ONE:

Dude, what a start! ANDREW. FUCKING ANDREW. *starts to seethe* I love that you've begun it here, in this intensely exposed period of Roman's life, where he really fucking desperately could have used someone to really talk to about these choices. I hate Andrew. I MAY HAVE MENTIONED THIS HERE OR THERE. OCCASIONALLY. I DON'T KNOW. I hate his sneering, superior, lecherous air, his whole "come be my boytoy" spiel; most of all I hate how he never really bothered to try and understand Roman, how he dismissed him as flighty, and worst of all, how he put him down about his skating. And I'm in awe at how canon this is, all those little alarm bells that definitely would have gone off in anyone's head when he heard about just how this guy was treating Roman. Except of course NOBODY ASKED OR LISTENED and I love you so much for bringing Marc in here.

The progression of that conversation! <3333333333333 The way they both cautiously feel their way towards each other, Roman seeking Marc's advice, Marc going through the conflicting emotions of being put in that position… god, when he thought it was a woman, my heart cracked for him, and then it cracked even harder when Roman said it was a guy!

I love the way you've sketched the confusing and obviously still-relevant pattern of Marc's feelings for Roman here, despite the gap of five years… the respectful (yes, yes), affectionate way he thinks about him leaving his family, making his own way, his admiration of Roman on the ice and the flash of fierce pride in Roman's determination to win. There's so much love obviously still there, and it shows so clearly what Show hardly ever tapped into: the fact that these two people never really stopped loving each other, that their break-up had nothing to do with lack of feeling. And the gradual emergence of how the timing might be better now, despite the presence of FUCKING ANDREW, is just beautiful – god, I was gnawing on my fingers when time passed and Marc became convinced Roman had moved to London after all!

AND THEN HE CALLS! *bounce bounce bounce* And it's beautiful and hopeful and perfect, and oh, that last paragraph:

There are few things that Marc loves more than new starts, when that flurry of intangible ideas clouding his imagination manifests itself, solid and concrete. But what’s even better, and so much more rare, is getting a new start at a second chance.

Just…. *FLAILS* So perfect! The reconnection with the beginning, with kind of thinking of life itself as a big show, chaotic and unreliable and not able to survive on magic alone, but needing the magic to keep it going – I teared up, Mystery Author, and I didn't want to leave this future. I want to see them meet up again. I want to see where it goes. I am seriously in a puddle of goo over this sparkly new chance.

Oh oh oh, and before I forget:

The man he remembers would be hard pressed to let someone else select his curtains, much less choose an entire apartment.

OMG, SNAP. What a gorgeous bit of foreshadowing for the whole 30th birthday/flat present debacle!! And it's one of those magical things that instantly falls into place… until I read this fic, I hadn't even remembered that Roman had fucking PRECEDENT of someone having picked a flat for him without involving him in the decision! It adds such a lovely bit of extra sense and motivation to the ep920 era. LOVE!