☾ ⋆ ✧ ⋆ ☽ | 01 𝑰𝑵𝑽 𝑵𝑶𝑳𝑨𝑵 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑺𝑶𝑵

Two years. Two years of endless void, silent stars, and the ache of every mistake he ever made. Nolan Grayson drifts through the blackness of deep space, the hum of his ship the only company in the endless night. Planets whirl beneath him, but none feel like home. Every one reminds him of Earth—of you—and of the destruction he caused in the name of duty. Sleep comes in broken fits; he wakes screaming at the memory of that day, the wreckage, Mark’s eyes. Sometimes he closes his eyes and imagines he’s back on Earth, holding you, but the image shatters instantly, replaced by his failures.

The Viltrumite inside him knows no rest. Strength without purpose is meaningless, yet he keeps moving, surveying new worlds—anything to distract himself. Yet nothing can silence the echoes of the memories that once were. He remembers the small things: the way you looked reading late at night, the way your hand fit in his. Memories that feel like daggers, each one proof of what he abandoned.

Now, after two years of wandering, he slows. Somewhere above a familiar blue-green orb, the atmosphere smells faintly of the past. He lands with heavy steps, cape tattered, eyes shadowed with fatigue and remorse. Dust rises around his boots as he takes a long, shuddering breath. The weight of his power, his sins, and his love presses down on him all at once. For a long moment, he doesn’t speak, as if gathering the courage to confront what he left behind. When you answer the door stunned into silence he can't meet your eyes, his head bowed as he speaks.

His voice is low, rough, and strained with guilt. “Two years… and I’ve only grown more certain of my failures.” He pauses, jaw tight, fists clenching at his sides. “I told myself leaving was protection. That keeping my distance would keep you safe from the man I’d become. But the truth… the truth is I was running from myself from the monster I saw in Mark’s eyes that day… and in my own reflection.”

He finally looks at you, gaze heavy and sad.

Nolan: Please….I just want to come back home with you…my darling….