[OPEN]

[shorttempered]

Characters: Mark Grayson/Invincible and OPEN
Date: Backdated to shortly after Eve left
Location: All over
Situation: Eve has gone home, and Mark isn’t taking that too well.
Warnings/Rating: None (may be subject to change)

A.
[Eve was gone. It was the only thought that occupied his mind, no matter how desperately he tried to change it to something anything otherwise. Thanks to Bruce he had finally gone outside for the first time since being evicted from his… Eve’s apartment. And now that he was out, he just simply no longer felt like there was a good reason to go back. Mark took up to wandering aimlessly, as if he could find some new purpose by stumbling onto it. He barely notices that there is anyone around him as he stops every so often at a place that reminds him of Eve and screws his eyes shut as he tries to push the memory from his mind, before ultimately giving up and letting the tears flow.]

B.
[Eventually Mark does make his way back home… but only long enough to grab his costume and he was gone again, this time taking to the air as Invincible. He had slipped back into the anger… angry she was gone, of course, but angrier at himself. He and Eve—most of the people here, really—all wanted to go home. How could he have been so selfish to want to keep her here, when she was needed at home? When she was where he always wanted her to go back to after all?

Mark pushes himself faster, barely registering the wind against his costume, making a beeline for the barrier. Not on purpose, but at the speed he was going it was only a matter of time before he rammed right into it… or more specifically rammed into it then plummeted into the water.

And he didn’t care.]

Comments

[asoothingvoice]

It's nice to meet you, Mark. [She hands the bag over to him.]

I am. Jaime's my son.

How do you know him?

[shorttempered]

[Accepts it and waits for her to pick a direction, sparing a guilty glance at the poor building be cracked.]

I've... [Crap.] uh... seen him on the network before.

Small world!

[asoothingvoice]

[Between that and the glance back at the buiding, she's certainly convinced he's hiding some sort of superhero related thing. You're about as bad at this as her own son is, Mark.

She sets off in the direction of her suite.]

It is. There aren't very many of us here. I'm trying my best to at least recognize everyone. [She gives a friendly smile to him as she says that.]

[shorttempered]

[He can't help it! He's not used to hiding his powers like this. When you're used to travelling the world, living on a turtle the size of Vancouver is stifling.]

It's harder than it looks. I've been here... 7 months now?--Something like that--And I still barely know everyone here.

[asoothingvoice]

[Self control is an important character trait for everyone, including superheroes, Mark.]

I'm not expecting it to be easy. Sometimes things take effort, but they're usually worth it.

Seven months is a long time to be here. [She hasn't even been here for a month, and that already feels too long.]

[shorttempered]

[He knows that, it's just the putting that into practice he has issues with.]

It wasn't so bad...

You full of those mom-isms? [He doesn't seem annoyed by this; quite the opposite. It's making him miss his own mom.]

[asoothingvoice]

[That building's suffering because of you. Its self confidence in its looks will never be the same.]

Only sometimes. [Lightly teasingly.] You aren't allowed to let Jaime know, he thinks I have them ready all the time.

[They're also actually alternated with occasional moments of sarcasm. The real source is actually years of practice on two children.]

[shorttempered]

[Well that's something else he can add to his guilty conscience.

He laughs.] My mom's going to be so mad you're spilling the secrets to mom code.

[asoothingvoice]

[That's better, and just in time, too; they've reached the door of the Reyes suite, which she unlocks and opens.]

I'm sure she'd understand.

Why don't you come inside? [Instead of just giving her the groceries back and leaving.]

[shorttempered]

I'm sure if I say no, I'm going to get mom guilt, aren't I?

So yes.

[asoothingvoice]

You learn fast.

[Once he's inside, she steps in behind him and closes the door.]

You can set it all on the table, nothing needs to be refrigerated.

[shorttempered]

You've never met my mom.

[Puts it down as instructed.] So, um... thanks for making sure I didn't fall apart back there.

[asoothingvoice]

I'm sure she'd be happy to know she taught you well. And you're welcome.

I couldn't just leave you there, even if I don't know what's wrong. [Even if Mark hadn't cracked that building's wall, she wouldn't have.]

[shorttempered]

I hope she knows.

[Considering how far out of her way this woman has gone for him, she deinitely has the right to know.] ...I just lost my girlfriend.

[asoothingvoice]

She was here too?

[No wonder he was so upset. She moves over to one of the couches.]

Come, sit down. What's she like?

[Better the couch or a pillow than one of the walls.]

[shorttempered]

[Nods.] For a little bit, anyway.

[Mark sits down and stares at his hands. This is certainly deja vu...] She's amazing. She's smart, she's funny, she can do anything... and she's gorgeous.

And it wasn't until she left did I finally realize... I think she's the one.

[asoothingvoice]

[Just take it as a good sign.]

Put that way, it sounds like she is. There's nothing wrong with realizing it because she's not here. Just like there's nothing wrong with missing her now that she's gone.

My husband was in the army when we were dating. It didn't seem too serious at the time, we were just enjoying ourselves. Then he was deployed, and I realized when he was gone that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

[Considering the war was against aliens who were planning on wiping out every human being on earth, it didn't look like it was going to be a very long life if they didn't win.]

He must have felt the same way, because he proposed when he got back.

[There's a definite smile on her face by the time she gets to that part.]

[shorttempered]

[He can't help but smile a bit at the story as well.] How long have you been together?

[asoothingvoice]

It's been [Handwaved number of years here because comics].

I'm sure the two of you will be together again sooner or later, and you'll be able to tell her that yourself.

[shorttempered]

[Whistles at that. That's a long time.

His smile fades when she mentions that they'll be together again.]

Yeah, but I doubt I'll remember that I realized she's the one when I get home... or that I really wanted to be a dad.

[asoothingvoice]

[Oh, there goes his mood again.]

Even if you don't remember that you realized it, it doesn't change the fact that she is, or that you want to be a parent. Some things don't change just because you forget.

[Moving to another topic will probably help him somewhat, and she should probably bring it up to him anyways.]

I also saw what you did to that building, by the way. I didn't want to bring it up when we were walking because you deserve your privacy.

[shorttempered]

[Yeah, he does that...]

Yeah, but-- [And whatever he was going to say gets lost when she brings up how he cracked that building before.

Crap, he thought she saw that.]

That was an accident.

[asoothingvoice]

[Yep, she totally saw it.]

I guessed that it was, considering how upset you looked.

[shorttempered]

I was reminded of something...

But, uh, yeah. Back home... I'm a superhero named Invincible.

[asoothingvoice]

Only at home? Not here? [It's a said lightly, as a joke, to try and cheer him up a bit.]

I'm sure you do a great job.