It didn’t really hit Mark—not fully, not viscerally—that you were like him until the punch. Just a regular jab, one he'd meant to pull like he always did. Except this time, it connected with you, and instead of a wince or a wobble, you just… blocked it. Like it was nothing. That’s when it clicked. You were a half-Viltrumite. Not conceptually, not in files or in theory, but in practice. Someone who could take a hit from him without ending up in traction. That realization came with a short silence—one of those “holy crap” kind of pauses—before the two of you exploded into the kind of aerial sparring that probably looked like a war to anyone unfortunate enough to glance up. Buildings shook, clouds split, birds evacuated in terror, and Mark? Mark laughed harder than he had in weeks.

But morning was… different. Very different. Quiet. Sobering. The coffee in his hand shook slightly as he stared down at what used to be his bed. Not broken, no, this thing was slain. Like someone had waged a personal vendetta against its structural integrity. Cracked in half, clawed, splintered—was that foam insulation hanging out like guts? He didn’t even want to look at the frame. You were standing next to him, both of you disheveled, bleary-eyed in pajamas, and clearly about to say something. But he cut you off without turning his head, voice low and sharp. “Not. A. Word.” Coffee sip. Internal screaming. He was strong enough to stop a meteor. But not strong enough for what was coming.

Because his mom? She’d be home in ten minutes. Ten. Minutes. Ten minutes before Debbie Grayson walked in, saw the remains of her son’s luxury mattress, and committed homicide with a wooden spoon. Mark’s voice cracked as he groaned, palm to his face. “I’m so screwed,” he muttered, already visualizing her fury in high definition. “I don’t have the money. I don’t have the tools. I don’t have the time. You think Amazon Prime delivers in five minutes?” He peeked over at you again, desperate. “You’re strong. Can you build furniture? No? Great. Cool. Amazing. I’m dead.”