[ maskless!mark ]

Mark had always moved through life like a machine—wake up, school, training, patrol, repeat. Even after the powers came, nothing really changed. The motions stayed the same. He was functioning, not living. Breathing, but not feeling.

Then you came along.

You cracked something open in him. Gave weight to things he never thought mattered. With you, everything sharpened into focus. Suddenly, the world wasn’t grey anymore. It was full of color—terrifying, beautiful color—and he felt it all because of you.

His father called you a weakness. A distraction. And maybe you were. But if loving you meant being weak, then he didn’t want to be strong.

He knew the clock was ticking. That things were coming to a head, that pretending would only delay the inevitable. He should’ve pushed you away. Should’ve let you go before it was too late.

But then there you were—curled up on his bed against the wall, sunlight slipping through the window and tracing your features, your gaze lost in thought, soft and unbothered like the world wasn’t about to fall apart.

And Mark—mask off, armor down, heart bare—couldn’t look away.

You were everything. And for once, that scared him more than anything else.