Shining Star // Dimming Light (Felix X SKZ One-Shots)

~Cover & Book~ (OT8) [PART 2]

Pairing: SKZ & Felix

Genre: Mafia AU

!!TW!! : lots of blood, injuries, fighting, language, ONE PIECE SPOILER X1

(requested by @kaeconstellations)

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About two weeks after Mark met Felix, he was tasked with guarding him while the cheerful boy went on with his day. Apparently, a low-level gang had thought it was a good idea to threaten him in order to make his husbands bend the knee, and they hadn't taken too well to that. 

So, while the bosses were on a hunt for the bastards who'd dared to threaten their precious sunshine, Mark was in charge of protecting Felix. He still didn't know why he was the only one on protection duty – if the threat was so great, shouldn't they have a whole group keeping watch? – but he couldn't say he minded keeping Felix company.

The freckled, pastel-cladded boy was the personification of sweetness. He smiled often, listened carefully to everything he said, and was just an overall ball of pure sunshine. He was also quite cute, once again wearing a pretty, pastel skirt that matched the flowery hairpin that adorned his blond hair.

He'd accompanied Felix to work that day, spending a few hours in the bakery before the boy eventually closed early, and they both headed back to the penthouse. Since Mark still wasn't allowed to leave his side, he'd accompanied Felix all the way up and, once inside, he was surprised to find the place so... not mafia-like. 

He'd expected dark color themes, made some grisly decorations and a bunch of stolen paintings, but all he found were flowers all over the place, a pretty pink carpet in the entrance, and pastel pillows to match the couches.

(Felix was most definitely in charge of the decorating. Mark had met his husbands a few times already, and there was no way they'd had had any say in the matter.)

After talking some more, Felix decided to make dinner for both of them. Mark had been a little flustered at first, promptly refusing – he was supposed to watch over Felix, not make him cook for him! What would the bosses say? But Felix was incredibly stubborn and refused to take no for an answer, and he eventually settled for making some soup for the both of them.

(Mark had only told him he loved soup once, a week back. He was admittedly a bit touched that Felix remembered.)

"Okay, but look at it this way: if Ace hadn't sacrificed himself, then Luffy wouldn't have been determined to grow so powerful," Felix argued as he stirred the soup. "He wouldn't have realized that he was too weak for the New World, and then he'd probably have lost his entire crew upon getting there."

"I'm not saying Ace's death was a bad plot point," assured Mark – and god, how did they end up arguing about One Piece, of all things? "I get that it was necessary, in a way. All I'm saying is that they could have gone about it differently. I mean, it was so stupid! And completely avoidable! If they were going to kill such an important character, then it should have been something completely impossible to stop!"

"But the fact that it was avoidable is what makes it so damning," replied the freckled boy, smiling – he was definitely enjoying this. "If there was truly nothing Luffy could have done to save him, then he wouldn't have blamed himself – or at least, not as much – and then it comes back to my first argument, doesn't it?"

"That's not—"

Mark was so engrossed in their playful argument, he didn't notice the threat until it was too late. Without warning, the entrance door was kicked open and one of the large windows shattered, both broken entry points now letting about a dozen armed and masked men inside the penthouse. Mark jumped to his feet and instantly pulled out his guns, standing between the intruders and Felix. Since they were in the kitchen, there was only one way out, meaning they were completely trapped.

"Give us the kid and nobody will get hurt!" barked one of them, his gun trained on Mark.

The recruit glared. "As if!"

A violent shiver suddenly ran down his spine. Unable to help it, he glanced back at Felix, expecting to find him hiding behind the counter (as he should). Instead, he found the freckled boy now outright glaring at the man who'd just spoken, and Mark's throat went dry at the truly intimidating sight.

He'd forgotten about Felix's frightening duality.

"What the fuck did you just call me, asshole?"

"Watch that mouth, kid," snapped back the masked leader. "Now come with us—aargh!"

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone watched with wide eyes as the man collapsed to the floor, a knife now sticking out of his forehead. His body hit the floor with a resounding 'THUD', and Mark shot an incredulous look at the freckled boy behind him – he'd pulled out a bunch of sharp knives from the nearest drawer, and he was now spinning them with frightening ease.

Felix's eyebrow twitched. "I am not a fucking child. Now get your asses out of here before I fucking kick them!!!"

"Get him!"

Mark barely had the time to shoot two of them before four more collapsed at once, knives sticking out of their foreheads just like their leader. And then, the recruit could only gawk as Felix vaulted over the counter and started thoroughly beating up those who were still standing. With a perfect rounded kick, he managed to knock out one while stabbing another right in the jugular, and then he grabbed a gun and shot the last ones.

A heavy silence ensued as Mark stared with wide eyes at all of the bodies now littering the floor, before eventually looking back at Felix, who was now scowling at the few splatters of blood ruining his skirt.

"Those assholes... Now there's another mess to clean up... Why can't people just stop dying in our home, seriously? Is it too much to ask for?" he grumbled angrily.

"Fe- Felix... Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" And he beamed sweetly at Mark, as if he hadn't just killed ten people in the span of a few seconds. "Sorry about the mess, people like them just don't know how to take a hint, huh? Are you okay, though? You're not hurt, right?"

"N- no, I'm fine."

"Great! I'll call up a clean-up crew, and we can go eat on the balcony," suggested the freckled boy with a grin. "Why don't you go wash your hands while I set up the table? Gunpowder residue always leaves a weird aftertaste."

Mark nodded mutely, walking over some of the bodies to go to the sink. He was still a bit overwhelmed by what he'd just witnessed, but he now understood better why the bosses hadn't asked more people to watch over Felix – the boy could handle himself just fine.

In the end, he simply came to the conclusion that he'd never get on Felix's bad side.

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("So... Why was I on protection duty? If Felix can handle himself just fine, I mean."

"Oh, you weren't on protection duty – he just wanted someone to keep him company. He gets lonely when his husbands go away for so long."

"... fair enough.")