"I don't like this." Ruby pouted as she and Aqua were watching some TV by their lonesome as Miyako was babysitting them again, and was currently on a very important phone call with someone related to Ai's work.
Aqua simply raised an eyebrow at what Ruby meant. "What do you mean you don't like what?" He asked, curious as to where Ruby's mind was heading towards, this time.
"Markus!" Ruby pouted, as Aqua's eyes tilted in curiosity. "Even though mama spends so much time with him, we don't get to spend any time with him." She said, which actually caught Aqua by surprise.
"Wait, you want to spend time with him?" Aqua asked for clarification as Ruby nodded at that. "But why though? He's just a stranger we only met like two times before Ai and Markus decided to hang out together." He said, unable to comprehend why she wanted to do that.
"Because he's interesting!" Ruby said to Aqua, who could only tilt his head on confusion. "Have you seen his eyes?" She asked as Aqua nodded; it was hard to forget those eyes now that he thought about it himself.
They were exotic, one eye ruby red and the other eye aqua blue, a person that happened to have eye colors from both him and Ruby. When paired together created a unique glittering effect in his eyes that was like no other jewel sparkle, he has ever seen before. He could easily imagine why some more twisted people would want to collect his eyes for some sick twisted purpose.
Okay now that he thought about it, his eyes were actually kind of interesting. "Okay his eyes are special." Aqua admitted as Ruby smirked at that. "But I doubt it's something to really care about since lots of people have their own unique eye colors and the likes." Aqua then pointed out to her.
"It's not just that!" Ruby protested as she frowned as she seemed to struggle to put her thoughts into words. "His eyes…when I first saw them, they were so captivating, but since I saw Markus several times from the times, he and mama would hang out together and we're there…there's something about his eyes that's telling me something's not exactly correct." She said to Aqua.
"You mean that he feels like a predator?!" Aqua said in alarm. While most people may not believe it or know of it, being in the crosshairs of a predator of any kind or attention of anyone not familiar is something that kids have a reaction to, albeit it varies from child to child. If anything, this proved to Aqua that Ruby must have died young before being reincarnated.
"No, nothing at all like that." Ruby said as she shook her head firmly as she hesitated at something before trying to continue. "I feel like that Markus has gone through a lot of weird misadventures in his life and that some were more trying than others." She said as Aqua's eyes cleared up now in understanding by what she meant.
Eyes were regarded as windows to the soul is an old yet important saying, while a person can train their body reaction, their facial expression to an extent. It would always be nigh impossible to hide the kind of life that one had lived and led.
As such, it begs the million yen question right now rolling around in Aqua's head. Just what exactly had Ruby seen in Markus's eyes that made her take note of him, despite the fact that Ruby had literal to no care for anything but Ai in her mind?
Aqua had to admit, Markus was of interest to him, albeit for different reasons than Ruby had for being interested in him. Mainly it revolves around how Markus seem to be affecting Ai's behavior or seems to be shaping her in his opinion.
It was…weird when he thought about it, before Ai would meet Markus, Ai felt like smiles and cheer no matter who or how much time she had spent with them. And then it caught on to Aqua that the way that Ai acted or what she did at home felt very much like the way she acted or worked on stage. In that there was no difference between the two identities of Ai Hoshino, both Idol and person were one and the same.
It bothered him a lot more than he wanted to admit, as a former doctor, one had no doubt seen and interacted with plenty of medical staff, specifically ones that dealt with matters of the mind knew that it wasn't normal. To be the exact same person twenty-four seven wasn't normal to begin with. People had off days, people had good days, people even had bad days where they regret what they did.
But Ai's lack of change in personality wasn't normal at all, if Aqua remembered correctly, that would be the symptoms and signs that there was something wrong with Ai on an emotional or mental level. And as such, the fact that Ai started behaving differently after meeting Markus was both a relief and a matter of suspicion to Aqua that all boiled down to one question that he had about the man.
Just what kind of man was Markus to cause changes to Ai that she started acting differently than what she did beforehand?
It was a question that Aqua had no answer to, especially since he wasn't directly involved in all of their conversations or talked that could have told him any possible answer. As such, he had no info and that worried him, because if someone like Markus, whom he knew absolutely little about, could influence Ai, then who's to say he won't have anything malicious planned for her?
Aqua didn't know, but he would keep an eye on Markus for the time being. As he turned back to Ruby to answer her thoughts, she had apparently gotten bored and went back to watching TV with Aqua sighing at what she did. Shrugging at that, Aqua decided to watch some TV as well.
"Aqua." Ruby spoke up after barely any time has passed by. "I want to ask you something." She said to him.
"What is it?" Aqua said as his attention was on the TV still.
"Do you think Markus would be a nice father?" She suddenly asked as Aqua's eyes widened in shock at that.
"What!?" He gasped out, Markus as a father!? Him of all people?! Why would Ruby entertain such a thought to begin with?
"I'm just saying, it might be nice having a dad, and since meeting him, mama's a lot more different and it's nice." Was what Ruby said casually as Aqua refused to entertain the idea any longer and ignored her from that point on
He did not want to consider Markus as a potential stepfather for them or add him to the family anytime soon.
Markus paused in what he was doing before looking around in his room before shrugging and going back to what he was doing. Which was mainly studying technology and sciences of this world and getting himself aquatinted as he slowly but surely started taking apart am old junked computer.
Though his room was mainly the same as it always have been, there was now newer additions to his room that, for a lack of a better term, made it feel livelier. As aside from his own personal workbench and shelves, there was now a few souvenirs and the occasional new photo added to his room.
One such photo was him staring unblinkingly into the lens of a photo booth as Ai was posing silly right next to him as he held a bag full of cotton candy in his arms and was calmly eating them in a photo strip of it. It was one of the first photos that Markus had gotten for himself since he entered this world and now it's hanged up on his shelf next to his photo album.
Markus was nothing, if not, sentimental at the best of times. It was a major reason why Markus liked to collect certain items and hold onto them as long as he can, even if he no longer used them for whatever reason existed. It was also why he had a hoarding issue as he tended to held onto things for as long as he could unless it was no longer usable or gotten replaced with by something even better.
And as strange as it was for Markus to admit this, Ai had somehow managed to worm her way into his heart. It was even reaching a point that he actually looked forward to the time they got to spend together. Even if there were some parts about her that annoyed him to no end, like her plastic fake personality at times.
He much rather prefers it if Ai was actually more honest and open with him, and if not him, then around the people that she actually cared about. Like her kids for example, whom Markus still knew little about, and decided to keep it that way, for as much as they fascinate him, especially with the kind of person Ai is, it would be creepy as fuck for a grown ass man to spend time with little kids not his own.
Besides, all that really fascinated Markus at the moment from them was the fact that they each had his eye color in their eyes and the fact that they are Ai's kids. But aside from that, he hadn't spent enough time with them in person to get an idea of what kind of personalities they got or what kind of quirks that they had.
Maybe that will change in the future, but for the time being, his focus of interest was on Ai. Ai who had changed drastically since they met, and was now no longer fully plastic all the time around him. Which both confused and fascinated in equal measure, the longer and longer they interacted with one another.
It confused Markus since when he truly thought about how Ai seem to be changing, it only came after she interacted with him. It also interested Markus since it was able to give him a more in-depth perspective of what kind of person Ai was. That he had to change his initial impression of her from being an annoying unimportant Idol to him, to perhaps being someone that secretly held a lot of issues.
Ai for some reason, unknown to him right now, has a very strong obsession with the idea of love, and she seemed almost quite desperate to understand and learn a lot more about love from him. Which begs a big question in his eyes, why was Ai so desperate to try and understand what was love to begin with?
Being without memories of his past life, left Markus with the basic assumption that due to a lack of obsession or fixation, he might have had a relatively normal childhood of some kind before he got older. Or at the very least, he didn't have any serious issues while growing up.
But the more he thought about it, and the more he remembered Julia's lessons on emotional and mental welfare that he attended while at the Morman Fort, it occurred to him that maybe despite appearing happy go lucky, Ai had some serious hangups and massive emotional or mental issues of her own.
It also honestly explained the fake plastic expression that Ai had, and it was something so obvious that Markus berated himself internally for not realizing it sooner. Ai was putting on a performance because she's trying to hide or bury away the issue that is burrowing inside of her right about now.
It was the same case with Betsy all over again now that he remembered it. Just another pair of people trying to put on act that showed others that they were alright but in reality, they were the furthest thing from being alright at all.
Sooner or later, someone was going to have to address that issue, otherwise Ai will suffer internally in pain for the rest of her life. And that was no way for anyone to live, especially with how Markus had seen how she had truly smiled and went about her life when not being an Idol in her free time.
And as that thought crossed Markus's mind, he soon found himself pausing in his work as he blinked at the thought in his mind. This was…something unexpected for himself when he analyzed the situation that led to his current train of thoughts.
Since when did he started caring so much about Ai?
Since when did he felt it to be a pitiful and sorrowful feeling to know that Ai is suffering?
Since when did he started feeling invested in Ai's welfare?
The questions he had for himself about these feelings had no answer and left Markus frowning as he had no answer or reason as to why Markus was feeling this way. This was hardly normal for him in the greater context of himself. Sure, he had cared for people, and he especially cared for the welfare of his traveling companions and held out with their major issues and had to do a bit of soul searching.
But this was the first time he felt that Ai's issues could not be allowed, it was…anathema to him to let this be. He felt like he had to do something, literally anything to not let this become a nightmare or a weight on Ai's shoulder.
This was…uncharted territory for him, and it left Markus both confused…and very intrigued as to where this would lead him to. Maybe this would be a good chance for him to learn more about his past self, maybe if he had an idea of what he was like, then perhaps he wouldn't be burying himself in work and a whole host of activities.
Mainly so he can ignore the prophecy that the Seer told him recently. Markus did not like what the Seer told him about his future, especially since it implied a need for his skills. But something in Markus's guts told him that the Seer wasn't bullshitting him or anything.
Something was coming, that was an absolute fact that he cannot deny. And it necessitated his return as the Wasteland Messiah, which was an ill omen if he ever heard of one.
But that also left him curious about the Seer's words, what strings of fate did he break just by coming here? He wasn't aware of any game changing potential fate or event as far as he's aware. Did the Seer meant how he aided Kai-Ming and the Chinese Residents? Or was the Seer talking about someone else perhaps?
Frowning in thought, his vision slowly turned to his closet where the few weapons he had as well as the ammo he carried for them remained hidden and secured for the time being. Monsters in Human Skin can easily refer to a lot of things, especially since Caesar's Legion can be said to be all monsters in human skins, or Fiends maybe.
But something was telling him that it wasn't those two groups from what the Seer told him. And considering how news spread very quickly and the likes, a bunch of Roman Cosplayers and Drugged Out Psychos would have made the nightly news already by now and have been handled by the Police.
And knowing his luck, that coming battle will put him in the spotlight of someone or something, and his attention turned to another device that he's been working on since he got back from that Seer. An EMP Jammer built from scratch using whatever resources Markus could scavenge as well as some of the few relatively advanced tech from his world that survived transition.
The idea is to build a Jammer based on the technology he had seen at the Big Empty that had made him more invisible to the sensors of the machines and security systems he had to deal with while trying to regain his brain. And then once it became apparent that he would need to fight this new enemy, he would be able to hide himself from electronic surveillance of any kind.
Normally, such a device would have been impossible for him to have learned of, but the Followers, Iron Revolutionaries, and the Big Empty have archives and data on pre-war technology, not to mention his own ownage of a Pulse Gun that worked on a similar principle, and having taken it apart to study how it worked, proved essential to making this Jammer a reality.
Of course, such a thing was extremely and highly illegal to own, so he needed to make it so it didn't attract attention, and naturally the thing couldn't go through X-Ray Scanners, else people be able to see it and get curious. But right now, though, the device in question is still a work in progress. Markus estimated that he still had plenty of work left to do on it, not to mention having to create a clever casing to hide it so he can carry it out in the open.
Then he got a chime on his phone that distracted him from his personal work, and he picked it up to see who was either calling or texting him and saw that several messages were coming from Wu-Fei on some possible issues for him to work on. Mainly on his Freezer doors since recently they've been getting harder to get every time Wu-Fei sends someone to get something out of there or he tries to get something out.
And then he saw that Ai sent him some texts, it wasn't anything that special but it was something that she did from time to time. Mainly updates about her current Idol Schedule and she sometimes sent him selfies of herself and of people around her at times depending on the mood.
It annoyed Markus at first, but now he had gotten used to them and started chuckling in amusement as Ai sent selfies of herself trying to finish a huge ass bowl of ice cream with her fellow idols as they tried to beat some kind of eating challenge. Joke's on them, even if they win, they're were going to end up with massive stomach cramps by the end of it.
Despite what he was seeing and dealing with, Markus could admit that his life as it was, was truly something precious to behold and was indeed worth protecting no matter what.
Ai hummed to herself cheerfully as she worked out the dance routine that the Boss had worked out for B-Komachi had to do for their next concert. And right now, she was feeling it better than ever before as she made the dance routines and kept in synergy with the rest of her fellow Idols as they rehearsed the dance routine multiple times by now.
And she started feeling this way ever since she was able to finally start hanging out with Markus ever since their third encounter at that Chinese Restaurant, which Ai was able to do by stalking Markus. And while it is true, she wanted to learn more about Markus as a person that drove her to do such actions to begin with, she later started finding other reasons to care about meeting Markus for personal time of her own volition besides simple curiosity.
For some reason, unknown to her, she couldn't help but feel a bit more relaxed around Markus, that she started carelessly shedding parts of her false persona around him. She felt…safe to let out some of the real emotions she had hidden and completely pushed down early on in her life. And she had no idea as to why she felt this way around Markus.
But the times they spent together were pretty nice, and that was important to her. The first time they hung out, they went to a library where they spent the entire afternoon just reading away at countless books and even the occasional manga that either she or Markus would pick up. Markus's taste leaned towards drama and in-depth fantasy stories. Her own tastes led to her picking up romance stories for herself to enjoy.
They ended up debating the merits of their tastes in books after Markus caught her reading a tasteless romance book that was, according to him. "An absolute stupid waste of time and brain damage incoming." He then took the book from her hand and gave her a book he was reading, Ai huffed at that as she was starting at the very beginning of the book called Twilight.
She did wonder how did Markus knew about that book until he told her that one of the people he also hung out, mentioned the book and asked him to check it out. And apparently it disgusted him greatly and called it a pile of crap, and after getting that book back and checking it out for herself. Ai had to agree with Markus in that whoever was writing the book doesn't know how people actually function and was basically describing a stalker/victim relationship with Stockholm syndrome as love.
Seriously, while she was desperate to understand love, even she wasn't that desperate. And then she remembered that one time on their second outing, where she and Markus went to the movie theater to watch a movie that she had picked out, and someone tried to follow her, and then by intent, Markus maneuvered their walk so they would pass by a police officer, and the resulting conflict ended with said someone getting arrested.
Apparently, the person stalking her was someone who got dumped by his ex-girlfriend and she just so happens to resemble the girl in question. At least that's what she heard from the argument that had happened. Ai honestly didn't know, as she and Markus hid out in the movies to avoid the hassle and publicity that would have exploded had Markus been seen with an Idol like her.
But the one thing that captivated her attention on their second outing was the way Markus watched the movie with a very intent look. It was strange, it was if he was suppressing some kind of shock that he didn't know he had. Yet at the same time he also looked very sad and longing for something.
It caught her attention because it was the first time that she had ever seen Markus said about something, and when the movie was finished Markus whispered something to himself that caught her attention.
"So, this is what it was like to be living a normal life doing normal activities as such."
That sentence wasn't meant for her to have heard, but the words of those sentences carried a lot of implication and notes of what Markus must have gone through in his life. Which began another question that started popping up into her mind. Just where on Earth did Markus actually come from?
It was actually strange now that Ai thought about it from that moment onwards. Markus appeared to be an American or, at the very least, a pure Westerner. Yet at the same time, he was hanging out in the Chinese District of Tokyo and was apparently living as nominal resident handyman of some kind based on the context of what she heard, if it was correct. Most Western people from outside of Japan were normally high-end richer people on average, she even entertained a few from time to time when she did her concerts.
Yet Markus was nothing at all like that, if anything he would be the kind of everyday average kind of guy one could find just about anywhere. With the exception of his muscles though, the few times she had seen Markus put on a sleeveless shirt, showed that Markus had some pretty well-defined muscles on them and she expected that the rest of his body to be the same.
No, she can't get distracted by that, so far from what she can tell about Markus is that his backstory and his past doesn't seem standard. There's also the fact that he seems well liked and even popular to some extent among the Chinese Community that he was in. Which is weird, as foreign communities in Japan were usually insular and not very trusting of outsiders inside their communities.
Something she is well aware of due to Japan not being big on outsiders aside from tourist reasons or money reasons. Foreigners were usually singled out for multiple reasons, due to either not fitting in or standing out too much. Case in point, Western people have an extremely difficult time trying to live or stay in Japan for extended periods of time.
A major part of that is due to Japan being a collectivist culture, rather than an individual culture. As a result, the nail that stands out gets hammered in to fit in with the rest of the nails. No one is exactly exempt from this, even closed off communities in Japan typically follow this trend to an extent.
As such, it remained a mystery to Ai as to where did Markus come from, and she wanted to learn more about Markus. Not just because he was giving her some very important perspective, but because she wanted to learn more about him as a person. He was someone who broke the daily grind wheel of her life and made life far more…fascinating for her.
He taught her many lessons that she would cherish every time that they spent together. Lessons that left her feeling warm and happy inside her body.
Ai wanted to keep up the interaction that she had with Markus for as long as she can. And if she just so happens to fall for Markus along the way? Well as far as people to fall in love with, Markus was clearly not a bad choice to pick.
Ruby huffed as Aqua ignored her when she started asking Aqua about what Markus might be like as a father or dad. For some reason that greatly disturbed him that he refused to entertain any more thoughts about it. Sure, she wanted mama to herself and not have to share her with someone who clearly doesn't deserve or respect her.
But the important thing was that he made mama happy, and that mattered a lot more than most people think or would give credit to. Ruby understood the importance of being able to make someone happy because after all…in her previous life the only to have ever made her happy was that kind doctor who indulged her all the time while her actual family abandoned her to die in a hospital.
At first it was subtle, but it became apparent that mama was doing much better now and actually even happier than normal. She would be content with whatever happiness and the likes she had from mama. But ever since she met Markus, she became far more affectionate and sweeter with them that she couldn't help but love the newer changes from her.
And all of it was connected to Markus, and that truly made her wonder, would it really be that bad to have Markus as a dad? Ruby, when she thought about it, didn't think that was exactly the worst thing to have possibly happen. But for some reason, Aqua was completely and utterly against the idea of having a dad of any kind.
But that actually brought up another question that's been plaguing her mind. "Hey Aqua, can you answer another question?" She asked him as Aqua sighed at that.
"You technically did." Aqua pointed out, causing her to pout. "But in all seriousness, might as well ask, can't be any weirder than the question you asked me just now about Markus being our potential stepdad." Aqua shivered a bit, causing her to pout.
"Well thinking about dads and all, what do you think happened to the man who got mama pregnant?" Ruby asked as Aqua blinked at that answer looking at her curiously. "I am not that dumb, as much as I want to believe mama did a virgin birth thing with us, the reality is that she had to have hook up with someone, so who do you think our father is?" She asked.
"…I honestly don't know." Aqua said with a frown. "I never heard of Ai ever talk or mention anything about him ever in our incredibly short lives. If she had, then we were clearly not part of that conversation." He said to Ruby before his eyes shifted into realization.
"You think that Markus might actually be our father?" He then said in shock at Ruby, who could only blink back in surprise.
"What? No, that makes no sense." Ruby retorted. "What led to you thinking that I thought he might be our dad?" She questioned and demanded.
"Well, you started off with asking if you think Markus would make a nice dad, and I also remembered the way you focused on his eyes after his shades came off. And considering his looks, it actually wouldn't be too far off for him to be our father." Aqua answered quickly.
"I only asked if you think Markus would make a nice dad, because he's been making mama more colorful." Ruby huffed. "As much as I don't like the idea of Markus becoming our papa, because that means I have to share mama with him, he does make mama happy. And if she wants to be with Markus then it would be kind if we support her choices." She spoke.
"That would mean that Ai has to reveal us to Markus." Aqua pointed out to her. "Even if she wanted to get into an actual relationship with Markus, there's no way that could possibly work out. Especially with Ai's current status as an Idol, if she were to start dating someone, it would be the literal end of her career." He spoke.
"And there is no telling how Markus might take to learn about mama having kids, most people aren't keen on entering a relationship if there is baggage of some kind." Ruby said calmly, but internally she was kind of sad since that situation is very much possible. She was abandoned after all, in her previous life.
"Exactly." Aqua nodded in response. "As much as Markus makes Ai happy at first glance, Markus and Ai ending up in a relationship is nothing but disaster for them. Not only will Ai be hit hard by the scandal, but everything she has worked hard for will end up coming apart very quickly. And that's not to mention what might happen to Markus, with him in the spotlight, he will end up under heavy scrutiny and may even become a target of opportunity for some deranged stalkers." He added in.
"But Markus makes mama happy, shouldn't we also consider what she wants as well?" Ruby pointed out to Aqua as a counterpoint.
"A fair counterpoint." Aqua sighed out. "But at the same time, we also have to sacrifice what we want for what we need. And right now, Ai doesn't exactly really need Markus, rather she needs strong stability right about now, and if hanging out with Markus can help her for some time, then we let her. But letting her enter a potential relationship is a no go." Aqua said to Ruby.
Ruby nodded sadly at that. "I sometimes can't help but wonder what it would be like to have a dad, if he was kind of like Markus then I could probably accept it." She said to him.
"Well, there's no way we can figure that out anytime soon, for now it's just the three of us." Aqua said to Ruby, as she nodded, and as the children continued to talk, they were not aware of someone listening on their talk and leaving after they heard a request for a father.
Ai took a deep breath as she examined the payphone before her, and hearing the desire in Ruby's voice for a father made her stood firm and make her choice. So inserting the coins in, she started dialing the numbers and soon waited until a click was heard.
"Hello? It's me, and there's something that I wanted to talk to you about." Ai said unaware of the events to come. "Yes there's something that you need to know."