DBH Text Fics And Oneshots (plus OCs)

It Goes Unsaid: A Oneshot

"I'm in love with you."  Is what she wanted to say, but every time she tried to say it it would get caught in her throat and Markus would stare at her expectantly, waiting for her to to speak, and she'd chicken out. "Uh--sorry, I forgot what I was going to say."

"Annika," Markus said, his eyes filled with lighthearted concern as he stared at her from across the table.  "That's the third time this night. What's on your mind?"

Annika stuffed her mouth with a large bite of the fettuccine alfredo that Markus had kindly prepared for her; a ploy to give herself more time to think of an answer.  It didn't work, though. Even after she finally finished chewing and was able to swallow, all she could come up with was. "Oh no no no, you have me all wrong!  Nothing's bothering me, I'm just being my usual spacey, silly, forgetful self."

Markus stared at her for a moment before sighing and taking a sip from his cup of thirium. "If you say so."  She knew he knew she was lying, but he was too kind to pry.  For some reason Markus not pushing the matter further made her disappointed.  What was wrong with her?   "By the way," he said, changing the subject.  "Not that I don't appreciate the gift, but why did you give me that new paintbrush set?  There's no holidays coming up soon, at least not one you celebrate."

"I was at an art supply store to pick up a sketchbook since I had run out, and I saw them and I thought of you, so I bought them."

"You were thinking of me?"  Markus asked with a small smirk.  He could be a tease sometimes when he wanted to.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I think of my friends sometimes, because I just care so much about them!" Annika defended.  "Like, before, when I forgot what I was going to say, I was thinking about Connor and how this one time he didn't know what 'frooty' meant and before he could look it up North told him it meant pretty, and he turned to me and said 'you're very frooty.'"  She paused in the middle of laughing nervously as she saw Markus' expression turn slightly sour.

"You were thinking of Connor?"

"Yeah, because he's a friend, and as I said, I think about my friends on occasion.  Is that weird?"  She prayed that he didn't think she was weird and that he went along with the bullshit she was coming up with.

"No, it's not.  Thanks for the gift again.  I apologize for interrogating you about it."  He smiled once again, but it seemed a bit forced.  It seemed her prayers were not answered.

"No need to apologize. It really is a bit strange to give someone a gift out of nowhere for no reason."  Markus let out a small chuckle.

"Ok, maybe it is a little, but I don't mind.  The only problem is now that you've started doing this, I'm also going to be expected to get you random gifts."

"Well it's not like it's going to hurt you, Mr. Deep Pockets," Annika said with a laugh.

"True, true. Being famous does have its perks."  Markus gave her an exaggerated wink and she let out an ugly snort.

"Did you just brag?"  She exclaimed, feigning shock.  "Where is the real Markus and what did you do with him!?"  They both laughed at that.  There was a moment of silence as the laughter died down in which they both just sat there and stared at each other.

"Um, do I have something on my face?"  Annika asked awkwardly, desperately trying to squish down the butterflies in her stomach.

"No, why do you ask?"

"You were staring at me."

"You were staring at me."

"I guess we were both staring at each other.  Fun friendship activities!  Anyway, I'm finished with my food."  She shoved her empty plate at him rudely.  Markus took it from her, raising an eyebrow at her awkwardness.  He didn't question it though, instead opting to head into the kitchen to put the plate and his cup in the dishwasher.  "Oh," she called after him.  "I meant to tell you earlier, it was really delicious, Markus!  Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"  He called back.

When he returned from the kitchen, he was holding a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. One of her favorite things, along with fettucine alfredo.

"You know me so well," she said with a beam as she took the bowl from him.

"So, I was thinking we could watch The Martian?" Annika gasped.

"You mean one of my favorite movies? Yeah!"  She paused for a second, the excitement dying down a little as she thought back on the events of the night.  "What's up with you, Markus? The pasta...the ice cream...the movie... Do you have bad news to tell me and you're trying to soften the blow?"

"No!" Markus scratched the back of his neck. Was he....nervous?   "I-It's just that we haven't spent a lot of quality time together lately, so since I actually had some free time tonight, I wanted to make it special. Especially since we originally agreed to meet this afternoon and I couldn't make it."  Annika suddenly wrapped him in a tight embrace.  She just couldn't help it. He was being so cute!

"Thank you, Markus. You're the best friend ever."  Markus returned the hug, albeit somewhat stiffly.

"I try..." Was that sadness in his voice?  She must be hearing things.

"Let's start up that movie, shall we?" she said, pulling away abruptly. She was getting way too comfortable in his arms.

"Right." Markus fired up the TV and pulled up the Martian on the streaming service as Annika got comfy on the couch next to him, making sure to keep a comfortable distance.  It wasn't until Markus spoke up that she realized she'd sat a bit too far from him.

"Hey, I don't bite," Markus pouted.  She hesitantly scooted closer to him, not wanting to hurt his feelings.  He laughed.

"Oh, c'mon, you know I'm teasing."

"I know, you're trying to play off how you actually desperately want to cuddle me by pretending it was a joke."  Whoa, was she just smooth?   Now it was Markus' turn to get flustered.  His cheeks turned a shade darker, just as a human's would.  It was frightening the amount of detail Kanski put into making him.  He coughed awkwardly, apparently momentarily forgetting that trick didn't work because androids don't cough, and pressed play.

Time seemed to speed up once the movie started, two hours and twenty four minutes passing quickly as they laughed at the movie's inaccurate predictions of the future and sang along to the eighties hits.

"I should probably go, Markus," Annika said as the credits rolled.

"It's only nine, that's not that late."  His hand came to rest on her arm as he gave her a pleading look.  "Stay for another hour, we could play that new board game you wanted to try out."

"I have to wake up early for work tomorrow."  Markus relented with a sigh, getting up to show her to the door.  He grabbed her coat from the rack and helped her into it, his touches gentle. She mentally cursed herself as the butterflies reared their head again.

"By the way."  Annika paused in the middle of walking out the door.  Markus shifted awkwardly as he held it open for her.  "I was going to let it go because I know sometimes you don't want to talk about things while you're working through them, but, I can't help but worry for you.  Why were you acting so strange tonight?"

"I'm in love with you."   Is what she wanted to say, but instead, she played it off, saying she was just worried he didn't like the gift she gave her.  Markus seemed to accept that answer, assuring her that he couldn't wait to use the brushes.  With that, they both said their goodnights, and Annika walked back out into the cold night air of Detroit, a single frustrated tear sliding down her cheek.

Hey, a oneshot! This story just keeps getting more layers. I was originally just going to have this be a memey text fic but my hand slipped and I gave it plot so I guess I'm adding legitimate chapters now as well as text convos. Just so no one is confused, I called this a oneshot because it technically could be read on its own, but the chapters in this story are all in chronological order and take place in the same universe, so the gift mentioned in this story is the one Annika was talking about in the last chapter.