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Ethan, Jack, and Mark were sitting in the food courts of a local mall in L.A. Jack was visiting for a while and they decided a nice casual outing with his partners would be a nice change of pace.
They had all gotten Taco Bell, with Ethan getting a milkshake from one of the other food court places since he was craving something sweet. He specifically asked if they had anything strictly non-peanut based and luckily they did, so he happily ate his fast food so he could drink the milkshake. Mark and Jack had a rule for Ethan that he needed to eat his main meal first before dessert, as he tended to eat dessert and then get full off of just that and not want to eat his meal afterwards. For health purposes, they decided to implement the rule of “no dessert until you’re finished with your supper young man.” It seemed childish, but they had their reasons.
"What should we do when we're done eating?" Jack asked through a mouthful of burger, covering his mouth with his wrist as he spoke.
Mark looked around the food court, moving the longer strands of hair out of his face. "We could go see if they have any movies that seem worthwhile. There's also this mini arcade place they just recently opened back up." The raven-haired man supplied, looking at Jack as he popped another fry into his mouth.
Jack cocked a brow quizzically, "Why was it closed?"
Mark and Ethan shrugged, so Jack did too with a sigh. "Arcade sounds pretty dope." He mumbled around the straw of his drink.
An excited gasp sounded from Ethan as he scrambled for his milkshake and grasped it with two hands, taking the straw into his mouth and sucking the soul out of the drink. "Ethan, careful." Mark warned, getting a stubborn furrowed brow look in response. "We can go to the arcade though, I've been really interested to see what they did with it."
Ethan nodded excitedly at Jack, still latched onto his straw, his eyes wide and adorable. Jack smiled at the boy.
"Then the arcade it is." Jack said, laying both hands palm down on their table. "You want to just carry your milkshake, Eth?"
The younger brunette came up for air finally, letting out an opened mouth breath. Jack could feel how cold his breath had become. "Yeah! C'mon I'm going to kick Mark's ass at skeeball."
"As if!" The raven-haired man scoffed, arms crossed over his chest stubbornly as he eyed Ethan. He was so competitive over everything.
Jack rolled his eyes and stood up with a smile. "Alright you two, c'mon." He picked up their trash from the table and threw it in a nearby bin. "Let's settle this like men,"
The other two stood up, Ethan quickly and Mark slower. Jack grinned at them.
"At the arcade!"
Needless to say, Mark was getting his ass beaten. Brutally.
"That's so bullshit!" Mark exclaimed with an outstretched arm at the video game, getting hushed by Jack who gestured to the little kids nearby.
Ethan did a victory dance, putting his fingers in the shape of an L on his forehead as he wagged his tongue at Mark. "I am victorious again!" He giggled with bright red cheeks.
“This game is so broken.” The raven-haired man grumbled under his breath, half-heartedly kicking the side of the arcade machine with crossed arms.
Jack laughed from the side, watching the two grown-ass men who were acting like children. “You’re such a fucking baby, Mark.”
“You love me, bitch.” Mark shot back, smiling with furrowed brows and his arms still crossed.
Jack didn’t deny it, he fully agreed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“I’m always right.” Mark responded, half paying attention as he fiddled with his nails and occasionally looked up when he saw colourful lights in his peripheral.
Jack had to admit, it had been a long ass time since he had been in a mall arcade. The flashing lights of bright, eye-catching colours against the dark blue-purple backdrop adorned with multi-coloured stars and dots and other such cartoony shapes, it was all so—wondrous. As long as you don’t pay attention to the thick, musty smell of mall food smeared on tiny hands and faces of kids who could start a fire from the amount of grease in their unwashed hair, and not to mention the screaming—holy shit, Jack’s tinnitus was absolutely raving right now. Other than that though, it was exhilarating and fueled Jack’s nostalgic, childlike wonder he kept with him.
As Jack looked among the sea of kids and exhausted looking parents, there seemed to be one (overgrown) child missing.
“Hey, where’s Eth?”
Mark looked up suddenly. “Uh, I don’t know actually.” The raven-haired man looked around, searching for any sign of a bouncing brunette with a smile that could outshine the most precious baby. “Did he already run off?”
Jack sighed as he started walking around in hopes of finding their partner somewhere close by. “Gonna have to put a fuckin’ leash on the boy.”
“Probably for the best, I lose him in L.A. all the time.”
“Seriously?” Jack asked, looking back at the man with a raised brow. He honestly wasn’t surprised when Mark nodded. “God, he’s like an energetic dog near a highway.”
Mark, helpful with his input as always, responded. “Likely to be run over because he isn't paying attention?”
Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stopped next to one of the machines, his leg being glanced by a speedy kid’s shoulder, followed by an apologetic mother with an unholy amount of tickets in her arms. “No, Mark, but thank you.”
“Sure thing.” Jack wanted to throttle this giant baby man. “Hey wait! I just heard him.”
“Are you sure it isn’t just you getting confused in your old age?”
“You know what? Fuck you.” Jack let out a hearty fuckin chuckle.
“I like strawberry!”
It was faint but so noticeable that it took Jack by surprise. His eyes widened a little and he looked around immediately, trying to tell where the voice came from.
“Wait, I just heard Ethan.” Jack said to Mark, nudging him in the side to make sure he was paying attention.
Marl scoffed and rolled his eyes, Jack fought the smile that tried springing to his face. “Oh but I’m the old one? Suure.”
“Shut up you ass. Let’s go find our boy.” Jack barely heard Mark mumble “our baby boy” before they were on their way to find the loveable idiot. They weaved through kids and random discarded food court containers on the floor until they reached the entrance of the mall arcade, the bright white floors and ceilings contrasting wildly with the dark interior and vibrant accents of the arcade. They looked around, confused when they didn’t see him, making Jack scratched his head.
“You’re honestly so cute.”
Jack didn’t recognise that voice.
“Aw, thanks!”
Jack did , however, recognise that voice. “Mark,” The Irishman looked behind himself to find Mark not there, but instead at the prize counter a few feet away. He sighed with a smile as he called out to the raven-haired man, just barely getting his attention over all the noise inside the arcade. Jack tilted his head out into the mall to prompt Mark to follow him, which he thankfully did.
The pair didn’t have to look long outside the arcade to see their brunette talking to someone near one of the mall bins. Jack sighed in relief, but Mark immediately tensed and tried to figure out what kind of interaction was taking place. He tended to get protective and honestly just possessive, but it was healthy. Jack himself could admit he got a little possessive sometimes, but it was never overbearing or anything. They made sure Ethan was very open about how he felt about it though, and that he needed to tell them if they ever went over the line. They might be dysfunctional as people, but they’re in a very healthy relationship.
“Are you free sometime next week?” The stranger asked, and Jack felt a small part of him wanting to protect Ethan, even though he knew he was grown and wasn’t necessarily in any danger. It was just an instinctual part of him.
“Hmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to ask to make sure.” Ethan responded, his empty milkshake cup in his hands.
“Ask?”
Jack didn’t realise Mark wasn’t next to him until he was a few steps away from the pair, so he immediately caught up with him. Mostly to keep Mark from getting carried away, as usual.
“Everything alright, love?” Mark asked, putting an arm around Ethan as soon as he was in range, Jack almost rolled his eyes again at that.
Ethan looked to Mark a little surprised but smiled quickly when he realised who it was. “Oh, yeah! I was just talking to Nor. Is everything okay?” Jack smiled a little when he realised that Ethan was oblivious.
“Mhm, me and Jack were just looking for you.” Mark had to top it off with a sweet kiss to Ethan’s cheek, making the smaller brunette smile and blush a little. Ethan apologised for running off without saying anything, but Mark assured him it was perfectly fine. Jack stood next to them and smiled at Nor, waving and introducing himself.
“Hey! I’m Jack.”
Nor smiled and waved back, a hand in their pocket casually. Jack could’ve told you that they meant no harm from miles away. “I’m Nor. I was just over there at the benches when I noticed Ethan looking a little lost. I showed him where the trash can was and we just got to talking.”
Mark looked at Nor when he heard them speaking. “Well, I’m Mark. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for Nor to shake. Jack watched with a smile, fascinated by the man’s easy charm.
“Same to you! I hope I don’t sound rude when I ask this, but who are you two? To him, I mean.” Nor smiled with both hands in their front pockets.
“Oh, we’re Ethan’s partners.” Mark answered happily, his arm still resting around Ethan’s smaller shoulders, the brunette nuzzling into him.
Nor looked confused for a moment and tilted their head. “Partners? Oh! Ohhh, my bad.” They laughed and Jack reassured them that no trouble had been caused.
When farewells and waves had been exchanged, Nor parted ways from the three lovers and Jack, Mark, and Ethan walked back to the arcade. Mark ruffled Ethan’s hair with a grin.
“Eth, did you not notice what was happening back there?”
It took Jack a decent amount of self-control to keep from laughing when Ethan looked beyond confused at the question. “Huh?”
“Are you dumb?” Mark chuckled, his arm still around Ethan’s shoulders, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons as he smiled.
“Hey,” Jack defended, fixing Ethan’s now-messy hair, “he’s not dumb, just oblivious.”
Ethan still looked confused.
“ There’s the skeeball machine!” Mark suddenly shouted, his arm shooting out to point at it a few metres away. All of their eyes followed until they found it, the lights were out but it still seemed to be working. “C’mon Eth, I’m gonna destroy you finally.”
Mark took off towards it, scaring a few children in the process, and Jack walked after him, sipping his cola casually.
“Guys, wait!” Mark stopped in his tracks and Jack turned around, straw in mouth. They saw Ethan with his arm up high, the empty milkshake cup in his hand being waved in the air. “I forgot to throw away my cup earlier!”