Black Gun: Chapter 11

//◇Content Warning: Language◇//

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Chapter 1

Story Info & Chapter List

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   Marc shivered a little as a breeze ruffled through his hair, smiling and looking up when a jacket was draped around his shoulders. The thing was familiar and drenched in the scent and the feel of Koko. He ran his fingers over the cracked, aged leather sleeves, the grooves seemingly etched into his memory.

   “Hey there, stranger,” he smiled.

   Koko plopped down on the blanket next to him, settling down over the soft dirt and grass of their park. He kissed Marc’s cheek, grinning right back at him. “Hey.”

   The snow from winter had melted and flowers were popping up with early-early spring, air still cool and crisp but not cold and holding that tint of allergy-teasing pollen. Koko couldn’t have been more eager to get back out to the park as the weather warmed, and they had found a day that fit into both of their schedules.

   Valentine’s day.

   The date was Koko’s idea, offering it up flusteredly during a video call a few days prior.

   “Who knew you were the type for picnic dates?” Marc asked, affectionately ruffling his hair, which was down from its usual ponytail and rustling gently in the breeze.

   “Someone cute I know introduced them to me,” Koko smiled.

   “Such a flirt.”

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   Marc sipped his drink, one of the gas-station bought lemonades that Koko always teased him for, as he laid down on the blanket, sighing with what sounded like content, a noise that sent Marc’s heart soaring.

   “What’re you thinking about?” He asked, capping his drink and setting it to the side, laying down with him, smiling with a content sigh of his own when Koko wrapped an arm around him.

   “You,” was the reply, met with those brown and green eyes that were no longer hiding and instead shining with pure, unbridled happiness.

He could feel his face heat, and Koko laughed a little in response. “Aren’t you ever gonna get used to that, Blue?”

   Marc pressed his face into Koko’s chest. “No.”

   “Mm, well that’s okay,” he hummed, starting to play with Marc’s hair. “Because I’ll always be here to tell you anyways.”

   “What business did I have falling for such a hopeless romantic?” Marc asked, peeking up at him. His eyes were closed peacefully, paired with a similar smile.

    “What business did I have falling for hopeless romance?”

   “There you go again,” Marc huffed and Koko giggled- actually /giggled/, a tiny and light bought of laughter bubbling up out of his throat and into the crisp air, and Marc shifted up to kiss him, one hand still resting on his chest and the other brushing some of that beautiful, coily, floppy hair out of his freckled face.

   “And I’ll never stop till I’m dead,” Koko murmured when they broke apart, wide hands splayed gently on Marc’s back and side.

   Marc slowly sat up again and Koko did too, swigging down some of his own drink- an orange juice, of course.

   There was a patch of flowers close by and Marc started to pluck them and lay them out before weaving them together.

   “Whatcha got there, Blue?” Koko asked, looking up in what was probably surprise when Marc lifted a flower crown and placed it on his head.

   “A crown,” he smiled, looking down to begin on another one.

   “Whatthefuck- how do you /do/ that??”

   “I dunno how to explain it, I just- weave the stems together?” Marc answered. “My mom taught me how to make them when I was really young and still lived with her.”

   “Oh, who did you live with if it wasn’t her?”

   “My aunt. She’s the one who really raised me.” He put the newly-completed crown on his own head, looking over at Koko with a grin. “How do I look?”

   Koko smiled, kissing his cheek. “Beautiful, as always.”

   “And now we match!”

   He laughed, smiling goofily enough that his cheeks dimpled. “Yeah, we do.”

   “You’re so pretty,” Marc said, reaching out and softly cupping his face.

   “Thank you,” Koko murmured, leaning into the touch. “You’re not so hard on the eyes yourself.” He kissed Marc’s palm and then made his own attempt at a flower crown, failing adorably.

   Marc noticed a few things throughout the process. For starters, he got frustrated easily. He also stuck out his tongue when he was concentrating, and his nose scrunched up just slightly along with his furrowed brow.

   And he didn’t use /any/ red flowers.

   He picked them, but he just looked at them for a moment at most before tossing them into the wind. Seemed a little put-off after each one.

   That pure happiness in his eyes was slowly being drawn behind another facade.

   “I give up,” he huffed after probably too many plucked flowers.

   “You just need practice is all,” Marc insisted with a reassuring smile.

   Koko put the failed ring back into the grass and stared down at it. He plucked another red flower and tossed it.

   “Koko…?” Marc asked.

   “Hm?” He hummed, turning and looking back at him.

   Marc softly grabbed his hand and tilted his head. “Is something up?”

   Koko raised his eyebrow, smiling softly, a little ruefully. “How do you do that?”

   “Do what?”

   “/See/ me like that.”

   He shrugged. “I’m just good at reading people, I guess. What’s wrong?”

   Koko sighed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut before looking out at the grass for a long, long, careful moment. He started speaking with similar care, slowly, eyes unfocused like he couldn’t put effort into anything but his words.

   “Blue, there’s… a /lot/ of stuff you don’t know about me.”

   He still wasn’t meeting Marc’s eye, and his mind went back to their short conversation in bed when he opened up just slightly about the dangers of his work.

   His heart started to sink a little bit.

   Koko scoffed slightly. “I’m pretty fucked in the head and honestly I’m an awful person. And… I’m afraid that if you find out who I really am… /what/ I /really/ am… you’ll fuckin- hate my guts.”

   Marc cupped his face with both hands, gently forcing Koko to look at him.

   “Koko, you’re not a bad person,” he started gently, smiling. He could tell Koko was about to retort so continued on with an unspoken fervor that lay just underneath his voice. “If you were a bad person, would you play go fish or uno with me every month? Would you be out on a picnic with me making flower crowns? Would you lay awake for hours with me in bed just so you didn’t accidentally wake me up?

   “I don’t /need/ to know everything about you, Koko. And if I ever do find out this thing that you’re so scared of, I would never leave you.”

Koko put his hands over Marc’s, his eyes blown wide.

   Desperate.

   /Terrified./

   “Promise me…?” He whispered.

   Marc nodded and leaned forward, softly kissing his forehead. “I promise.”

   And he meant every word.

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