“Don’t cry…” Justin rubbed Marcos’ back even though he knew Marcos would shake him off. “So you’re not going to steal anymore, right?” I’ll give him one chance to change. To change fully into the sweet person I know. Not Polaris. “I won’t be mad at you… if… you promise to always tell me the truth and do the good. I want you to be the sweet person I know you to be. Not a lying and deceiving person.”
“But- But- I’m a monster! I- I- I-“ Marcos choked on his sobs, “I can’t not steal, Justin, it’s the only way I can get money, and one day- one day- I can’t even take care of myself, Justin, I’m a mess. I might as well just turn myself in so the government can perform tests on me.” Marcos shook, hiding his face from Justin, hiding himself.
“We can find you a job…you could work at my computer devolvement place if you can’t find anything, but I’m sure you will.” Justin tried to reason with Marcos. “And what do you mean do tests on you?”
“Haven’t you heard of Polaris? That’s me, Justin,” Marcos said through his tears, the used his telekinetic powers to lift and drop the Polaris suit, “They’d- They’d want to do tests on me because of it. I’m a freak.”
Justin didn’t even flinch at Marcos lifting his suit over. “I’ve heard of him. All I’ve ever wondered was why he did all that. What was his motive. And now I know. Now I have a chance to help with all that bad.”
“But- But- I’m toxic. I can’t be helped, Justin. I should just go to prison,” Marcos cried, but finally picked up his head to look at Justin through tear stained eyes. He probably doesn’t even want to be near me.
“You’re not toxic.” Justin rubbed Marcos’ back. “You just need a fresh start, a clean slate. If you dont fully restart that’s where the problems are.” Yea, like if he goes back out as Polaris and continues to steal is where I draw the line. “Just forget your past and focus on telling the truth.”
“Justin, how are you okay with this? I just s-said I steal for a l-living, and you’re so calm about it!” Marcos started sobbing yet again, curling in on himself more. He just felt so alone, so cold…
“I’m giving you a chance to make up for yourself. But if you don’t want that chance, I can yell. I can scream. I can make a make a big deal.” Justin removed his hand from Marcos’ back. He waved around his hands as he talked. “If you want me to storm out from anger that you lied to me, I can! And you lied to me a lot! So be glad I haven’t raised my voice till now!”
Marcos looked away in shame, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just-“ Marcos could barely believe he kept talking, he was digging his own grave as he said, “It’d be easier to get angry. It’d be easier to hate you, to not care, to go on the run and keep stealing. It’d be easier to get beaten up by Hann everyday, so at least I get punished!” Marcos stood, nearly stepping on Kolu, who quickly hid under the bed as if she could sense what was happening.
Justin stood up out of rage. “All you seem to be obsessed with right now is still being Polaris. I said I wouldn’t be mad if you stopped those ways. But it looks like you can’t.” Justin walked over to his closet and grabbed a bag out of it, putting some clothes in it. “If you can’t be happy that I wasn’t mad before, then I’m going. I’m going somewhere. I don’t know where. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. But I’m going.” He walked over to his bed and grabbed his computer, phone, charger and wallet. We continued around the room in a rush picking up anything he might want.
“Polaris was my life, Justin! And you never even seemed to notice when I came home with suspicious bruises, or why I was gone every time Polaris attacked! You were probably too obsessed with your computer, sitting on the bed playing that thinking I was just in the bathroom or something for all that time!” Marcos yelled, at this point just trying to put out his own defenses and fight back, “You were too self absorbed to even connect the dots!” Marcos turned with anger burning in his eyes, and a vase shattered across the room. Marcos kicked the bedpost, scaring Kolu to sprint out from underneath and quiver under a chair.
Justin whipped around to face Marcos. “You know that I have a life too! I can’t always know where you are or what you’re doing! I could be more in your business, but I wasn’t! I let you, do you!” It took all the effort Justin could muster to not do something stupid. He was holding his bag in one hand and squeezing the other into a fist so hard that his knuckles were starting to turn white. “How do you know me to know ever time Polaris attacks?! I don’t watch the news! And I’m not always available to notice these things too! I have a life! Things I do! Things I should do! But can’t because I’m here spending time with you! I have a deadline I need to meet, but I’ve spent my undivided attention with you!”
“Well fine! I get it, I’m just holding you back! Why don’t you just leave, I’m only a burden!” A plate on the table across the room shattered. Marcos was crying again as he shouted, “I’m sorry I lied to you! It was wrong!” Then Marcos spun on his heel, running into the bathroom and locking the door behind him to cry. He kicked his foot into the porcelain sink, crying out and stumbling back into the wall. The tears woudn’t stop, and his emotions were just a mess as he slid to the floor to bury his head in his hands.
After Marcos went into the bathroom Justin face planted onto his bed, trying not to cry to much. Arg! Why did you exaggerate! Things may never be the same again! Justin sat up on his bed, his eyes blurred with tears. He reached out and grabbed the light on his night stand and throw it against the wall. The glass shattering against the wall reflected how he felt.
Marcos sobbed and sobbed. Maybe I should just go to Hann and ask him to turn me in. Maybe I should just ask to get beaten by him again. At least then it would hurt on the outside too. Marcos glanced at the bathroom window, lip quivering. The window shattered, and Marcos winced at how out of control he felt. My life’s a wreck.
Justin wanted to leave, but he wasn’t sure where he would go. Let alone if he would be able to do himself in public. He decided that he at least needed some fresh air. He went around the room grabbing a few extra things. He grabbed his Hann suit first, keeping an eye on the bathroom to make sure Marcos didn’t come out. He then went and grabbed the only framed picture of the two of them that they had. Justin thought that he should at least write a note to Marcos explaining thing, so he grabbed a pen and some paper. ‘Dear Marcos,’ he wrote, starting off basic. ‘As you can probably tell I’ve left the apartment. I will be back, but I’m not sure how soon. It could be as short that I’m back tonight or I might be gone a week, I might be gone longer. I don’t know. I just need time to clear my head and organize my thoughts. You should take the time to do the same. I want you to know that I’ll never stop loving you, so don’t think that. I love you so much Marcos. - Justin.’ He places the note on top of Marcos’ pillow. He grabbed anything else he thought he might need and put his backpack on and walked out the door. After he closed the door behind him, he turned around and looked at it for a minute before continuing down the hallway, out onto the street.
Marcos stayed in the bathroom for at least an hour crying. The only time he opened the door was when Kolu meowed on the other side, and Marcos started crying more when he saw her. He had scared her, but at least she seemed to forgive him. When Marcos finally got up and out of the bathroom, he limbed over to Justin’s bed and cried on it, too. Maybe he broke his foot when he kicked the sink, but he didn’t feel like doing anything about it. Marcos wondered how Hann did this, if he kept his powers secret from his significant other. Or maybe he lived out on his own. Marcos shook his head, wiping away his tears. He stood up, then filled up extra bowls of food and water for Kolu. Then he left the apartment with his Polaris suit on.
He needed to talk to Hann.
Justin was just walking through town, looking for some place to go. He wished he could tell Marcos about his powers, but now that he knew that he was Polaris he knew that he never could. Every time he tried to stray his thoughts from Marcos, his brain would pull him right back. It was like Marcos had a magnet in his brain. He decided to go to the alley where everything happened. Once he got to the alley he sat down and just looked around, wondering how so little could have changed, when it seemed so much had changed in his life.
Marcos walked down the street. Many people eyed him warily, but that was good. He needed to attract Hann out, he needed to talk with him. Marcos passed that alley where he had been caught, but forced himself not to look at it. He kept walking biting his tongue so he wouldn’t cry anymore.
Justin pulled out his phone as he slide down the wall of the alley and sat down. He unlocked his phone and scrolled through pictures of him and Marcos. In those pictures Marcos had looked so happy. It hurt Justin to know that Marcos had been in a happy state while lying to him.
Eventually -and Marcos knew it had been bound to happen because of his reputation- a cop car pulled over with flashing lights and sirens, police hopping out with his gun up. Marcos used his telekinesis to throw the gun away, then made a run for it. Just need to talk to Hann, gosh, where is he?
Justin heard cop sirens nearby and his inner sense told him it was Polaris. He quickly changed into his Hann suit, using his super speed to his advantage. Justin, now Hann, ran out to the street where he saw Polaris dearming a police man.
Marcos charged down an alley down the block when the cops were too busy to notice. He pressed himself against the wall, heavy breathing. I just need to talk to Hann… Come on, where could he be? He took off his mask dejectedly. Maybe Hann was hanging out with his friends. Or his significant other. Maybe they knew about Hann, because he probably told them, judging how much the guy wanted Marcos to tell Justin the truth earlier. Marcos tucked his knees to his chest, swiping away at his newfound tears as he glanced at the alley exit.
Justin saw Marcos run into the alley across the street. He zipped passed the police and the mess he had created and found Marcos, in the Polaris suit, without the mask. He was just sitting there, crying. Justin slowly approached Marcos. “Hey, did you that guy… Justin, yet?”
Marcos looked up with dead eyes, curling in on himself more, “Did you ever tell anyone about what you do? About your powers? Did they get mad at you for lying to them?” Marcos looking into the abyss of Hann’s mask, hoping that he’d know Marcos’ position, that he could give him advice.
Justin came and sat down next to Marcos. “The only person I’ve ever told about my powers was my sister. She was slightly confused at first that she never noticed the clues but she later pushed me to become Hann. I wouldn’t say that she was mad.” Justin looked over to see if he answered Marcos’ questions correctly or if he had more.
Marcos looked back at the ground as he whispered, “Justin got mad at me. But I guess I provoked him. He left the apartment. I don’t think I should go back, so he can have the apartment… and Kolu and the bike and the everything. I just was a nuisance, I said a lot of mean things…” Marcos mumbled, ashamed, “I don’t even know why I tried to find you in the first place.” He wrung his hands, trying to stop crying.
“I think you should go back to the apartment. If he wanted it he would have thrown you out. You should at least stay a little while to see if he comes back. He probably will, if you mean a lot to him.” Justin was talking mostly to himself, trying to remind himself that Marcos means a lot to him. To much for him to just throw away after one incident. “Everyone comes back in under a week if they mean a lot to that person. And where else would you go? You said you have no job. It’s not like you have anywhere better to go to.”
“I would just… go. I dunno, live out on the streets or something…” Marcos mumbled sniffing between every sentence, “I don’t think I mean that much to him anymore. I didn’t tell him because I was scared, I just didn’t want him to hate me. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. But he’s just too nice to kick me out like that. I won’t force his hand…” Marcos forced himself to stand, then slowly started peeling off the Polaris suit to reveal his plain t-shirt and pants. He finally said quietly, more to himself than to Hann, “I think I need to go. For— For him,” Marcos was crying again, harder this time, but hastily tried to wipe up the tears. I don’t want to leave Justin…