The roar of the crowd is deafening. This has to be one of your best performances since you two went on tour. Grinning widely, Marvin takes your hand before swooping with you into a bow for the audience. Thankfully you were able to keep time with him as he sat back up to wave at the audience.

You keep hold of his hand almost all the way back to your shared motel room.

I never said it was a renowned tour, you two are still developing your act and all. It takes time and practice to become like Houdini. Nonetheless, you're happy to be finally making it back to your room.

"Did you see the look on their faces during the rabbit bit??" Marvin asks, grinning with pride as he kicks his 'fancy magic man' shoes off.

"Pff, yeah. Only because your second hat was stuck in the catwalk, and not on the stage table where it should have been." You squeeze past him through the door way.

"Hey, I was still able to connect the teleporty-vortex spell between them. It was just a bonus that it fell from the rafters."

"Right, with half your arm frantically waving out of it." You plop down on his bed "how's it feeling by the way?"

"Still hurts like a mother. I'm gonna have a huge bruise tomorrow for sure," he tries to laugh it off while flopping down next to you with enough force to give you both a hefty bounce.

"C'mon, lemme see it..." you hold out your hands expectantly.

Of course Marvin feigns reluctance "fiiine, if I must," he sits up well enough to let you hold and inspect his arm.

You pull it closer, trying to get a good look from multiple angles "And you're certain that you didn't break your arm?"

"Aaaaw, are you wowwied?" He asks in a baby tone "I promise, it's nothing." Most likely. It would suck to cut the tour short for such a small thing. You release his arm, having to accept his answer. As Marvin reached up to undo his mask, you stretch across the slightly large twin bed to the night stand beside it and snatch the TV remote. You notice the time on the beat up digital clock as you pull back with your prize. Almost 11, and you and Marvin have to prep tomorrow for the next show.

You try to click on the TV only to find that it doesn't work. Not even when your lazy self tries the normal buttons on the side.

"Aaaaaurgh" your arms slump and head lolls back in frustration before you set the remote by the TV "Maaaarv, do you have a spell to make the TV work?"

"Pff, 'fraid not. Magic can't solve all your problems." Marvin's since begun to dig through his things, trying to find a pair of pajamas.

"Laaame,"

"You didn't say that when I helped fix your wrist,"

"What ever," you roll your eyes with a grin "any way, I'm gonna grab some jam-jams and get ready for bed," you snatch a t-shirt and comfy jammie bottoms from your bag and head for the bathroom.

It's a small room, standing shower, toilet, and sink, but it works just fine. You set your face cleanser in close reach before splashing your face with warm water and scrubbing at the stage makeup from earlier. You can't help but laugh when you see your half cleaned face in the mirror, all smudged lipstick and mascara. What a nightmare.

You rinse and dry your face, ready to give your teeth a good scrub and-

Piss

You forgot your toothbrush in your bag..

You turn to your left to the near by door and give the knob a twist and shove. You've only made it two paces out when you turn and lock eyes with Marvin.

You stare at him.

He stares at you.

You realize he's half out of his pants, cat boxers on display and everything.

"Uuuh," Marvin starts in sheer confusion.

You turn tail and stride back into the bathroom.

Marvin watches you close the door with a firm click. Bummer that the TV's not working. He grabs the remote and fiddles with it. No good. Maybe somethings not plugged in? Nah, not it... He gives it a rest when he hears the faucet in the bathroom turn on. He doesn't feel like waiting his turn to use the bathroom, instead he digs through his splayed open bag. Looks like something blew up inside... well, that's show biz sometimes. Can't take forever looking through your things all slow and careful. Deadlines are a thing. Marvin decides on a cozy sweatshirt and some gameboy patterned pj pants. Comfort and nostalgia, all rolled up in one. He wriggles his way out of his costume get up, excited for warm, cozy, 100% not itchy pajamas. He hops a bit, trying to keep his balance when he shimmies one leg from his pants when he hears the door open. Of course he's gonna look, who wouldn't?

He looks at them.

They look at him.

"Uuuuh," he starts but can't say anything more as he watches them rush back into the bathroom.

Well...that happened. Marvin tries to shrug it off, like nothing happened. But the way their cheeks turned red was priceless- precious even.

"Did you forget something?" He calls.

"Yeah... tooth brush,"

"Ah," Marvin says more to himself than to anyone in particular.

With the TV bust, he switches on the radio to find a good channel to fill the silence. He smiles to himself. Yes, this will do. Marvin tugs his shirt up and over quickly swapping for the new sweatshirt with content. It only takes moments for him to find your tooth brush. The juxtaposition between his packing style and yours is too funny to ignore. He grins before making his way to the little shelter you've forced the bathroom to become. He gives a gentle knock.

You almost slam the door behind you closed. That happened. Of course it did. It was bound to! With all the traveling and what not, it was never a question of if, but when you would turn or look at the wrong time. Could be worse, it could have been you standing there almost naked. But you stared, oh you stared. Why does he have to be so preetyyy??? You smoosh your face in your hands, trying to gain some self control and will power to not feel the cringe creeping up your back.

"Did you forget something?" You hear Marvin call to you.

You stop your face smooshing and sigh "yeah...tooth brush," after a brief pause you hear a soft knock at the door. Your hands feel like lead as you grasp the knob and twist it. Marvin holds out your toothbrush and tooth paste to you "thanks," you grumble, taking it from him. Gosh your stomach feels like lead. You can't even look him in the eye.

"No problem!"

You turn from him and head back for the sink, door still open, and start scrubbin' your teeth.

"Mind if I share the mirror? I ate somethin weird before the show and it's been bothering me since.." Marv steps in, testing the proverbial water.

"Oh, uh, sure. Lemme just-" you move over a bit before going back to brushing.

"Thanks," he pops some toothpaste and water on the bristles before setting to work. You can't help but grin at his slightly extended canines and rinse before asking.

"Why are your teeth like that?" You laugh a bit.

Marvin looks at you out of the corner of his eye. "Believe it or not, I was born that way, baby!"

"Pfff" you smack his arm lightly before tidying up your things and stepping out. He has a way of making that old lead ball feel lighter. He's gotta be using some kind of spell. You'll figure it out eventually.

In the time it's taken you to put your stuff away and tidy a bit, the radio's started to play a sweet song, something familiar that fills you with comfort. It takes you back to a simpler time. Marvin's stepped out, flopped on his bed, and is finishing up his bed time routine. Gently cleaning his ears, brushing his hair, making sure his nails are clean. Despite making a mess, he takes his personal grooming very seriously. While picking something out of his nail he pipes up "remember when we heard this song at school?"

You grin, remembering all the dumb stuff attached to the memory "oh my gosh, yeah. We worked on it in dance class,"

"You used to work on that routine for hours," he stresses the last word as though to remind you that it was all you ate, slept, and breathed.

"But we almost took first in the competition!"

"Almost," he snickers, a little extra mirth fueled by successfully getting whatever was bugging him out from under his nail.

"Wow. Rude."

"How much of it do you even remember anyway?" He looks up to you.

"Oh man, I couldn't even tell ya..." you try to brush off. It's been years, there's no way-

"Oh come on! It's gotta be in your muscle memory somewhere! Here," he leaps up and grabs your hands "you had a partner, right?"

You grasp his hands, trying to recover from the initial shock "I- uh, yeah. Bill Johnson I think,"

"Yeah, yeah, but you practiced with me more than him." Marvin mentions with a wink. How could you have forgot? You'd practically begged him to help you at lunch. Left feet and all. You roll your eyes.

"Okay, okay. Let's give it a shot," you concede. The moment you agree he immediately turns around, pulling you along with him. You take two steps forward, one back, a gentle push apart, and pull back in. He gives you a twirl before catching your hand in his again. A step to the left and-

Slowly, you refind your sense of rhythm, finding a way to match him as he tried to keep time to the music. You can't help but notice the look of sheer determination on his face as you flowed together in the small space. You laugh when you feel your feet leave the floor in a brief, very small lift. He's trying so hard, bless him, you could kiss him if it wouldn't result in you being dropped.

Your feet begin to fumble, and you miss which way to turn. You're loosing it. Dang it... still, after so many years, you've remembered this much.

Nonetheless, Marvin tries to carry, to lead, how much of this does he actually remember?

"Shoot, I think I've lost it..." You notice pipe up and watch his string of focus break.

"Oh! You sure? I can still lead and-"

You lace your arms around his neck and clasp your hands "come on, Marv, I gotta stop," you try to convince him. You can't help but feel his heart beat through your arms. It's sped up from dancing, but holds in a steady rhythm

"Okay, okay, thanks for humoring me" he sighs in defeat. He reaches up to tug your arms down, only to find them firm in place. You can feel that pulse change against your skin. You slide your arms down before pulling him into a hug where that heart beat you only felt now thumps against your ear. It reminds you of a simpler time, when the world was small and not so scary. When you felt safe, and cared about. It didn't matter where, just that it was with him. You couldn't help but fall so hard for the magician, after all, his heart is your home...