Shatterline - Chapter 12
Fandom: Lies of P
Pairing: Romeo x Carlo
Warnings: AU - modern setting
Summary: Carlo’s main goal, aside from the obvious when it came to his dysfuncional family, was to make Sophia the happiest person on the planet. If it meant attending a convention full of cosplayers while also parading around in a fancy outfit from a game he had never played, so be it. But not considering it a challenge proved to be his biggest mistake and to save himself from spiralling meant letting a certain person to breach his comfort zone and help him back on the track.
OR
How Romeo met the perfect cosplayer just to get his lofty expectations crushed, but realizing he may be somebody much more to him, given the chance. Potentially also letting Lea win.
Can be found on Ao3.
“The convention? Well, it’s the plan, but it’s not set in stone yet, life’s been busy and all that,” Romeo pulled Spot on his lap, to stop him from parading over his keyboard, and the chat on the stream collectively awwwed. The kitten immediately attacked his hand, but at least it dissuaded it from messing up the stream anymore, like thrice before, when it managed to end it like it was its life mission.
[Discoballuser]: what about the cosplay you still going with the star wars theme?
“Oh, yeah, that one’s definitely a go,” Romeo answered, reaching for his phone to pull out a photo of mostly done costume on a mannequin, showing it to the camera. “Looks rad, right?”
[AllHailSpot]: That yours or Carlo’s?
“That’s my man’s,” Romeo grinned, looking at the costume a bit longer. Perfectly hugging the places it was supposed to hug. Certified.
[xSureJanx]: cuz you go as Lea amirite
“How do you know that?” Romeo faked a scandalous gasp. “It was supposed to be a secret!”
[xSureJanx]: sure jan
[AllHailSpot]: Where’s your man anyway? You promised he’ll be streaming with you ☹
“In the shower right now,” Romeo scratched Spot’s little head once the kitten finally decided it bit him enough and calmed down. “Don’t worry, he’ll come.”
[BroCode]: will he 😉
“Shush, you,” the blond chuckled. Carlo would definitely flip him off if he read that. He could only hope the chat would be fast enough to hide it, since he heard the door to the bathroom opening.
A few seconds later, Carlo emerged from the steamy chamber, a towel locked around his waist, hair still wet, just casually strolling into the living room like he had no idea the stream was running. Another three seconds later, Romeo realized he really had no idea, but it was too late to warn him, and he entered the frame like a paid porn actor getting ready for the set.
The chat, as expected, exploded.
“Love,” Romeo turned around, appraisingly checking him out, and Carlo let out a thoughtful hum while starting into his phone. “I’m already live.”
“Mhm,” the boy confirmed.
Several seconds passed. Carlo was still standing there, typing on his phone. The towel hung dangerously low on his slim hips.
Romeo wanted to go and lick all the remaining water off him.
“You’re in the frame,” he added with badly hidden amusement. “Chat’s saying you look really sexy today.”
Chat was saying a lot more than that, but… yeah.
“Hm?” That finally made Carlo raise his head, and Romeo could almost see the loading icon behind his eyes as he started to take in the scene. His boyfriend at the PC, a wildly running wall of text behind him on the monitor, the green light on the webcam, and he, standing in all his glory, right in the viewfinder. “Wha- oh fuck, I’m sorry!”
He dipped out like somebody shot him, making Romeo bark out a laugh.
“I thought it was scheduled for 7, not 6!” he heard him squeal when he ran to the bedroom to get dressed, he’d assume. “Fuuuuuck.”
“It’s okay, chat really liked it,” Romeo assured him, reading the comments where some could probably qualify for a warning. But then again, wild half half-naked Carlo appearing probably warranted the reaction.
A groan came as a reply, and Spot jumped out of his arms and ran to the bedroom after Carlo. Seconds later, he could hear him cooing at the cat, and all was well again.
Getting the cat was Sophia’s idea. She called it “baby time”, and Romeo could see why – the kitten was like a hyperactive child on five shots of espresso, and they loved it. Carlo even got him a cute collar with a bell, so now they had Christmas cheer every time the kitten moved. Naming him Spot was a given, especially since it was an orange cat, and Carlo didn’t fight it, despite not really knowing why that name in particular.
It took about five minutes for Carlo to finally join him, dressed in Romeo’s hoodie (that was, by now, technically his because he always snatched it before Romeo could even see it being dry from the wash), walking to his chair to hug him from the back and plant a small kiss on his cheek.
“Hey guys,” he waved to the camera, and the chat enthusiastically greeted him back. “Sorry about flashing you earlier. It may happen again.”
The fact that the chat got flooded with please, let it happen again soon made Romeo raise a warning finger, while Carlo just casually took a seat on his lap, like he always did.
It had been three years since they started dating, and two years since they moved in together once they managed to secure a nice, cozy apartment. Up until today, Romeo wasn’t sure how the hell they got so lucky with this place, but since it was 98 % Carlo’s initiative, he decided his lover was either a magician or mafia and simply got things done by a flick of his wrist.
Or maybe it was just a sheer force of his resolution to leave his father’s influence behind – in those three years, Romeo could tell it might have been the biggest driving force he had ever had.
They never officially met with Giuseppe Geppetto. He had seen him in photographs and some videos, but since Carlo did his best to push him out of his life, it would make no sense for them to be introduced to each other. And Romeo had a sneaking suspicion it would be the last day of his life if they ever did, because that man would probably murder him for seducing his son. Carlo claimed his old man did not care enough about him in that regard, but even if he had only seen his son as his prodigy or heir, having a gay relationship surely derailed some of the pristine image he created in his head.
When Romeo told Lea he planned to move in with Carlo a year into their dating, she made a face of disagreement – he remembered that clearly like it was yesterday – before catching herself and only nodding. She never explained that moment, despite Romeo asking her several times, but if he had to guess, she probably didn’t have much faith in them lasting at first and maybe considered the move premature.
Yet, she still helped him with the moving shenanigans, and he couldn’t deny certain sadness over leaving their arrangement (although not her underwear in his drawers or the wars they led over who was going to do the dishes).
“And you think it’s going to be different with him?” she snorted when they were loading the boxes into his car. “That he’ll be happy to do dishes all the time? Or that your underwear won’t mix up? Now you won’t even know if it’s yours or not.”
“Yeah, but at least it won’t be a lacy thong that has to chafe you everywhere,” he returned the sass to her. “And we have a dishwasher. Checkmate.”
“Yeah, so you’ll argue about unloading it after it’s done with the washing, you’re so naïve,” she shot back, but still smiled almost fondly. “It’s just… strange. Not to have you around anymore.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, because it was. They had known each other for so long, he assumed this was how children from normal families felt when leaving the nest. “But I want to be with him so bad, Lea. This year had been hell when I couldn’t see him every day.”
“Ugh, love,” she rolled her eyes.
“And his dad is a dickhead, so he just wants to get away,” he added with a sigh, at which her face softened.
“Hm,” she hummed. “I get that. I hope it works out for him. The distance, I mean.”
They never really talked about Lea’s ties to Sophia, despite Romeo trying to breach the topic after he got back from the convention, where he found out. Lea admitted Sophia was her sister and the reason she left home had not been her, but she remained tight-lipped about the rest. And Romeo respected her decision and never pried further.
They made a collective decision with Carlo not to tell Sophia at all, for now. And it had been three years already.
Once they moved into their new home, Carlo’s sleeping schedule improved by 100 % and even though Romeo might be biased, he would vouch for it just made him even more beautiful, that full, sexy restfulness. Even when they argued (and it was mostly rare, but not impossible), they still slept together because Romeo couldn’t bring himself to leave Carlo struggling with falling asleep. And it usually helped them to make up anyway, that shared proximity. By the morning, they usually kissed, and when they kissed, they made out, and when they made out… Anyway, happiness, Romeo thought, was Carlo in disguise.
In the first year of dating, they had seen each other sporadically. They called each other daily, of course, video calls and texts and all you could think of, but with school for Carlo and work for Romeo, actually meeting face to face had been very sparse.
But once they finally could see each other after 3 months for the first time since the convention, Carlo almost fainted when he found out Romeo had his last growing spurt and now towered above him by a good 15 cm more.
“What have you been eating?! Fertilizers?!”
“It was the loneliness and craving for you,” Romeo joked, kissing the top of Carlo’s head with much more ease than before. He loved it. “Which means you can’t leave me alone anymore.”
“Yeah, or you’ll be a new Slenderman, holy fuck,” Carlo grumbled, but still latched onto him with a hug so tight he probably spent those three months in the gym instead. “Oh my god, I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too, love,” Romeo whispered into his lips, kissing him breathless without care that they were still at the bus stop. “Let me kidnap you now.”
“Please do,” Carlo chuckled, and they didn’t leave their hotel room for two days.
Once they moved in, Carlo started appearing more in Romeo’s online endeavours. He wasn’t a gamer or fiction consumer, but he enjoyed watching Romeo play games and once, when he streamed over discord to do movie night, Carlo appeared in the frame by a chance, just getting something from the living room, and the chat immediately noticed him, frantically pointing out it was P and how the hell was he in Romeo’s home.
“You mean my wonderful boyfriend?” Romeo grinned into the camera because he never told the group, obviously. It wasn’t like he posted his private life or anything; it was mostly just fun with cosplays and games, like a tightly closed community where he acted as an admin and mostly just did this in his free time.
[AllHailSpot]: YOU ACTUALLY GOT TOGETHER???
[Imp451]: bro you pulled him? Congratz!
[BroCode]: what the hell, since when!
“Well…” Romeo started, trying to find the right words to put it as nonchalantly as possible, when Carlo suddenly appeared next to him, leaning down to read the chat.
“Pff, why are they so surprised we started dating?” he asked in amusement. “I mean, have you seen this guy? Who wouldn’t want to?”
[AllHailSpot]: That’s completely fair.
[BroCode]: cuz he’s a nerd and you seem like you drink coffee and read poetry
“Oi,” Romeo huffed while Carlo laughed at that and sat on Romeo’s lap so he could read better.
That was, honestly, how it all came to be. The chat started to demand Carlo’s presence, and when the boy had time, he joined Romeo at most of those streams. They even riled him enough to try playing Lies of P and that became its own thing for at least a month, before Carlo managed to beat it through blood and sweat (and sometimes Romeo’s help with certain bosses. The chat called that bribery, because Carlo always acted ultra seductive when he wanted Romeo to clear it for him).
Eventually, Carlo agreed to attend another convention with Romeo, and they even decided to do a little meet and greet with the Discord server people. To make their costumes Star Wars themed was more of a jest, but Carlo liked the designs of the clothes, and when they talked about it with Sophia, she gleefully announced she’d join them as well, planning to go as Lea (which would make some people in the server sad, Romeo joked).
“Back to the shatterline,” Carlo smiled, looking at Hotel Krat being their destination again while booking the tickets. “The place where you changed my life.”
“And where you changed mine,” Romeo cuddled him closer.
They left the chat call them sickeningly sweet and started the movie instead.
