-title: The Realization
-author: indulgance rodent
-email: hprice16@yahoo.com
-summary: After a battle, Jake goes to talk to Tobias and realizes something he hadn't noticed before.
-disclaimer: *walks up to podium, shuffles some papers and taps the microphone* i hereby declare that i own none of the characters that this story employs. they are the property of ms. applegate and scholastic, and i will gladly give them back when i've finished with them.
-author's note: i've obviously changed my mind about the whole "no more chapters" thing, due to popular demand. also, i don't speak a word of spanish, so if i screwed anything up, don't lynch me. enjoy ^__^
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Marco wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of sharing his living space with Tobias, but something in the look in Jake's eye told him not to complain. He invented a tale about Tobias' uncle being out of town and not wanting him to stay alone in the seedier part of the city. "You saw the news last night, Pops; seventeen armed robberies this week alone," he'd said, fighting to keep a serious tone and a straight face. His father was very cooperative, not asking any further questions. When Tobias arrived around 5:00pm that evening, Marco ushered him in from the apartment building hallway and showed him to his bedroom. "I'd offer you the bed, but it really isn't any more comfortable than the floor," he muttered apologetically. Not long after, Jake showed up to see how things were going. "Smooth as silk, man," Marco reported. "Pops totally bought everything and Tobias is good to stay here for the next week."
"Excellent," Jake replied.
They chatted casually about everyday stuff--whether or not Maggie Gyllenhaal was hot, bands that should be executed by lethal injection for the crimes against humanity they'd commited by making music, favourite kool-aide flavours--until Marco stood up and announced, "I have to piss like a motherfucker. Excuse me." He carefully stepped through the mess of his room and strolled across the hall to the toilet. A minute or so later, he re-emerged, but hesitated outside of his bedroom door. Drastically lowered voices were murmurring within, and Marco got a strage feeling from their hushed tones. Peeking through the crack between the door and frame, he saw his two friends sitting on his bed as they had been; Jake was indian-style, Tobias was leaning against the wall a foot or so away. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but something was defintiely different. Jake laughed and shoved Tobias a little, letting his hand rest on the blond's thigh where it had fallen for a second before pulling it away. ((Interesting,)) Marco remarked to himself, an eyebrow raised curiously. More talking ensued, and then Tobias made a face at Jake, who replied by leaning over and kissing Tobias aggesively. ((Holy shit,)) Marco thought, his eyes now as large as dinner plates, ((ho-lee shit..)) He cupped his hand around his ear, hoping to catch some or their secret conversation.
"Hey, not here," Tobias hissed. "What if Marco sees?"
"Sorry," Jake replied quickly, "I wasn't thinking. Besides, he's been in there for like five minutes. He's probably preening or something."
((Dork,)) Marco thought, ((I don't preen.)) He chose that as the moment to reappear, loudly bumping the door with the heel of his hand as he walked through. Jake and Tobias looked a little too casual, the latter gnawing on his nails as Jake greeted Marco with a wave. "Man, I sure feel better," the Hispanic said brightly, trying to seem natural. The three quickly became engrossed in a conversation about video games, Jake swearing his everlasting loyalty to the Playstation platforms, and Marco almost forgot about what he'd seen earlier. "Honestly, X-Box just has better games," Marco protested. "Look at Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. That is some high-quality entertainment."
Glancing at his watch, Jake said, "I have to split, it's almost dinnertime and I need to get Sharing information out of Tom." He stood, and Marco noticed him brush Tobias's hand briefly with his own as he did so. He also saw Tobias blush ever-so-slightly and begin gnawing on his nails once more. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Later," Marco replied, offering his friend a slight wave. His mind raced angrily as he watched Jake go, most of it just snatches of thought bouncing around like rubber balls inside his skull. ((My best friend ... keeping secrets ... kissing Tobias ... my BEST FRIEND ... holy shit ...)) Sitting still and glaring at the floor, it took him a few minutes to realize that Tobias was trying to talk to him.
"Marco? Marco, dude, are you alive?" The blond tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. "Sorry, man," Tobias apologized, "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? You were totally spaced there."
"H-huh? Oh, yeah. Just tired I guess," Marco lied. "I think dinner's almost ready, I can smell something meat-like coming from the kitchen. Let's investigate." He hopped up from his chair and the boys strode into the kitchen where Marco's father, donning an apron, was stirring something in a pot. Tobias offered to set the table, but Marco's father refused, telling him with a smile that guests weren't allowed to do chores under his roof. Dinner itself was uneventful, and Marco found himself without much of an appatite, his mind still buzzing. Eye contact with Tobias was impossible, so he entertained himself pushing his mashed potatoes around his plate. Finally, his father began to clear the table, shooing the boys away.
A strange silence had settled over Marco's bedroom once he and Tobias were alone together. Clearing a spot for Tobias to sleep on his floor, Marco opened his mouth several times to speak, but always clamped it shut again before letting out a sound. His companion perched back on his bed and occupied himself by staring out the window and tapping his foot absentmindedly against the bedpost. Several minutes into this, Marco dropped the blanket he held and blurted out, "Are you fucking him?"
Tobias froze. "What?" he demanded, all of the colour drained from his face.
"Are you fucking him?" Marco repeated, his eyes glued to the floor. "Jake. Are you and Jake ... Are you -fucking- my best friend?" When Tobias said nothing, Marco looked up and saw that birdboy had gone completely white, his mouth hanging slightly ajar and his eyes wide. "I saw you through the door..." he trailed off, hoping to prompt some sort of response out of the stunned Tobias.
Suddenly finding his voice, Tobias dodged the question, asking simply, "You were -spying- on us?"
"Yes," Marco replied bluntly. "Now answer my question."
Pausing for a moment, Tobias lowered his eyes and said quietly, "No, it's not like that."
"Really? Because it sure as hell -looks- like that," Marco spat back.
"It's not your business," a louder, more bold Tobias pointed out, furrowing his brow. "Why does it matter to you what goes on between Jake and me?"
But Marco had stopped listening. He stared angrily at the floor, fists clenched, muttering to himself, "No puedo creer esto ... mi mejor amigo es un maricon! ¿Por qué él no me dijo? un qué hijo de puta." Pacing back and forth, he continued ranting for several minutes. "No entiendo por qué él no me dijo! Jesús Cristo..."
"Could you at least speak English?" Tobias asked, more than slightly irritated.
"Quiete tu boca, pendejo!" Marco snapped back. "No deseo escuchar usted."
A deep growl rose from Tobias' throat, taking Marco a bit by surprise. "Fine," the blond said flatly. "If you can't handle it, I'll go sleep in Cassie's barn." With that, he rose from the bed and snatched the blanket from Marco's feet, then strode toward the door.
Sighing, Marco slammed the heel of his hand into the wall, turned to face the retreating back of his fellow soldier, and said, "Tobias, wait..." To his surprise, the blond stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. "I'm ... I'm sorry. Come back, Jake would kill me if I let you walk out that door." Tobias did as he was told, keeping a wary eye on Marco as he closed the door behind him and tossed the blanket back to its former place on the floor. "Listen, it's not you, okay? I'm just freaked by the whole thing. One minute everything's normal and we're just hanging out, the next minute my best friend is mackin' on another guy. It's like someone threw me into the Twilight Zone while I was taking a piss, you know?" This got a small smile and nod out of Tobias, who remained silent. "And I'm pissed that he didn't tell me. Jake and I, we used to be like brothers. Best best best friends, and lately it's like I don't even exist. It's--"
"Insane?" Tobias interrupted, smirking.
"Yeah."
"So we're cool, then?" Tobias asked tentatively.
"We're about as close to 'cool' as we get," Marco corrected with a nod. "I'm beat, so if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep."
-author: indulgance rodent
-email: hprice16@yahoo.com
-summary: After a battle, Jake goes to talk to Tobias and realizes something he hadn't noticed before.
-disclaimer: *walks up to podium, shuffles some papers and taps the microphone* i hereby declare that i own none of the characters that this story employs. they are the property of ms. applegate and scholastic, and i will gladly give them back when i've finished with them.
-author's note: i've obviously changed my mind about the whole "no more chapters" thing, due to popular demand. also, i don't speak a word of spanish, so if i screwed anything up, don't lynch me. enjoy ^__^
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Marco wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of sharing his living space with Tobias, but something in the look in Jake's eye told him not to complain. He invented a tale about Tobias' uncle being out of town and not wanting him to stay alone in the seedier part of the city. "You saw the news last night, Pops; seventeen armed robberies this week alone," he'd said, fighting to keep a serious tone and a straight face. His father was very cooperative, not asking any further questions. When Tobias arrived around 5:00pm that evening, Marco ushered him in from the apartment building hallway and showed him to his bedroom. "I'd offer you the bed, but it really isn't any more comfortable than the floor," he muttered apologetically. Not long after, Jake showed up to see how things were going. "Smooth as silk, man," Marco reported. "Pops totally bought everything and Tobias is good to stay here for the next week."
"Excellent," Jake replied.
They chatted casually about everyday stuff--whether or not Maggie Gyllenhaal was hot, bands that should be executed by lethal injection for the crimes against humanity they'd commited by making music, favourite kool-aide flavours--until Marco stood up and announced, "I have to piss like a motherfucker. Excuse me." He carefully stepped through the mess of his room and strolled across the hall to the toilet. A minute or so later, he re-emerged, but hesitated outside of his bedroom door. Drastically lowered voices were murmurring within, and Marco got a strage feeling from their hushed tones. Peeking through the crack between the door and frame, he saw his two friends sitting on his bed as they had been; Jake was indian-style, Tobias was leaning against the wall a foot or so away. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but something was defintiely different. Jake laughed and shoved Tobias a little, letting his hand rest on the blond's thigh where it had fallen for a second before pulling it away. ((Interesting,)) Marco remarked to himself, an eyebrow raised curiously. More talking ensued, and then Tobias made a face at Jake, who replied by leaning over and kissing Tobias aggesively. ((Holy shit,)) Marco thought, his eyes now as large as dinner plates, ((ho-lee shit..)) He cupped his hand around his ear, hoping to catch some or their secret conversation.
"Hey, not here," Tobias hissed. "What if Marco sees?"
"Sorry," Jake replied quickly, "I wasn't thinking. Besides, he's been in there for like five minutes. He's probably preening or something."
((Dork,)) Marco thought, ((I don't preen.)) He chose that as the moment to reappear, loudly bumping the door with the heel of his hand as he walked through. Jake and Tobias looked a little too casual, the latter gnawing on his nails as Jake greeted Marco with a wave. "Man, I sure feel better," the Hispanic said brightly, trying to seem natural. The three quickly became engrossed in a conversation about video games, Jake swearing his everlasting loyalty to the Playstation platforms, and Marco almost forgot about what he'd seen earlier. "Honestly, X-Box just has better games," Marco protested. "Look at Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. That is some high-quality entertainment."
Glancing at his watch, Jake said, "I have to split, it's almost dinnertime and I need to get Sharing information out of Tom." He stood, and Marco noticed him brush Tobias's hand briefly with his own as he did so. He also saw Tobias blush ever-so-slightly and begin gnawing on his nails once more. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Later," Marco replied, offering his friend a slight wave. His mind raced angrily as he watched Jake go, most of it just snatches of thought bouncing around like rubber balls inside his skull. ((My best friend ... keeping secrets ... kissing Tobias ... my BEST FRIEND ... holy shit ...)) Sitting still and glaring at the floor, it took him a few minutes to realize that Tobias was trying to talk to him.
"Marco? Marco, dude, are you alive?" The blond tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. "Sorry, man," Tobias apologized, "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? You were totally spaced there."
"H-huh? Oh, yeah. Just tired I guess," Marco lied. "I think dinner's almost ready, I can smell something meat-like coming from the kitchen. Let's investigate." He hopped up from his chair and the boys strode into the kitchen where Marco's father, donning an apron, was stirring something in a pot. Tobias offered to set the table, but Marco's father refused, telling him with a smile that guests weren't allowed to do chores under his roof. Dinner itself was uneventful, and Marco found himself without much of an appatite, his mind still buzzing. Eye contact with Tobias was impossible, so he entertained himself pushing his mashed potatoes around his plate. Finally, his father began to clear the table, shooing the boys away.
A strange silence had settled over Marco's bedroom once he and Tobias were alone together. Clearing a spot for Tobias to sleep on his floor, Marco opened his mouth several times to speak, but always clamped it shut again before letting out a sound. His companion perched back on his bed and occupied himself by staring out the window and tapping his foot absentmindedly against the bedpost. Several minutes into this, Marco dropped the blanket he held and blurted out, "Are you fucking him?"
Tobias froze. "What?" he demanded, all of the colour drained from his face.
"Are you fucking him?" Marco repeated, his eyes glued to the floor. "Jake. Are you and Jake ... Are you -fucking- my best friend?" When Tobias said nothing, Marco looked up and saw that birdboy had gone completely white, his mouth hanging slightly ajar and his eyes wide. "I saw you through the door..." he trailed off, hoping to prompt some sort of response out of the stunned Tobias.
Suddenly finding his voice, Tobias dodged the question, asking simply, "You were -spying- on us?"
"Yes," Marco replied bluntly. "Now answer my question."
Pausing for a moment, Tobias lowered his eyes and said quietly, "No, it's not like that."
"Really? Because it sure as hell -looks- like that," Marco spat back.
"It's not your business," a louder, more bold Tobias pointed out, furrowing his brow. "Why does it matter to you what goes on between Jake and me?"
But Marco had stopped listening. He stared angrily at the floor, fists clenched, muttering to himself, "No puedo creer esto ... mi mejor amigo es un maricon! ¿Por qué él no me dijo? un qué hijo de puta." Pacing back and forth, he continued ranting for several minutes. "No entiendo por qué él no me dijo! Jesús Cristo..."
"Could you at least speak English?" Tobias asked, more than slightly irritated.
"Quiete tu boca, pendejo!" Marco snapped back. "No deseo escuchar usted."
A deep growl rose from Tobias' throat, taking Marco a bit by surprise. "Fine," the blond said flatly. "If you can't handle it, I'll go sleep in Cassie's barn." With that, he rose from the bed and snatched the blanket from Marco's feet, then strode toward the door.
Sighing, Marco slammed the heel of his hand into the wall, turned to face the retreating back of his fellow soldier, and said, "Tobias, wait..." To his surprise, the blond stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. "I'm ... I'm sorry. Come back, Jake would kill me if I let you walk out that door." Tobias did as he was told, keeping a wary eye on Marco as he closed the door behind him and tossed the blanket back to its former place on the floor. "Listen, it's not you, okay? I'm just freaked by the whole thing. One minute everything's normal and we're just hanging out, the next minute my best friend is mackin' on another guy. It's like someone threw me into the Twilight Zone while I was taking a piss, you know?" This got a small smile and nod out of Tobias, who remained silent. "And I'm pissed that he didn't tell me. Jake and I, we used to be like brothers. Best best best friends, and lately it's like I don't even exist. It's--"
"Insane?" Tobias interrupted, smirking.
"Yeah."
"So we're cool, then?" Tobias asked tentatively.
"We're about as close to 'cool' as we get," Marco corrected with a nod. "I'm beat, so if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep."