Cashiering isn't so bad [Creepypasta/Marble Hornets x Male reader]

Listening

M/n, as empathetic as he could be, really wasn't in the mood. He tried his best to understand, to listen, but he was up to his boiling point. He was weeks away from being put down like a pony with a broken leg and the only place he felt comfortable, safe even, was violated. Now the violator broke into his house, yet again, just to try and explain himself. The fucking audacity. That was all he could think about. His judgement was clouded by exhaustion, irritation, fear, and about a million other things, and because of that lapse his anger felt justified.

   And many would agree.

   They both drank their coffee in silence, Liu was finished trying to explain what Sully was, it was a struggle since he didn't even know himself. It wasn't DID, that's about as much as he was confident about. It didn't help that he could tell M/n wasn't impressed with his poorly put together apology. His frustration was practically wafting off of him. Liu was normally rather timid, even if last night didn't exactly help portray his character— What can I say? Pain can bring out the worst in us, and he did just break his nose— but M/n's current demeanor only made him more anxious. Sitting there in thick silence, he'd trace his thumbs along the porcelain mug as he waited for M/n to finally respond.

   Liu was stressing out about it so much that when M/n moved forward to set down his mug, he flinched back a bit dramatically. He was so immersed in his own imagination, he genuinely thought M/n was moving to hit him. It didn't go unnoticed by M/n who shot him a look before leaning back in his seat. Liu looked up at him at the same time, and an awkward thirty seconds had passed before one of them broke the silence. It was M/n who buried his head in his hands and groaned.

   "No."

   "What?"

   "No," M/n repeated. "I don't... I'm not..." he sighed. Rubbing his face before looking up at Liu with an indiscernible look on his face. "I can't accept your apology."

   Liu looked at him and smiled. "That's okay."

   "It is?"

   Liu nodded. He understood he wasn't in a position to demand forgiveness, even if he wasn't the one in control it's not other people's fault for not being able to grasp that. It was a strange situation to begin with.

   "I'm sorry." M/n said softly, barely above a mumble.

   "Don't apologize." Liu said plainly, glancing at him, then his cup, and then to him again. He set it down with a sigh before he pulled his knees to his chest, curling into as much of a ball as his long limbs would let him. "It's hard... to get over things, you know? People hold grudges, it's only natural. You shouldn't feel bad about it."

   M/n nodded, looking at Liu he huffed, like he had been holding his breath since his apology. "Thanks."

   A much more comfortable silence filled the air. They sat together for a few minutes, recollecting themselves till M/n looked out the glass doors to his balcony before turning back to Liu.

   "Do you want to get lunch?"

   "Uhm... sure?"

   "So," M/n began as he popped open his little container of chicken nuggets. Liu sat next to him in the passenger seat of his car, his own food in his lap still reeling a little. He didn't expect to leave M/n's place feeling good about their interaction, let alone with food in hand. "Why do you want to find Jeff so badly?"

   "Huh?"

   M/n looked at him and seemed to recognize the sensitivity of the question he had asked. "Well, I mean it's none of my business. You don't have to answer."

   "No it's fine." He waved him off and stared off in front of them, watching the cars pass by on the street from the parking lot they stopped in. "I guess... I just... I don't know."

   "What do you mean, you don't know?" M/n covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he talked, he was talking with his mouth full but at least he was being polite about it.

   Liu shrugged. "After he... you know... I woke up in the hospital. I spent maybe a day there before I blacked out. I woke up weeks later, but it wasn't like I was comatose or anything. I was two states away, in an abandoned apartment building, and I didn't even look like myself anymore."

   "Sully?"

   "I mean, that's the only logical explanation. I just remember being really confused. I spent days trying to figure out everything that had happened, just to find out that I was a wanted criminal." He sighed, leaning back against the pleather seat. "I guess I was desperate for something familiar. I had everything taken away from me so fast. My parents, my brother, my face." He chuckled, dryly, and M/n hummed. "Then I lost my identity and my freedom in one foul swoop. I didn't know what else to do so I guess, instinctively, I went looking for my big brother." He said the last part softly. He took a bite of his food, seemed to think for a second, and then he started talking again. "At some point my communication with Sully got a little better, it started feeling less like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and more like a... sentient parasite."

   "Like Venom?"

   "Yeah, like Venom. Anyways, he's convinced that I should kill him."

   "Are you?" M/n asked as he finished his food.

   "Maybe, I don't know yet."

   They both stopped to chuckle. "I won't blame you if you do."

   "Oh yeah? What did he do to you?"

   "Well, other than stab a pair of my favorite shoes, he won't stop hitting on my mom." Liu seemed to cringe a little at that before he continued eating. "And he won't stop breaking into my house."

   "I mean, that's just Jeff." Liu chuckled and M/n smiled at him from the corner of his eye. "You know," he began, using a napkin to wipe his face clean before tossing his trash in the plastic bag at his feet. "You're rather friendly for someone who isn't forgiving me."

   "Oh, no." He scoffed. "I forgive you, I just don't accept your apology."

   Liu looked to him with furrowed brows.

   "To be fair," M/n continued. "It was a shitty apology."

   "Hey!"

   "Hopefully Sully's will be better."

   Liu shook his head and slumped further in his seat. Crossing his arms over his chest with a grin, he couldn't help but think he finally did something right by coming to apologize. Even if he did end up with a broken nose. "Don't get your hopes up." 

   M/n wouldn't, and if he was being completely honest he'd much prefer if he didn't ever see him again. I mean, he will, but it's not my job to burst his bubble.

   Yet.