pushbackthedarkness | (no subject)

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Marcus has promised Dan he'll keep an eye on Rue.

He isn't obvious about it, he knows something like that will only result in the girl closing down even further, but Dan cares for her and is worried about her, so Marcus does his best to make sure she's looked after whenever he's working one of his shifts at the Home. It can all pass at him just doing the job he's signed up to do, after all, making sure the kids are fed if they don't want to come to the communal meal, helping with their homework if they need, just spending time with them if they don't or if they're lonely and looking for some company. He talks to them, too, and some of them confide in him. Some of them don't. He isn't bothered by it.

This is all something he's very good at, looking out for the kids here, and it's nice to find something he can do besides banishing demons.

He tries not to play favourites and he's been helping one of the fifth graders with his homework for about thirty minutes when he sees Rue coming into the common room. So after they answer one more question together, Marcus gets up from the table and wanders over to where Rue is sitting on the couch, sinking down beside her with a smile.

"Homework done?" he asks, though he's wearing a bit of a smile that says he's only teasing her.

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It's been a while now since they first met and Rue still isn't sure what she thinks about Dan and Marcus. Mostly Dan asks a lot of questions and just... talks, which isn't the worst thing in the world, even if it's kind of weird.

Marcus isn't bad. He's nice anyway.

Rue's scrolling Stumblr on her phone when Marcus sits down next to her and looks up when he speaks.

"Homework? What's that? We don't have that where I come from," she says.

He knows she's giving him a hard time, but Marcus plays it straight, nodding as if he might have expected that.

"Ah, of course," he says. "Dan mentioned that, now that I think about it. Strange place, no homework, no schools, in fact, right? Just thousands of children turned out into the wilderness when they turn five and expected to fend for themselves."

He smiles a little a second later and says, "I never went to school. Never graduated."

"On the plus side, I'm really fucking good at foraging for food," she says, and looks back down at her phone, not really to be rude on purpose or anything, but mostly because she's found this blog that's all Space Hospital memes.

"Where are you from that you never went to school?" Rue asks, "Your parents didn't like, make you?"

"My parents were both dead by the time I was seven," he answers. "And then I was sold by the orphanage to the Catholic Church. The priests educated me, but I've no official diplomas or degrees."

They'd bent all kinds of rules for him, making him a priest for the sole purpose of making him an exorcist. Letting him skip qualifications others were required to have. It was all for the best, he thinks, because the way he'd been treated from the time he was twelve, he knows he wouldn't have been very good in a formal education setting. He was too restless for school. Too arrogant.

He smiles a little then and admits, "Though even if they hadn't died, I doubt they'd have made me. I was born in a small, working class town. Boys were in the mines and factories by the time they were ten."

"Shit. Sorry," Rue says, feeling like kind of a dick for bringing up Marcus's parents. He's kind of old, so she kind of figured maybe his parents were dead, but not that it happened when he was just a kid. Younger than Gia even. She can't really process what it would have been like if her dad had died when she was seven.

Then something else Marcus says catches her attention.

"What do you mean 'sold'?"

"Twenty quid and a priest's collar can get you a lot of things from a Catholic orphanage," he answers with a bit of a shrug. "In my case, they got me and my birth certificate. Sure the priests responsible would call it an adoption."

And he supposes, technically, they had raised him. Educated him in their own way. Turned him into an exorcist and given him purpose.

"They weren't exactly keen on traditional education," he says, then grins. "All those corrupting influences."

"Somehow I'm guessing you don't mean the internet. And like... twitter," Rue says, because even thought Marcus is a lot older than her, he could be from the future or something. It's not like she doesn't have friends who are from the 80's.

"No, I think they were worried about the more traditional things, like sex, drugs, and rock and roll," Marcus says with a laugh. "Can't let your novitiates get involved with such things or they'll be ruined."

It's clear he doesn't actually believe that, nor does he thinks God believes such things. God has no stake in such things. There are far bigger issues to be dealt with in this world.

"Gotta watch out for that rock and roll," Rue says, sarcastic, and trying to imagine a world where her parents were more worried about Drake, Post Malone and BTS than anything else. She lets out a small laugh at the idea and finally looks up from her phone.

"How old are you, anyway?" she asks.

The way she asks it makes Marcus feel much older than he actually is and he laughs before saying, "Fifty-three. Terribly old from your perspective, I imagine."

In a lot of ways, Marcus hadn't really begun to live until he'd come to Darrow. Before that, between being a priest and an exorcist, he'd missed out on so many milestones other people hit in their lives.

"Oh yeah, ancient," Rue says. He's older than her dad, at least. Or... older than he would have been. The idea of it stings for a second before Rue pushes the thought back down again. It's not like it matters, anyway.

She decides to change the subject.

"So who put you on homework watch?"

"I'm not on homework watch," he answers, smiling. "I was just curious. Though, I guess I'm always technically a little bit on homework watch when I'm here."

Marcus never seems to be assigned specific duties unless there's something going on. When he's here, he fills whatever role he finds empty. Sometimes he helps cook and clean, other times he does homework, sometimes he's just an ear for a child who needs to talk.

"I just like talking to everyone," he says. "Besides, Dan would be disappointed in me if I didn't at least say hello to you."

"What's his deal, anyway?" Rue asks, because he seems nice, but definitely weird. She's relieved it's not glad in the creepy older guy who always sits too close and wants to pat you on the arm kind of way, but it's still weird.

"Dan's?" he asks, looking faintly surprised before he shakes his head with a smile. "He's just a very good person who has been through a lot of terrible things in his life. He likes trying to help where he can. He cares about people."

He is, beyond all doubt, one of the best people Marcus has ever known. He's far kinder, far more caring and much more invested in truly helping people than most of the priests he'd known.

"Yeah, well that's super fucking sweet and all, but I don't actually need help," Rue says. She's fine. Maybe her grades aren't like, the best, but that's never been the case anyway. And she's not cycling anymore, which has got to be progress or something like that.

"Everyone needs help now and then," Marcus answers with a shrug. "And some people like to feel helpful. It's their own issue."

He pauses, then grins, "Not that it's an issue with Dan, I was speaking of myself there. I made a whole life out of helping people and now I'm at a bit of a loss, so I came here. I figured a place like this might have some chores for me to do. Kids for me to bug while they're on their phones."

"That one freshman with the giant glasses is always yelling about his homework," Rue says, skirting Marcus's pointed comment. She knows what he's getting at, and truthfully, she's trying not to think about how it reminds her about how Ali basically fucking blindsided her outside of an NA meeting just to call her a liar.

He'd been right, but that wasn't the point.

"He's probably enough of a handful to keep you busy for years."

"He's usually yelling about something," Marcus agrees with a grin. "If ever a child embodied the spirit of it takes a village, he's the one."

Of course he doesn't mind. Marcus volunteers here because he enjoys it, because he's always found kids and teenagers easy to talk to, easy to relate to in a way. Maybe it's because he'd spent his own childhood in carehomes, but whatever it is, he enjoy his time here.

"If you'd like me to go, just say the word," he says. "I promise I won't bother you for at least an entire day."

"You promise?" Rue says, not mean, but then thinks better of it anyway, feeling like kind of a dick for even making the joke. It's not like he's been mean or anything.

"Look, I'm fine, okay. I'll even like, actually do my homework."

Maybe. Really, it depends on how much is left in her stash up in her room. Bennies don't tend to make her feel particularly motivated.

"No, too late now, I've been deeply wounded by your harsh words," Marcus says, biting down on a grin he can't quite hide. He isn't going to give up on her, not any time soon, but he also knows there's no help to be found in pushing too hard. Instead he pushes to his feet, just in time to see said freshman with the giant glasses go speeding by, the tall, curly-haired boy running after him, and he inclines his head in their direction.

"Duty calls anyway," he says. "Shall I tell Dan you say hello?"

Rue watches the kid run past, along with that other guy whose name she can't remember. James? Jerry? Something with a J. Mostly it reminds her that she only has a few months before she can finally get the fuck out of the Home.

"Uh yeah," Rue tells him, "You can do that. Don't... don't tell him I asked what his deal was though?"

Marcus nods and says, "I won't. Though I can promise you if I did, he wouldn't be offended. I'm certain he's been asked far worse than that to his face."

He would have liked to have been more honest with Rue about what Dan's deal really is, but those stories, his abilities, those aren't Marcus's things to tell her or anyone. If Dan chooses to share them, it's his choice.

"One entire day," he says with a grin as he steps away. "But after that, no promises."

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