G/T YouTubers (One Shots and More)

Dark Nights (Mark and Jack) Part 2

"It suits you." He put his hand on his chest. "Mark."

"Nice to meet you, Mark," Jack said quietly. Mark smiled and touched Jack's head, mussing his hair.

"So why did you run in here covered in mud and smoke?" Jack took a deep breath and sat down.

"Well, I'm not sure if I can explain..." he stopped and looked up at Mark. The giant was watching him with wide round eyes. Clearly, he was captivated by the small farmer boy. Jack sighed and gave in. He told Mark about the farm he and his Ma lived on, and how simple but peaceful it was. He explained how his mom had left him in charge, but then the storm had lit the barn roof on fire.

Mark frowned sadly and rubbed Jack's back. "I'm sorry." Jack's eyes widened.

"For what?" He asked. "You saved my sorry ass! If it hadn't been for you, I would have either drowned in that lake, or-or I would have frozen to death, or even died of hunger!"

"I scared you," the giant mumbled. "Scared, you were scared." Jack ran his hand through his hair, pushing his messy bangs out of his face.

"It's fine, dude. You just startled me, that's all," he said.

"No, no." Mark shook his head and insisted, "You got scared and fell in the lake."

"Oh! That was you then, moving all the coins?" Mark nodded, but he looked like a guilty puppy.

"Yes," he muttered and wringed his hands together. "You almost died. I could have killed you. I almost did..." Jack frowned. For a giant, Mark seemed so shy and scared of hurting anybody...

"It's-It's ok, Mark." He leaned and touched the giant's hand. "It was just an accident. I'm fine now, thanks to you." He smiled at the giant, but Mark didn't look comforted.

"I thought you were one of the bad men," he muttered. He shivered, unbalancing Jack.

"What? What are you talking about?" Jack got up and wrapped his arms around Mark's thumb. Mark didn't answer, but his muttering did.

"They come and kill, they steal, they pillage and plunger. My dad said they were bad. He said they were evil..." He shook his head. "They were cursed, greedy. He said that, he said so, and then they killed him...!" Jack's jaw dropped.

"Mark, I... I'm so sorry." He hugged the giant's hand. Warm water splashed on Jack's head, and Jack looked up to see that the giant was crying. "It's ok," Jack murmured. He put his cheek on one of his knuckles. "It's ok, big guy, just let it out..." Mark turned his head and sniffed.

"I'm-I'm sorry." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "You-you're different. You're not like them. They would have stolen my dad's treasures and killed me." Jack winced. He thought about the emerald he had almost taken, and he felt horrible.

"It is beautiful," Jack murmured. "They were probably just jealous." Mark sniffed.

"Not anymore." Mark grinned. "When they came for me, I killed them." Jack felt a shiver go down his spine. He watched as Mark frowned sadly. "I-I didn't mean to, though..." he whispered. "They tried to kill me. They wanted to catch me. They-they wanted to hurt me." He clenched his eyes shut as more tears spilt and soaked Jack.

"... Come here." Jack held his arms out. Mark sniffed and gave him a confused look.

"Wh-what?" Jack bobbed his head and flexed his fingers.

"Come on, gimme a hug." Mark blinked rapidly a few times and sniffed. His hand slid behind Jack, and his fingers curled around him as he gently hugged the Irishman to his stomach. Jack hugged the giant the best he could, feeling Mark shake with another sniffle. "It's ok, I got ya." Jack felt a little awkward. Mark had been the one who had saved his life, and yet he was the one being comforted. Mark was the one who needed help, not Jack. "How long have you been on your own?" Jack murmured.

"I... I can't remember." Jack looked at the giant's abdomen. His abs felt hard as rock under the tight black shirt, but he also felt skinny despite his muscular physique. Jack frowned.

"Um." Jack cleared his throat and looked up at Mark. "Do you want to go outside with me? I could use some grub?" Mark's eyes lit up.

"I know some good places with rotten trees," he quickly murmured. "They've got lots of good grubs in them." Jack couldn't help but laugh.

"It's a figure of speech!" Mark slanted his head.

"Figure of speech?" He echoed. Jack's smile dropped.

"You don't know what that is?" Mark shook his head. Jack smiled again and pat the giant's hand. "It's ok, I'll teach you. A figure of speech is basically when you say something, but you don't actually mean it. It's not literal. For example," Jack pointed at his head. "My hair is dyed green. If I call it grass, I don't mean it. I'm just kidding that it looks like grass, but it isn't actually grass."

"Floofy," Mark murmured, mussing Jack's hair. Jack grinned.

"Yeah, I'm too lazy to comb through it. It's messy no matter what I do, so I just leave it." Mark hummed, seeming to get the idea. "When I said I could use some grub," Jack continued, "I just meant food. It's a synonym." Mark gave the Irishman a blank look.

"... Synonym?" Jack sighed.

"I'll explain on the way, do you know where we can find some berries?" Mark nodded and picked Jack up.

"How far is your farm?" Mark wondered as he got up and started walking across the gold mounded cave floor.

"I'm not sure," Jack admitted as Mark exit the cave and emerged in the forest."It was pretty dark, and I couldn't see much. I was just running for my life." Mark gave Jack a small squeeze.

"I won't let anything happen to you," the giant promised solemnly. Jack smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks." He tried not to look down. The giant was even taller than he initially thought. Up here, he could see the tops of the trees; far down below, the ground lurked under the trees and bushes. Jack blanched and gripped Mark's finger. Mark looked down at him.

"Something wrong?" He murmured. He looked really worried.

"I'm ok." Jack didn't want the giant to worry. Mark frowned and tasted the air.

"I smell smoke." Jack looked at the horizon.

"Jesus! It's still on fire." The trees at the edge of the woods were burnt to a crisp, but there were still small flames dancing in the branches. Jack shuddered and leaned against Mark, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gone into the forest. Mark said nothing, watching the burning remnants of the hungry fire. He held Jack close to his chest, and he vowed to protect his new friend with all his might.