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Rex didn’t know why he was so surprised when Mark’s mom opened the door. He had been stupidly expecting Mark since he was looking to hang out with him. He had only tried the front door because he was pretty sure that Mark wouldn’t like him breaking in through the window like he did with Eve.
“Hello,” she said, looking him up and down.
“Hi, Mrs. Grayson. I’m one of Mark’s superhero friends, Rex Splode.” Rex said somewhat awkwardly.
“Debbie. You can call me ‘Debbie’. Mrs. Grayson is so formal.”
“Ah, okay- is Mark here?” He attempted to see around her just as Mark’s new baby brother entered the door frame and attached himself to Debbie’s leg, calling her ‘mama’.
Instinctively, she moved her body to shield him and got a concerned look on her face.
“No, no, it’s cool. I’m cool. Mark briefed me on the purple baby situation.” Rex gave her a reassuring smile as he waved at Oliver who looked at him curiously with big eyes. “He looks just like his big brother.”
Immediately the tension left her body and she sighed with genuine relief. “That’s good. I’m glad that he trusts you. Would you like to come inside?” she inquired.
“Sure,” Rex answered.
“Mark isn’t home right now but he should be back soon. He spends more time here than in his dorm.” She brought Oliver back to his toys.
“Dorm. Right, he goes to college. That place that people go when they’re smart and have ‘ambitions’.” Rex emphasized the last word with air quotes. “Meanwhile some of us didn’t even get to finish high school.”
“You can always go back and get your GED.” Debbie suggested helpfully.
“Nah, I’m just stupid. It would be a legit waste of time. Lost some of my brain being shot in the head too.” he tapped his forehead.
Debbie seemed alarmed when Rex admitted to being shot. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Rex Splode. I lost some of my arm and half of my brain recently. You might know me from the Guardians of the Globe?”
“I think Mark did mention something like that to me… it was bad, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, super effin’ bad.” he tried to watch it around the kid. “One of my teammates broke all her bones and one of my teammates, she… ah, she died.” he paused thinking of Kate. “I’m glad I got the son of a bitch who did it to her at least.”
“I’m so sorry,” Debbie said consolingly.
“It’s… okay. They got me a new arm, super expensive I heard, only the best for the best, right?” he smiled crookedly, but it wasn’t enough to quell the somberness that had shrouded them.
An awkward dead silence followed until Rex spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Immediately the somber mood was broken.
What he had seen was a bunch of home decor magazines sitting out.
“Woah, what have we here? You like home design or something?” Rex asked excitedly as he eyed up all the magazines spread over the table.
“I’m a realtor.”
“A realtor? No way! That’s cool!” he enthused.
“Cooler than saving the world?”
“Hey, as a realtor you’re allowed to have off days; if you have an off day in my profession people die or you get a bullet to the head, ka-pow.” Rex mimed shooting himself with a finger gun.
Oliver babbled in the background.
“Oh, shit,” he then covered his mouth because he inadvertently swore. “Was that too dark? Yeah, that was definitely too dark to say around a kid.”
“It’s fine, don’t even worry about it. He’s only a toddler.” Debbie told him. “Though he does pick up on things faster than a normal toddler…”
“So you, like, just get to see places like these every day?” Rex asked, flipping through the pages.
“Basically, though it can be really hit or miss with the design choices.”
“I’m so jealous.”
“What makes you so interested in home design? It’s a curious hobby for someone your age.” Debbie smiled.
“I don’t really know. I just think it’s cool, ya know, having some place that’s really yours. That you can do whatever you want with it.” Rex expressed and then motioned for Debbie to look at one of the pages. He had found a garishly orange room with funky decor.
“Look at this! This is just-”
“Atrocious!” Debbie blurted out without a second thought.
“What? No, it’s not!” Rex denied.
“The colors, they’re all wrong. None of them match and there’s too much going on.” Mark’s mom argued.
“That’s what makes it so cool though. I would easily buy a place like that.”
“Sure, if you want your house to look like a 70’s nightmare…” Debbie murmured, turning the magazine to the side as if that might make the page look any better. “This is much better.” She turned the pages of another magazine to find a sophisticated looking room. “Very chic.”
“Very boring.” Rex made a face. “Look at it, Debbie. There’s no life to it. It’s just so blah.”
“This style is very in right now.”
“Too much white and gray. Am I supposed to live in a lab?”
“I’m starting to now understand why your superhero suit is made up of those colors.”
“Hey now… no need to get personal. Damn, I wish Mark was here so I could get his opinion.”
“Mark’s idea of ‘decor’ is hanging up comic book posters. I’m not sure he’d side with either of us.” Debbie chuckled. “I did think he would be home by now. He said he wouldn’t be gone long and this time he didn’t specify any interplanetary travel.”
“I’m sure Cecil would be here barking at me if that was the case.” he said. “Could try texting him?”
Debbie looked thoughtful. “Come to think of it, why didn’t you just call or text Mark?” Mark’s mom wondered.
“Oh, um,” Rex scratched the back of his neck anxiously, caught a little off guard. “I figured out that people don’t really say ‘no’ when you show up in person to hang out.”
“And that works? Just imposing yourself on them?”
“Yeah, it seems to. It’s got an almost 90% success rate. Either I’m too cool to turn away or too pitiful. Probably the latter.” Rex admitted. “Not that many people like me if I’m being honest. I’m a jerk so I get it.” he shrugged. “But I get lonely sometimes.” For some reason it felt easy to open up to Mark’s mom which was odd because he didn’t really open up to anyone, especially not parental figures/older adults.
“I’m sure people like you more than you think.” Debbie assured him softly. “It’s just hard to tell what’s on people's minds. And hey, we can all be jerks sometimes, that doesn’t stop people from caring about us.”
She was right about that. Eve still cared about him despite everything he had done to her. Mark was his friend even though Rex had been a dick to him at first. As lousy as he had treated Kate, there were still times where he could make her smile.
The creak of footsteps on the stairs made him unable to thank her in time.
“Hi, honey.” Debbie said as Mark made his way down.
The way she said it made Rex wish he had a mom who would call him ‘honey’ in such a loving way. It pulled at his heartstrings. Cruel memories threatened to resurface until he looked down at the magazines again.
“Hi, mom and Rex…?” Mark stopped halfway down and looked between the two of them in confusion.
“Hey, Mark,” Rex grinned.
“Is there something wrong or…?” Mark quickly put on his worried face, not being able to fathom why Rex was in his living room.
“You can chill, I just came here to hang out with you but honestly, I’m having more fun hanging out with your mom right now.” Rex admitted. “We’re talking about interior design.”
Mark blinked. “Oh, cool. That’s cool.”
“I’m educating him on all the rights and wrongs.” Debbie said.
“Nuh uh, I think you’ve got that messed up. I’m right here and you’re wrong, sorry. What’s that one style called where you don’t like anything in your house?” Rex snapped his fingers, trying to recall the information.
“Minimalism?” Mark suggested, coming down the stairs.
“Yeah, that!”
“I am not a minimalist.” Debbie argued. “I have things in my house, see? It’s not all white and uniform. Just because I’m not a maximalist like you doesn’t make me a minimalist.”
“Umm…”
“You like a lot of stuff in your house.” Mark supplied helpfully. “Busier colors and things.”
Rex had to figure that Mark knew a thing or two about interior decorating from his mom. But he was still more than a little awestruck by the other’s knowledge even though he’d never admit it out loud.
“Brudder!” Oliver seemed to notice Mark for the first time, no longer occupied by his toys, and toddled (more like ran) over to Mark hugging his legs.
“Hey, buddy,” Mark smiled with genuine happiness and took the purple baby in his arms.
“Awwwww,” Rex said aloud, resting his chin on his fists. “Cute.”
Mark lifted an eyebrow slightly at his reaction.
“What? He’s a cute baby.” Rex shrugged.
“I didn’t say anything.” Mark was amused. “Were you having a good time with Rex and Mom?” he asked the toddler. “Helping them with designing houses?”
Oliver laughed and then reached towards the magazine page that Rex had opened excitedly.
“OMG!” Rex gasped. “Oliver likes my design better.”
“It’s the colors.” Debbie pretended to be miffed. “Now does anyone want to order pizza?”
“I wasn’t gonna ask but since you said it… I’m starving.” Rex said and when Debbie got up to order, he hissed to Mark. “Why didn’t you tell me your mom was a realtor?”
“Um, because it never came up? I only just found out you liked home decor magazines too. Like I would be able to guess that you’d like hanging out with my mom.” Mark pointed out reasonably.
Rex huffed. “Do you know anything about this kind of stuff?”
“Not really. Only just some things from my mom.”
“Lame, but whatever. What do you think of these two designs? What one is better?”
Mark looked between the two magazines. “Why does this feel like a trap?” he asked uneasily.
“Whether or not you get to eat pizza is dependent on your decision.” Debbie called over to them with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“That’s cheating!” Rex exclaimed hotly.
“Oh boy…” Mark said. “Can we call it a draw?”
“No!” They both echoed.
“Aw, man…”