remindmeofthepups | Milliways: Reo and Mark

Milliways: Reo and Mark

To say that the last couple of days have been overwhelming is an understatement. Reo has just barely begun to process half of what's happened, and now it's time for his first practice as a member of Seirin.

He is not the tiniest bit sorry to see Milliways on the other side of the gym door. He's been hoping for it in the back of his head all weekend; he needs more time to come to grips with the fact that his entire life has turned upside down, and Milliways is the only place where he can get all the time he needs.

He considers his options before heading to the fireplace. The comfort of the fire's warmth and squishy couches is the most appealing thing he can imagine right now.

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"I -" Reo blinks. "No?"

(The tension he's carrying is so familiar that the lie isn't even deliberate.)

"I'm sorry, I've had a difficult few days."

(True. Very true.)

"So have I," he says wryly.

Reo recovers himself and smiles.

"That must be why we're both here, then," he says. "To catch our breath."

"Mm."

He looks at the fireplace, for something to look at.

"What's that like, I wonder."

Reo is quiet for a long moment.

"Sometimes I'm not sure I know."

Then, with a smile that isn't quite as bright as it's meant to be:

"But Milliways always reminds me."

"Want to trade upsetting life stories?"

Ordinarily, Reo would say no without a second thought. He's just met this man. They haven't even exchanged names yet; getting so intimate so soon is hardly appropriate.

But this is Milliways, and Reo discovered quickly enough that putting his usual rules of behavior aside now and then here can be rewarding.

And Mako-chan called last night, and Reo made the mistake of answering, and the mistake of not hanging up when Mako-chan said that he'd wanted to tell Reo the full truth in person, but this would have to do.

He knows, after all, that Mako-chan only uses the truth to hurt.

He's certain suddenly that Milliways brought him in here to talk to someone about it, to to start dealing with it instead of walking into Seirin's gym with it all threatening to topple over him at any moment.

And this man must need to talk, too.

So Reo takes a breath and says,

"My best friend turned boyfriend never cared about me. He just wanted something and making himself important to me was the easiest way to get it."

He's kind of distantly proud that his voice doesn't start wavering until the second sentence. He has cried so much in these last few days; he'd rather not start doing it again right now.

Mark absorbs this, and thinks for a few seconds about calibrating length and comprehensibility, and returns with:

"The man who raised me was a revenge-obsessed sadist who wanted me to impersonate my twin brother and kill his - our - entire family."

Reo pauses.

There is certainly something to be said for being given a bit of perspective.

Then he pauses a bit more, because there is an extremely rude question he really ought to ask for the sake of his own safety.

". . . Please forgive me for asking, but - did you?"

"No," he says, with a slight smile. "He handed me a weapon meaning me to kill my brother with it, and I killed him instead, and that is the only murder I have committed. I don't mind the question; it's perfectly reasonable."

Reo is unperturbed by the news of that murder, as it was probably the only sensible way to handle the situation.

A short, humorless laugh escapes him as a thought occurs to him.

"Some people only respond to one thing," he says, his tone laced with a sour twist.

Mako-chan isn't - wasn't wrong about everything.

"Yeah. He used to say that too. Usually when he was about to hit me because I'd annoyed him."

Reo's answer is quiet.

"Mako-chan said it to get me to start hitting people myself."

"Galen preferred to be the one doing the hitting. He gave me assassin training but he didn't make me practice."

"Mako-chan prefers not to get his hands dirty," Reo says. "And I think he likes to have a good view."

"Galen just wanted to hurt... my father, and my father's family and my father's planet, as much as he could."

"Why -" Reo pauses, looking for words.

"Why did he want to use you, then? Why not just kill your family himself?"

This Galen sounds to Reo like a more impulsive person than Mako-chan is; years of cultivation and training is something Mako-chan would -

Something he did do. Something he did to Reo.

No wonder Milliways led Reo and this man to each other.

"He couldn't get to them alone, or with the resources he had. And he wanted to be particularly cruel about it. It's more complicated than 'twin brother' - I'm a clone. My family didn't know I existed until just a short while ago. So to them, it would have seemed like my brother had gone mad and started murdering everyone."

"Oh."

That makes sense. Part of Reo - the part that belongs to Mako-chan, the part that had to exist to keep Mako-chan happy - almost admires it.

"You call them your family. They've taken you in?"

Does he sound a little hopeful as he asks that?

"My brother has. I haven't met my parents yet, but I think - I hope - my brother says they will, and I believe him."

Reo smiles, warm and genuine and - yeah, just a touch relieved.

"I'm glad to hear that," he says.

Mark smiles back.

"I'm starting with a new team today," Reo tells him. "Mako-chan and I met because we both play the same sport, basketball. He - did what he did because he wanted me on his team, and I'm - I'm good at some things that he could use. He doesn't play to win, he plays to break the other team and see them lose, and he wanted me to help him do that."

He pauses, guilt squeezing tight.

"Since Mako-chan took charge of our - of his team, there's been an injury in every game we've played, always on the other side. Sometimes just bruises, sometimes -"

His voice shakes as he thinks of Kiyoshi.

"Sometimes worse. Sometimes we put people in the hospital.

"I thought I was stuck there. I didn't want to do those things, but I was already part of it and I didn't know how to - but I ran into an old friend, the other day, and he convinced me to transfer schools and play on his team instead. He convinced me I could."

"My brother did something similar for me. He... demonstrated that it's possible for someone to care about me."

Reo smiles. He likes this brother immensely.

"We're very lucky," he says. "Kiyoshi was the first person we really hurt badly. I still can't believe that he . . ."

He shakes his head a little.

"I don't know if he's even real. I half-expect to walk into that gym and find out that I made the whole thing up."

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