Atelo [MXM] [BOOK 1] ✓

CHAPTER 33: MAYBE I AM

When Marley is awoken at midnight, he immediately changes his pants.

It's Nero that gets him up (honestly, the guy probably didn't even fall asleep) and Marley tries not to feel supremely awkward—you know, considering he had the guy's dick in his mouth less than three hours ago—but he probably fails.

Nero doesn't watch him get changed, even though Marley wouldn't mind. There's dried semen all up in his pants and although changing clothes doesn't remove the situation, it helps. Honestly he's probably just gonna clean it off when he gets his shower in the morning.

"Wear black," Nero suggests. Marley looks down at the clothes he just changed into, then at the dresser full of clothes he owns.

Nothing black. Unless it's in the laundry? He might have some black pants in the laundry? Maybe?

Okay, no, he's not wearing dirty clothes. Sorry about it.

"I don't have anything black," Marley replies. He doesn't feel like changing, either. Nero doesn't seem to agree.

"Seriously?" He asks, like not owning black clothes is just out of this realm weird. Not everyone is in their emo phase at 20 years old, okay?

Marley shrugs, "what? I like colors."

Nero, the guy clad in black shoes and black pajama pants and a black hoodie with the black hood pulled over his black hair, frowns at him. After a minute of contemplating, he turns to his dresser and starts going through his clothes. It doesn't take him much time to locate what he's looking for, and once he has it in his hand he turns and walks over to Marley, handing it to him.

Marley looks down at the black sweatshirt and dark joggers the man just gave him. Marley contemplates, for a moment, whether or not this will raise suspicion. It's entirely possible for someone to jump to the wrong (or right) conclusion if Marley walks out in Nero's clothing, but the prince isn't seeing much of a choice here.

Marley bites his lip for a moment before giving in, taking off his clothes and throwing on Nero's. Now that he can see it better, he finds a design on the top that reads, sinners & saints, in red and white bordered lettering. In other words, it's identifiable. There is a high likelihood that the shirt will be recognized.

Marley's just gonna have to deal with it. Not liked he's going to see many people anyway.

When Marley looks back to Nero, he finds the guy blatantly looking him up and down, probably making sure the clothes fit him alright. Marley decides to do the same, realizing that the sleeves are too long and the bottom of the shirt reaches below his waist. The joggers fit alright, though they bunch up strangely at Marley's feet. He just slips on his shoes to get rid of that.

"How tall are you?" Marley asks, because he's been wondering this for a while.

"I don't know," Nero replies simply.

Huh. Okay. Well, he's at least a foot taller than Marley and Marley thought he was six feet tall so either this man is a behemoth or Marley's got wrong information.

"Are you ready?" Nero asks, "remember, we're meeting at the library."

Marley nods, "got it."

Nero holds out his hand, Marley takes it.

They leave the room, hand in hand, and Nero begins to lead Marley down the corridors, sticking to the wall. Marley tries to keep a look out for guards but Nero seems pretty confident where they're going, stopping every so often before continuing. It's once they reach the library and Nero ushers the two of them in quickly (right before one of the guards rounds the corner) that Marley realizes something.