#nomaddox

Die die die die DIE! Every rock which lay in the path of Elder Mark's wrath must DIE! He's had a BAD DAY and he's not afraid to KICK THE INNOCENT to prove it!

"Stupid David! Stupid Barry! Stupid STUPID Kenneth and his stupid....stupidness! NYEH!"

The 'nyeh' sound effect leaving Mark's mouth was essential for his rock kicking extravaganza. It adds that extra 'oomph' to the destructive action and fills one with a rush of power. Unfortunately for our powerful punter, that rock was no ordinary rock. Nay. One might say this rock was rather brick shaped. Like a brick. Because it was in fact, you guessed it, a brick.

"Ow OW owowOWow ow!!"

A flurry of horrific curses fled from Mark's open mouth like wild horses. Vile words such as 'darn', 'gee', and 'oh golly this is going to drain my HP' were among them. Let's not follow in Mark's malicious footsteps, mm?

"Who puts a brick in the middle of a parking lot anyways!?"

Unfortunately for Mark, his question would remain unanswered as the apartment's parking lot remained vacant of life. His only option now was to hop about on one foot, holding his injured one betwixt his hands. This is the classic tactic to get the pain to vanish instantly and is practiced by many. Why isn't it working this time!?

Upon his hippity hopping happening, the back of Mark's good foot would collide against the apartment's steps. This would result in the unfortunate fall of our protagonist onto his back. A strained hiss slunk through gritted teeth.

Despite the pain, there was a big beautiful blue sky to gaze upon. A sky filled with white, puffy fluffy clouds. And a bright yellow sun.

The sky reminded Mark of his eyes.

The sun of his hair.

The white, his smile.

Kenneth...

Oh. Oh no. This will NOT do. He will NOT waste another moment of his time thinking on the loss of his friend. Friends. Multiple. Frick. Uh-

Mark was GOING to his room to spend the evening organizing his cards! Yeah! And watching anime! Worshiping his figurines that he kept hiddenunderhisbedsohisbrotherwouldn'tmakefunofhim.

Y E S. He was FINE on his own! He was NOT going to pout! He was NOT going to cry!

------

Elder Mark was pouting and crying. Alone in his room. Blasting his Spotty-Eye Anime Intros playlist to further the drama and pain. It was inevitable. He had just had the WORST day of his life and now? His only comfort was his robe wrapped about him. It was like an old friend giving him a hug. Such an old, old friend.

While Top Ten Anime Intros of the 90's may be bangers, when played at maximum volume, they do cancel out all sounds around you. Sounds like the front door opening and closing, a loved one calling out your name, said loved one approaching your bedroom doorway-

"Hey, Mark, you're still up? That's great, actually. I thought I'd-...oh-"

Maddox, the elder half brother of Mark, stopped mid sentence upon seeing what lay before them. The brothers locked eyes in stunned bewilderment: Maddox at Mark's emotional state and Mark and Maddox's presence in the doorway. Mark's thumb seemingly had a mind of its own as it paused the totally epic anime playlist.

Maddox should have already sensed something was off when Mark left his bedroom door open, but...they didn't. Social queues were often hard to grasp for this one. However, the steady stream of snot and tears did cement that Mark might not be alright in Maddox's thick skull. They haven't seen Mark cry like this ever since-

"Uh, you okay?"

Mark clearly wasn't, but it was more of a...formality to ask.

"I'm fine..."

Lied the brunette, as if it could fool Maddox. Please. A fish in the maw of an alligator might hold a better chance at convincing another they were okay.

"Mark."

The blonde cocked an eyebrow at the other, then motioned towards the lone elder like 'you're-crying-a-river-and-drowning-yourself-in-it-what-makes-you-think-I-believe-you?'

"It-"

Mark tsked lightly, removing his PineapplePods from his ears as he glared daggers into one floorboard in particular. How DARE it be so close knit with the other boards! It did NOTHING to deserve that community! It's not fair!

"It's none of your business. Just- just leave me alone! You've gotten pretty good at that."

Sssssssshoot.

He didn't mean to say that out loud.

Was Mark's verbal filter going to continue failing him?

Was today the day when EVERYTHING fell apart??

"What's..."

Maddox's posture stiffened, the bag under their arm crinkling as the grip tightened.

"What's THAT supposed to mean, Mark? Where is this-"

"Don't act so oblivious, Dox. It's insulting."

Ahhhhit'sallcomingouthecan't-

"Sunrise to sundown, you're not here. You're NEVER here! You either- you're either volunteering for extra hours at work or you're smooching it up with your Perfect Precious Robert!"

ShutupshutupSHUTUPSHUTUP

"Admit it: you're taking any chance you can to avoid me! Working yourself to DEATH is better than being at home with me. ANYTHING is better than being home with me! And do NOT pretend otherwise, unless you expect ME to start playing dumb as well. I CAN'T PLAY DUMB, MADDOX. I'M A SMART GUY AND WE DON'T DO THAT."

"H e y -"

At first, there was bewilderment on Maddox's face, but now? That expression was replaced with hurt. And rage.

"I work late hours to pay for this apartment! It's not easy making a living income in a candy store- and- and at least I can KEEP a job! How many have YOU gone through the past year? Four? Five?? Oh, I don't even know! I've lost count!"

Mark's teeth gnashed against each other with such raw power that he swore they might break apart into thousands of shards.

"Three! It was only THREE, you blockhead! And one of them doesn't even count since I was stuck under a ROCK with no means of escape!"

"Oh. Oh yeah. Right. NO escape. None whatsoever. Except maybe you could have called me?? Or literally any other adult??"

"FALSE. IF I DID THAT, THE CREEK WOULD HAVE BE DEEMED UNSAFE. ALL CHILDREN PARTICIPANTS WOULD BE FORCED TO PLAY INSIDE AND I'D BE SCORNED FOR ETERNITY. USE YOUR HEAD, FOR CTHULHU'S SAKE. AND IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CAME LOOKING FOR ME ANYWAYS. DID YOU EVEN KNOW I WAS GONE??"

These boys were going to get a noise complaint any second- but it seemed neither had an ounce of care in them. Not for the complaints. And certainly not for each other's feelings.

"OF COURSE I KNEW YOU WERE GONE. I JUST ASSUMED YOU WERE HAVING A SLEEPOVER WITH BARRY AND DAVID THAT YOU FORGOT TO TELL ME ABOUT."

A maniacal cackle of victory exited Mark's lips whilst he slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger.

"WELL, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THAT EXCUSE IN THE FUTURE, FOOLISH BROTHER. BECAUSE NOW THEY'RE BOTH GONE AND THERE'S NOTHING EITHER OF US CAN DO ABOUT IT. SO HA!!"

Hands clasped themselves over Mark's mouth as he realized what he just admitted. That he was now a friendless LOSER.

"YOU THINK JU-what?"

Everything stopped.

Both parties remained still for a moment. There was a pause in the serenade of screams. A lull in the ballad of bellowing. A new emotion introduced itself to the pair and its name was Sorrow.

Mark's fire, his spirit, his drive to always be right- it released him in this moment. He was free to feel how he needed and once more, he felt melancholy. His hands fell once more to grasp at the cape about him.

"....We talked to Kenneth over the phone. Apparently, D A V I D has been in contact with him for a while and neglected to tell me. Barry was all ready to-"

Mark paused for a moment to wipe his eyes and sniffle delicately.

"KISS THE GROUND HE FRIGGIN WALKED ON. But I thought better! THIS was the same Kenneth who left us- who left me- and it's just he- he didn't bother to- then David said I was-"

Mark was...crumbling right in front of Maddox. A terrifying fate, to feel so high and mighty and then melt into a puddle. Perhaps if he hid under his cape, Maddox would forget he was there and go back to Bobby's house or something! Yeah! Brilliant!

Sadly, this was not the case. Despite Mark's masterful plan, Maddox rolled a critical 20 to see through his disguise and approach the shivering youth. The sound of springs creaking under Mark's bed squeaked as they sat themselves down.

"....You know, I was originally coming in here to tell you we got Macarunes back at the store. Like, the ones we used to play with when I was your age? And you were an age even younger than that?"

Maddox would release a ghost of a laugh as they rested the bag of delicacies on their lap. Said bag was nearly stuffed to the brim with macarons decorated with strange symbols on the outer crust. Runes. Which might explain the name, or simply be the world's weirdest coincidence.

"We didn't even know what any of these letters meant. We'd just....try to rationalize they were letters of the English alphabet drawn wrong. And spell out any words we can. People didn't like them as much as we did."

Maddox would crack open the bag, removing a singular Macarune and waving it in front of where they assumed Mark's face was. Like a human trying to entice their cat out from under the couch with a treat.

"...I think you're a lot like a Macarune, Mark. You're hard to understand, not appealing to most people, and you do tend to scare people off with your pretentious and frightening exterior-"

"Is this supposed to be making me FEEL better??"

Mark's face popped out of his fabric fortress with a squint and a sneer.

"-But if you get past all that...you're soft. And sweet. And even if it's only by a small circle, you are cherished by your friends."

"Tch, yeah right- I'm a monster."

Mark's chin rested upon the tips of his knees as his legs curled closer to his chest. The hot tears still ran and stung at his flesh. It was a miracle he had any left to cry at this point.

"Maddox, I want to shut up. I hate that I hurt other people with my brilliant piercing words. And I....hate that I said those things to Barry, to David...to you. I know that I do this a lot, but I just...I just can't control what comes out of me! People act like it's soooo easy, but what's harder is lying! Like- are we all supposed to say what we don't mean now?

Hey; YOU work customer service; what do you do to keep yourself from ripping people's heads off?? When you know you're right??"

Before Maddox could answer, Mark snatched the Macarune and claimed it as his sadness snack. Mrph- it was still as good as the years ago when he last had it.

"Welp....that's the thing, Mark. I'm NOT always right. And, surprise of the century, you're not always right either. But..."

Maddox shifted slightly, sliding the opened bag of Macarunes closer towards his grieving brother. Mark was more than eager to rip the bag open and help himself to the contents inside like a rabid raccoon.

"Whether you're right or wrong, losing your temper and saying spiteful things is never okay. Which is...my bad, after tonight. I'm very sorry for that. The second best thing you can do is apologize. The best thing you can do is...never yell to begin with. So!"

Maddox clapped their hands together with a confident glint in their eyes.

"What you got to do is stuff your face."

"....Pardon?"

"Stuff your face," Maddox continued. "If your mouth is full of food, you can't respond when someone is making you upset! It's why I always have snacks on me. And if they're especially tasty snacks, you might not even be angry anymore after eating them! You take the time to chew and swallow, then you can think a bit more clearly."

"Really? THAT'S the big secret? So I'm just supposed to do this dumb l-"

Before Mark could finish his sentence, he crammed yet another Macarune in his mouth. Humming and grunting the while, his face scrunched and contorted as the anger crept through him.

But as soon as they were there, the negative emotions and the Macarune were gone.

"....Oh my many eldritch gods that actually works. Can I keep these?? I'm keeping these! No take-backsies!"

Mark would then proceed to glide the bag under his cape like an octopus sucking a clam into its beak.

"I'm still sad though," Mark proclaimed, feeling the wave of depression crash over him again. "Sad and...s..s....mrph- s o r r y."

"I know, bud." Maddox's hand would rest itself atop the other's head to pat his brother lightly. "But we'll get through it together, okay?"

"Okay." Like a limp ragdoll, Mark's body rested itself against Maddox's side. He just needed a hug right now and this was some odd version of one. Mark would get through this. He wasn't totally lost. He was just a Macarune that needed to learn when to shut up.

"....Don't actually use the 'shoving-your-face-with-food' trick at in front of a customer though. That'll get you fired quickly."

"No duh, Maddox."