— * | voyager ;

he saw marcus surprised face expression and almost rolled his eyes at the other: what did he think malfoys slept in: suits? the expensive clothes and jewelry were all for show. draco felt the most like himself when he came home after a day of work and could change into something more comfortable. ”i’m not that small and you’re not that tall,” he said dryly, but couldn’t help grinning lightly. he had expected the remark.  “i was thinking the exact same thing. coffee is better, but won’t help me sleep.” not that had stopped him before, alas. he took a sip of his tea as well and closed his eyes. he imagined marcus laying on his couch for a couple of seconds and couldn’t help but chuckle. “marcus, it’s fine. i offered half of my bed and you can take it. unless you don’t want to yourself.” which, of course, was a possibility as well. but if it had been that, draco figured marcus would have said it by now. he heard the other’s footsteps going to his closet, his words making him chuckle again. “i have my eyes closed if that makes you feel any better,” he teased. “but now that you mention it - maybe you should go to the bathroom to change.” he took another sip of his tea and tried to hold onto the light mood that marcus’ remark had brought to the conversation. “so do you have any weird rituals before you go to bed?” he questioned. 

“yes, please,” he says, in a high tittering voice, “i’d like to protect my sanctity, if you don’t mind.” marcus rummages through draco’s closet, trying to find the one that fit him the best. he finds one worn-out shirt, and well-- he doesn’t have the greatest legs, but this shorts would do. once he’s put everything on, he comes back to sit crossed legged on top of the bed, facing draco. “you can look now.” he says, with a fond smile. 

there’s always something calming about grocery shopping of all things. sure, one might argue that it was a woman’s job, but as it is, marcus was awfully lonely and single-- so there really wasn’t a woman to do it for him. not that he would want to let them do it in the first place-- because, to reiterate, it brought him a sense of calm. well-- as much calm as deciding over different types of soap could bring. 

he’s heavily considering buying the rose petal scented ones, because girls dig this load tripe, don’t they? with a careless shrug, he tosses the soap into his basket, before briskly making his way to the food aisle. it isn’t until he’s debating the merits of beef stew for dinner when he notices someone staring at him. marcus places the beef package in his basket anyway, before gearing himself up to face the unwanted stranger.

he’s a little taken aback to see that it was a small human. a kid-- child? yeah. a child. of course it has to be something he’s not used to dealing with. he watches the child stare at him a little longer, and marcus just wants to back away and forget she ever existed. but what if she was lost? “hey kiddo,” he says, nervously, as he does nothing to move closer to the little girl. 

part 1 of / ?? or a tale of how marcus became the resident cat lady

fluff number 1: ketchup

the first thing marcus notices is-- well, it’s that fucking cat again. what was it? the third day? that the fucking cat was hanging out in front of his doorstep. 

he kept forgetting that taking a stunning spell was supposed to hit him harder than it did right now. it might do so later, when the adrenaline left his body as soon as he was forced to calm down. that should be in a couple of minutes, he thought. he didn’t even think about protesting to marcus’ words. he nodded instead and turned to walk towards his bedroom. what he wanted most was to fall down onto the mattress and stay there, but he took the decency to change his clothes from his suit to a simple t-shirt and sweatpants. he was painfully aware of how shit he looked as he looked into the mirror for a second, especially since he was more pale than usually and couldn’t hide the dark mark like this. just when he’s about to sink down on his bed - he plans to never get up again - he heard marcus call his name. he already put his wand on his nightstand, so he opened the door himself and let marcus in before he sunk down on his bed at last. “you can borrow some of my clothes,” he said, gesturing to his closet, “and i suppose my bed is big enough for like four people to sleep in.” he paused, pouring the tea in two cups and handing one cup over to marcus before he took a sip of tea himself. “i just had a conversation with cho about how i hated tea a couple of hours ago,” he said with a tiny smile. “sorry to ruin our night, by the way.”

marcus walks into the room, tray in hand, when he pauses on his steps, surprised by draco’s casual appearance. he didn’t know malfoys even wore shirts-- that was a thing? still, he tries to hide his surprise, but he can honestly say that he’s endeared. “i doubt any of your things would fit me,” he quips, with a small grin. he accepts the tea handed to him, as he settles himself on the edge of the bed. 

it had taken him over an hour to return to the ballroom. most people would be done with a interrogation in ten minutes, but he didn’t handle authority well ( in fact, the only thing he felt like he was capable of was challenging said authority ) and refused to just answer the questions that were asked to him because they had no right to drag him into interrogation in the first place. he took the stunning spell rather well, so at least that was something he shouldn’t worry about. he was glad to have found marcus - at last - and that the other seemed so understanding about the situation.  he simply nodded on the other’s words and closed his eyes, waiting for the apparition to happen. the next moment he found himself in front of his own flat. opening his eyes again, he got his keys to open his flat door. he let marcus in first and immediately locked the door as he walked in as well. “thank you,” he said. “yea, i’m sure that’s true. i am great company.” he wasn’t sure how convincing he sounded right now. “what do people usually do in such situations?” he wondered aloud. “what do i do? do i offer you tea?” do you even have tea right now, draco? “do i just crash in bed immediately? this is completely new ground. i don’t usually take someone out and get stunned and dragged out of the room halfway.” 

marcus surveys the room with a barely reigned curiousity. still he’s distracted from his task at draco’s words, and he approaches the younger wizard, placing a placating hand on his shoulder. “what you should do right now is rest,” he says, softly but firmly. “i’m going to make you tea, while you go burrow yourself in your bed.” he adds, with a pointed look, brooking no opposition. marcus was grateful for his years of experience as a quidditch captain; authority came to him so naturally. “then i’ll go stay with you, alright? i do hope you have an extra mattress.” he gently nudges draco, “go, yeah? i’m going to look for your kitchen.”

@marcusfl. he was exhausted - which was understating it - after being stunned and taken away by a couple of aurors for an interrogation. he had worried about marcus - was he okay? was he doing stupid things to get information about draco? should he be? - as he was in there, unwilling to give up his date’s name out of pure distrust towards the ministry. he had talked to a several others as he was making his way through the crowd - them either disappointed that he hadn’t been held captive or relieved because he was back, there was really no in between - as he was looking for marcus. he found the other when he was about to give up and grab himself a drink, preferably of the alcoholic sort.  ”take me home,” he mumbled to the other, his voice hoarse as he spoke. his eyes studied the other for a couple of seconds, looking for any signs of - anything, really. anything that he had worried about before during his interrogation. “take me home and stay with me. i’m serious. i know this is supposed to be playful and flirty and merlin knows what else but i can’t tonight.” for all obvious reasons, of course. the gala hadn’t been a perfect opportunity for a first date to begin with since it almost seemed a given that he would have to face some of his demons. he didn’t count on seeing almost all of his demons in one night and preferred to sleep the whole night and day through. he leaned his hands on the other’s shoulders, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds.

he’s been forced to calm down, and was practically manhandled to go back to the ballroom. it didn’t sit well with marcus, being forced to stay still when his date could be anywhere, could be hurt or being hurt-- he forces himself to let go of the wine glass, afraid it might break under the tight hold he had it in. marcus’ decision proved to be right, when mere seconds later, he’s startled by a voice. “draco!” he exclaims, worry and concern evident in his tone. he barely refrains himself from checking the younger wizard over, not wanting to act like an over-worried parent. 

in the commotion of the event, george had lost sight of katie–his…girlfriend. the very word tasted foreign even in his thoughts, he tapped someone on the shoulder, barely looking at them – “i’m looking for katie bell–she’s my date and i just–” george was bordering on panic. what if they thought she had done something? the ministry was filled with idiots (ie the minister) and he was growing frustrated. 

“would you if i asked?” draco challenged the other with a little grin. “that’s very supporting, thank you so much.” he noticed marcus’ almost slip up on the word like, but didn’t comment on it for it was very obvious that marcus hadn’t wanted him to notice in the first place. he can’t help but smile as well as he sees marcus’ smile. now this had been why one of the many reasons why he knew taking marcus was a good idea. he didn’t care about being stared at, just like draco couldn’t care as well. his sense of humour had definitely been one of those reasons, too. he was pretty sure he hadn’t smiled - or chuckled - so much since before the war. “i can do it,” he offered, a mischievous glister appearing in his eyes and his lips curling up into a playful grin again. “you sound really intend to do some harm tonight to those staring,” he teased. he was about to add something else, about him agreeing with marcus about it, when the song they were dancing to faded away and a voice asked them to pay attention to the speech of the new minister. 

“now you’ll find out what she looks like at last,” draco mumbled to marcus and he let go of him and and stood beside him instead, eyes focused on the podium. he knew this wasn’t going to be good in any way: there would be mentions of the war and of those fallen. he might get looks, looks implying that he should have been in azkaban for it. so after a brief moment of hesitance he took marcus’ hand again and leaned towards the other. as soon as the images of the fallen began circling the crowd he turned to marcus completely, his eyes studying his date rather than everything around them. “i hope this is over soon,” he mumbled. 

just as he thought the talk about the war might be over - crinke was about to start talking about her plans for the schools - another voice interrupted her. one that sounded oddly like voldemort at the night that he had tried to take hogwarts back and lost indefinitely. the panic was visible in draco’s face. he was quick to take his wand, but was unsure where to point it at.

“might as well, yeah? show them just how stupid they are.” he says, scrunching his nose in distaste. bigots-- the lot of them. marcus was actually enjoying their dance (although, dance was too much of a generous description-- they were mostly just swaying back and forth, too busy sniping back and forth to truly dance), when they were interrupted by the emcee. he doesn’t allow his disappointment to show,  instead, directs his eager gaze towards the person he’s been dying to see, ever since he stepped  back into england.

she was-- well, underwhelming, perhaps. he’s been expecting someone who carried authority well, someone much like professor mcgonagall. she looked rather young, too. still, his momentary fascination was snatched away by his companion. the hand on his would have startled him, but the solemn mood of the people around them seemed to have gotten to him too, and so he held on without complaint.

marcus squeezes draco’s hand gently, knowing just how much this must be affecting the former death eater. he does ward off any accusing glances sent their way, and he gives them his own sharp glare, daring them to just do anything while he was there. he’s aware of his date’s reputation-- but he won’t let that ruin their evening. just as he’s considering leading them towards the bar, a voice permeates throughout the room. withoutany second thoughts, he pulls out his wand, immediately sticking close to draco as he aims it at no one specific. it seems only a moment later when the voice disappears and suddenly, stunners were being flung everywhere. 

“Despite popular opinion.” She commented drily, “I don’t like talking about myself.” The thought of sharing about her personal life with the public terrified her. She may have been a former Gryffindor, but the thought of sharing even a fraction of herself to the world to be crucified and judged send nervous sweats to her brow. “But I will take it under advisement.” Maybe she could write an opinion peace in general? Hmm, a thought that warranted some additional Research. 

“hey, if we don’t start now, when will we ever, right?” it sounds too sappy and heroic, but marcus can genuinely say that this was something he could be passionate about. “doesn’t have to be your personal life.” he says, “try to get a group of people whom you know share our-- experiences.” he taps his fingers against the tabletop, trying to think of a plausible idea. “get them to tell you about what has happened to them, things like those. keep it all anonymous.”

“i might be. but even if i was i wouldn’t tell you.” that was the beauty of a mystery, after all. it was exactly the kind of thing that people liked to chase after. it seemed human nature to want to know all about a secret at the moment they heard there was one. he didn’t bother to play this one out, though. “i can’t compliment you? you can’t be serious, marcus. it’s supposed to go to your head.” he nudged the other softly, rolling his eyes at them when he laughed, but couldn’t help but chuckle himself as well. “i will keep complimenting you and it will go to your head eventually.” marcus was nervous. again, one might add. draco found it oddly endearing - again. he could pretend to be al tough as much as he wanted to, but marcus was going to catch him looking at him eventually and then it would become super obvious. he wasn’t nervous about the party or about the dancing, though. he was raised to attend such galas and soirees. so when marcus spoke he just smiled at the other, not bothering to comment. he would make sure his date wouldn’t make a fool of myself.  “stop worrying about your dance moves and just dance with me instead,” draco said as the two of them stood still on the dance floor. “i can lead.” he would lead, since disaster was less likely to happen that way. he placed marcus hand on his shoulder and then chuckled. “this is going to sound random, but i keep forgetting how tall you are in comparison to me.” there was a reason why he played seeker and not keeper, beater or chaser, after all. he shot a quick look around him and then focused on marcus as he took the first few steps, keeping a careful distance between his own and marcus’ feet. 

“would you want me to squat?” he jokes, as he allows himself to relax even just the tiniest bit. his hold on draco’s shoulder becomes firmer, as he regains confidence little by little. “but it’s alright, draco,” he says, drolly, “i’m going to lo-- like you, no matter what your height is.” he says, nodding gravely, as if it was a matter of life or death. his face breaks into a wide smile, as he finds himself moving along with draco quite steadily. it does help that there were scandalized guests looking at them, and marcus wants to rub it in their face what exactly they’re missing out on. 

he keeps forgetting, exactly, how it was still-- taboo, this whole thing was. it was’t as if it was only in england, but at the same time, they weren’t this obvious with their prejudice in romania. marcus has already had his fair share of homophobic comments to his face, so it didn’t bother him too much at this point. it does bother him now, because he wanted these people to look past their bigoted noses and take notice of his rather fit date. 

draco rolled his eyes, but also couldn’t help but chuckle at the other’s words. “yes, thank you very much. don’t ever think i’ve gone soft, marcus.” that wasn’t true, but draco figured that marcus knew so much. he worked in a book store, after all. working in a book store basically meant admitting you had gone soft in pretty much everyone’s eyes.  “well, take your time to do it,” he answered with a little grin.

he took the glass as soon as marcus placed it in front of him and took a sip. “is that your plan for the night? trying to fluster me with all your compliments for your own entertainment?” he teased. “i don’t want to hear any complaining about my ego. you’re making it way bigger than it should be.” it was stated matter of fact, but all seriousness about his comment faded as soon as he winked to marcus. “they’re going to see how lucky i am. they’ll see how perfect my date looks tonight. i won’t be surprised if someone interrupts to ask if they can borrow you for a dance, but i might not want to borrow you.” what marcus did perfectly, draco could do too. besides, he didn’t feel worthy of all marcus’ compliments, so the least he could do was compliment his date at least as much, starting right now. “i insist,” he stated. “i have to show you off all night and it’s not going to happen if we keep sitting here.” flirting by complimenting someone wasn’t his usual go-to, but this was a date. he could try to keep this up. he took another sip of his wine and then took marcus’ hand, getting up from his chair as well. “you’ll be fine,” he reassured the other; he could see in marcus’ face that he doubted whether this was a good idea.  “if it’s really that bad -which it won’t be - it’ll only be one dance,” he promised. he pressed a quick kiss to marcus’ cheek and then led the way to the dance floor. 

“is it working so far? are you flustered?” the way he says the last word is over exaggerated, accompanied by a wiggle of his brows. he’s completely at ease, now, his nervousness slowly ebbing away (and well-- it was partially thanks to the alcohol, but that doesn’t matter). “ah, see, now that’s unfair,” he points out, “you can’t compliment me. it’s going to absolutely get to my head, being complimented by someone who looks like you.” marcus says, putting on his best starstruck look, before laughing it away, unable to keep up the facade any longer. 

marcus tries to cover up his nerves over dancing, of all things, with a wry smile. “prepared to show everyone how much of a mess your partner is?” he responds, only slightly joking. he didn’t go through all the effort of being a perfect date only to look like an idiot. but at the same time, he doesn’t want to deny draco the pleasure of a dance. still, he knows when he’s facing a losing battle, and when draco does take his hand, he wills himself to calm down. it’s just a dance-- facing a dragon couldn’t compare to this.