.
"You sure about that?" Marcus said slyly before softly pressing his lips to the other males. Wrench relaxed and leaned into the kiss, letting his lips dance perfectly with the charming hipster across from him. A sneaky hand reaches around the anarchist and settles on the small of his back, before giving a gentle squeeze. Marcus pulls back and smirks at the way Wrench's usually pale skin was slightly flushed. Wrench gives him a fake glare.
"You will not lure me into your bed that easily. I know your tricks, M."
Marcus laughs good-naturedly. "Damn, well so much for that." He shook his head jokingly as he watched Wrench remove his spiked vest. The two sit back against the couch, Wrench leaning against Marcus who had his arm around his small waist.
"So, we good?" Wrench asked quietly, his voice uncertain. Marcus smiled at how adorable it was, not that he'd tell the other that right now. Getting Wrench to accept compliments will take some time, and Marcus eagerly started to think of all sorts of creative things he could do even though he knew Wrench would protest the entire way. But for now, this was perfect.
"Yeah, we good."
Wrench nodded before letting his head rest against Marcus, and his mask lay a bit away from him forgotten in the moment. He wasn't perfect, and he knew that he could list off a million reasons why Marcus deserved better. But with the way Marcus was looking at him like he was the most prized thing in the world, maybe he didn't have to be. Maybe, for once, he was enough.