Chapter 1
Today doesn't feel like a win.
Marvin joined firefighting because he got to be badass and help people at the same time, and that hasn't changed - he was telling the truth about that.
He gets an insane rush from the bell going, from driving the truck with its lights and screaming sirens, from kicking in doors - people's worst days keep him on his toes and make him feel alive, and he'd feel bad about that if it weren't for the fact that he helps people.
They don't have deaths that often, really.
It's a police thing, to go to the deaths.
But sometimes the paramedics can't make it to help the cops out and then they're on deck and that's when things go sideways, usually.
He's broken five ribs of a nineteen year old today, a sweet and kind of frail looking girl who he thinks might've had an eating disorder of some kind - he knows what those look like.
And her heart stopped, and they got there before anyone else, and he was the first to do CPR, the first to break her ribs, feel them give with absolute ease under his hands.
He feels everything.
That's why he didn't join the SEALs.
Because he feels it all and can't switch it off.
In the truck, Omyx's watching him.
Marvin resists the urge to squirm - Omyx knows him too well to think he's unaffected by today.
He doesn't want Omyx to look.
Omyx taps his headset, then removes it.
Marvin follows suit reluctantly.
"You okay?" Omyx asks, loud over the roar of the engine.
"Yeah," Marvin says, and he smiles, pretty convincingly if he does say so himself.
Omyx looks doubtful, but he pulls the headset back on, and they're quiet until they reach the 118.
If Omyx shuffles a little closer, and Marvin lets himself press his knee to Omyx's, no one says anything.
~*~
He's getting changed after the shift when Omyx finds him.
It's been a pretty shit day really.
He's tired, and his leg is aching - it acts up when it's cold or when he's had a shit shift and he doesn't want to show it, so he grits his teeth and walks perfectly normally to his locker.
"Hey, Marvi."
It's Omyx's voice.
He doesn't need to turn around.
He lets himself feel a little warm at being called Marvi by Omyx, with the affection evident in his voice.
"Hey, man," he says.
"You want to come over tonight?" Omyx asks, stepping up to his locker near Marvin's and beginning to shed his own uniform.
"I'll pick up Remy from abuela's and we can have a pizza night.
You still haven't seen Star Wars."
Marvin wrinkles his nose.
"I just don't get why people think Kylo Ren is hot," he argues.
Omyx laughs.
"Yeah.
Reminds me of my emo phase."
"Emo pha - what?
Are there pictures?"
"Not that you'll ever see."
Marvin pouts, and Omyx laughs.
His face softens as he looks at Marvin, and he steps a little closer.
"I'm sorry today was hard," Omyx says, sincerely, then pulls Marvin down by the back of his neck and kisses his forehead.
Marvin - because he's tactile and affectionate and loves being touched and having people near him - doesn't think twice about letting Omyx grab him by the neck, even when he's being pulled down again.
He blinks, unsure of what to say, when he's let go.
But it felt nice.
It felt really nice.
"Are you coming to pizza night?" Omyx asks.
Marvin nods mutely.
Omyx hasn't let his neck go.
It feels nice to be held, even if it's just like this.
Does Omyx even know he did it?
"Okay." He's let go, and he immediately feels cold, adrift.
"I'll see you there."
~*~
Marvin somehow makes it over to Omyx's, even though if you asked him he wouldn't be able to say how.
The moment he knocks, he can hear Remy inside, yelling, "Dad, Dad, Marvi's here!" and the clatter of his crutches to get to the door.
Marvin is ready.
The moment the door swings open, Marvin's grinning, pulling Remy up into his arms and swinging him around, resulting in a delighted fit of laughter.
He kisses Remy's hair, inhales the little kid smell, and then puts him down.
"You always beat your dad to it, little man."
"That's 'cause he's slow!"
Omyx's laugh rings down the hallway.
He enters a second later, in soft, worn blue jeans and a red henley that makes Marvin's mouth feel kind of dry.
Somehow, he feels underdressed in his own black jeans and white hoodie.
"Hey," Omyx says, and pulls him into a hug.
Marvin - who is a touch-hungry, needy little pest at the best of times - melts into it, smiling so hard his face hurts.
"I didn't miss pizza did I?"
"I made Daddy wait!" Remy crows.
"Marvin, come look at my science project!"
They eat pizza and Marvin helps Remy with his science project, they play Mortal Kombat, and the night settles as Remy begins to yawn and requests a bedtime story from both of them.
It's a little hard, two grown men crowded onto one single bed, but they manage, and Remy is out like a light halfway through the second story.
Omyx shuts the door to Remy's bedroom quietly and heads back to the kitchen.
Marvin has already started cleaning up.
"Don't do that," Omyx says.
"You're a guest.
Guests don't clean."
"Guests don't eat their friend out of house and home and then leave," Marvin replies.