Thank you!! I think of him as a mature version of Mark who sadly took too much after his father, less attached to his mother and more.. independent, hope you like this !! Kinda long not rlly and not exactly proof read hhhh
Maybe cw, a little manipulative.
Before Mark's powers kicked in, you were a distant dream girl. He never talked to you, you always kept to yourself and no matter how quickly he ran to your desk after class, you'd be gone. He was certain you didn't know he existed in school.
The only time you ever 'talked' to him was during a test. Of all the things he forgot, he didn't bring a blue pen with him. Fumbling with his bag and pockets, he saw a pen peek into his peripheral vision. Looking up, he saw you, a small smile on your face as you offered the pen.
It was a wordless exchange, but it meant the world to him. He kept a close eye on you since then, glancing at you in hallways, passive looks in the little classes you shared, he'd always watch you, never talk to you.
He hated the human side of himself, weak, dependant, like a comical teenage boy. He felt on top of the world when the Viltrumite in him finally kicked in, granted he had an easier time pushing aside personal affairs while listening to his father's guidance. It wasn't long before he graduated school and had to take up the Omni-man mantle after his father's disappearance.
He berated his human side for being too much of a coward to talk to you.
He was so young, but everyone knew he was the only fitting candidate for the mantle. The only Viltrumite. Although he humoured his mother's demand for college, Mark never made many connections outside of his home. He left, killed a bad guy or two, made it in time for college classes, and went home to study or unwind. During the time between high school and college, he took up exercising, starting at a local gym before moving a few pieces of equipment to his room.
Life was stable. That's the best word that he could use to describe it. Wake up, fight, class, train, sleep. Earth needed him, and he didn't need much else.
Not until he saw you again.
At first, it was in a college class where he spotted you sitting in the centre, front enough to focus, back enough to blend in with everyone else. Though after the first week, you were gone. He assumed you dropped the class; the professor seemed egotistical, and he was forced to stay because of a time conflict in his schedule.
The second time was during an attack by some no-name alien bounty hunter looking for earthling heroes. The criminal had some sort of alien DNA detecting gizmo that traced Mark's Viltrumite genetics to his university. Wrecking havoc left and right, students, professors, and staff sprinting left and right.
You were caught in the crossfire, the bounty hunter zeroed in on you, maybe civilian casualty would lure him out, and what better way than to hurl a car to paint the sidewalk red?
Fear flooded you as a shadow overlapped your form, shielding yourself with your arms as best as you could while running, the car seemed to stop in mid air, your eyes following the trajectory you thought the car grew wings and started flying, but no— it was... Omni-man's descendant.
He looked down at you as he effortlessly held the car over his head with one arm, those goggles fooled a lot of people, but you know that familiar gaze, you felt it on your back too many times during school. "... Mark?"
He's actually happy you recognised him and proud. You were always a smart girl, of course you'd notice the spineless stalker from school. "We have to stop meeting like this." He wasn't one for quips, but he couldn't help himself, flying past you to deal with the intruder on his planet, the car boomeranged back to the villain as you escaped to safety.
Days since then, he wasn't able to find you, but he wasn't worried. You always kept to yourself, you wouldn't expose his identity, he was sure of it. Although he'd be lying if he said that pesky teenager didn't come clawing his way back out of the depths of Mark's soul at the sight of you again, did you think he looked cool? Were you surprised? Do you remember when you lended him your pen?
He must've been thinking of you too much, apparently, spotting you waiting for someone outside the class you dropped, and that someone may have been him when your eyes lit up at the sight of him.
"Hey, Mark! Can we talk?"
That human side of him started squirming like an annoying bug.
"I wouldn't have known," You mused, propping up your cheek on with your hand. "The cute but timid Mark Grayson, a superhero?"
A chuckle escaped him, that loser version of him from school again. "My powers didn't kick in until later, so... The timid Mark Grayson was genuine, sadly." He admitted, it didn't sting as bad to say so when you looked at him with so much interest.
"'Sadly'? No! Mark, both are lovely." You smiled, lowering your hand. "I liked how geeky and sweet you were! And you look so much more... grown-up now!" You tried to find the correct words, the extra muscle definitely demanded attention. "don't worry, I've got no one to tell."
"I know." He answered too quickly. You raised an eyebrow.
"... I mean that you're not that kind of person." Regret would swallow him up later for being vulnerable. "I always knew you as a kind girl, you even gave me your pen when I never asked."
Your face was warming up, oh, he was doing good.
"I think I had a crush on you, now that I'm looking back on it." You were getting flustered as he smiled so sweetly at you. Maybe he should've been honest from the beginning.
"I'm flattered.. I never had the chance to talk to you, now I'm regretting it..!" You barely strung the words together, fiddling with your hands on the table, you paused when his hand covered your own; it felt calloused.
"We can start catching up, if you'd like?" Be suave, don't be a sweaty teenager. He's a grown man now. "Dinner? Sometime this weekend, if you're free?"
Your smile told him everything he needed.
It's like life couldn't get any better. On weekdays, he was a hero and student, and on weekends, he was taking you around the world for any over-the-top romantic date. His father travelled the world with his mom, and it's appropriate that he'd follow in his footsteps.
He found you first this time, in the same spot at the library. The one near the hallway leading to the obscure cafe and just a few feet away from the computer science books shelves, his hand settled on your shoulder
"Hey you." He smiled, a rare smile as he leaned down to kiss your cheek, he took the seat in front of you as you returned his smile and shut your laptop. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about this week's date."
He already had something planned, perking up. "You're gonna love what I have planned, it's kinda far but that just gives us time to talk during the trip, dinner, dancing- you'll love it."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that.." his expression shifted, you had that nervous smile on your face, one he recognized from when you were trying to accommodate to whoever was in front of you at the cost of your own comfort. "you know we don't have to travel half way across the world to have fun, right...?"
Mark sat up, eyebrows furrowed, he planned to take you to Amsterdam too. "Well, yeah. but isn't it fun? c'mon, you'll like what I have planned."
"Mark, I appreciate it, but can we postpone that? maybe we can do all of that here?" your hand caressed his, but his frown didn't move, you were trying to butter him up. The promise of next time gave him hope, he figured he'll try to indulge you this time. "I appreciate it, really, but I don't want you to feel like we need to travel to have fun or have a moment..."
You looked at him with such a submissive gaze, wordlessly begging him not to be mad at you, to remove that frown. He sighed, his hand turning to hold yours, palm to palm. "Okay. I know a good restaurant, I'm pretty sure I can get a reservation before this weekend." he relented, your hopeful smile returned.
Graduating wasn't a big deal for him, hero work paid him better than any job. the bachelor's degree was just some formality. you, on the other hand, you diligently got a job, got situated, and became a working member of society so quickly. He was proud of you but something felt missing, a naked layer of skin on your ring finger irked him.
"Paris?" your voice reverberated through his phone as he removed his suit. "Yeah, if you're free, don't wanna keep my successful business woman from her job." he smiled to himself as he heard you laugh.
"I can fit you in my schedule, sure." your playful tone riled him up as he changed into his civilian clothes. "Good, dress your best, I'll pick you up at 9 am."
"9 am?" you paused, that's the same time you'd go into work.
"Timezones, sweetheart." he explained, adjusting the collar of his shirt in the mirror. "It'll be well after sunset when we get there, we'll have dinner, go sightseeing, you ever seen the Eiffel tower?"
"Okay, okay! enough gloating, I'll be ready then." you agreed again. "I got a meeting, I'll talk to you later, love you!"
"Love you too." he concluded, the phone grew quiet, he glanced down at it and then set it down on his nightstand. His eyes trailed to the velvet red box, housing a ring too expensive to be a casual gift.
it was a corny, cheesy, sappy proposal at the very top of the Eiffel tower. and yet you looked at him so sweetly, like you were going to explode from sheer love and admiration for him. accepting the ring from him as he slid it carefully onto that same empty slot on your finger he'd been eyeing for months and kissed you with more desire than he's ever kissed you in your love life.
Naturally, it was a private wedding with only close friends and family, and you learned soon after marriage that Mark used the ring as an excuse to keep you under his watchful eye.
You had moved in together, slept in the same bed, and for a while, he let you work. He let you leave the house and sometimes dropped you off himself, but he couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that you should be home, where he can keep an eye on you and keep you safe. the near death experience he witnessed you succumb to back in college was still vivid in his mind.
"No." you vehemently denied as you looked up from your laptop. "Mark, I'm not going to stop working just because I got married."
"You don't need it." Mark replied as he sat on the other end of the couch, in his civilian clothes. "I get paid enough for the two of us, and it'll keep you safe and comfortable, maybe even get you used to it for.." his fingers traced up your leg gently, attempting to put you in a good mood, or a vulnerable one. "When we finally have kids?"
your knees came up to your chest to move away from him, your laptop hugged to your chest. "Where is this coming from? I like working, I like being my own person outside of 'superhero's wife'."
He lowered his hand, he had to be smart with his response, silence filled the atmosphere for an uncomfortable moment before he continued. "... do you remember when you first saw me as Invincible?"
Your hostile stance was lowered as he brought up that time you were almost crushed. "... I just keep thinking about what would've happened if I was too late, if I took a wrong turn and took longer to get to campus." He sighed, pausing for effect before looking up at you. "Sweetheart, you would've been crushed into the pavement."
He had to prevent the smile from appearing on his features as your eyes darted down, the fear swelling again as you remembered the panic that controlled your body in that moment, how he saved you. how he saved you.
"... Mark, that was just-" He continued, bordering on desperate as he cut you off. "you work in town, sure, and I noticed that those areas... baby, they're hot spots for villains."
You couldn't doubt him, he was the hero, he knew these things and he's never lied to you before. ".... I know you're worried, but I... I should be okay, you're never too late to-"
"What if I was?" His volume unintentionally raised, not what he intended but it helped as he watched you wince. "... Please, I know I'm being selfish but can you- promise me you'll think about it? see it from my perspective?"
Your lips parted and closed repeatedly, his eyes examining you, and unnerved you into looking down. "... I'll.. mull it over later."
You didn't notice how his smile stretched further than it needed.
One bad day, that's all it took to get you to want to leave work and never return. Your boss yelled at you for a mistake that wasn't yours, coffee spilt on your laptop effectively putting it into a coma, and the sunny morning quickly turned to a depressing rain as you walked home, your favorite professional shirt ruined and stained by rain and grime.
Needless to say, you burst into tears the moment your husband asked 'how was work?'
After maintaining your strength for a shower and a cuddle, he listened to you vent, he watched you cry in frustration with a hand on your back and your face buried in his chest.
"I hate this! I wish I could just quit!" Your emotions overpowered any logic, but the string of bad luck and your work going unappreciated as well as unpaid overtime, a person can only take so much. Mark knew more than anyone just how fragile you are, how fragile humans are.
He hummed in response, he shouldn't bring up his previous offer outright, he couldn't just drop a 'well, you could.' At your most vulnerable. He settled to pull you closer and kiss your head gently. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. You've been working so hard, it must be frustrating when it's all for nothing."
You stayed quiet, sniffling between deep breaths as he continued. "God, I wish I could take it all away." His eyes watched you carefully, seeing your eyes shift, he can practically smell the uncertainty and desire to just stay home wafting from you.
His influence was set, now all he needed to do was be a good husband. Mark ran a hand up and down your back gently, tracing shapes absentmindedly as he focused on getting you to forget about your unfortunate day. "I'll get your laptop's data recovered first thing tomorrow, okay?" He offered.
It took you a moment to respond, your moping did a number on you. "Thank you, Mark.." You sighed, sitting up and finally deciding to part from him. "I'll get dinner started."
He followed suit, sitting up with you and holding your hand. "No, no. Don't be ridiculous. You had a long day, let me handle dinner." He cupped your cheek gently as you shook her head. "No, Mark-"
"I'm all over it, I promise." He got up, letting his hands part from you. "How about Katsu dinner? I'll zip over to Japan and back faster than you can say 'Dinner'." He joked to lift your mood.
You held his wrists, assuring him. "No, please.. I need something to take my mind off of today, I think cooking is gonna help a lot."
"... if you insist, I like when you cook for me." Mark leaned closer to kiss your forehead. "Need any help?"
Your smile returned, just briefly. "No, I got it." You reassured once more. "Go clean up, okay?"
"Yes ma'am, I love you." He murmured, giving you a brief peck before the two of you parted ways. With his back turned to you, he had to withhold himself from smiling too hard. You're such a good housewife, and you didn't even know it yet.