Chapter Text
"Mark," His mom said calmly, although he could hear in her voice that her patience was wearing thin. "I can't stay here the whole day, honey. I need to leave now or I'll be late for work."
He continued to cling to her arm and felt a twinge of guilt when she sighed in response and set her bag on one of the plastic chairs. Debbie crouched down to be eye level with her son, her expression gentle but firm. "C'mon, Mark. Every kid has to go to school and every adult has to go to work, that's just how it is. Besides, you don't want your old mom hanging around behind you when you start to make new friends, do you?"
Mark glanced around the nauseatingly colourful classroom to observe his classmates and narrowed his eyes at the sight of a blond-haired boy picking his nose and promptly wiping the booger on his desk. "Do I have to be friends with everyone?"
Debbie's expression faltered for a second, the tired smile slipping as her eyes widened briefly at his words, before she recomposed herself and let out a short laugh. "Of course not, honey, but I think it can't hurt for you to at least try to play nice with the other children."
She pried his hands off her arm and patted his shoulder stiffly as she stood up, leaving Mark with an empty feeling in his chest. He'd done it again, he'd said something that his father would say. He really needed to learn to stay quiet.
Mark was smart for a five year old, smart enough to realise that his mom didn't really like her husband, and that his father didn't really like him. He wasn't smart enough to figure out why yet, but he would. And then he'd fix it, and his mom wouldn't have to look at him the way she looked at his father, and his father would leave him alone. Hopefully he'd just leave altogether.
His mom squeezed his shoulder one last time before she picked up her bag and turned to leave. "Be good, Mark. I'll see you when you get home."
He watched her go, trying his best to ignore the teacher that had been hovering behind them the entire time. She was young, with perfectly curled hair, shiny white teeth, flowery clothes, and the look of someone who didn't like children whatsoever, but wanted everyone else to think that she did.
She gave him a sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Come now, Markus. Let's introduce you to the rest of the class, shall we?"
Mark wished he'd clung to his mother's leg instead.
-
The other kids were loud. They shrieked, they cried, they yelled, they squealed, all of them made so much noise that it had Mark wondering how any of their parents could bear to be around them. It was only noon, but his ears were already hurting from all the racket.
The teacher had given up an hour ago and wasn't even trying to tell anyone off anymore, a strained smile on her face that made Mark feel a bit bad for painting a massive thumbs down when she had forced him to take part in finger-painting with the rest of the children.
The bell suddenly rung, a sharp, shrill sound that made Mark wince and the teacher sigh in relief. "Alright class, take your lunchboxes and go out to the playground to play. And remember, no throwing food at each other, and no burying anyone in the sandpit!"
She immediately turned to retreat to the safety of the staffroom as the kids all cheered in unison and ran out the door, shoving and jostling each other to get to the slides first. Mark grabbed his lunchbox from the cubby and trailed after them slowly, dragging his feet as he went.
The playground was surprisingly big for such a small school, although it was split between the older classes and the younger ones. On their side, there was smaller slides, a swingset, two sandpits, a hopscotch game that had been crudely drawn with colourful chalk and a roundabout that creaked with the slightest movement, but what drew Mark's attention was the massive spiralling slide wrapped around a climbing tower that the older kids were all hanging off of, the shiny steel gleaming in the sunlight like a beacon.
A few other children were staring enviously at it as well, but even they had enough braincells to know that picking a fight with big kids was never a good idea. Mark found one of the benches near the edge of playground to sit on and took out his sandwich, watching with mild amusement as two squabbling girls attempted to go down one of the slides at the same time and tumbled out on top each of each other.
He sat by himself in peace and quiet for about ten minutes before he heard gravel crunching behind him and glanced up to see another boy approaching. The boy stopped a few feet in front of the bench and tilted his head at him, his bangs falling over his eyes. His hair was a soft brown, with light streaks here and there that told the tale of a colour that was once strawberry blond.
The two of them stared at each other silence for a moment, Mark focusing on the two plasters stuck to his knees and the boy squinting at the Seance Dog image on his shirt before he eventually spoke, his voice both curious and cautious.
"Hey," The boy greeted, looking Mark up and down one last time before he held out a bright blue lunchbox to him. "D'you want my carrot sticks?"
Mark hesitated for a second before he took one and bit into it, munching on it slowly as he glanced back up at the boy. "Sure, but why? Don't you like carrot sticks?"
He made a face, his nose wrinkling slightly. Mark could see when he opened his mouth that he had lost his first tooth, a canine on the top row. "My mom always gives me way too many. Carrots stop being yummy after you eat ten of them. Or maybe more? I forgot what comes after ten. Ellen? No, that's my aunt's name. Hey, what's your name? You stayed in the corner like a weirdo the whole time and I never heard anyone say it."
Mark blinked at him, taking the opportunity to swallow another carrot stick before he responded. "My name's Mark."
The boy smiled and sat down on the bench next to him, swinging his legs back and forth as he did. "Hi Mark, I'm William. Why are you sitting here by yourself?"
His hair shifted slightly and Mark got a clear look at his face, at the small beauty mark on his left cheek, at the slight crease in his brow and at the eyes that seemed to reflect his own right back at him. William's eyes were blue, but they were nothing like the bright blue of his father's disapproving glare, or the old man's piercing cerulean ones that always scanned Mark whenever he teleported into the Grayson residence to 'check in'. They were softer, darker, with an innocent curiosity and a slight grey tint to them that made him think of cloudy skies and stormy seas.
Those eyes narrowed a little and Mark realised that he'd been staring for too long. He reached for a third carrot stick as he tried to think of an answer. "Oh, uh, because it's quieter over here?"
William nodded at that, giving the noisiest group of kids a scornful look. "Yeah, they're really loud, aren't they? But when everyone's being loud, sometimes you just gotta be louder."
Mark was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked, at least not in his case, but he didn't want to argue with someone he'd just met. He snapped the carrot stick in half and chewed on it thoughtfully as William nudged him to get his attention.
"Look," The boy beside him pointed over at the now vacant swingset and bounced up and down on his seat impatiently. "Those guys just got off, if we're fast we can get to it before anyone else does."
William grabbed his hand before he could respond and pulled him up from the bench, already tugging him towards the swings. "C'mon Mark, let's go be loud."
-
Mark quietly turned the page of his book, his attention fully focused on the story in front of him as he sat cross-legged one of the many colourful rugs that were scattered around the classroom.
The boy sitting behind him flipped through the pages of his own book with a uninterested expression, shifting restlessly and occasionally looking around to see if anyone else was as bored as he was.
"Mark. Hey, Mark. Psssst. Maaaaaark."
Mark glanced up from his book and turned his head to raise his eyebrows at his new friend, an exasperated expression on face. "What? I was just getting to a good part."
William stuck his tongue out at him playfully and peered over his shoulder to see what he was reading, frowning at the lack of colour on the page. "That's way too many words and not nearly enough pictures. Don't you get tired of staring at squiggles?"
He shrugged in response as the other boy leaned over to point at one of the paragraphs, his finger hovering over the text. "Hey what does that big word mean? I don't get how you can read that, the letters are all funny."
Mark squinted at the page, his brow furrowing as the letters came into focus. "Uhh, it says cybernetic. I think it's to do with robots and stuff, 'cause in this chapter they're trying to build a robot."
William blinked at him for a moment, his eyes widening in astonishment. "Woah. My cousin doesn't understand most big words yet and he's seven, you must be super smart. Where'd you learn all that from?"
He flushed slightly at the praise, a warm feeling spreading through his chest even though he thought that the other boy was probably just being nice. His mom had never seemed to care about the type of books he read, and his father still wouldn't be impressed even if Mark had learnt to read hieroglyphics. "I like to read at home a lot."
"Do your parents let you watch superhero movies? My mom says they're for grown-ups, but I never hear the grown-ups talking about superheroes, like, ever."
"Boys," The teacher called out, her nails tapping irritably against her laptop. "It's silent reading time right now."
William shot their teacher an annoyed look before he shook his head at him in mock disapproval. "Yeah Mark, quit distracting me from my book." He quickly turned back around and buried his head between the pages as he dissolved into quiet giggles.
Mark snorted in disbelief and turned back to his own book, but he couldn't stop the smile that was spreading across his face.
-
The end of the schoolday was even more chaotic and much, much noisier than the start for some reason, with all of the kids babbling endless nonsense to their parents who were more interested in judging each other than paying attention to their restless children. Mark pushed through the group of people standing around the entrance and made his way outside, fiddling distractedly with the straps of his backpack while he walked.
A voice called out to him just as he reached the sidewalk. "Mark, hey! Wait up!"
He glanced back to see William waving at him with one hand, his other hand tugging impatiently on the sleeve of a tall woman beside him to get her to walk faster. Mark turned around fully as the other boy let go of the woman's sleeve and ran up to him, his breathing slightly ragged. "You got out of there so fast, I didn't even have time to say goodbye!"
William pointed at the woman as she caught up to them. "This is my mom, she likes to talk to the other grownups for ages and ages until I start feeling even older than she is." His mom shot him a look that would've made Mark shut up instantly, but he continued on before she could say anything, gesturing towards Mark with cheerful smile on his face. "Mom, this is Mark. He likes carrot sticks more than I do and he's super smart and he knows big words and he's gonna be my best friend."
His mom had thick, curly brown hair and dark green eyes that looked over Mark as she smiled warmly and leaned down a little to stick out her hand for him to shake. "Hello Mark, It's nice to meet you. I'm glad that my boy's made such a good friend, but it's up to Mark whether he wants to be best friends or not, isn't that right?"
She directed the last part towards her son as she glanced over at him with a stern expression. Mark shook her hand slowly, his gaze drifting to the tattooed vines that trailed down her neck while the boy beside him let out an offended noise.
William wrapped an arm around Mark's shoulders the moment he let go of his mom's hand, his brow furrowing as a frown started to form on his face. "Why wouldn't he wanna be best friends?"
He turned his head to look at the other boy, his murky blue eyes softening with worry. "We can be best friends, can't we?"
Mark blinked at him, a bit taken aback by the question since his attention had been focused on the feeling of William's fingers hooking under the straps of his backpack. William was loud, nosy and playful, with a bad habit of getting himself involved in mischief that was bound to drag Mark down with him one day. He was the type of kid that his father would use as a bad example and that his mom would call a 'troubled' child.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he met William's gaze. "I'd like that."
His best friend gave him a pleased look and stuck his tongue out at his mom in triumph. "See? He wants to!"
She laughed and ruffled William's hair affectionately, a gesture that gave way to a hollow feeling in Mark's chest. "I see, I see. Give me one moment sweetheart, I want to have a word with your teacher before we go. Wait here with Mark until I get back, alright?"
"Okay, mom." William watched her disappear back into the crowd of parents before he turned back to him and raised his eyebrows curiously. "Where were you going anyways?"
Mark tilted his head at him, a politely perplexed expression on his face. "Home?"
The other boy seemed surprised by that, his nose scrunching up in thought. "You mean you're gonna walk all the way back to your house? All by yourself? Isn't your mom coming to pick you up? Or your dad?"
He shook his head, the excuses tumbling out of him almost automatically. "My mom works late most days and my dad has a travelling job where he goes to other countries, so he's always out of the house."
William nodded thoughtfully and gave him a knowing look that he didn't understand. "Huh, okay. Which way is your house from here then?"
Mark looked back towards the road and pointed to the street down the left that was lined with trees on either side. "It's straight down there for most of the way, I just turn right onto my street when I get to the fourth crossing."
Several cars sped past them as William followed his gaze and grinned. "Hey cool, my house is that way too! I'll walk home with you tomorrow then, my mom won't mind."
A slight hint of red bloomed across Mark's cheeks at his eagerness. "Are you sure? You really don't have to—"
He cut off as William waved his hand dismissively, his mind already made up. "We're best friends now, of course I wanna walk home with you! Don't think I'm just gonna let you hide in the corner at playtime from now on either, you're playing dinosaurs with me whether you like it or not."
William's mom returned before Mark could answer him, her car keys jingling as she walked. She poked William's forehead gently, giving Mark a wink. "Ready to go? I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to chitchat with your best friend tomorrow, don't worry."
William pouted a little at the thought of having to leave, and then he suddenly pulled his best friend into a hug, pressing his hands against his back and squeezing his arms tightly. Every single muscle in Mark's body tensed up as he froze instantly, and he was too stunned to do anything except stiffly pat him on the back after a few seconds. The other boy leaned away after what seemed like forever and bumped his shoulder with a teasing look in his eyes before he turned to go after his mom. "Bye bye, Mark! I'll see you tomorrow!"
-
It was dark outside by the time his mom got home, the sound of the door slamming shut behind her echoing through the house as Mark set his book down on his bed and went downstairs to greet her.
Debbie seemed more tired than usual, with strands of loose hair falling out of her usually tidy bun and dark smudges of makeup around her eyes. She looked up at the silhouette of her son standing at the bottom of stairs as she locked the door, squinting slightly in the dim light. "My goodness Mark, why don't you ever turn the lights on?"
She flicked the switch on and Mark started as the room was flooded with bright light, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted. His mom gave him a look. "Have you been reading in the dark again?"
He shrugged his shoulders, not seeing any point in lying about it. "Only for a bit. I can still see the words, it doesn't hurt my eyes."
Debbie sighed wearily, setting her bags on the floor and taking off her jacket. "Of course it doesn't. Could you go set the table, honey? I got takeout for us tonight, thought I'd try this new Chinese place in town, but we should eat it while it's still hot."
Mark nodded silently and went into the kitchen, pulling open the drawers and grabbing knives and forks. His mom joined him after a couple of minutes, taking out plastic containers and starting to pile food onto their plates. This was the usual evening routine for them both, where his mom would make dinner and Mark would set the table, and then both of them would sit down and eat together, all without saying a word to each other.
He rummaged around in the takeout bag to find the dipping sauces before he moved into the dining room to sit down. The smell of fried chicken and dumplings wafting through the air made his stomach grumble excitedly as Debbie placed the plates on the dining mats and took a seat across from him, pointedly ignoring the vacant seat at the head of the table.
He had set a place for his father, as was mandatory. Despite being absent for the majority of the day, even on the rare occasions that he actually did set foot in the Grayson household, his father insisted on making sure that every interaction with his son was memorable, more so for Mark than it was for him. His father's presence was something that he had learned not to forget about and certainly not to look forward to.
Debbie was relaxed despite being so tired, her shoulders slouching slightly as she immediately started to dig into her food without bothering to wait. She glanced up midway through a large of bite of chicken to catch him watching her and paused briefly, before she shook her head in confirmation.
Mark stared at his father's vacant seat for a moment and then reached out to grab a bowl of rice, swinging his legs back and forth as he did. "Is he out working for the sea salt man again?"
His mom made the face that grownups made whenever they thought something was funny but they weren't supposed to laugh, and plopped a huge dumpling into her mouth to give herself time to respond. "Yes, honey, they're out taking care of boring government stuff. Nothing you need to worry about."
He hummed quietly as he dumped rice onto his plate, the silence settling between them for several more minutes before he spoke up again. "I made a new friend today."
Her chopsticks stopped to hover right above another dumpling and Debbie's eyes met his properly for the first time that evening. "You did?"
Mark nodded and he pushed his food slowly around his plate, his appetite fading as the contents of his stomach started to swirl around. "Yeah. His name's William."
His mom gave him a small, genuine smile, her voice filled with something that maybe, in another universe, could've been pride. "That's nice, honey. That's really nice."