In the Viltrum Empire, love was an obsolete emotion. His parents loved each other, though it wasn’t taught to him growing up. He was a Viltrumite, and everything he did was for the Empire.

When he goes to Earth, intent on conquering it alongside his Father, he doesn’t expect to fall in love with you.

Or what he thinks is love.

His Father tells him all the time that the love he feels for his Mother is akin to how humans love their pets, and Mark isn’t entirely sure how to feel about you.

He wants to protect you, care for you, keep you safe, and make you his. Did that mean he thought of you as a pet? Or was that normal for humans? It wasn’t like he had a guidebook, despite his Mother being human.

Regardless, he sneaks off to see you when he’s able to escape his Father’s side. They were only going to be here until the Empire could arrive, and then Earth would be conquered. Mark plans on keeping you— protecting you like he always told you he would —even if it’s not in the way you think.

“My Mother will like you.” He tells you one night, his fingers stroking your hair as you lay in bed with him. “She misses people from her home.” You don’t understand, and he doesn’t elaborate on what he means.

Not until the day the Empire finally arrives, and he whisks you away from your family unwillingly. Mark puts you in a room on a Viltrumite ship, unfazed by the way you screamed and cried for him to take you home.

His Father tells him it’ll pass— that his Mother did the same before coming around —and Mark doesn’t think twice about it. He loves you, and you loved him, so you’d come around just like his Mother did.