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Marcus Gallo x Karisa Antila

Description: Karisa invites Marcus and Stylax to Flavia’s house for her Saturnalia party, and the night ends unexpectedly better than she and Marcus thought. 

Word Count: 2k

“Morning boys,” Karisa called as she entered Stylax and Marcus’ workroom. Aurelius (the waterboy), who had been talking to the boys about something rather embarrassing, whipped around with a deep blush on his face, nearly splashing the entire pitcher of water on her is Marcus hadn’t grabbed her arm from his spot at the table and yanked her to the side. 

“Gods, Aurelius,” she exhaled exasperatedly. “Watch where you swing your pitcher,” she demanded, smacking Stylax’s arm when he snorted at the double entendre of her words. 

“Sorry Miss Karisa,” Aurelius mumbled, looking down embarrassed. “I’ll uh, go fetch some more water.” He left without looking at any of them, and once he was out of hearing range Stylax and Marcus burst out laughing. 

“Man, that never gets old,” Marcus snickered. Karisa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. 

“You guys are so mean to him,” she muttered with a shake of her head. 

“You’re only saying that because you pity him,” Stylax accused in response. 

“Am not,” the girl responded defensively. 

“Are too,” he retorted. Marcus didn’t let their bickering continue as he looked at the girl. 

“Anyways Karisa, to what do we owe the pleasure of having you down here for?” He inquired, leaning his head in his palm. Karisa seemed to remember why she had come down there and perked up. 

“Ah, right. Well, Flavia is very busy today, but she wanted me to invite you guys to a party she’s throwing at her place.” 

“Party?” Stylax repeated confusedly. 

“Invite us?” Marcus added in the same tone. 

“Well, she’s inviting all the staff, but she asked me to do it since she has several meetings today that she needed to prepare for,” Karisa explained. “It’s for Saturnalia and there are supposed to be some reputable guests attending that she wants all the staff to meet.” 

“I don’t know Karisa,” Marcus trailed off slowly, looking down at the table awkwardly. A small, knowing smile settled on the girl’s face and she leaned down a bit. 

 “Cynthia said she may be there,” she mentioned in a sing-song voice. That, of course, caught Marcus’ attention and he brightened a bit. 

“Really?” He asked. It almost made Karisa’s heart break, knowing how much Marcus fancied Cynthia. Nevertheless, she nodded cheerfully. 

“At least she said she would last time we spoke,” she added quickly. 

“Yeah, I’ll be there then,” Marcus finally agreed happily. Karisa giggled then nodded before looking at Stylax for his answer. 

“You think she’d let me bring Helena?” He inquired, to which Karisa shrugged. 

“I don’t see why not. Lotus will be there so I doubt Helena wouldn’t be too far behind.” 

“Then yeah,” the man shrugged. “What time does it start?”

“Around 8:00, but just come whenever you want.” The boys nodded, and Karisa wished them a quick bye before heading back to Flavia’s office. 

At nearly midnight the party was still going great. People were laughing, talking, eating and some were even dancing, everyone was having a great time. Karisa could tell by the look on Flavia’s face that they had at least a few well off customers in the future. The only person she could see that wasn’t having fun was Marcus. In fact, she hadn’t even seen him since he first arrived. Surely he hadn’t decided to leave already? After searching for nearly ten minutes, she finally found him on the edge of the back porch with a drink in his hand. She closed the back door behind her, muffling the music and chatter inside, before walking over to him. 

“Not to toot my own horn or anything but I decorated the house nicely. You’re missing a pretty fun party inside,” she informed him with a small smile as she took a seat on his right side. “What’re you doing out here by yourself?” The boy sighed and looked at his lap. 

“Cynthia didn’t come,” he muttered quietly, shocking Karisa. 

“Wait what?” She questioned with wide eyes. Marcus nodded, still not looking at her. 

“Yeah, Helena stopped by her flat before she and Stylax came here. Cynthia said that parties weren’t her thing and she didn’t want to go after all,” he explained. Karisa’s heart broke yet again, but this time for a different reason. 

“Oh Marcus, I’m so sorry,” she muttered genuinely. “I really thought she would have come, she’d been talking about it ever since I mentioned it.” 

“It’s fine Karisa,” he attempted to dismiss her apology. 

“No, it isn’t,” Karisa shook her head. “I made you come to this party for nothing, what kind of friend am I?”

“A good one either way,” Marcus responded simply. The girl sighed then shook her head. 

“Still.” After she finished talking, she watched him grab something from his left side. 

“I was gonna give her this,” he added, holding up a white Lily. “Guess it’s all for naught though.” His hand dropped to his lap, flower still in hand. The girl debated on what to do next, ultimately deciding to pick up the flower and place it in her hair. 

“How do I look?” She asked with a playful smile. Marcus looked at her and a smile tugged at his lips. 

“Amazing,” he responded. Karisa tried not to take his compliment to heart. 

“Then it’s not all for naught,” she said simply. “That way it doesn’t go to waste and you have someone to give it to. Though I can’t say I’m a good replacement for Cynthia.” At her name, Marcus’s shoulders dropped a bit, so Karisa continued. 

“Marcus if you don’t want to be here, no one’s forcing you. In fact I’ve already seen people begin to leave. You should probably get home.” Marcus nodded after a moment and sighed before standing. 

“Do you want me to walk you home?” He inquired. Karisa shot him a thankful smile but shook her head. 

“Flavia has me on cleanup duty when the party’s over. It’s not a long walk home for me anyways,” she responded. 

“Alright then, goodnight Karisa.” 

“Goodnight Marcus, tell Grumio I said hello.”

“Will do,” Marcus replied, watching for a moment as she turned back to the evening sky while her drink swirled in her hand. He left shortly after then walked the thirty or so minutes back to his flat. 

“Hey Grumio,” he greeted upon arriving, looking dejected. 

“What’s wrong?” The servant asked, immediately noticing his friend’s mood. 

“She didn’t go to the party,” Marcus sighed, plopping down beside Grumio. 

“Really?” He questioned, sounding genuinely surprised. “She told me she was gonna tell you about her feelings tonight.” Marcus’ eyes widened and his eyes snapped to his friend. 

“She was?” He asked, sounding as alarmed as he looked. Grumio shrugged nonchalantly and nodded. 

“You shoulda seen her the past week,” he added before putting on a horrible girly voice. “Marcus likes Cynthia, and if he’s happy I’m happy. Who am I to get between him and who he wants?” He mimicked before huffing and leaning back in his seat. “I only just convinced her to talk to you two days ago. Guess the pep talk was for nothing in the end then.” Marcus’ eyebrows knit together in confusion. Why would Cynthia refer to herself in third person? No offense to her, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t smart enough to even understand that point of view. Unless…unless they weren’t talking about her. 

“Grumio, who do you think we’re talking about?” He questioned slowly. 

“Karisa,” Grumio answered with a shrug. “Who else?” 

“Karisa likes me?” Marcus asked, looking absolutely blown away. 

“Course she does, keep up, would ya?” The man responded, none the wiser to Marcus’s discovery. 

“For how long?” 

“Almost since you moved here. Why?” Marcus didn’t answer, but instead leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. His mind was reeling as he looked back on their relationship. All the compassion, the friendly gestures, the looks she always gave him. It was because Karisa fancied him? It felt like something awakened in Marcus, and he was standing before his mind could catch up. 

 “I’ll be back,” he informed Grumio, already heading to the door. 

“It’s nearly 2:00 a.m.” his friend pointed out confusedly, but Marcus didn’t listen. His mind continued to run as his feet moved on their own accord, seeming as if they already knew where to go. Nearly half an hour later he was on Karisa’s doorstep knocking on her door. He saw a light emit from the living room window, signaling that a candle had been lit. That means she’s awake, Marcus thought. Just a second later the door opened and Karisa poked her head out, looking confused. Not that he could blame her of course, it was 2:00 a.m. and he was randomly on her doorstep. She still had the flower in her hair, which meant she hadn’t gone to bed yet, so he felt a bit better about this. 

“Marcus? What are you doing here?” She questioned tiredly. “Is something wrong?” Marcus only stood there at first, trying to figure out how to go about this. Ultimately, he threw caution to the wind and stepped closer to her. Before she could question him again his hands grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her towards him in a kiss. It was rather messy at first, since Karisa hadn’t expected such a move. Once she melted into the kiss thigh, it was like heaven on earth. Unfortunately, the girl had to pull away just a second later for air. 

“I’m an idiot,” Marcus mumbled low enough for only her to hear despite them being alone outside, eyes still closed.  

“What are you talking about?” Karisa inquired breathlessly as she stared at him. 

“For not realizing what was in front of me all along,” he explained, a bit louder this time. “Grumio told me what you said to him, I’m an idiot for going after someone when there was an amazing girl by my side the entire time.” Karisa blushed and she had an internal debate on whether to thank Grumio or kill him. 

"I didn’t mind the wait,” she responded softly. His eyes opened once more and he stared into her eyes, an adoring grin painting his lips. 

“Well now you don’t have to wait,” he spoke before kissing her once more. “Not anymore. Now that my eyes are finally open.” Karisa bit her lip and nodded hesitantly, which made Marcus worry. 

“What is it?” He questioned. 

“I don’t want to be a rebound for Cynthia,” she answered quietly, almost as if she didn’t want him to hear it. 

“Oh Karisa,” he breathed out softly. “I would never do that to you. I’m here because I love you and you love me too. That’s all that matters: us.” Karisa looked comforted by his words and a smile appeared on her face once more. 

“Okay,” she muttered. “Would uh, would you like to come in? It’s late and I know it’s a pretty far walk back to your house.” 

“I thought you’d never ask,” Marcus sighed in relief, Karisa giggling afterwards as she led him inside. “After pretty much running all the way here my feet are killing me.” Her eyes widened and she faced him after closing the door behind them. 

“You ran all the way here at this hour? Why didn’t you just come in the morning?” She asked bewildered. 

“I couldn’t wait, and I don’t think I can keep you waiting,” he explained coyly, which made the girl’s heart melt. 

“Well now that you’re here, how about we get some rest?” She inquired, already heading to her bedroom. Marcus followed her immediately and the two settled into bed in a spooning position. Karisa intertwined her hand with Marcus’ that laid over her waist. 

“Did you have a good Saturnalia?” She inquired after a few minutes of complete silence. Marcus opened his eyes and smiled at the back of her head lovingly. 

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