tushanshu | nine : you feel hollow so you crawl home

[He was planning on armpitting her, but judging by her body language, she had other plans. Fine, he could bridal carry her too. No big.]

Not really. My mom, mainly. And William sometimes, before things got crazy. He's my best friend.

I'm going to go a little quick, but I swear to god I've got you, all right?

[He scoops her up and takes off, going a little faster than he usually would with a passenger, mainly because he wasn't in costume. But despite the speed, he was actually being quite careful; not going as fast as he normally would have. So long as Hayley was in his arms, she couldn't feel the wind beating up against them, as though there was a small invisible bubble (there wasn't, of course, it was merely a marvel of Viltrumite physiology).

He landed inside his bedroom, the usual window open, and carefully helps Hayley to her feet.] I hope that wasn't too bad.

Your mo- [She begins, but he picks her up and then things grow oddly still.

Her arm, which wraps around his shoulder, tenses and instinctively pulls herself closer to him. It seems only a split second later that he's helping her to stand and it takes a moment for her to regain her bearings and realize she can let go. Then she takes a step back, as if to emphasize that the contact isn't personal.]

What? Oh. No, it was cool. [After a beat, she offers him the scrapbook again.]

Thanks.

[He takes it from her.]

So... Oliver. [Opens the album and pulls out the earliest picture of his brother.] This was taken about a year ago. [He pauses.] Well, I guess it's closer to two now, but... a year before I left.

[Flips to the back of the book and pulls out a picture of him and Oliver their respective costumes. Mark isn't wearing his blue and yellow costume, but rather a blue and black one, but the design is pretty much the same. Oliver looks to be in his late teens in his Young Omni-Man costume, and his skin has gone from purple to something more red.] This was taken right before I left.

Edited 2014-02-03 22:51 (UTC)

[Hayley leans forward to look more closely at the images. She doesn't reach to touch them at all, a tacit acceptance of however much - or little - he's willing to show and explain.

The whole wonky aging thing isn't entirely unfamiliar to her thanks to Bart, but that doesn't really make it any more reasonable. Hearing about it and actually, truly believing it are two very different things. Besides, that whole purple and red skin thing is definitely new.]

Huh. Are you.. I mean, did you have purple skin? Or was this.. [She's trying to articulate more innocent questions, trying not to steamroll him with the scores of answers she wants from him. She frowns a little with the effort, waiting a beat before she adds:] I like your costume.

I actually just got rid of that costume right before I got here... Art, my tailor, wanted me to try something new... To be honest it got to the point where I was convinced the damn thing was cursed. Nothing good happened to me when I wore that costume.

[Yeah, he was definitely happier to have the yellow back. He looks back down at the picture of him and Oliver, and shakes his head.] No, he gets that from his mom. Oliver and I are half-siblings, actually. Different moms. [He flips to a picture of Debbie Grayson, his mother.] This is my mom, Debbie. She raised Oliver too, but he isn't related to her by blood. See, our dad, Nolan [He pauses to fish for a picture.] he's from an alien race called Viltrumites, and they look a lot like humans. Oliver's mom, Thalassa, she was from an alien race called Thraxans. They looked like tall, blue praying mantises. [He pauses again to look at her.] I swear to god I'm not making this up.

[Hayley's just.. staring at him. She makes no effort to hide the mixture of shock and skepticism on her features. Mark's tales are a complete mystery to her and Hayley has never done all that well with surprises.] You have a tailor.

[Looking at the photos in turn, she again has to make the conscious effort to rein in her questions.] So you're an alien, on your dad's side. And your mom is human, but Oliver's mom was a praying mantis and somehow Oliver ended up with your family, so your mom raised him because I guess that's what you do when you have a son with purple skin?

I believe you. [She says quickly, then, more distractedly adds:] No one would be dumb enough to make something like this up.

Not just me. I'm pretty sure most of the heroes I know go to him. Art Rosenbaum's the best in the business. He also does totally normal stuff too. You should see his prom dresses.

...You didn't actually think I could sew, did you? [Because god only knows what his costumes would look like if it were actually up to him.]

Pretty much. The average Thraxan life span was about 9 months. Andressa, his mom, asked me to take Oliver back with me because in the few months I'd known her, she'd already gotten old and she didn't want her son to watch entire empires rise and fall by the time he hit puberty. When I brought him to my mom, she... well she wasn't thrilled, so say the least, but she couldn't blame my dad's mistakes on Oliver, and... well... she took him in.

[It somehow surprises her less than the tailor has a normal job in addition to making superhero costumes, which makes no sense at all, than it does that so many people trust the same guy.] What if he was like, caught and tortured? Isn't that bad if he knows a ton of peoples' real names?

[She smiles a little and shakes her head in response to his sewing question. It's just not something that ever occurred to her, to ask where the suits come from or how they're made or repaired. It makes sense, if she thinks about it, which only makes her want to think about it less. She'll be adding that to the 'too weird' pile with the rapid aging thing and all the demigod parentage she's learned about here.]

So he ages.. faster than humans but slower than.. praying mantises? [She waits a beat, debating pursuing the question but hoping it's not a misstep.] Was your dad there? Helping out, I mean?

Art's a pretty closely guarded secret. His superhero business is under his regular business, and quite frankly even I don't know everyone he does work for. Besides, who's to say he knows everyone's real names? He only knows mine because he was a good friend of my dad's.

[Good, because he's awful at it.]

Yeah. We'd guessed his Viltrumite side would slow his aging, but we weren't exactly sure to what extent. We, uh... we apparently live a long time. Like really long. [He stiffens at the mention of his dad.] No. He... [How to phrase this...] He couldn't. See, when we were on Thraxa, it was attacked and my dad was captured. [Well that wasn't a lie. It just... wasn't the whole truth, either.]

So I'm guessing his customers are all referred to him through friends? [That makes sense, she supposes. People wanting more than one costume - or a new one or something - talking to the guy without ever taking off the mask. It's still really weird to her, thinking about the practicalities of being a super powered superhero.]

Wait- how old are you? [Because maybe he's actually one hundred years old and she's just totally oblivious to it. Mark's already told her his age, but that was before she learned he's a superhero and alien.]

[Hayley notices the way Mark tenses at the mention of his dad, knowing all too well how touchy of a subject family can be. For once, because it's him, she drops the subject instead of pursuing it further.] I'm sorry about your dad. Your mom sounds great though.

Edited (end dialogue) 2014-02-20 21:31 (UTC)

Your guess is as good as mine, but that sounds about right. The Guardians took my dad to Art, and my dad took me, so... yeah.

I swear I'm only 20. [He motions back to the album, realizing Hayley might actually require some proof on that one.] Look at the pictures--if I was older than that, my mom would be much older. She's completely human, remember?

Thanks. [He smiles, mainly because she's letting it drop.] My mom's amazing.

[She has no idea who the Guardians are, but she knows this is a path she could follow for ages and right now just doesn't seem like the time.]

I believe you, Mark. I just wasn't sure if you had to lie before. [She gives him a small smile. Really, she can't think of any reason he would have to lie about his age.] So you're not one of those crazy super fast growers either?

[He shakes his head.] That's a byproduct of my brother being Thraxan. Humans' DNA is really close to Viltrumites', so while I'll age quicker by their standards, I won't by Earth's.

[Hayley considers his words, then gives him a wide and almost affectionate smile. When she speaks, it's clear she's teasing, a little like the big brother she never had. Only better, because he's not.] Wow. It's no wonder you're so weird.

[Mark returns the smile. This, this is nice. Much better than their last conversation.]

Other than "my dad was an alien superhero" thing, my life was totally normal before I got my powers.

When did you get your powers? [Hayley thinks about it for a moment, then chuckles a little.] Don't tell me you seriously did the whole public school thing and prom and all those teenage dreams?

Right before my 17th birthday. [He snorts.] Of course I did. Reginald VelJohnson High in Maryland. Do you know how I found out I even had powers? The trash I was throwing out during my shift at the Burger Mart the flew into the stratosphere. [...Or something.]

Wait. [Hayley lifts her hands as if to encourage him to stop and stay there, despite his not actually moving. Her mouth drops open in genuine surprise before curving up into another smile.] You seriously worked at a burger place. And went to Reginald VanGelson or whatever.

[Best. imagery. ever.]

[But then she drops her hands, grin on her face, and thinks about all the possibilities. For once, she seems less like the calculating villain and more like a normal teenage girl. It's easier to forget everything else for a minute or two.]

Did you have to keep the job as like, a cover? Did you go to prom? Did you have to tell your girlfriend? Wait, what powers do you even have anyway? I think I asked you before but all I remember is the super speed and super strength and I think you maybe said something about flying? But honestly I kind of get you guys confused sometimes. [Superheroes.]

VelJohnson. But yeah, why wouldn't I?

[His old burger uniform looked more like a prison jumpsuit than a company uniform.]

No, I kept the job because I didn't have powers and my dad wanted me to learn about responsibility. Yes, I went to prom. No, I didn't tell Amber until we were in college after she convinced herself I was a drug dealer. As for my powers, I've got super strength, super speed, super stamina, flight, near invulnerability, and accelerated healing. [He pauses. Was that it? Yeah, that was it.]

[Hayley stares at him with exaggerated skepticism.] Because you're an alien superhero? Not many of those wandering the halls at my school.

[Mostly because superheroes don't exist in her world, but details details. Back to question time.]

No, but I mean, after you got your powers. And wait, I thought you said- [She begins, but glances away as she abruptly cuts off, remembering that his father is a topic to avoid. Without missing more than a beat, she picks up again.] What was the theme of your prom? Did you have more than one girlfriend to tell? What about your best friend? Really I'm asking like, how many people would you say you told who weren't superheroes themselves?

[Then Hayley's thinking about the ridiculous list of powers. If this was a book, she'd consider him too powerful for a single character without the appropriate weakness like blindness or something. But life isn't always like media, is it.]

Wait, what's super stamina? Is that like... [She cuts off and her lips curl into a nefarious little smirk with the innuendo. It's enough to make a girl blush if the girl hasn't already been fake castrating older men.] Neeeeever miiiind. Don't want to know.

Yeah, a half-alien superhero who wasn't actually a superhero until his senior year of high school.

[Yeaaah the dad thing happened shortly after he got his powers.] 90s sitcoms. I have no idea why, I wasn't on the planning committee. Just Amber... My second girlfriend, Eve, is also a superhero. We both happened to go to the same high school, but didn't realize it until after meeting in costume. So... yeah, no need to tell her. William... well William figured it out the second he saw Invincible in person. My mom knows, and Art, and that's pretty much it in the friends and family circle. And non superheroes who know... uh... There's Amber, Mom, Mom's ex-boyfriend Dan, the book lady my mom told... Superpatriot's wife, William, his boyfriend, and Art. I think that's it. [Well, and Cecil, but he's a superhero as far as Mark's concerned.]

Ew. It means I can like hold my breath for hours and punch things without getting tired.

Did you become a superhero right away? How does that even work? I mean, do you just like, choose a codename and get your costume made and go at it or is there like, an Academy or something? Oh- Does the press choose your name for you, like with serial killers?

[It's exciting, okay. Hayley doesn't really get to ask many of the practical questions of superheroes very often. It feels like one of those obvious things they all take for granted.]

Who's Superpatriot? And who are the guardians that you mentioned before? What do they guard?

[Then another smirk, somewhat intentionally trying to rile or test him.] Why ew? You're 20. Just because I don't want to hear about your sex life doesn't mean you shouldn't have one.

Pretty much. That I went at it right away, I mean. Well... I waited like two weeks, then I stopped a diamond heist wearing this stupid homemade getup. Frankly I looked like I could have been the one stealing the diamonds, I looked so dumb. That's when dad saw me and brought me to Art. He gave me some tips on what to do and all, but it was pretty much being thrown into the deep end and learning how to swim. As for my name... I came up with it myself, but the media can totally stick you with one if you don't have one. The blue costume I told you about? Wore it once and they decided I was someone entirely different and dubbed me "Invinciboy."

Superpatriot's a hero out in Chicago, and the Guardians of the Globe are a team of superheroes. The team of superheroes where I'm from. They, uh, guard the globe.

Oh, and no academy's or anything. We just sort of learn as we go along.

Yes, I'm 20, but you're 14. [And just talking about his sex life could get him arrested or something.]

Huh. [She's both impressed by his just going at it - though being nearly invulnerable probably helps - and by his willingness to actually answer her. Even if he's not exactly tight-lipped, it's clear Mark hasn't told too many people about himself and she appreciates that. Maybe even respects it for what it is, given her recent affinity for actually making allies here.]

So did you correct the press or was it like, heroes called you one thing and the press called you something else, or how does that work?

[It's weird to her. Every superhero seems to come from a world with lots of superheroes, never just one or a few. She can't even imagine what it's like.]

[To the latter, she shrugs.] 15. I had another birthday here. And you really think that I don't know everything there is to know?

[Mark's the kind of guy who tries to keep his cards to his chest, but once he comes to trust someone, he trusts them completely.] I think someone yelled out "Invincible!" during a fight and they finally figured it out. I can't remember.

[He shakes his head. Sorry Hayley, that's not going to fly.] My point still stands. Besides, it'd be like talking about my sex life to my little brother. It's creepy. [Even if, sadly, Oliver knows more about his sex life than he'd like to admit. ~~The pitfalls of still living with your mother.~~]

Edited 2014-03-02 23:50 (UTC)

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