Boys Night Out; prompt requested by CelticReaper. I'm fairly amused by this one, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to get it out. I know I promised to be better about that, but I've been caught up in sobbing over Prison Break and Leonard Snart and trying to appease my mother's need for me to have a job.
Imaginativegoody2shoes: I'm glad to have been of some assistance!
Axis25: Nah, usually truth spells only work when the person actually knows the truth. Marco and Star don't actually know the winning lottery numbers, so his answer would have truthfully been "I don't know."
Guest: Yay! I'm happy you liked!
Lolbit: That's a little too close to M rated for me to put in here.
EVAunit42: It's on my list now. That's a really cute alternative to your first idea, and I really like it!
Lals: Thank you so much!
I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil but IT'S COMING BACK IN JULY AHHHHHH
GENERAL POV
"Star, is this really necessary?" Marco complained, tilting his neck so that Star could get at his tie. "Your dad knows me, and I thought he liked me?"
Star shrugged and patted Marco's tie once she had looped it around his neck. "He does, Marco. This is more of a…getting to know you dinner, according to him."
The young adult sighed and lifted his hands to gently cup Star's cheeks and pull her to him for a quick kiss. "Yeah, well if I don't come back, I'm sure you can use a spell to find my body."
Star giggled and smoothed back a strand of his hair, kissing his forehead. "You'll be fine. He can't legally kill anyone on earth, only on Mewni."
Marco paused. "You're kidding, right?"
"Only if you'd like me to be. Now go."
Star turned and shoved him out of their apartment, shutting the door as fast as possible so that he couldn't get back inside.
On the other side of the door, Marco rolled his eyes and adjusted his tie again, nearly jumping a foot in the air when someone spoke up behind him.
"Mr. Diaz?"
The 24-year-old turned to find an older man with a suit on behind him, a pair of tiny devil horns sprouting from his hair the only indication he wasn't human. "King River has requested your presence at dinner."
Marco gave the man a thin smile and brushed off his suit jacket. "Uh…yeah. Yeah, he did. Where am I supposed to meet him?"
The messenger produced a scroll from seemingly nowhere and handed it over, clasping his hands behind his back once Marco had taken it. "The directions are all here," he informed him. "Don't dawdle; reservations are at seven."
Marco unfurled the scroll in his hands, glancing over the directions and noting that he knew exactly where the restaurant was. Glancing at his watch, however, he grimaced. The restaurant was a fifteen-minute walk, and since his car was in the shop being de-butterflied (another spell gone wrong), he was forced to travel by foot. It was close to ten minutes to seven, and unless he ran he wasn't going to make it in time.
"Sir, do you have a mode of-?"
Marco trailed off, as the messenger was nowhere to be found, and he sighed, glanced over the scroll once more, and shoved it into his inner suit pocket. "Guess I'm speed walking," he muttered.
His feet clattered down the stairs, echoing against the empty stairwell. Marco's tie slid from under his jacket and bounced lightly as he walked, exiting the apartment building and turning right, his steps hurried and his eyes locked on his watch.
It was a gorgeous night out, but Marco didn't have time to enjoy it as he hurried along, pausing at the cross light and tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for it to switch to green, giving a tense smile to the woman next to him.
He watched anxiously as the stoplights around him slowly started flicking to the colors he needed them to be, and right as his crosswalk sign came on, a man in a baseball cap and sunglasses went flying by and snatched the woman's purse from her hands.
"Hey!" she shrieked.
Marco froze, eyes switching between the retreating man and the light. With an inner curse, he took off after the purse snatcher, his tie flapping up and over his shoulder and his shined shoes scuffing at the pavement.
The dude wasn't fast, and Marco caught up quickly, taking the guy down with a flying tackle and pinning him to the pavement, knees shoved against the dude's shoulders as he wrenched the purse from the man's grasp.
"Someone call the police!" Marco called over his shoulder to the growing crowd of onlookers. "Keep him here; I have somewhere to be."
He got to his feet, letting a rather buff looking woman take his place, and turned to hand the purse back to the lady, who had caught up and was looking at him gratefully. "Thank you so much, young man," she said breathlessly. "Please, can I give you some kind of reward?"
Marco shook his head rapidly, a grim smile on his face. "Thank you but no thank you. Not necessary. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have a prior engagement."
He took off again, readjusting his tie and making it across the street without any more problems. He set a fast pace once more, glancing at his watch and noting that he only had five minutes to cover a ten-minute walk.
Marco huffed and brushed at his forehead, wiping off the sweat that had accumulated during the chase, and he glanced down at his watch again as he turned another corner, bumping squarely into an older man and sending him to the pavement, scattering groceries and books to the ground.
After steadying himself, Marco looked down at the older gentleman and winced, seeing the man shakily attempting to gather up his spilled fruit. "I'm so sorry sir," he said quickly, getting down on one knee and grabbing at a couple of oranges. "I wasn't paying attention at all."
The man chuckled hoarsely. "Quite all right, my boy," he rasped. "Dressed all nice like you are? I bet you have a fancy date. Go on, I'll be fine."
Marco hesitated only a moment before turning his attention to the man's books which, he noted with amusement, were about parallel universes. "Other worlds?" Marco asked curiously, gathering the books into his arms and standing, helping the man to his feet with a free hand.
The man smiled and gathered up his bag of fruit in his arms. "Yes," he murmured. "I find them fascinating. Now really, I can take my books. My car is just over there."
He nodded behind Marco and the young man smiled, ducking his head. "It's okay sir," he said softly. "I knocked you over, it's only right I at least take these to your car for you."
The elderly gentleman smiled warmly and nodded, his eyes twinkling. "Very well. Thank you, my boy."
Marco nodded and glanced halfheartedly at his watch, watching as the numbers flicked over to seven pm. Biting his lip, Marco looked away and waited as the man opened his car and moved aside, gesturing for Marco to set the books inside. He did so and, with a farewell to the kindly old man, was on his way once more, less than two blocks from the restaurant.
"You'll just be fashionably late, Diaz," Marco muttered to himself, bending a little to dust the dirt off his knees. "I'm sure the king will understand."
Images of him being turned into a toad flashed through Marco's mind and he grimaced, wrinkling his nose and picking up the pace a little more.
When he finally made it to the street with the restaurant on it, he sighed in relief and finally slowed a little bit, his breathing heavy as he struggled to once again make himself look more presentable.
"Give it back!"
Marco stumbled in his tracks. "Don't look across the street, Diaz," he grumbled to himself, twisting his head away from the residential area.
"Tommy! No!"
The girl's shriek rang through the air and Marco was across the street faster than he could fathom, rounding on the larger boy that was bearing down on a small, pigtailed girl who was clinging to a broken doll, tears in her eyes.
"Pick on someone your own size," Marco growled, fists clenching in irritation. "Or better yet, don't pick on anyone and get a life."
The kid couldn't have been more than fifteen, but he still sneered up at Marco like he was in charge. "Yeah? And what are you going to-?"
With one swift move, Marco had the boy twisted around, one arm pinned behind his back and Marco's forearm wrapped around his upper chest. Marco smirked and leaned over. "That. Beat it."
He shoved the teenager aside and the kid bolted, leaving Marco to crouch down next to the little girl and pull the doll into his fingers, mulling over the broken halves. "You know, I bet my girlfriend could fix this for you," he told her.
The little girl's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Marco smiled at her and nodded. "Yup. She's magic."
The girl giggled, wiping at her tears, and took the doll from Marco thoughtfully. "It's okay," she decided softly. "Lucy needs to learn better self-defense anyway. How did you do that?"
Marco smiled and glanced over his shoulder as who was presumably the girl's mother appeared from one of the houses, her eyes concerned. "Well, I'm a karate teacher. We give lessons. I bet your mom would sign you up if you asked nicely."
The girl grinned and darted around Marco to her mother, who was watching him warily. "Mom! This man teaches karate and he made Tommy leave me alone, even though Lucy still got broken."
The woman lifted an eyebrow, taking the doll from her daughter and pursing her lips. "Really? Thank you, sir."
Marco got to his feet and nodded. "No problem."
"Mom, Mom, can I take karate lessons?" the girl pleaded, tugging at her mother's hand.
Her mother hesitated, glancing at Marco, and he held up a hand, digging into his pocket for his wallet. One more minute wasn't going to kill him, he reconciled with himself as he pulled a business card from his wallet.
"It's all very safe and I make sure that we keep costs affordable," Marco promised, handing over the card to the woman. "Think about it. It's a good way to teach her self-defense."
She smiled, taking the card from him and then grasping her daughter by the hand. "I will," she decided. "Thank you again."
He nodded and watched them go inside before sighing, his shoulders slumping and his smile fading as he looked at his watch and realized he was over fifteen minutes late.
"King River is going to hate me," he groaned, burying his head in his hands.
"On the contrary."
Marco yelped and spun around, hands going up in a defensive position until he spotted River standing there, out of his usual regal wear and in a simple suit and tie instead, the crown still perched on his head. "King River?"
The older man smiled and tilted his head. "You were tested, Marco. And you passed."
Marco lowered his hands slowly, bewilderment etching it's way onto his face. "I…huh?"
"Should have given him an intelligence test," muttered the messenger from directly next to Marco, making the man yelp again and nearly punch him in the face.
"Relax, son," River soothed him. "Yes, this was a test. You could have abandoned everyone in need tonight to make our dinner, but instead you chose to be late and do the correct thing. You are exactly the kind of person I want my daughter marrying."
Marco froze, his jaw agape. "You…what?"
The messenger rolled his eyes and a moment later was an old man-the same old man that Marco had helped on the street. He watched in slight awe as the messenger shapeshifted again, first into the bully and then into the purse snatcher. "You…?"
River smiled. "Yes. You're a good man, Marco. I'm quite happy Star found you."
Marco shook himself from his disbelief and ran a hand through his hair. "I…thank you, sir. Did…did Star know about this?"
"She was made aware, yes," the king informed him.
Marco pouted for a moment before River's words caught up to him. "Wait…marry Star? How did you-?"
"I know the look, son," River chuckled. "Plus, we've had a man trailing you for a week. He saw you buy the ring. That's why I arranged this."
Marco swallowed hard, his face paling a little. "I…sir, I swear, I was going to talk to you and the queen first. But I-"
River waved an impatient hand. "I know, Marco. Just know at this moment that you have our complete blessing. You are an absolutely worthy young man for our daughter."
Marco breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you, sir. Thank you."
River nodded. "Of course. Now, I understand my daughter infested your cars with butterflies. Would you like a ride back to your apartment?"
Marco gave the king a smile. "That would be great, sir. Thank you."
As Marco climbed into the royal coach behind the king and the messenger, he finally managed to breathe normally again.
Now if only he could figure out how to propose…
*see chapter 30 for proposal prompt*
Reviews are very welcome!
