forum All Is Hell That Ends With ‘Fair’(Closed ~ One-on-One ~ Rated a possible M)

Started March 12, 2020 by @Toxic_Persephone group

tune

“Are you sure?” Marcus asked slowly, looking up at Cyrus and biting his lip hard. Cyrus was getting tense and he knew it was because of the state Pollux was in.

Once the coughing had subsided, he nodded and murmured, “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks though.”
He placed his cup down.
“I’m feeling better than when you got here at least.”
“Oh, well that’s good,” Cyrus said, trying to offer a smile.
His grip on Marcus’ hand relaxed a little.

"It was worse before?" His eyebrows scrunched together as he watched Pollux lower the cup. He wanted to make sure Pollux returned the oxygen mask to its proper position, to help ease Cyrus's worries.
It was very obvious Cyrus cared deeply about the male lying in front of them. Marcus wouldn't question that, he never questioned, Marx would have multiple relations with others so Marcus assumed it was normal, even for exes.
Of course he would never accuse Cyrus of being that way, Marcus truly believed it was normal for things like that to happen.
Marcus leaned into Cyrus's side and tilted his head at Pollux. "How is the oxygen?"

Pollux slid the mask back into place and chuckled a bit.
“Dizzying, honestly,” he said, “It’s kinda weird to get so much after, well…“
Cyrus nodded. “I’m glad the treatment is helping. Honestly, you had me worried.”

“It’ll help a lot. I mean, oxygen is kinda important.” Marcus laughed gently, stretching slightly as his muscles loosened from all the intense stress ge had just been through.
“Cyrus was way worried about you, I worried too even though I don’t know you too well. You’re important to him and so you’re important to me too!”

“Thanks for coming to see me,” Pollux said softly, “I mean, you really seem like a good guy, even though we just met. I think Cyrus landed a good one this time.”
Cyrus leaned into Marcus’ shoulder, laughing to himself.
“Is that you giving us your blessing?”
Pollux smirked. “Sure, man.”

Marcus blushed lightly, biting his lip and leaning more into Cyrus. “I-it’s nothing… I’m just here to support.” He murmured, cracking a small smile.
“But thanks.”

“It does mean a lot though,” Cyrus agreed, “Even little kindnesses go a long way in my eyes, love.”
He placed an arm around Marcus.
“Let us know if you want us to leave so you can rest or whatever.”
“You’re fine for now,” Pollux said, “I could still use the company.”

Marcus’ blush deepened. He pressed against Cyrus and wrapped an arm around his waist.
“I don’t mind being company. It’s nice to talk to someone who I know won’t try to kill me.”

Pollux’s expression softened a little.
“It’s easy to forget it’s like that for you guys,” he said, “But yeah, no… I got in some fights when I was younger, but mostly I’m a lot gentler. It comes with the job. Heal, never hurt.”
Cyrus kissed Marcus on the cheek.

Marcus laughed gently at the kiss, looking up at Cyrus and smiling softly before he returned his attention to Pollux.
“You’ve got a noble job. And I’m sure you do it well. It’s hard too, though. It at least I’ve heard it’s hard. Lots of school.” Marcus wondered briefly if he should return to school, get at least his GED.

“Lots of school for sure,” Pollux murmured, “Some of those science classes are hell.”
Cyrus nodded.
“I’m sure. High school was already pretty bad.”
“To be fair, Cy, you were also in a gang and basically had a full time job and mental illness on top of everything.”

“Science was always my strong suit.” Marcus commented, tilting his head. “As was-“ he cut himself off, looking suddenly sheepish and embarrassed. “Well, that’s not important. I never finished highschool. Maybe I should take the alternative school for it. It’s not that I’m not smart or couldn’t understand the work, no I could do that fine. It was Marx that really threw me off course. After everything he… uh… he did, I was in a bad place. Dropped out and never went back.”
He looked up at Cyrus for a moment, sighing. “It’s hard when you’re caught up in a world like ours. Education is a luxury we don’t get.”

“Yeah, I was incredibly lucky to have finished high school,” Cyrus admitted, “I didn’t do well, but I did finish. I figured if I ever got out of this, I would need that diploma. Though I suppose I could’ve gotten my GED later instead.”
Pollux sighed.
“Education sure is a luxury,” he agreed, “I understand that pretty damn well. I was just lucky enough to have a healthy home environment and all that. A mom who encouraged me. And a few scholarships to take the sting out of student loans. But we were poor… Plus, like… it’s kinda hard growing up with a single mother, and being both a racial and sexual minority. I had a lot of support from other people, despite the fact there were also many others who wanted to see me fail.”
“Yeah,” Cyrus agreed, “So much of success banks on the people you’re surrounded with. And in that way, you were lucky.”

“A lot of people take it for advantage too. They don’t realize what they have… if you’re born into a bad family, get mixed up with the wrong crowd, it’s over for you. You don’t get the luxuries of life.” Marcus muttered, a bitter taste rising in his mouth. If his mother had lived none of this would be like this. His father should have been the one to die, not his mother. It angered him a little more each time he thought about it
“Once we’re out of this mess I’ll go get my GED…” he murmured softly, taking comfort in Cyrus’s warmth.
“Now as for being a racial and sexual minority, I say it’s all bullshit. You shouldn’t be an instant minority based on who you’re attracted too and where you come from. Makes me angry. I’d sucker punch anyone who tries to discriminate against the minorities. Fuck that.” Marcus snarled, shooting a glare at no one in particular, just mostly to the world.
“I happen to think you should have had all the support from everyone. But if the important ones supported you, then you’ve got it all. And you’re very successful too, by the looks of it all.”

Pollux chuckled, “I suppose. I just consider myself very lucky, to be honest. Hard work was always a given.”
“One hell of a world we live in though,” Cyrus sighed, “Lots of elitist fucks out there. I do hope you can get a foothold to change that in medicine- even if on a small scale.”
“Well, we can’t change people’s hearts most of the time,” Pollux said, “But what we can do is change the type of behavior and thought that is acceptable to be expressed. So that weeds out some and leaves room for accountability.”

“Accountability…?” Marcus murmured quietly, tilting his head as he thought it over.
“Making the good behaviors a social norm is a good way to go at it… if you’re against the social norm you’re different and so you’re forced to the lower ranks.”

“Exactly,” Pollux said, “In this case it will only apply to behaviors like racism, sexism, homophobia… and records of refused treatment and the like will be kept.”
“Refused treatment?” Cyrus echoed, “That’s… they can do that?”
“Mhm. Like refusing pain meds for black patients, uh… maybe not doing certain types of testing because they think a woman is being ‘dramatic.’ That sort of thing.”
Pollux fell silent as he felt himself become short of breath again. He got some more water and sat there, quietly trying to steady his breaths.

Marcus scowled at the mention of refused treatment. He had been turned away from a few clinics due to his background. It wasn’t anything too big, just a checkup so he could get prescription pain meds for his leg. Most people thought he wanted it just to get high. Marcus actually needed the meds at times.
“It’s so dumb. Refusing service to people because of stigma. I’m not exactly a minority, but being in a gang is enough to make people hate you enough to refuse things.”

“Oh for sure,” Pollux said, “There are a lot of reasons that can happen. Then they overprescribe to other people because big pharma’s a bitch, and those poor people can get addicted to opioids among other things. It’s amazing how you can have such a well-paying job and yet be so money-grubbing.”
“Oh, so many of them are rich-ass entitled kids whose parents are doctors too,” Cyrus offered.
He didn’t know it to be true, but it was expected.
“Yeah… sometimes, yeah…”

Marcus shifted his weight, leaning more of it against Cyrus purely just to feel the other closer while they spoke with Pollux.
“And the worst part? This world isn’t a movie with perfect scenes and conflict resolution. We have to work hard and keep working hard to fix the issues. Some of them we’ll never be able to unravel, they’ve been around for too long.” He sighed softly, shaking his head.
“But there’s always a good to this life, it’s never all bad. My good was Cyrus, some peoples good are money or fame or pets or things of that sort. Took me a long time to realize life had good in it.”

“No issue too old or deep-rooted to unravel,” Pollux murmured, shaking his head, “If you believe that, you won’t conquer it. Even if we don’t see it through in our own lifetime, maybe someone will after us. You just gotta… leave a legacy and message they won’t forget. There are good people…”
“You’ve always managed to surround yourself with good people. I have a few… like Marcus, and you. But I guess we haven’t talked a lot again until a few months ago. I dunno, I think my ‘good’ is love. Honestly haven’t felt quite what I do now in a long time.”
“I’m glad,” Pollux sighed, “I’m so glad you found someone who doesn’t seek to hurt you. Seems like a low bar, but no, no… I really quite like Marcus.”
Cyrus blushed and leaned into Marcus. Pollux didn’t have to know all the details of how they met at least. But hey, he wasn’t bristling when he met Marcus. A little wary the first time, but it was understandable, after Cyrus’ last few relationships. Now he had an odd warmth. At first glance, it might look manipulative, because he so desperately needed their help to survive, but Cyrus knew better. Pollux was too honest for that. Not even kindly honest. Absolutely brutal most of the time.

Marcus glanced down at his feet for a moment as Pollux spoke. To him, there were things that would never be fixed. Things like Marx, who didn’t want to change at all and probably would never change. And things like the gang world. No matter how hard the world tried to fix it there would always be kids who were wronged by the ones that were supposed to support and love them.
They would always seek an alternative.
But he would listen to Pollux’s opinion and respect it. Pollux lived a very different life. Maybe there was a chance it could all be fixed up at his position. Marcus sure didn’t have any power to do anything about it, but someone who was outside of it, someone who could recognize the patterns, might be able to change it all.
He flushed when the conversation changed to him and Cyrus’ relationship.
“I’d never try and hurt Cyrus. You have my word on that.” Marcus promised, leaning into Cyrus and standing up to kiss his cheek. “And he does have good people around him, like you Pollux.”

“I actually… haven’t been in his life for a while,” Pollux admitted, “He reached back out to me a few months ago after my mother died.”
Cyrus bowed his head sadly. “Yeah… have you been doing okay these past couple of weeks?”
Pollux nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry to hear she’s gone… it’s hard to go through that.” Marcus offered, dipping his own head down in respect and sadness.
“I’m sure she’s proud of what you’re doing, of how you’re living and how you are.”

“Of course,” Pollux said, his expression lightening up a bit, “She always let me know she was.”
Cyrus sighed. “Yeah… I guess that’s one unfortunate thing we all have in common now…”

Marcus nodded softly, giving Cyrus a soft squeeze as he wrapped his arms around him. "Three grown men with a lot of room to grow without mother's. We sound like the beginning of some adventure or action movie." Marcus mused quietly, shaking his head. "Can't believe I've lived this long… I don't know what to do really, I never planned for a future past the age of 18… and now I'm here, a few years past 18 and dating an amazing man and meeting a successful doctor."

"I-I'm just a resident," Pollux corrected, "But if things go as planned…"
He sighed a little, seeming a bit downhearted at the prior suggestion. He'd grown up in a situation nothing like these two. Pollux wasn't about to complain about the comparison, but while they had all lost their mothers, it wasn't really the same.
Cyrus bowed his head. "Shit, maybe. I haven't really thought this far ahead myself. I wasn't sure I'd still be alive myself. Much less did I think I'd actually be in love. But if you do think about it, Marcus, we are basically like characters in some really fucked-up action movie. And maybe we're the protagonists. So we… we have to win, right?"

Marcus tilted his head a little at Pollux, scoffing. "You're kind enough you're dealing with the likes of me. I think you're more than just a resident." He said softly, trying to bring the other male back up. Marcus was really starting to like this whole 'making other's happy' business. It felt good to see someone else smile. And for some reason, seeing Pollux sad made him a little sad. Could it be he had finally made a friend?
"Of course we have to win then… the world wouldn't let us fail…" He murmured, turning back to Cyrus. "You'd be the protagonist, by the way, you're brave and fun. I'm just the love interest." Marcus added, laughing softly at himself. "But I don't mind."

Cyrus bit his lip at the suggestion. "Me? You have one hell of a story yourself. You could just as easily be the lead. Although, that said, even if I were just the 'love interest,' I wouldn't mind that terribly either."
Pollux laughed and murmured, "Lovebirds…"
Suddenly curious, Cyrus turned back to the man. "Have you been seeing anyone?"
"Not long-term," Pollux admitted, "Just dating around, a few one-night stands. I think that's what I need right now. I don't want to settle down and then have something happen with work."
"Fair enough. Has work been going okay too?"
"Great, actually."
Cyrus breathed out a sigh of relief. Hopefully once they fixed this whole situation, he would be able to just go back to his normal life.