ᵖᵃⁿᶜᵃᵏᵉˢ & ᵖⁱᶜⁿⁱᶜˢ ;; ᵈⁱᵃᵐᵃʳᵏ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾
Summary: Mark “Mayhem” Berskii has noticed Diana Venicia’s struggle to make everyone happy. He could ignore it, but he doesn’t.
Warning: Chapter 1 spoilers
Word Count: 1,079
A/N: Future me/Readers from the future if future me forgets, do Diana and Mark have canon interactions and it’s not just some art they have together? Until we know, don't forget your daily clicks!
someone here needs to smile
Ever since Eva Tsunaka got executed for killing Wolfgang Akire, Mark “Mayhem” Berskii had noticed Diana Venicia trying her best to make others as happy as they were before the two died. It was a pointless attempt. Everyone was well aware that they were in a real killing game. The next person could die at any second.
Mark had to give credit where it was due, though; Diana was doing better than he expected. He thought she would give up after seeing how no one wanted to hear her motivational speech after the Eva’s execution, but she kept going. It was admirable how hard she was trying, even though the smile on her face was becoming more forced with each day. She was going to tire herself out. Someone needed to do something for her to let her have a break.
That was probably why Mark found himself waking up before the others—and especially before Jett Dawson—and going to the kitchen just to make a failure of breakfast.
He would have trashed it, but he heard Diana’s familiar voice say, “Good morning, Mark! You’re up early today.”
Mark turned to stare at her. It took him a second to remember to reply. “You’re up early, too.”
“I wanted to make breakfast for everyone! What are you making?” She already appeared at his side before he could stop her.
He tugged at his dinosaur hat. It was probably better to keep it a secret how the pancakes were meant to be for her. “It’s meant to be a pancake with a flower...”
“I can see the vision.” She was being too nice.
He took the pan off the stove. “Forget about it...”
“No, don’t throw it away,” Diana gently scolded. “It might not look how you wanted it to, but it will still taste good!”
“Oh, since we’re both awake, how about we make breakfast together? We can make some more pancakes, or we can make something else.”
A part of Mark told him to go to back to bed, but that part was shushed when he realized he might wake up Jett, and he didn’t want to face any questions from him. He didn’t have any excuse for something else to do, so he reluctantly nodded.
Diana smiled. It was the happiest she looked in a while. That was one positive, at least.
“Look! That one looks like a duck!”
“A cloud that looks like a duck!”
Diana and Mark had finished baking pancakes a while ago. The ones they had now actually looked decent. The others still weren’t up, and neither had breakfast yet, so Diana suggested eating some pancakes outside and have a sort of picnic. Mark found himself going along with it, for whatever reason.
Diana pointed to another one of the fake clouds. “Look at that one. If you turn your head to the side, it looks like a cat!”
Mark did as she said. “I guess...?”
“And that one over there”—she pointed to a different one—“looks like a dog when you squint.”
Mark nodded like he agreed. This was probably the most entertaining thing that happened ever since the killing game began. The gaming tournament didn’t count, since it was part of Wolfgang’s murder.
They had finished their pancakes some time ago, so Mark should have a convenient excuse to leave. He found himself not wanting to, though, so he stayed and watched the clouds with Diana.
Some time passed in silence before Diana said, “Thanks for making pancakes and coming with me, Mark. It means a lot to me.”
“I think everyone else should be up by now,” she continued. “Do you want to start packing up?”
Going back inside and seeing everyone meant having to deal with all the tension that was threatening to break at any second. It was calmer here, with only Diana, who he could argue was one of the least bothersome people in this killing game. He didn’t want to overstay his welcome, though, so he wordlessly started cleaning up.
Diana followed. Once everything was cleaned, they went inside. They passed by some people, all of whom Diana said good morning to, none of whom who stayed long enough to have even small talk. After the third one, she looked at Mark like she expected him to ask about it.
There wasn’t anyone in the dining room. People tended to find places to eat by themselves, usually in their rooms. The pancakes they made before were right where they left them.
“Should we give them to others now or later?” Diana asked.
“They won’t want any,” he said.
“I know...” She sighed, her shoulders falling. After a second, she turned to him and met his eyes. “Mark, please be honest with me. Am I doing something pointless...?”
No one wanted speeches of hope after finding Wolfgang’s body and witnessing Eva’s execution. Just that could say it was pointless, and she should’ve stopped a long time ago.
But then again, everyone losing hope would be even worse. Even if it was forced or fake, it was still there for Diana. As long as someone had hope, it raised their chances of getting out of this killing game.
“No,” he ended up saying.
Diana smiled. “Thanks again, Mark.”
He shrugged. She looked more relaxed than she had in a while now. He was happy at seeing that.
“I don’t think anyone else wants these pancakes,” she said. “If you’re still hungry, you could eat them now. If not, do you want to them later?”
“Later is fine.” He hesitated. “Are we meeting up?”
Her face brightened. It felt like seeing the sun again. “If you want! Maybe around lunch? I know you don’t normally eat pancakes for lunch, but...”
“Lunch. Okay. In the courtyard again?”
“Sure!” she exclaimed. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you soon!”
Mark nodded as Diana left. If she was this happy at the thought of making someone else happy, he could pretend that her hope was affecting him. Someone did need to have it for them to even hope of escaping, and out of everyone, Diana was probably the only one who would be that person. At least for now, he could pretend that she gave him hope. Until Diana actually gave someone hope, this was the best Mark could do.