accipe me | Yumark

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"Hello, Mark."

Mark struggled to breathe with the pale hand cutting off his airway. His hands scrambled feebly against the dark figure before his eyes, pushing at his sturdy shoulders with a weakening palm. The figure was towering a foot over him, and so he knew struggle was futile.

Mark's head started to throb mercilessly. He could hear Yuta over the phone on the floor, shouting down the line. He tried to speak and respond, but he couldn't make a sound apart from pitiful gasps of air.

"You've been avoiding us."

Mark locked sights with the man's crystal blue irises as his own vision darkened. The word resonated within his skull.

Us.

"Ah, your heart rate just spiked," the man pinpointed, baring his sharp teeth in a heartless grin. "Are you really that afraid?" He watched Mark struggle for a moment before removing his hand and letting him drop to the floor like a broken ragdoll. The man before him ran a hand through his stark black hair as he sucked in a breath, the two, leathery horns either side of his head rippling the darkest shade of blue. "She's not happy, you know."

Mark couldn't breathe normally and was looking anywhere but at the devilish man, who grinned again. "When I'm talking to you-" he grabbed Mark's face and made him look up "-look at me."

"You know how She gets when She's angry, Mark," he continued, voice threatening. His eyes ran over Mark's flushed skin and soaked up the view, and he licked his lips slowly. They formed into a pout as he continued, "And you know how I get when I'm lonely," he smirked, dipping his head down and tracing his long, pointed tongue across Mark's jaw, laughing in his ear.

Mark shivered when the man pulled back and smiled at him. Still unable to speak, he just focused on his breathing.

Running was no use. His legs were numb.

Shouting? Shouting for what, the landlord?

The saliva on his skin was just as cold as the grip on his face, and suddenly the man's pupils dilated, and the whites of his eyes drowned in black.

Mark's own eyes emptied of any life, and the sparkling reflections of the lights all around them dimmed into darkness. His heart pounded against his chest just as quickly as his throat dried, and he gulped, whimpering, "L-Lucien--"

The horned man smiled, stroking the side of his face with a sharp, painted nail. "There, there," he cooed, catching the weak fortune teller in his arms and stroking his hair. "Calm yourself, my dear."

Mark couldn't think straight as he collapsed into Lucien's broad chest. As soon as he looked into those piercing eyes, all his emotions plummeted deep somewhere inside him where their presence meant nothing, and all he could feel was a complex and yet so irrational fear building in his mind.

His vision faded to black, and nothing else existed to him. The walls of Yuta's home were barren. The floors held no furniture. The windows revealed none of the outside world. Right in that moment, there was only one thing he could see.

Lucien.

"I-I didn't mean to leave..." Mark whined. His hands gripped at the soft fabric of Lucien's shirt, fingers curling gently. "I loved them... Lucien, I still--"

He broke off into a muffled sob. Lucien just let his hand drop from the Canadian's hair and onto the nape of his neck, where he pulled down the collar only to frown.

With a calm voice, he said, "Mark, my dear, where are the beads?"

But Mark was too distraught to answer, the vivid images flashing through his mind making his heart swell and shatter. "I-I didn't want to lose them... I'm so scared." His body shivered as he hugged onto Lucien's shoulders, closing his eyes and breathing him in slowly.

Suddenly, they heard a distant shout, hailing from somewhere beyond their sights, and Lucien detached Mark from his body.

"Sorry, Angel," he smirked, hand cupping the fragile boy's face and stroking his cheekbone. He watched for a moment as he nuzzled into the hold, before winking, "Gotta go," and in a wisp of smoke, he disappeared into thin air.

Yuta appeared in the doorway just as the cloud thinned out of sight. His eyes landed on the whimpering fortune teller, and before he even realised he was missing an entire door, he shouted, "Mark!"

He jumped down by his side and tore off his white wig and hat, but it was as though Mark couldn't hear him. The latter had his back pressed against the coldness of the wall and his fingers digging into his thighs.

Yuta stared at him in bewilderment. Mark's eyes were completely empty.

He held onto Mark's shoulders and shook him gently. "Hey, Mark?" Thankfully, after a few seconds, the aforementioned man zoned back in.

"Yuta..."

Yuta smiled comfortingly. "Mark, what happened?"

But in one swift motion, Mark fell amd fainted against Yuta before he could reply. He panicked at feeling Mark's limp body against him. Without thinking, he picked him up and took him into the living room, placing him down gently on the sofa.

His hand carefully slid under Mark's palm and started squeezing it and slapping it gently. "Come on," Yuta mumbled as he watched over the man.

He had never had anybody faint against him, so he wasn't too sure what to do. Was this the part where he called for an ambulance?

At some point, he had tried to grab a blanket off a couch a few steps away - he had heard somewhere to keep unconscious people warm - but as soon as he tried to release the younger's hand, he had felt the grip tighten on his fingers and tug him back.

It took a few minutes for Mark to regain consciousness, and when he did, Yuta's heart wrenched to see him silently crying, eyes wide.

When his eyes fell to Yuta, he lunged himself forward and hugged his shoulders, Yuta hugging him back without a second thought. "Mark," he said softly, hands warming the back of the shaking man. "What happened?"

Mark swallowed. He had spent so long trying to forget that man and all of the danger he brought with him. But now? He had clearly no chance of ever losing him. "Lucien," he answered quietly.

Yuta paused. "Lucien? Is... is that some kind of food or something? Is this food poisoning?"

Mark just sighed, head shifting for comfort. "I think it's time for me to explain everything."

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