( #001 ) LOVE MARKED

[chatona]

(inspired by this tumblr post. )

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[broil]

That's now how empathy works, either. [a beat. Petre's pretty confident in his words, so much that it doesn't even sound like he's arguing.] Manipulation of the chemicals in your brain to match hers. That's pretty much it, isn't it?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

So you asked about my mark to try and prove it wrong. [His mouth draws into an unimpressed line.] That's a new level of arrogance, even for you.

[broil]

That's not why I asked.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

What are you doing, then? Obviously trying to prove something.

[broil]

Just making sense of things. It makes sense to me. Didn't it make sense to you?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

It's made sense for a long time. She didn't warp my brain, Petre. She -

[His throat closes off, and he looks away again with a shaky breath.]

[broil]

Maybe not intentionally. [Hm. He finally sits down, seriously thinking about it. This is more like solving a puzzle than necessarily poking at John to see if he'll catch fire.] In any case, you were pretty young.

[Very susceptible.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Don't condescend to me. [His tone turns icy.] Like you know anything about it. There's not a single mark on your arm and there never will be.

[broil]

Exactly. Is there anyone better to look at it from a purely objective perspective?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

You can't be objective about love, jesus. It's not scientific. It's not math. You have to feel something before you can understand it.

[Jabbing a finger in his direction. Unlike you.]

[broil]

Careful, John, you're starting to sound like a romantic.

[A pause. He leans a little further back until he's against the head of the bed.]

But it's cute. Some people would call you lucky to have felt it so young.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[And the anger drops right out again because really? A romantic?]

I never said any of that was good. Fuck, no. Just that you don't get it.

And don't call me cute.

[broil]

[okay, now he's poking.]

Cute.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Go to hell. [He sniffs, grinning just enough to show that it doesn't seriously bother him (yes it does.)]

[broil]

Who called you that?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Huh? [His brow furrows, feeling like Petre's jumped the tracks and he didn't follow.] Called me what?

[broil]

Cute, I guess. Since you seem to hate it so much.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

No one did. It's just a stupid word. I'm not.

[She did. She said he was cute when he smiled. When she was trying to get him to smile more often.]

[broil]

[He makes a sound of utter frustration, but he's actually smiling.]

You are such a shitty liar.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

So are you. If you're gonna be so obviously hot for me, don't try to pass it off as me being cute.

[Deflection shield go?]

[broil]

Oh, no, [He shows John a hand, waving off the topic dismissively.] I was just saying that to piss you off.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[Deflection shield failure.]

I told you about her. You can drop it now.

[broil]

Then what else are we going to talk about?

[this is fun, John.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

The weather. Your day. The price of gas. Anything.

[He's rubbing insistently at his wrist, as though it hurts. And it does, feels like a real wound for the first and only time in his life.]

[broil]

[his head lolls a bit.]

Do parents get marks for their kids?