Rating:

Explicit

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

The Social Network

Relationship:

Eduardo/Mark

Tags:

doppelganger, harvard era, prompt/gift/request, selfcest

Stats:

Posted on:

2017-07-31

Words:

11,768

The polite thing to do on a Tuesday afternoon is to knock, so that’s what Eduardo does. More often than not he’s opening up the door to the Kirkland suite, where Dustin plays Call of Duty, Chris complains about the noise from his homework, and Mark ignores them both in favor of his computer.

But in the afternoons, they’re more likely to have class, and Eduardo knows his manners. The door’s probably unlocked anyway, but Eduardo knocks again for good measure, since no one’s answering.

Still nothing. Eduardo fumbles with the doorknob—yeah, it’s unlocked—and walks in, calling, “It’s me.” He knows that Dustin and Chris have class around this time, but Mark doesn’t—Mark doesn’t have class until later this afternoon, and Eduardo doubts that he’s gotten lunch yet. Eduardo hasn’t either, even though it’s two p.m., but unlike Mark this is on purpose. Maybe Eduardo’s a little hopeful that he’ll be able to grab lunch with Mark. Since Mark forgets to eat so often otherwise.

The door to Mark’s room is closed, and Eduardo raps on it softly. He hears voices inside—does Mark have someone over?—before utter silence. Maybe Mark is trying to pretend he isn’t in.

“It’s just me,” Eduardo says to the door, because he can’t think of a reason Mark would want to hide from him. Unless Mark has a secret girlfriend or something, but it’s highly unlikely. And knowing Mark, he would probably want to discreetly show off his girlfriend than ever hide her from him.

There comes the sound of  voices again. Then, finally, the door opens a crack and Mark’s face peeks his face through, glaring at Eduardo.

“What do you want?” he asks Eduardo in an annoyed tone.

Eduardo puts his hands up in defense, bewildered. “I was just wondering if you wanted to get lunch,” he says. “But if you’re busy, we don’t have to—”

“I’m busy,” Mark says curtly.

“Okay,” says Eduardo, ignoring the disappointment sinking in his stomach. “You’ve eaten then, right? I’ll get out of your—”

A voice from behind Mark says, “I’d like to eat.” Eduardo frowns, because it sounds like—but it can’t be, since Mark is scowling, first at Eduardo, then whoever’s behind him.

“We can’t eat,” he bites out to whoever’s behind him, before turning back to Eduardo. “Go away. I don’t need you.”

“But, Wardo offered,” says the voice behind Mark, and it sounds eerily more, like—

Eduardo pushes the door open before Mark can react, and—sitting on the bed, typing on the laptop, is Mark. Well, it’s another Mark: they’re both wearing one of Mark’s old high school t-shirts, a blue hoodie on top, and khakis. It’s like Mark has discovered a twin out of nowhere, one who’s sitting on Mark’s bed and typing something rapidly, while the other Mark—the first Mark, who’d opened the door, is glaring between Eduardo and this—other Mark.

Other Mark looks up from the laptop and then ducks his head down again, with a slight smile on his face. “Hi Wardo,” he says, mostly to his computer screen, seemingly enraptured in whatever he’s doing.

“Yeah, hi Wardo,” First Mark says, annoyed. He closes the door and leans against it, crossing his arms. “Now he knows what’s going on. Great fucking job.”

Other Mark ignores First Mark, still typing. Eduardo stares at the both of them in wonder.

First Mark turns to Eduardo and says, “We are hungry, but I was going to go out and get some food for us. We don’t need your help.”

“Okay,” Eduardo says, again. He’s not sure if he’s finished processing this. Both Marks are standing before him, as if there’s nothing wrong. Eduardo looks from one to the other, at a complete loss for words.

But importantly, “So how did—why this—you’re both—?”

“We woke up like this this morning, have no idea why, and now we’re working on our OS homework that we procrastinated on last night,” First Mark says, returning to his desktop.

Other Mark peeks up to look at First Mark, then goes back to focusing on the laptop. Eduardo still doesn’t know what to say, because having two Marks, is—well, one Mark by himself is hard to believe, with the way Mark is. But more than one, and Eduardo’s not sure what to do with himself.

“I think I need to sit down,” Eduardo says, rubbing a hand across his forehead.

First Mark grunts. Other Mark doesn’t respond, though he types a bit quicker, and shifts over on the bed like he’s making room. Eduardo goes to sit next to him, since Other Mark seems more amiable than First Mark.

Other Mark doesn’t pay him any visible attention, but he does say again, “I am hungry.” First Mark huffs from the desktop.

Eduardo says to Other Mark, “Do you have any food left in the fridge?”

“No,” First Mark says, before Other Mark can respond. “Dustin ate all the tuna and Chris confiscated the Red Vines to his dorm.”

“Something about healthy eating,” Other Mark explains, a tilt to his mouth.

Eduardo blinks, and stops himself from staring. Mark doesn’t give out his smiles that often, and Eduardo often has to catch himself when Mark does.

First Mark says, still without looking up, “We should order a pizza.”

“One of you can get lunch with me,” Eduardo offers, glancing between them and hoping the suggestion’s okay. “I mean, it’d be weird if both of you were out, but if it was just one of you that would be okay, right?”

First Mark doesn’t respond, typing rapidly at his computer like Eduardo hadn’t spoken. Other Mark types at his laptop too, but after a beat where First Mark stoutly ignores them, Other Mark says, “Okay.”

“Cool,” Eduardo says. He looks at First Mark worriedly, but First Mark doesn’t do a thing, just continues to work on whatever he’s working on. “Um, it’s okay then, between the two of you—do you want to discuss who’s going to get lunch with me—?”

“Well, I’m going to class later,” First Mark says suddenly. His tone is harsh, and Eduardo wonders if he’s done something wrong. “So I guess it makes sense for you to go.”

His head turns swiftly to Other Mark, who merely shrugs. “Okay,” he says, closing the laptop, before standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. He fidgets and looks at Eduardo, almost expectantly—Eduardo realizes he’s waiting for him, and says, “Oh, let’s go then.” As they pass the first Mark, Mark’s typing gets faster and almost angrier, if typing could sound angry.

The Mark with Eduardo closes the door behind them as they leave his room. He follows Eduardo quietly out of the dorm, and as they make their way out of the building and into the dining hall.

Eduardo can already tell them apart, since the other one was—very much not like this, at all. Eduardo says to this Mark, “So you’re the quiet one?”

This Mark gives him a look that Eduardo’s seen dozens before on the—one Mark, somewhere between exasperated and did-you-really-say-that-to-me. “You think I’m quiet?” he asks Eduardo, who shrugs.

“You certainly talk less than the other one,” he says.

This Mark’s mouth twitches before he stuffs his hands further into his hoodie pockets. “I suppose that’s true,” he says, walking into the dining hall. Eduardo follows him. “I’m not that quiet, just—” He shrugs.

“Awkward?” Eduardo offers.

“I’m—ugh,” this Mark says, though he’s smiling a bit, killing the tone. “Okay,” he says to Eduardo. “If you think I am.”

Eduardo sends him a grin, which Mark surprisingly returns—he turns away quickly, though, like he doesn’t want Eduardo see him smiling for too long.

They get lunch, Mark trailing behind Eduardo as Eduardo picks a table by the window for them to eat. Mark is watching Eduardo kind of intently, until Eduardo meets his eyes–then Mark quickly turns away, cheeks looking faintly pink.

Eduardo asks, “You have a lot of homework, then? Since the both of you were working on it.”

Mark shrugs, poking at his beans. He lifts up a forkful and eats it. Eduardo expects him to say more, but Mark just eats, barely looking at Eduardo.

His cheeks are still pink. Eduardo tries again. “What do you think of the other Mark?” he asks.

Mark does lift his head up this time, but his gaze is blank, like he’s confused. “What do you expect me to say?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” Eduardo says honestly. “I just imagine that for the two of you–it must be weird. Isn’t it?”

Mark shrugs again, forking at his chicken salad. “I don’t know. It feels normal,” he says. “He’s just–we’re just the same person.”

He says nothing more, so Eduardo assumes that’s the end of that, even though he knows that these Marks are nowhere near the same. The other Mark would’ve gotten offended, probably, or at least given Eduardo the cold shoulder for the question. Eduardo says, “Well, it’s weird for me.”

Mark doesn’t really respond, then lifts his head up thoughtfully and says, “I can see why you think I’m the quiet one.” He looks pleased with himself when Eduardo lets out a surprised laugh, before continuing on with the rest of his lunch.

“Overall you’re not the most talkative person,” Eduardo tells him. “Unless you’re insulting people.”

Mark doesn’t argue with that. “Yeah,” he says, bending his head down. His face is still flushed a little and he’s smiling to himself, maybe from the way that Eduardo is just grinning at him. “Or talking about coding.”

“That, too,” Eduardo agrees.

They finish their lunch, and Mark, who’s a faster eater than Eduardo even when he’s split up into two people, waits as Eduardo finishes the rest of his food before they dump it into the trashcan. Eduardo smiles at him to see Mark jerk his head away, neck reddening. His cheeks haven’t stopped being pink, either, and a part of Eduardo wonders if Mark has a fever.

But there’s another thought there, an inkling of something that gives Eduardo some hope, for that part of him that tingles at his fingertips when he’s that close to touching Mark, that makes him feel high whenever Mark’s around, whether it’s his normal Mark, or this one of two.

They’re heading back to the Kirkland dorms, and Eduardo says casually, “Do you and the other one have the same memories?”

Mark shrugs. His hands are still dutifully in his pockets. “I think up to this morning,” he says. “I still remember, um, stuff, from before.”

“So it doesn’t transmit,” Eduardo says, and Mark shrugs again.

Eduardo says, “So if I kissed you, the other one wouldn’t know?”

The pink on Mark’s face blooms to a stunning red, washing over his cheeks and beneath his neck. Eduardo wonders if he’s as pale under his shirt, if the flush goes all the way down to his belly. “Why–” Mark stammers. “Why would you do that?”

Eduardo peers down at him. They’re outside, in the quad, where other students are walking to and fro. No one will mind the sight of them kissing, Eduardo knows; this is Harvard, not his large claustrophobic house down in Miami, where his parents might be lurking around any corner.

Eduardo asks this Mark, “Do you want me to kiss you?”

“Fuck,” Mark says, but he’s looking up at Eduardo in a way that screams like he does, eyes wide and red up to his cheekbones. “This isn’t a prank, is it?” he says to Eduardo, who shakes his head.

“If you say yes,” Eduardo says, watching the way Mark’s blue eyes get darker, pupils blown. “I will kiss you.”

“Then,” this Mark says, open unlike the other one, open unlike the Mark Eduardo knows, like this one is more willing to bare his heart. “Yes,” Mark says.

Eduardo leans in and closes the gap between them, capturing Mark’s soft lips in his own. Mark kisses back, a gentle pressure, his hands still in his pockets. Eduardo’s own hands are at his side, and he fastens one to Mark’s shoulder, gripping him lightly as he kisses Mark deeper. He lets his mouth open, tongue glide against the front of Mark’s mouth, licking slightly. Mark huffs out a breath before parting his own lips, letting Eduardo in.

When Eduardo pulls away, Mark’s eyes are still closed, and his lips are red from their kissing. Mark leans forward and presses his lips against Eduardo’s ear. “I’ve always wanted you to fuck me,” he murmurs.

His words go straight down south for Eduardo, like an electric shock that makes Eduardo whisper, “Fuck.” Mark’s eyes are open again, looking at Eduardo nervously, expectantly, like he wants Eduardo to say yes but isn’t sure if he will. Eduardo searches him, taking the opportunity with a Mark like this–Mark’s gaze is hungry with desire, nothing hidden, and his fingers fumble in his pocket. Eduardo can hear him from here.

“Want to go back to my dorm?” Eduardo says.

Mark inhales sharply–Eduardo can see the movement. “Yeah,” Mark says, and he trots beside Eduardo as Eduardo quickly leads them out of Kirkland and into Eliot, trying to keep his semi down, his thoughts clear, even though a Mark is walking stiffly beside him.

When they get to Eduardo’s dorm, Eduardo closes the door behind them, watching as Mark stands in the middle of the room, seemingly lost. “Mark,” Eduardo says, and Mark turns to him.

He’s so receptive when Eduardo walks over and kisses him, pliant in Eduardo’s arms as Eduardo brackets his hands at Mark’s hips, leading him gently to the bed. Mark stands in between Eduardo’s legs as Eduardo sits down, spreading his thighs around Mark’s knees, bringing his hands around to palm at Mark’s ass. Mark makes a small noise into Eduardo’s mouth as Eduardo gropes him, pressing the heel of his hand into a cheek, through Mark’s khaki shorts. Mark isn’t doing much but kissing him back, so sweetly that Eduardo gathers Mark up into his lap, wants to make him feel good, wants to tell Mark how good he feels on, around Eduardo.

Eduardo presses a few more chaste kisses against Mark’s lips, before mouthing lightly at his jaw, biting a single hickey onto him and delighting in the way that Mark moans. Mark squirms in his arms and Eduardo lets his hands fall to the waistband of Mark’s pants, tucking his fingers in to feel Mark’s warm skin. Mark jolts in his arms, presses himself closer to Eduardo’s body–and Eduardo can feel Mark straining between them, bulge pushing against him that makes Eduardo’s vision go fuzzy around the edges for a little.

“Still want me to fuck you?” Eduardo says, and to his surprise, Mark nods openly, rubbing his face against Eduardo’s cheek.

“Please,” he whines.

Eduardo curses and fumbles with the front of his pants, while Mark sits on his thigh, before Eduardo gives up and places Mark off onto his bed, and shucking his trousers down. Mark just watches him, and finally Eduardo’s cock springs free–Mark stares, and his mouth waters. That’s so hot that Eduardo has to lean down and kiss him on the mouth, licking deep into Mark and actually having Mark lick back. Mark’s squirming, and grappling onto Eduardo’s shoulders, arms around his neck, and Eduardo leans him backward, getting his hands underneath Mark’s shirt.

“Wanted to do this too,” Eduardo murmurs, between their mouths, feeling Mark’s belly, up his chest and dragging his fingers across Mark’s nipples. Mark squeaks and Eduardo smiles–and instead of glaring like Eduardo would’ve expected him to do, Mark just presses into Eduardo’s body like he’s desperate for more.

Eduardo’s hands descend and he brings Mark’s khakis down, and then his underwear, where Mark’s dark and leaking cock is pressing against his belly. Eduardo can’t resist from touching, touching Mark, hot against his palm and making Mark whimper and twist in his grasp. The sight is mesmerizing.

Mark moans, “Want you to fuck me, please,” and Eduardo goes, “Yeah, baby,” making Mark moan more. Eduardo adjusts himself so he’s sitting, drags a condom from his nearby deskside, the packet of lube which he strokes on himself after he gets the condom on. Mark’s looking at his cock and biting his lip, like he wants to touch it, like he wants to–wants to use his mouth, and Eduardo can’t think about that too much right now, because he’s wrapping an arm around Mark’s backside and going, “Come here,” and Mark goes, moving on his knees before he’s right above Eduardo’s lap.

Eduardo drags a lubricated finger down between Mark’s cheeks, circling at his rim. He asks, “Does the other Mark want this too?” as Mark lets out a small noise of surprise at the cold when Eduardo’s finger breaches him.

Mark gasps and says, “I don’t–don’t know,” as Eduardo teases him, barely inside him.

Eduardo tilts his head, considering. “If you wanted it,” he says. “Maybe the other Mark does, then?”

“M-Maybe,” Mark lets out. The tip of Eduardo’s finger has entered him, and Mark is twisting in his fingers, body shuddering in pleasure.

Eduardo can’t waste his time thinking about both Marks, thinking about fucking the other Mark with this Mark in the room, can’t let his fantasies stray too much because the reality is that one Mark is here, and Eduardo’s cock is about to go in him. This Mark is hot and tight, and Eduardo has no doubts the other one is too, but it’s this Mark that Eduardo slips his fingers out of, nudges the head of the cock against his hole, pushes into while this Mark sits in his lap. Mark lets out a little cry as Eduardo’s cock drags inside of him, and Eduardo moans too, knocking his head into this Mark’s shoulder.

“So hot,” Eduardo breathes against Mark’s neck. “So hot for me.”

“Y-Yeah,” Mark gasps, as Eduardo slides all the way in, gets himself fully seated inside.

Eduardo circles his hips, brushing against Mark’s hot walls, trying to find the spot that Mark likes best. Mark moans at the motion, makes a louder noise when Eduardo angles himself right, and Eduardo knows. Eduardo thrusts his hips down and then back up into Mark, and Mark cries out again. He’s sitting sideways in Eduardo’s lap, and his ass is down to Eduardo’s balls as Eduardo slides himself in and out, feeling so thick and long where Mark is tight.

Mark bounces in Eduardo’s lap, meeting him thrust for thrust, letting out these tiny little whines as Eduardo fucks into him, hits his prostate over again. “Fuck, fuck,” Mark moans, “Wardo, fuck,” and Eduardo is so hot, he’s not sure how he hasn’t come yet. Eduardo tucks his forehead into the curvature of Mark’s neck and goes, “You look so good like this,” and Mark breaks, coming, onto his shirt, and Eduardo’s. Eduardo grabs onto Mark’s hips from the side and rapidly pushes into him, faster, with more force, grunting as Mark cries out from the pressure. Mark says, “God, Wardo,” and that’s it, Eduardo shoves Mark down in one swift thrust, coming into him, into the condom, filling Mark up with his cock. Mark goes, “ah, ah, ah,” as Eduardo’s warm come splashes into the condom, and he’s bit his lips raw, Eduardo sees, when he’s done.

To Eduardo’s surprise, Mark leans over and kisses Eduardo, smiling at him when he pulls away. “Wardo,” he says, and the name sounds like it has so much affection in it, affection Eduardo’s never heard before, that Eduardo smiles.

“That was,” Eduardo says, pulling Mark off and taking care of the condom. “Good.”

Mark laughs, and Eduardo drinks up the sound. “Yeah,” Mark says, reaching over and shyly taking Eduardo’s hand, turning his head away so Eduardo won’t see the blush blooming again over his cheeks. “It was good.”

Eduardo turns him around so he can see Mark’s smile, which Eduardo kisses, glad that there’s some iteration of Mark that genuinely likes him. “We should probably head back to your dorm,” he says to this Mark. “Your other–other Mark is probably wondering what took us so long.”

“Yeah,” Mark says, getting up out of Eduardo’s lap.

They get their clothes back on–Eduardo tosses Mark his khakis from where they’d fallen to the floor. When they’re back in their clothes, Mark reaches for Eduardo’s hand and Eduardo goes, “Hey.” Mark brings himself close and stands on his tiptoes to kiss Eduardo, and Eduardo’s insides feel so soft like they could slip out of him at any second. He kisses back, and Mark pulls away so that Eduardo can see Mark grinning at him again.

Heading back to the Kirkland dorm, neither of them can stop smiling–Eduardo catches Mark grinning at him, turning his face away, and then doing it again, like he’s not sure but he wants to, desperately. Eduardo knows the feeling, tucking his chin down into his chest and wanting the other Mark too, to kiss him and tell him that he loves the both of them.

As they make their way into the Kirkland building, Eduardo says, “So how long have you–the both of you, right?”

“I dunno.” Mark shrugs, but in a more off-handed way like he does know the answer. “Probably.”

Eduardo nods thoughtfully. “He wouldn’t say anything, though, right?” he asks worriedly. “Because you’re–and he’s–”

Mark shrugs again. “Probably not,” he says, “but it’s okay.” He sends one of those used-to-be rare smiles at Eduardo again, and Eduardo can’t make himself worry when he sees that. Mark likes him–whether this one, or the other one, or his own single one. They’re all the same, and Eduardo doesn’t think he can get enough.

When they arrive at the dorm, Eduardo opens the door and them strides along with this Mark to Mark’s bedroom. The other–the first Mark looks up from his desktop when they come in, an annoyed expression on his face.

“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” he says, voice hard.

Eduardo shifts guiltily. “We got sidetracked,” he says to the other Mark, who blushes.

Mark narrows his eyes at the both of them, then says, “Whatever. I’m almost done this problem set from Friday, so finish the one from Monday.”

“Okay,” Mark says obediently, taking the laptop from the bed and opening it on his lap.

Eduardo sits next to him as both Marks work, back to homework like they were doing before. But now Eduardo knows–now Eduardo’s kissed one, and he can’t help but leaning into this Mark’s neck and kissing his collarbone. Mark squirms and says nothing; Eduardo noses along his cheek, presses a kiss to the inside of his neck. Mark laughs, apparently ticklish, and says, “Wardo.”

“What’s going on?” The other Mark swivels around in his chair and glares at the both of them.

Eduardo quickly pulls away and says, “Nothing,” even though he knows that there’s no way that this Mark missed it. Maybe it’ll make this Mark say something, do something, and then–Eduardo doesn’t know, but the sight of two Marks is almost too much for him. Eduardo smiles innocently at this Mark, and when he turns back around to his desktop, Eduardo ducks down and smacks a loud kiss at the inside of Mark’s wrist.

This Mark looks at him fondly–the other Mark lets out a low sound that Eduardo can’t quite make heads or tails of. Eduardo thinks he’ll say something, but Mark does nothing, just types faster at his computer. Eduardo goes in for a real kiss, mushing his lips against Mark’s. Mark gives up on his homework entirely and kisses back, setting his laptop down on the bed and wrapping his arms around Eduardo’s shoulders. Eduardo holds onto his side and kisses back, because there’s no way that the other Mark will let them do this–he’ll have to say something, demand attention from Eduardo instead, be offended that Eduardo isn’t kissing him.

But instead, there’s the sound of Mark’s fingers clacking louder, obnoxiously at his computer desktop, and then Mark saying, “Get a fucking room, Jesus Christ.”

Mark pulls away from Eduardo’s lips, smiling and pink-cheeked. “Already did,” he says, to which Mark growls at.

Eduardo hopes–Mark has to say something now, they’re making out on the fucking bed–but then Mark says, “I think you two should leave.”

Eduardo’s heart stops in his chest.

His other Mark says, “Leave?”

“Yes,” Mark says, with his teeth gritted. “Go to Eduardo’s dorm. Fuck off if you’re not going to be working. I can do our homework from Monday.”

“Mark,” Eduardo tries, but then Mark is storming over from his desk, glowering down at the both of them where the other Mark looks blankly surprised at him, and grabs the laptop from the bed.

“Leave,” Mark bites out, and Eduardo and the other Mark have no other choice but to do so.

They trickle out of the dorm, not really looking at each other. Eduardo’s worried–does the other Mark not like him? not want to kiss him the way this Mark does? He thought he could goad Mark, but instead Mark’s just angry at him, as he should be, since Eduardo was making out with someone else in his bed. Well–another Mark, to be precise, who seems unbothered as they trek out. Eduardo’s stomach twists guiltily.

This Mark looks thoughtful as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “I think he was jealous,” he says.

Eduardo scoffs in surprise. “Jealous? More like he was furious with us.”

“Furious because he’s jealous.” Mark looks considering for a moment, before shrugging. “Oh well. What can we do at your dorm?”

“Well,” Eduardo says, trying not to be to thrown off by this Mark’s complete apathy. “I have homework to do, too. And you said that he–um, the other–Mark was going to class, so you should probably stay inside just in case.”

Mark nods. “Good idea,” he says, and follows Eduardo inside, into his dorm.

Eduardo shuts the door behind them, reminded uncomfortably about when they’d been screwing here, just several minutes before. “So, um,” Eduardo says. “You can use my computer, if you want–I really only need to read–”

“Okay,” Mark says, nodding. He grabs Eduardo’s computer without abandon and fires it open–he types in Eduardo’s password before even asking, and Eduardo blinks at him in surprise.

“I didn’t even give you my password,” Eduardo says.

Mark shrugs.

It seems like that’s what he’s reduced to when Eduardo isn’t fucking him–which is fair, since Eduardo likes Mark, his indifference and all. Eduardo joins him on the bed as Mark’s fingers fly across the keyboard, as fast as the other one, working on some coding thing on a program he’d apparently downloaded onto Eduardo’s computer without asking. Eduardo doesn’t mind too much, since the sound of Mark typing is almost soothing as Eduardo reads through his textbook. They sit side by side, and midway through Mark leans his head against Eduardo’s shoulder, as he types dutifully at Eduardo’s laptop.

Eduardo gets dinner for the both of them, later, and then they have sex again, Mark’s legs over Eduardo’s shoulders as Eduardo fucks into him, both of them properly naked now instead of with only their pants on, skin slapping against skin in Eduardo’s single dorm. Mark’s legs shake as Eduardo fucks him deep, and all Eduardo can think about is about how he wishes the other Mark were here to enjoy the show–to fuck him, to fuck Mark, to just be here. He comes with groan at the guilty image in his head of both Marks kissing each other; Mark comes onto his chest moments after, legs tight around Eduardo’s head.

“I knew you’d be good in bed,” Mark sighs, as they wind down, satisfied.

Eduardo gets rid of the condom and, smirking, says, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I – we – ” Mark watches as Eduardo gets up, naked to head to the trash can, and then back. “We thought about it a lot before.”

Eduardo raises his eyebrows. “You and the other–”

“When we were still one,” Mark says. “The one Mark.”

Heat pools at the bottom of Eduardo’s belly, and if he had the energy he would definitely get it up again. “Ah,” he says, before joining Mark on the bed. “You think about me a lot?”

This Mark gives him a look, even though Eduardo is wrapping him in his arms, pressing his nose against the back of Mark’s neck. “You’re just asking me that because I’m the one that’ll give you an actual answer,” Mark says.

Eduardo smiles at him. “Well, will you?”

Mark sighs. But he says, smiling back, “Yes, we do.”

Eduardo tells him, “I want the other Mark to know that I think about you a lot, too.” He kisses Mark’s shoulder. “The both of you.”

If he had to tell the truth, Eduardo wouldn’t say that this Mark is easier to talk to than his own Mark, who’s honest so much to a fault that Eduardo’s always suspected that Mark likes talking to Eduardo just as much. But this Mark tells Eduardo about his family, his childhood, what it was like being on the fencing team in high school, how much he wants to be in a final club, instead of complaining about how bullshit it is that he’s in Harvard and there’s still a more elite club that he expects himself to get into, which is Mark’s typical whinge about them. This Mark is okay when Eduardo talks about how difficult it was to live up to his father’s expectations, how Eduardo still doesn’t feel like it’s enough even though his father has told him that he’s proud that Eduardo’s in Harvard, that he’s stopped having expectations and more dreams for Eduardo than Eduardo can hope to imagine. This Mark is receptive and listens, makes noises of assent, says, “I think your father is trying to tell you you’re good enough,” and doesn’t turn away when Eduardo buries his face into Mark’s chest and says, “Thank you.”

Mark pets his hair, and Eduardo doesn’t know how this Mark can be so Mark, and yet so different, like half of a whole.

The next morning, Eduardo wakes up first and takes a shower, before Mark wakes up and blinks at him while Eduardo dries his hair. Mark reaches over to the bottom of the bed to pick up his clothes, but Eduardo clucks and says, “You should shower.”

Mark gives him a blank look, but Eduardo hauls him to his feet, sighing fondly. “C’mon, Mark,” he says, leading Mark into his bathroom. “We’re filthy from last night.”

“You’re not anymore,” Mark points out, to where Eduardo’s towel is wrapped around his waist.

Eduardo rolls his eyes and says, “You need to shower, too.” Mark doesn’t move on his own, but doesn’t protest as Eduardo manhandles him into the bathroom before shutting the door behind him.

There’s light shuffling, but otherwise no more noise. Eduardo says to the door, “Turn on the shower, Mark!”

“I’m not a child, Wardo,” comes Mark’s voice, amused, before the sound of the shower.

They get ready, and Eduardo doesn’t have any classes until the afternoon, so after breakfast Eduardo says, “Maybe we should go back to your dorm and see if he–the other one is okay?” Mark shrugs, which Eduardo assumes is a yes or a who-the-fuck-cares, so he leads them back to Kirkland, briefcase slung over his shoulder, stomach lower than before at the anxiety of this Mark possibly still being angry at them.

Eduardo knocks at the door as he and Mark wait outside. Mark has his hands in his pockets, blinking dispassionately.

Dustin opens the door, and, with surprise to Eduardo, says, “Hey man, you know you don’t need to knock–is that Mark?”

“Um,” Eduardo says, making his way in. “Long story.”

“I’ll say,” Dustin says. “Mark’s door has been closed all day, except I saw him go to the bathroom once–I thought he was in this whole time–”

“He,” Eduardo says, as Mark just stares at Dustin with a blank expression. “Long story,” Eduardo says again.

Dustin shakes his head, and Eduardo and Mark go to Mark’s dorm. Eduardo waits until Dustin’s back in his room, door open just a crack. Then Eduardo knocks on the door lightly with his knuckles.

“Mark?” he says gently. “Are you in?”

There’s a moment, where Eduardo is worried that Mark had gone out without anyone noticing–but then Mark’s voice comes gruffly, through the door, “Yeah.”

“Can we come in?” Eduardo asks.

The doorknob twists and unclicks; Mark must’ve had the door locked, anyway. Eduardo glances nervously at the other Mark, who doesn’t seem to care, before entering in the room.

Mark is sitting at his desk, bags under his eyes, typing at his computer. Eduardo immediately goes into worry-mode–”Did you sleep at all?”

“Couple hours,” Mark grunts, as the other Mark files in after Eduardo. “If we came together again last night, I wanted to be awake for it.”

“That’s–” Eduardo gets it, but also– “That’s incredibly stupid, Mark, what the fuck?”

Mark gives him a look. “Not like you care, since you’re over with,” he waves at the other Mark, “the stupid one over there.”

“Hey,” Mark says. “For your information, I still have an IQ of 154–”

Mark snorts. “And yet you get distracted by Eduardo–”

“Hey,” Eduardo says, before the argument can escalate. It’s still weird to see Mark argue with himself–but, Eduardo presumes, probably nothing out of the ordinary, since his own Mark can be transparent, sometimes, when he’s debating between two or more possibilities. “There’s no reason to get upset,” he tries, gently to the angrier Mark, who snorts and turns back to his computer.

“I’m not upset, you both just waste your time with your other bullshit,” Mark says.

The words sting Eduardo, and he tries to pretend they don’t. Mark doesn’t even apologize like he would’ve otherwise, when he knows when he says things that offend Eduardo and he actually doesn’t mean it. Eduardo doubts Mark means this, but it still hurts that he said them–Eduardo supposes that the part of Mark that would apologize is the other Mark, not this one.

Eduardo asks, “Do you want us to go, then?”

Mark is quiet for a moment. His typing slows at his computer, and he grunts out, “No. It’s fine.”

“I don’t care,” the other Mark says, mostly to Eduardo. “We can go, if we’re not welcome.”

“You. are. welcome,” Mark gets out, baring his teeth.

Eduardo isn’t sure about that, but Mark seems to be pretty emphatic, so he and Mark make their way to Mark’s bed. At the desk, Mark shoves the laptop where it’s sitting to the side, and silently, the other Mark gets up from the bed to take it, before joining Eduardo again.

“I’m working on a program,” Mark tells Eduardo, ignoring the other Mark snapping out, “we.” “It’s for Harvard, you can put your classes on it and see what classes your friends are taking, too.”

“Oh, that sounds really useful,” Eduardo says, looking over Mark’s shoulder to his laptop with interest. “Does it have a name yet?”

“CourseMatch,” the other Mark says, without turning around from his computer. “I worked on it last night. I updated the classes file.”

The Mark beside Eduardo on the bed says nothing, instead opening up a file and scrolling up and down, before backspacing and typing some things. Eduardo hears the other Mark growl, but otherwise say nothing–from what Eduardo can understand about code, it looks like this Mark is fixing some things in the other Mark’s code.

Eduardo remembers what Mark had told him yesterday, about this Mark, about–all Marks, really, that–that the feeling, the kissing, none of it is isolated to the Mark that Eduardo had actually done them with. All Marks want him–and that’s weird for Eduardo to think, to wrap his mind around. But he supposes logically it must be true–if one Mark was so open, yielding for him, then that must mean that all iterations of Mark must be.

He kisses at Mark’s mouth again, this time determined to make this Mark jealous into action, especially since this Mark had wanted them to stay. He might even want Eduardo and the other Mark to make out in front of him again, who knows. This Mark goes along with it happily, supple in Eduardo’s grasp, not even pretending to pay attention to coding as Eduardo bends them forward against the bed, Mark on his back, head landing on his pillow.

Eduardo turns his head to see the other Mark’s reaction–but the other Mark hasn’t moved, resolutely staring at his computer and working on whatever he’s working on. Eduardo smiles at him fondly, anyway, before kissing the Mark that he can kiss, pressing him into the mattress as Mark kisses back. Mark makes desperate noises into Eduardo’s mouth, hands going to Eduardo’s sides, his hips. Eduardo grinds his front down on Mark, hoping that the other is listening, will say, do anything, as long as he’s not kicking them out again.

But the other Mark does nothing. Eduardo brings his hands down to the front of this Mark’s shirt, strokes at the warm skin, loving as Mark moans, as Eduardo brings his head down and fastens his mouth to Mark’s collarbone. Eduardo bites gently, stroking his teeth along the sensitive skin, before sucking Mark’s skin into his mouth, sure to leave a dark bruise on his skin. Mark groans against him and his hips buck up. Eduardo thumbs at his nipples, under his shirt, one under each thumb, as Mark rucks his body against his.

Eduardo brings his hands down, because if nothing dissuades the other Mark from his silent treatment, then, well–something has to. Eduardo gets his hand around Mark’s zipper and tugs it down sharply.

A sound behind them startles Eduardo and Mark. The other Mark has stood up from his desk, thighs banging into keyboard. He’s not looking at either of them as he storms out of the room, and Eduardo’s stomach drops as he leaves.

This Mark’s expression is bored when Eduardo turns to him. “Get back to it,” Mark says, and Eduardo likes that no matter which Mark he’s with, Mark’s still a little impatient and bossy.

But Eduardo can’t help worrying–”Is he mad again?” he asks.

Mark rolls his eyes. “Probably,” he says. “Can we go back to what you wanted to do before?”

Eduardo looks at him for a moment–he wants to talk about this more, to find the best way to get the other Mark to do something–but this Mark clearly won’t comply, as he’s looking up at Eduardo expectantly. “Okay,” Eduardo says, before making his way down Mark’s body. “I’m going to blow you.”

Mark’s hips pulse up again and he groans. “Fuck, please,” he goes, and Eduardo brings his head, and Mark’s pants down.

Eduardo takes Mark’s underwear down, wraps his lips around Mark’s dick and meets Mark’s eyes as he blows Mark carefully, shaking his head to get all of Mark’s cock in. Mark moans and throws his head back, pushing into Eduardo’s mouth as Eduardo pumps his hand around the base of Mark’s cock, loving the way Mark is hot and heavy on his tongue. He curls his tongue, licks, pulling off every trick in the book–he’s thought about doing this for so long, he gets Mark into the back of his throat even though he usually saves that for after the third date. Mark doesn’t stop moaning, squeezing his eyes shut, thighs quivering beside Eduardo–then he’s coming down Eduardo’s throat, thick and bitter and a taste that Eduardo loves.

Eduardo pulls off and smiles at Mark, even though some of Mark’s come is smeared on his mouth. “Shit, Wardo,” Mark says, as Eduardo drags himself up to kiss himself sweetly on Mark’s lips. Mark resists a bit, making a face at the taste; but Eduardo pushes what’s left of Mark’s come into Mark’s mouth, which Mark takes and moans at.

They get Mark’s pants back on, and Mark offers to exchange the favor, which Eduardo turns down–he wants to figure out what’s up with the other Mark, first, before he’ll allow himself to have another orgasm. So Mark works on CourseMatch at his laptop, while Eduardo gets his head into Mark’s lap–Mark doesn’t seem to mind, though, resting his elbow in the crook of Eduardo’s neck. “You don’t think the–Mark hates me, do you?” Eduardo asks, watching Mark’s fingers flutter across the keyboard.

Mark shrugs, but says, “It’s unlikely.”

“I just,” Eduardo says, and then looks up at Mark’s face–identical to the other Mark’s, and yet so much different from the other’s. “I like the both of you,” he says.

Mark hums and doesn’t respond. Eduardo sighs, turning his face into Mark’s thigh.

It’s not long before the other Mark comes back, though, maybe about an hour, slamming the door shut behind him and staring at the mirror of himself, Eduardo’s head still on Mark’s lap. Eduardo becomes self-conscious of this and lifts himself up, as Mark crosses his arms and glares.

It takes Eduardo a second to realize that Mark’s not glaring at him–he’s glaring at the other Mark. “So, what,” Mark says to the other. “You guys are together now?”

Mark shrugs from behind his computer, not taking his eyes away. “Sure,” he says, without looking up.

“Sure?” Mark says scornfully. “You–You and him,” he points to Eduardo, who cowers, “made out on my bed–”

“Our bed.”

“You didn’t even sleep in it last night!” Mark spits. “You’re such a slut, throwing yourself at Eduardo like that–”

“Yeah?” the other Mark challenges, finally raising his head up with an indignant expression on his face. “At least I’m getting more than you.”

“I-I don’t–” Mark sputters. “I don’t need to have sex like how desperate you are–”

“Right,” the other Mark says, closing his laptop and his gaze looking fiery all of a sudden, a strange character switch. Eduardo doesn’t even know where this came from. “Maybe Wardo and I should just fuck in the room with you and you’ll be a jealous bitch because you’ll wish he was fucking you–”

“I’m not a jealous–” Mark looks enraged, and Eduardo scoots back on the bed, still sitting as the other Mark stands up, meeting his gaze. “You’re such a fucking slut for Eduardo’s body–”

“You know what?” the other Mark says. “I am. I am a slut for Eduardo’s body, and his cock, and his mouth, and you would be, too, if you were getting even a little bit of what I’ve had–”

“Fuck off,” Mark snarls. His cheeks are bright red. “What the fuck does it matter, we’re the same fucking person–”

“Yeah, but you’re not the one getting your dick sucked.” The other Mark smirks victoriously as Mark flushes even darker.

Eduardo can see the difference now–it’s not that the other Mark is awkward and the other Mark is ambitious, or that one Mark is more emotionless and the other is more angry. It’s that the one Mark goes along, lets Eduardo see how he feels, doesn’t feel the need to hide anything, while the other one seems to want to hide everything. Eduardo loves every bit of Mark, both Marks, the Mark who shows his emotions and the Mark that doesn’t–and with both of them going head on, Eduardo doesn’t even feel bad, just can’t stop himself from staring.

“I don’t need my dick sucked,” Mark says, and the other snorts.

“I know you hated being a virgin, and you still are,” he sneers. “Eduardo’s fucked me, and you haven’t even fucked him–”

“Maybe that’s you, and not me–”

“Like you said, it doesn’t even fucking matter,” the other Mark says. “We’re the same person–”

“Which means that if you’re not a virgin, then I’m not–”

The other Mark scoffs. “Yeah fucking right. Like you had Wardo in you, like you had Wardo’s mouth on your dick–”

“Fuck you,” Mark says, getting close to the other Mark’s face.

The other Mark doesn’t falter, looking smug, still standing, hands ubiquitously in his pockets. Mark’s gaze is fixed on the other, but then Eduardo sees–Mark’s eyes flicker to Eduardo, who’s enraptured by the both of them–he’s barely upset at the Mark’s arguing with himself. He imagines what this is like in Mark’s head, except for where the part Eduardo’s fucked one of them and not the other.

Mark’s eyes narrow at Eduardo’s, before meeting the other’s gaze again. He’s breathing hard into his face, even though the other barely seems to care.

Then, like something out of a dream, Mark jams his mouth against the others. Eduardo blinks–the other is resisting, while Mark squeezes his eyes tight, trying to kiss the other Mark hard.

The other Mark sputters and pulls himself away. “What are you doing?” he demands, as Mark wipes his mouth.

“Wardo loves it,” he says, turning to Eduardo. “Right?”

“I, uh,” Eduardo says, because the other is squinting at him with confusion. “I do like it–I like the both of you. I just,” he shrugs. “I can’t protest against the either of you.”

The other Mark stares at him, but then he blinks and says, “Okay.” Then, to his counterpart, “You didn’t have to kiss me so hard, though.”

“Ugh,” Mark says, before gritting his teeth and leaning in to kiss the other Mark again. His hands go into the pocket of Mark’s hoodie and wrenches his hands out, which Mark doesn’t seem to mind, letting his hands go with him. Mark shoves the other Mark back and takes off his pants, wriggling out of them and then his boxers. His dick is soft and out already, and even though Eduardo knows it’s the same as the other’s, he still can’t help staring–it’s Mark’s cock that he can’t resist.

Mark strokes his dick, says, “Since you like getting fucked so much, how about I fuck you?” He glances at Eduardo like he wants to make sure it’s okay, but Eduardo nods, mouth dry. He quickly gets off the bed as the other Mark says nothing, merely leans back on his elbows to make more room for Mark.

Heaving himself over the other Mark’s body, Mark joins their mouths together again, lying on top of the other Mark from tip to toe. The other rifles his hands through Mark’s curls, taking it in stride as Mark kisses him, palms himself against the other’s crotch, moaning into his mouth as he strokes himself to hardness. Eduardo watches Mark’s cock fatten in his fist and doesn’t know what he wants, if he wants Mark to fuck him or if he wants to watch Mark fuck himself or–whatever it is.

Mark gets the other Mark’s khakis down, yanking them off and shoving them away thoughtlessly. Eduardo’s begun to absently rub the heel of his hand against his dick, straining to keep his noises down because he wants to hear all of the Marks’ sounds.

Mark goes, “Lube,” and Eduardo fumbles, taking his hand off of himself when he realizes that Mark is talking to him. He looks through Mark’s desk, until Mark clicks his tongue and the both of them say, “Bottom drawer.”

Eduardo finds it, places it into Mark’s extended hand, where Mark flips the lid open and lathers it all over his hands. From here, Eduardo can see the other Mark’s eyes, dark and hazy as Mark slides his fingers between his legs, slicks him open. “Not as good as Wardo,” the other Mark says, smirking.

Mark grits his teeth and drives his fingers in deeper–Eduardo can see it from here. The other Mark can’t help himself, pushing his head back into the mattress in moaning, as Mark goes, “That’s what I thought.” He curls his fingers, pulling his body away so that Eduardo can see the whole show, can see Mark up to his knuckles, tight and pressing into where the both of them are joined. Eduardo unbuttons the top of his trousers, slides a hand down, curls a hand around himself.

Mark turns to Eduardo and goes, “Are you enjoying this, Wardo?” Eduardo nods mutely, and Mark says, “Yeah, I bet.”

He takes his fingers out and Eduardo watches as the other Mark’s hips thrust down, whining. “I’m empty, you fuck,” the other Mark says.

Mark just glares at him and says, “I’m going to fuck you, you slut.” He gets the lube on himself–and Eduardo realizes they’re not going to use a condom, Mark’s just going to go in bare, since they’re the same person, and that’s so hot that Eduardo has to force himself from coming immediately. “God, I didn’t know you were such a fucking slut for it.”

“You’re just jealous,” the other Mark teases, and that’s when Mark slots his cock into him, raising the other Mark’s hips up, in the space between the back of his thighs. “Fuck. Fuck, you fucker.”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Mark says breathlessly, slapping at one of the other Mark’s thighs. “Come on, on your knees.”

“You’re gonna fuck me doggy style?” the other Mark says, though he does as he says. “Eduardo hasn’t fucked me like that, yet, bet you want to fuck him like that too–”

“Shut up,” Mark says. But his cheeks are flushed and Eduardo realizes that he’s barely done anything with this Mark–so much of his energy has been with the other, sexual and otherwise, and he immediately feels bad.

As the other Mark gets on his hands and knees, and Mark readjusts himself inside him, Eduardo goes over to the Mark who’s fucking, not being fucked, and asks, “Do you need any help?”

Mark gives him a look–”Do I really look like I need help fucking myself?”

Eduardo shrugs, watches the way Mark’s cock slips into the other so easily. He remembers what it was like, fucking the other Mark–but this is different, because Eduardo can watch this Mark’s thick cock breach the other’s hole, pushing, tearing him apart as Mark writhes and moans against the bed. Mark’s back is straight as he holds onto the other’s hips, snapping his own, thrusting and fucking the other into the mattress.

Eduardo meets this Mark’s gaze, and this Mark’s eyes are rich, mouth sinfully red, from all the biting, from all the insults. Eduardo places a hand on Mark’s shoulder, thumbs at his jaw–Mark takes it, says, “Put your finger in my mouth.”

“Shit,” Eduardo goes, stroking his finger against Mark’s cheek, placing it between his lips, where Mark takes him in, sucks, fucking the other Mark harder against the bed. Mark sucks on Eduardo’s finger harder and harder, the faster he thrusts into the other Mark, and Eduardo has to take his fingers out and kiss this Mark, tasting the salty tang of his mouth, slipping his tongue in and licking at as much of Mark’s mouth as he can, penetrating his lips. Mark moans in his mouth despite the other’s senseless whines, so loudly that his hips buck and then he’s frozen, shuddering, coming. Eduardo holds him through it, stroking this Mark’s cheek, wanting him to be–the other was so happy, so easygoing, and Eduardo wants that for all Marks.

Mark winds down, and Eduardo breaks apart, Mark opening his eyes and looking down at the other. The other Mark looks sated too– “You came without either of us touching you,” Mark says, sounding half-disgusted, half-fond.

The other Mark rolls over on his back and snorts at him. “Wardo, do you think that’s hot?” he asks.

“I do think it’s hot,” Eduardo says, and the other Mark smirks, like he’s just won a contest. “You’re both hot, I don’t–Jesus.”

Mark looks down at where Eduardo is hard in his pants, then exchanges a look with the other Mark. “Right,” Mark says, then shoves his hand down Eduardo’s pants. “Let me–”

“We should blow him,” the other Mark says, raising himself on his elbows.

There’s a question in this Mark’s eyes, but Eduardo babbles, “Yeah, yeah, um,” before slipping his pants and underwear off in one swift motion. The other–the slutty Mark gets on his knees on the bed and looks Eduardo in the eye, crawling over to his cock. The Mark who just fucked the other bends down, wrapping his lips around the crown of Eduardo’s cock without abandon.

“Fuck,” Eduardo says, watching them, watching as the slutty Mark closes his eyes and licks down Eduardo’s length, sucking him up like he was something delicious. “Fuck,” Eduardo says again, as the more dominant Mark takes him in deeper, sucking him properly.

The slutty Mark shoves at the other’s shoulder and says, “Stop hogging him.” Mark rolls his eyes but lets his mouth off, lets the slutty Mark lick at the underside, taste his head, and Eduardo’s knees are this close to buckling as he tightens his hands into fists.

The slutty Mark ducks his head down to lick at Eduardo’s balls, mouths at them, while the dominant Mark gets Eduardo down his throat in one swift motion–and he gags a little, but it’s what sends Eduardo undone. He moans and thrusts deep into the one’s mouth, spurting down his throat, legs shaking as his orgasm punches out of him. Mark takes his mouth off of him and they both place their faces in front of Eduardo’s cock, so he comes on both of their cheeks and eyelids and mouths.

Eduardo can only groan out swears, as both Marks turn to each other and then make out again, licking Eduardo’s come from their faces. “You’re both so hot,” Eduardo finds himself saying. “Christ–Mark–”

“Yeah,” they both say, breaking apart. Eduardo grins at them, and the slutty one grins back while the dominant one rolls his eyes and turns his face away so Eduardo can’t see his expression. Eduardo imagines it’s a smile, too, and places his hand on Mark’s shoulder so he can bring him around and kiss him. Mark relents, kissing gently back, almost like the other one but with more teeth.

Eduardo supposes it makes sense, and wonders how his Mark–the one Mark–would kiss.

They hear a banging at the door, and Chris’s voice going, “I know you guys finally had sex after for-fucking-ever, but can you please keep it down?” Eduardo laughs into this Mark’s shoulder, who shouts, “Shut up, Chris,” while the other one hides his own giggles into the bed.

Eduardo glances at the time on his watch, and realizes how late it is–how long he’s been in Mark’s dorm. “We need to eat lunch,” he says, before looking precariously at the both of them. “Who–”

“I’m going this time,” the dominant Mark says, getting off the bed and beginning to wrangle his clothes back on. He does get a clean pair of underwear, though, to Eduardo’s relief. “He had you all of yesterday.”

Slutty Mark rolls his eyes. “Jealous bitch,” he mutters again, grabbing towards his laptop.

He stays naked, and the other stands up and looks at Eduardo expectantly. “Let’s go,” he says, and Eduardo follows him out of the dorm, into the hallway and down the stairs.

Mark says, as they walk to the dining hall again, “You know you didn’t bring me any food yesterday, right?”

“Shit,” Eduardo says. “Sorry.”

Mark rolls his eyes. “I’m just letting you know,” he says. “Before you remember yourself and then feel all guilty about it.”

“Um.” Eduardo doesn’t know what to do with this information. “Thanks.”

Mark gives him another look, and they enter the dining hall together. “Honestly, I don’t know where the other one came from,” he says. “I didn’t even know I was such a slutty person, even when it comes to you–”

“I don’t think that’s the difference,” says Eduardo, even though he knows how he’s been referring to both Marks in his head. “I think he’s–you’re the more shut off one, and he’s the more open one. A more accurate version of who he is on the inside.”

“Yeah, right,” Mark scoffs. “And I’m, what, repressed and shallow?”

Eduardo shrugs. They get their food, which doesn’t take too long, and Eduardo says, “You’re better at being who you want to be on the outside. And when you’re together, you’re that–” He thinks for a moment. “That brutally honest, bored, and weirdly charming Mark.”

Mark eyes him hesitantly. “He’s the charm,” he says, after a moment.

Eduardo shakes his head rapidly. “You’re both the–the honesty is part of the charm,” he says. “And that’s the–”

“You like him better than me,” Mark accuses.

“I don’t like either of you better than the other,” Eduardo says, frustrated. “Which is why–I like the both of you, equally. I like you!” he exclaims.

This confession isn’t any of the ways he’s expected it to go in his head, especially since there’s another Mark not here, but in his dorm, coding, while this Mark just snorts and says, “Yeah, right, you fucked him first.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Eduardo insists, because it doesn’t. “You weren’t being receptive to anything I was saying, and he was–”

“Which is why you like him so much.”

“I liked you before all this happened,” Eduardo says, getting increasingly annoyed. They’ve sat down, and Mark’s started on his food, but Eduardo needs to get this through this Mark’s arrogant, insecure skull–that there’s no fucking difference between either of them. “If you rejected me, or if you didn’t, I don’t–it wouldn’t have stopped me from liking you.”

“Right,” Mark mutters, shoving his spoon in his yogurt.

Eduardo huffs, and they eat in silence for a while. Then Eduardo says, “What would it take you to realize that I don’t like either of you better than the other?”

“I don’t fucking know,” Mark grits out. “If the other one disappeared and you still wanted to stay with me?”

“I–that can’t–” Eduardo heaves a breath, closes his eyes, then sighs. “Look,” he says. “Who I had sex with first doesn’t matter–it’s like you said, you’re the same person. I still like you.” He puts his spoon down. “I like Mark Zuckerberg, whether it’s you, or him, or–”

“Whatever,” Mark says.

Eduardo sighs, but then asks Mark about CourseMatch, which Mark shuts down for too. Eduardo doesn’t know if it’s because he’s still mad, or if this Mark just hates talking about anything if he’s not being angry or superior about it. It’s a dilemma, Eduardo finds, that feeds into the many facets of Mark’s personality–that right now he can’t be divided just as sexual and angry, or open or closed. There’s just this part of Mark that’s angry about everything, that can’t do anything without feeling like he needs to be better–and the other, Eduardo reasons, the other doesn’t care, as long as he’s satisfied with what he’s doing, passive enough in his own world that he doesn’t need improval, just enjoyment.

Eduardo doesn’t think he’ll ever figure Mark out, and that’s what’s so exciting to be in love with him.

After lunch, Eduardo and this Mark go back to the dorm, in relative silence–and Eduardo admits to himself that he misses his own Mark, who’s both awkward and arrogant, rambles to Eduardo about shit that Eduardo doesn’t care about, but is still excited about it. Both of these Marks are silent in their own way for different reasons, so Eduardo’s glad when they come back to Mark’s dorm and the other Mark blinks expectantly at them from their bed.

Mark grumbles and pushes his way over to him, wrenching the laptop from the other’s hands. “Forgot to get you lunch. Sorry,” he says, without sounding apologetic at all.

The other Mark squints, then shrugs. “I’ll work on the desktop,” he says in response.

Eduardo checks the time on his watch again–he has to go to class, but he hates feeling that one Mark thinks he doesn’t like him, and the other–Eduardo doesn’t know what he thinks. “Mark,” he says, and they both bring their heads up. Eduardo says, “Um, you,” to the one that’s sitting on the desktop. “You don’t–You don’t think that I like you more than the other Mark, do you?”

This Mark says, “Do you actually like him?” He points at the other Mark who’s on the bed–they’ve switched positions, Eduardo realizes, and shakes his head quickly.

“I–yeah, of course,” he says to this Mark. “You’re–I mean, you’re the same person, how can I not like the both of you?”

“But you can’t like him,” this Mark says, frowning. “He’s–”

“Fuck off,” other Mark says.

This Mark ignores him. He stares at Eduardo, like he’s seeing him for the first time, and says, “Do you like him more than me, then?”

“I never said that I–” Exasperated, Eduardo closes his eyes, presses his fingers against his eyelids. “You’re the same person,” he says, without opening his eyes, “and I like the both of you.”

When he opens his eyes again, he’s met with both Mark’s frowning at him, eyebrows furrowed on both of their faces. “But,” this Mark says, “you know we’re different.”

“That doesn’t mean anything to me,” Eduardo says indignantly. “I like every aspect of you. How is that hard for the both of you to get?”

“Even his?” this Mark says, and the other Mark squawks at him and throws a stray sock. This Mark is unfazed.

“Yes, of course,” Eduardo says, checking the time again. “And I have to go to class, but I don’t know–you two need to talk this out, or something–”

“I’ve done enough talking for today,” the other Mark says, returning to his laptop.

This Mark just watches Eduardo expectantly, like he thinks that the power of his gaze can get Eduardo to not leave, to skip class or something. And it could work, except Eduardo really does need to get to class, and he’s been handling the both of them for so long that he just wants his own Mark back, and also, he should probably reassure Chris and Dustin that everything going on in this suite is okay.

He backs up and says, “I need to–I’m going to go to class.” He turns on his heel and out of the room.

Chris and Dustin are in the living room, and Chris raises his eyebrows at him when Eduardo comes out. “You guys had really loud sex,” Chris tells like. “Like you were having an orgy in there.”

Eduardo laughs apologetically and scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, um,” he says, trying to think of the fastest excuse that he can. “First time?”

“Man, I’m not even sure I was that loud during my first time,” Dustin says.

Chris says, “As if you’ve even gotten laid, man.”

“Hey,” Dustin says to him, and Eduardo makes himself laugh again.

“Yeah, well,” he says to them. “Mark’s kind of tired out, so just–don’t go into his room, okay?”

Chris covers his face with a hand and Dustin says, “Dude, TMI.”

Eduardo realizes belatedly the implications of his words, and says, “That’s not what I–never mind.” He scrubs a hand over his face, and hopes that if both Marks end up arguing again, they don’t argue too loud and draw attention. He supposes it wouldn’t be that bad if his roommates knew, but it’ll still be more people to fuck with, and Eduardo doesn’t want to deal with the headache of that.

“Just don’t go into his room, alright?” he says.

“Okay,” Dustin says uncertainly. “You don’t have him, like, tied up or something, do you?”

“Dustin,” Chris says.

Eduardo shakes his head and says, “I’m not that kind of–no. I’m just.” He looks at the time again, and realizes he hadn’t even brought his briefcase to Mark’s dorm, which he needs for class. “I really need to get to class,” he says to the both of them, before escaping, wondering how long he can go to his next couple of classes until he can come back and check up on Mark again.

*

It’s not until the late afternoon, near evening, before Eduardo can make his way back into the Kirkland suite. He’d gotten caught up in class, had to stay after to ask the professor something, and then had to meet with his group members for a project, then had a business investor’s club meeting that he completely forgot about. Eduardo usually doesn’t forget about this stuff, so it had been a little embarrassing when he’d arrived five minutes late, especially as the leader.

When he gets back to Mark’s dorm, Dustin’s sitting on the couch in the common room, playing Call of Duty and not raising his head as Eduardo enters. “Mark’s been quiet all day,” Dustin says. “And I didn’t look into his room, don’t worry you freak.”

“That’s not what I–he’s just taking a nap,” Eduardo says helplessly.

Dustin ignores him and goes back to his video game.

But when Eduardo opens the door to Mark’s room again, he’s surprised to see that he’s right–both Marks are curled up in bed, spooned up against each other, eyes closed. Eduardo can’t tell the difference between the two of them right now, and he’s grateful for it–he knows all the reasons why he likes Mark, and he’s not sure if Mark knows too, but at least they’re cuddling each other.

They’re both also half naked and the room reeks of sex, probably not from earlier. Eduardo figures that they fucked it out again or something, and files that away for later. Along with what the rest of the past twenty-four hours has held.

Eduardo orders a pizza for them and then leaves it inside Mark’s room, in case either or the both of them get hungry, so they can eat. He stays out in the common room and plays Call of Duty with Dustin, with the volume turned up loud enough so that Dustin wouldn’t hear if they started talking again, but soft enough so it wouldn’t wake them up.

Eduardo kind of wants to see them again, but figures that they need some time alone–that, and being with them again will probably lead to one of them wanting to have sex again, and Eduardo isn’t fully satiated, but he doesn’t have that much stamina. He supposes it should surprise him more that Mark likes fucking his clone–but Eduardo figures, if he had a clone, he’d want to have sex with himself too.

The evening goes on, and Chris comes and they skirt around the topic of Mark, because both Dustin and Chris turn red at the mention, and Dustin says, “I don’t think I can look Mark in the eye for the next week.”

“Seriously, man,” Chris says to Eduardo. “So loud.”

That’ll be the slutty one, Eduardo thinks, and says to Chris bashfully, “Sorry.”

He sleeps on the couch in the dorm, just in case Mark might want to talk to him. Dustin and Chris crash into their respect bedrooms, and Eduardo knocks out before midnight, exhausted from all the sex of today.

He’s not sure what time it is when he wakes up, but it’s to someone shaking his shoulder, and a voice going, “Wardo,” gently. Eduardo shifts on his arms, muttering, “Huh?” as he forces himself awake to Mark’s familiar voice.

Mark’s looking down at him intently, and Eduardo blinks at him. He doesn’t know why, but Mark looks… different. Maybe like there’s a little bit of color to him, more specks in his blue eyes that Eduardo can barely see in the dim of the room, but Mark’s mouth twitches and he pulls back.

“I’m back,” he tells Eduardo.

And that gets Eduardo to sit upright, adjusting his hair and looking around. “You’re back?” he says. “There’s not any–the two of you?”

Mark shakes his head, and frowns. “I don’t know why,” he muses. “Maybe it’s because we switched again and I–he came inside me. Or maybe it’s because–”

“Hold on, you’re breaking my brain,” Eduardo says, and Mark looks down at him, smirks. “I–well, welcome back, first of all.”

“Thanks,” Mark says dryly. Then, more seriously, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. “And thank you for, um–”

“Don’t mention it,” Eduardo says, even though he doesn’t know what specifically Mark is referring to. All the sex? The weird self-assurance pep talk? Eduardo doesn’t care, he’ll take what he can get, especially by the way Mark pulls back and smiles at him, one of his rare ones that Eduardo’s missed.

“So,” Mark says casually, sitting next to Eduardo on the couch. “With all the sex we’ve had, does that mean…”

He doesn’t finish the question, and Eduardo waits for him. “Go on,” Eduardo says.

Mark elbows him. “Asshole,” he says, but he’s still grinning. “Are we–Did you want to be a thing? I still remember all the stuff you said to me–”

“Which one?”

“Both of them, really.” Mark scrunches his face, like he’s trying to separate them. “Wardo, you said you liked so much shit about me, I don’t even think–”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Eduardo says holding a hand up. “If you’re going to be self-deprecating again–”

“I wasn’t being self-deprecating,” Mark argues. “You’ve met me, that’s all I’m saying.”

Eduardo scoffs, but can’t help a grin coming to his own face. He takes one of Mark’s hands out of his hoodie pocket, places his own hand over it, and says, “Yes, we are–I would like for us to be a thing. A dating thing, specifically.”

“A dating thing specifically,” Mark repeats. His expression has returned to its blankness, but his mouth twitches anyway. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Eduardo says.

Mark leans in, kisses Eduardo lightly, soft on the lips in a way that makes Eduardo’s chest flutter, not sure if he needs more because he knows he has all of Mark, every part of him. “I would kiss you more, but I don’t think Dustin and Chris would appreciate us having sex on the couch at four in the morning,” Mark says, and Eduardo laughs.

“We should get to sleep,” he tells Mark, and nudges him when Mark scoffs. “But there’s always the morning.”

“Ugh, now I think I know where my slutty side comes from,” Mark says, and Eduardo watches his hands twitch, amused. “Okay, fine. Tomorrow morning.”

Eduardo stands up from the couch and starts towards Mark’s dorm–blissfully empty, except for the two of them. “And as long as we’re dating,” he says, and hauls Mark down into his bed, snuggling him as Mark lets out half-hearted protests, glad that everything he loves about Mark is rolled back into one.