First Date

It was a bright and sunny morning, perfect for setting the tone for what was in store for the young Kryptonian-Saiyan hybrid, Mark Kent. As the sun's rays hit the boy's face, his eyes gently spread, as the day had finally come. With a smile on his face, the boy sprung out of bed, using his flight to slowly descend to the ground. "Finally." He whispered to himself, and finally indeed.

Despite his... efforts and overextending confidence, this was Mark's first date. He'd been to parties with girls in them before, perhaps even played a few games of spin the bottle with his peers, but he'd never actually been on a one-on-one date-- Cass always rejecting him.

The Saiyan's stomach began to growl, and as if he were an old-school cartoon character, the boy began levitating toward the kitchen, ready to devour the first piece of food he'd make eye contact with. However, to his surprise, he ran into Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, already in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Oh, good morning, Mark," Dick said, using a single hand to crack an egg into a sizzling pan. A bit of steam emanated from it, causing the Saiyan's stomach to growl louder than it had previously. Dick laughed. "Someone's hungry," he teased before walking over toward a huge griddle filled with pancakes and flipping them over. There were way too many for one person, at least, for anyone who wasn't a Saiyan, driving Mark to question him.

"Are you making breakfast for everyone?"

Dick nodded with a smile. "Yessir. Alfred spoiled me growing up, I almost exclusively ate homemade breakfast, so I had him teach me. Thought I might as well make a little something for everyone."

"Don't tell Wally, but you've just been promoted to best friend status," Mark joked before flying up to one of the pantries and pulling out a barrel of cheese balls. "I'm letting you know now, I have a weird metabolism, alien genetics or something, so I need to eat a lot." Mark continued grabbing more junk food, including a bag of chips and a box of cookies. "That'll do," the Saiyan whispered before sitting down on one of the stools.

Dick looked mortified. "Y- You're gonna eat all that for breakfast?" he asked the boy, thinking about how if he were to eat like that, he'd lose his gymnast physique. "Yup." Mark said, stuffing his face with a handful of cheeseballs before grabbing three cookies and shoving them in his mouth without even finishing the other thing.

"Good morning, Mark," Megan's quiet voice was heard, though she wasn't seen until she appeared beside the Saiyan on the stool next to him with her elbow resting on the table, her chin propped on her hand. Both boys jolted, not expecting her to appear so suddenly.

"Oh, I apologize, did I startle you?" she asked, grabbing Mark by the arm. "I forget it's not custom to..."

"No, I was just surprised is all." Mark played cool, looking back at the Martian with a smile as more people began piling into the kitchen. "I smell pancaaaakes!" Cass sang as if she were in an opera, followed by Barbara yawning and sniffing the air.

"Hey, I know that recipe," Batgirl said, recognizing it from her many stays at Wayne Manor before she and Cass turned the corner, immediately locking eyes with Mark and Megan, seeing her holding Mark's arm as if they were already a couple. Noticing so many people enter the room, Megan awkwardly released her hold on him.

"Did I miss something?" Cass questioned, looking directly at the two.

She was totally jealous.

'She's totally jealous!' Mark thought, seeing her somewhat annoyed-looking face. 'Sorry, Cass, you missed your chance.'

Mark continued stuffing his face and Megan watched him as if tuned in to a television show as more members of the team began pouring in one by one. A few minutes passed, snacks were downed by the Saiyan, and breakfast was ready. Everyone began taking their seats at the table, sitting next to the people they were friends or familiar with. Virgil and Kaldur (Aqualad) sat next to each other, and next to them were Roy (Speedy) and Barbara, who were saving a seat for Dick Grayson in between them. On the other side of the table, Wally sat at the corner, followed by Mark sitting next to him. He expected Megan to sit next to him, however, Cass immediately took her spot, sitting next to Mark as if she owned him. Megan, being too shy to even attempt asking to sit there, sat next to Cass instead.

Mark was extremely confused, as were multiple people in the room who had noticed Cass suddenly steal Megan's seat. Wally couldn't contain his snickers, wanting to make their breakfast a bit more dramatic. Once Dick was done setting everyone's plates, Wally began messing with Cass. "Wow Cass, you sure took that seat fast! You make me seem slow," he quipped, immediately catching an elbow to the side from the Saiyan. Virgil and Kaldur looked at each other, smiling before adding to Wally's quip. "Looks like someone has a crush to me, I don't know," Virgil commented, causing Kaldur to laugh, covering his face with his hand and fork.

"I do not!" Cass shouted embarrassingly before Megan chimed in.

"Is it that obvious? Says Cassandra," Miss Martian was looking directly at Cass as she seemingly parroted the words from Cass's mind, showing everyone that she was reading Wonder Girl like a book. Cassandra scoffed, getting up out of her seat before Mark got in between her and Megan.

"Hey! She's still learning not to do that, let's not fight over something so silly, yeah?"

"I was just pretending anyway," said Megan, a finger to her temple. "My eyes would've been glowing. You were upset over a mere prank. Aren't pranks supposed to make one laugh? Perhaps I have misunderstood the concept," Megan said plainly, bringing pretty much everyone to snicker, trying to contain their laughter.

Cassandra sat back down, glaring at everyone with a cold stare until the laughter ceased. 'What is happening...' Mark thought to himself, feeling as if he were the main character, perhaps even the main character of a superhero fanfiction.

Drama aside, the rest of the Team's breakfast went along great. For the most part, everyone got to know each other a little better. Mark felt as if he could really come close to these guys, hoping that one day they'd all be promoted to the Justice League together, whenever that may be.

Once everyone was finished, the Kryptonian stood up out of his seat before loudly thanking the chef. "Ah! Yeah, that hit the spot. Thank you, Chef Grayson!" Mark put his hands together and bowed jokingly before looking over at Megan.

"Be ready in an hour?" he asked her.

"Okay!" she said, smiling back at him before the Saiyan flew off back to his room, leaving everyone to look at Megan with puzzled looks.

"Wait..." Wally said, realizing what Mark must've meant by that.

Slowly, Megan began covering her head with the hood of her sweater as everyone looked at her. "See ya..." She whispered cutely before fading away and turning invisible, leaving everyone at the table to do nothing but speculate.

After an hour had passed, Mark was seen sitting in the living room with a few of the guys, Speedy and Wally, both trying to pry him for answers.

"What's she like?"

"She's cool."

"How'd you do it?"

"Just asked."

"Is she green... everywhere?"

"I wouldn't tell you the answer even if I-"

Before Mark could say anything else, Megan's footsteps could be heard entering the room. The three boys turned around to see Megan standing there, holding a small brown bag in her hand to match her brown shirt and mini skirt. She also wore a brown headband in her hair, while also wearing a little bit of makeup that Barbara helped her with.

"You lucky bastard," Wally whispered, marveling at her overwhelming cuteness.

"Second that..." Speedy added.

Mark immediately stood up, wearing black pants with a black button-up before complimenting the Martian. "Wow, you look amazing," he told her, approaching her before leading her toward the door. "Shall we?" he said, holding the door open for her. The two then walked out together, leaving the two jealous boys to sulk on their own. "I call Barbara..." Speedy whispered.

Soon enough, the two heroes from another planet found themselves sitting side by side inside a movie theater as Megan began repeating back what Mark was explaining to her. "So they are not really going to be chased by a crazy man with a chainsaw, they are called... actors?"

"Mhm," Mark said, sort of confused that the concept of movies didn't exist where she was from.

"You mentioned novels before. It's like that. They're just characters," Mark explained.

"Fascinating..." Megan looked at the screen as if she were witnessing a god standing in front of her.

"Haven't you been here for like a month? You haven't seen a movie?" Mark asked, raising a brow.

"No, my uncle isn't a very... recreational type of person. I usually just read for recreation."

Mark chuckled a bit. "Well, trust me... this is better than any book."

More time passed and the movie eventually started. Megan was holding on tightly to Mark using both arms, practically trembling in her seat. Mark couldn't be any happier, a beautiful girl was holding onto him, however, there was one thing about it that was weird to him...

"Uh, Megan?" he asked her, looking at her terrified face.

"You realize this is just the opening credits, right?"

Miss Martian had no clue what that even meant, however, she acted as she did. "Yeah... of course." Megan held onto Mark during the entire movie, her grip tightening whenever the chainsaw killer appeared on the screen. She even yelped a few times, causing a few audience members to look back at her with annoyed glares.

It was funny to Mark, considering the fact that she was one of the most powerful beings on the planet. If a man with a chainsaw was really after her, she could get rid of him in an instant.

After the movie, the two then went out to lunch, sitting across from each other at a diner and eating french fries and chicken strips. The whole time on the way there and even during lunch, Megan couldn't stop talking about the movie.

"It was so exhilarating, Mark! I am forever thankful for the experience." Megan said, eating a single french fry with a smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah!" Mark said, stuffing his face with a handful of fries before stacking the basket on top of the other ten he'd just eaten. He was really taking advantage of the Justice League's budget for food...

Mark gulped loudly, somehow not appearing repulsive to the girl in front of him. "No problem. We can go again, next time," Mark promised. "We can try a different genre if you'd like."

"Oooh," Megan hummed innocently. "So dates occur more than once?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, if you like the person. And well... I like you."

"I like you too. I'm quite fond of you, actually..." Megan whispered softly, trailing off as she often does.

"Mark?" She asked.

"What's up?"

"What happens after? Do you keep going on dates forever?" She asked innocently, still not really understanding human culture. Where she was from, people just mated for the hell of it. Martian Manhunter was far from her only uncle, he was one of hundreds.

"Well, ideally, yeah. Once you become a couple you still go on dates, but it becomes a bit different." Mark was trying his best to explain, but even he didn't know how it worked. He just knew it worked.

"Different?" Megan questioned, placing a finger on her chin as she thought about what that could mean.

"Yeah, like holding hands. Kissing-" Mark said.

"Kissing?" Megan once again questioned. That concept of intimacy didn't exist on her planet, so she hadn't the faintest of a clue what that meant.

"Yeah..." Mark muttered, feeling his heart jolt.

'She's been here a month! Does she seriously not know what a kiss is? Is she going to ask me to show her? Should I?'

Hmm... That phrase seems familiar. I believe I've heard of it in one of the novels I read. Perhaps you can show me next time?" She asked.

'Oh, hell yeah. Definitely.' He thought.

"Yeah, if you'd like. It'll be fun."

The two continued their lunch date together, talking about what they should do next time. As they continued on, Mark began feeling something complex within him. Sure, Miss Martian was attractive to him, but her attractiveness wasn't what he was mainly into.

She made him feel strangely happy. All this time, he was chasing Cass for all the real reasons and he finally was beginning to understand that. He wondered if this could develop into something serious. It scared him, but it was something that he was truly hoping for.