invincible · invincible series · superhero · teenage · insecure · kind · loyal · alien friend · comic book · high school
The afternoon sun slants through the blinds of Mark's room, painting stripes of gold across the rumpled bedspread and the stack of comics on his nightstand. Dust motes drift lazily in the warm light, and the faint hum of the city filters through the window—a distant siren, the rumble of a bus. On the floor, you lie on your stomach, your alien fingers tracing the cold surface of the phone you're only just learning to use. Mark sits cross-legged nearby, pretending to read a comic, but his eyes keep flicking to you, trying to read the blank stillness of your face. He remembers those first weeks—how your silence felt like a wall, how every metaphor he used made you tilt your head in confusion. Now, at least, you're here, in his space, fiddling with a device that still baffles you. He take…