Compatibility

7

"There you are!" North had been looking for Markus, and had just found him. Markus was startled by North's random appearance.  "Oh.. hey North." She walked in front of the canvas Markus was using, resting her elbow on Markus' shoulder. "Whatcha paintin'?"

"I.. don't really know." North squinted trying to approach the paintings from different views, Just like Markus had taught her to. "Well, whatever it is, it's really pretty." North crossed her arms and leaned on the wall behind her. Markus didn't respond to her comment. They spent a couple more seconds examining the painting before North broke the silence.

"Oh yea, know what's up with Simon?" Markus quickly turned to look at her. "Uh.. no. Why?.."" North gave him a questionable look, but brushed it off. "It's probably just another panic attack." Markus eyed her. "Panic attack..? What's he doing?" North struck him another look. "He's been walking around the auditorium non stop for awhile now. Josh already tried talking to him but he keeps insisting that he's fine." North continued

"It's kinda creepy if you ask me, his handkerchief might be covering his mouth, but I feel like he's talking to himself." Markus turned to look back at his canvas. "Lets just hope he'll get himself together by the time we leave." Markus sighed. "Did you try talking to him?" North scoffed. "Nah, Josh convinced me not to, cause if I did I would've slapped the fuck outta him." Markus chuckled. He knew North was very impatient when it came to these things, and would resort to violence if desired. "You could try talking to him, he seems to be more open around you."

Markus stood silent "So yea, we're leaving in like, 20 minutes so meet us at the exit by then, Kay?" Markus nodded. North made her way to the exit, only to stop abruptly. "Try painting something you find fascinating. It'll lighten up your mood a bit." She smiled at him, leaving the room and leaving Markus with his thoughts.

-

15 minutes had passed, it had almost been time to go and Markus just finished putting everything back in its place. He continued to exit the room leaving his painting behind.

When he entered the main auditorium, he spotted Josh and North talking at the exit. No Simon. Markus looked around some more only to see him coming back inside from the back door of the church. "You ready now, Simon?" Josh teased as Simon walked up to them. He smiled embarrassingly and stopped in front of them. "Uh, where's Markus?" He took that as his que to walk over to them. "Right on time, Markus." Simon looked towards Markus, but quickly cut their eye contact short. Markus noticed this and kept a close eye on him. "Yup." Was all Markus said. North forced the church gates open. "After you guys." She said jokingly. "I call shotgun!" She yelled and raced to the self driving car parked in front of the Church lot. "I call... driver's side!" Josh then trailed behind her, both racing for the front seats, even though Markus and Simon were definitely not aiming to sit there.

At this point, North and Josh had been racing to the car while Markus and Simon calmly walked together. It was awkward Markus would admit, but it was a good time to talk about things. Markus looked around and made sure the coast was clear. "So.. about that kiss.." Markus heard Simon let out a puff of air through his nose. "I'm sorry.." he said, sounding a bit frustrated. "I really didn't think before I did it.. and I don't want it to change anything." He responded before Markus even had a chance to start. "You were just so.." he bit his bottom lip, daring to say something about their kiss. "Persistent." Simon finally blurted out. Although Simon's explanation made sense, it made Markus' chest feel heavier than it was before. Heavy with guilt. Simon growled under his breath. Markus purposefully bumped his shoulder lightly with Simon's. "Listen. I'm sorry too. I didn't know what I was doing.."

Simon gave Markus a reassuring smile. "It's—"

"Can you guys move your asses?" Markus' attention went to North's booming voice. "We'll talk later?" Simon nodded hesitantly and sped over to the car.