Chapter Text
Mark looked sadly at his reflection in the dark diner window. His hair was gray and wild, and his beard had grown long to match. Wrinkles on his face accentuated the profound tiredness in his eyes.
He heard footsteps coming toward the booth.
The Captain sat down across from him.
“Didn’t expect to see you here, old friend.”
{I could say the same about you.}
Mark chuckled. He looked back out the window for a moment, stealing another glance at the fading light of the final star. He looked down at his plate and sighed.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this.”
Suddenly a voice came from where the Captain was sitting.
“It didn’t, though.”
Mark’s gaze shot back up. There, where the Captain had been seated just moments before, was Simon. He gestured out the window with the stub of his left arm.
“You could’ve stopped this. You know damn well you could’ve stopped this.”
“S-Simon!? How did you–”
“It’s YOUR fault, Mark. YOU were the one who couldn’t let go. YOU were the one who insisted on going back. It was all YOU.”
“Simon, I–”
Simon slammed his palm on the table as he stood up. Blood began to drip from his eyes, nose, and ears. More dribbled from his mouth as he spoke.
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, MARK! THE STARS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! THE MULTIVERSE IS FUCKING DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!!”
Tears welled up in Mark’s bloodshot eyes.
“Simon–”
“HOW COULD YOU!? ALL THOSE LIVES, JUST THROWN AWAY– HOW COULD YOU!?!?”
Mark stared silently down at his plate, watching his tears splash upon it. Simon got up.
“You deserve this.”
“Simon…”
Simon walked through the door into the diner’s kitchen, leaving Mark to watch the last star die all alone.
Mark woke up with a start. He was in bed, his pillow dampened by tears. Simon was lying facing him, sleeping peacefully with his arm around him.
God, he’s cute like this.
Mark sniffled.
“Simon?”
“Mmph?” He murmured without opening his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Simon sighed and, still without opening his eyes, moved his hand from Mark’s back to his head, and started gently petting his hair.
Mark’s tense body quickly gave way to the comforting sensation of Simon’s touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours later, it was time for breakfast. Considering the quality of the sleep he had gotten, Mark was very much looking forward to his daily cup of coffee.
Though he hid it well, he had not been looking forward to the potential of said cup of coffee being interrupted.
Robyn walked up to his and Simon’s table and wordlessly shoved fliers in each of their faces. They both took one out of her hand. Simon inspected his suspiciously.
“Hell is this?”
“Engie, Simon, I hereby cordially invite you to the first-ever Invincible II Space Rave. I figured we could probably use a morale booster after last month’s… incident. I already ran the idea by the Captain, and they approved it.”
“The Captain approved a rave!?” Mark asked incredulously.
“Oh, it’s not actually a rave. It’s just a regular dance. Think more like homecoming. I just figured ‘Space Rave’ really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”
Even Simon had to agree there.
“Sounds… fun.”
“Well, I’ve got a lot more of these fliers to hand out. Not to mention the ones I gotta hang up around the ship. See you boys later!”
Mark continued to study his flier as Robyn left.
“Oh! Would you look at that? The dance is scheduled for the one-year anniversary of you showing up on the ship!”
Simon was taken aback.
It had already been a year.
A year since he was sent down into the blood ocean.
A year since he fell through that wormhole.
A year since Mark found him in the cryo bay.
A year since he finally got the chance to live, like he had wanted to for so long.
Honestly, Mark couldn’t really believe it, either.
A year.
If he hadn’t fucked around and found out with the Warp Core, the Invincible II would’ve reached the new planet already.
They were supposed to arrive the same day Simon appeared. Of course, without messing with the Warp Core, Mark never would’ve met Simon at all, so he was grateful for that, but…
He still couldn’t help but feel guilty.
It was still his fault they weren’t there yet.
As if the guilt from destroying several universes wasn’t enough.
“Mark,” Simon said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Is this mandatory?”