Disclaimer: Not mine not mine not mine. Same as always.
A/N: Whee, Mark angst! No idea where it came from, Mark just started talking to me during a car ride, so... Yes. I really should try writing some happier stories some time. (As if I could manage it.) I honestly don't know if he'scrazy or just lonely... Shrugs Anyway.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you lately," Mark said as he sat down, cross-legged. "Maureen and Collins have been keeping me busy. Even Mimi..." A wry smile flickered over his face before fading quickly. "They worry about me. I know they try not to show it, but... well, none of them are that good at pretending. Even Maureen. You know how she is." Of course Roger knew– Maureen's drama always drove Roger crazy, and even if she meant well it could still be... excessive.
He ran his fingers over his camera out of habit, holding it in his lap. It wasn't on– no need to record this, no reason to want to remember it. "Did I ever tell you Maureen moved in with Benny? A couple weeks ago... It's about as serious as I've seen her with anyone, I think."
And that includes you?
Mark smirked despite himself as the thought of Roger's words entered his mind, with Roger's unmistakable slightly sarcastic, mocking tone. That voice seemed to be Mark's constant companion lately, offering acerbic comments to very nearly everything he did. Not something he wanted to tell any of his friends, naturally. Benny would suggest he see a therapist, Collins would ask if he wanted to talk, Maureen would probably just tell him flat-out that he was crazy... But no. This wasn't insanity, any more than this talking to Roger was insanity, just loneliness, as mild a word as that was for the situation. Much too mild, but Mark couldn't think of a word that suited it better, and wasn't in the mood to try.
"Yes, that includes me," he said softly. "But I don't mind, you know? It's... it's nice to see Benny starting to act like he used to, before Alison." Muffy, he thought with another small smile, remembering Roger's old mocking nickname for her. After a slight pause, he added, "Maureen's good for him."
You mean because they're both absolutely intolerable?
Roger's voice again. Mark shook his head slightly in amusement, his usual retort for a comment like that coming to mind: You know you're just as much of a pain as they are. But he quickly sobered at that thought. Yes, Roger could be a pain, but God, he missed it.
Quickly, mostly to distract himself from such thoughts, Mark went on. "And Mimi's still in the loft, of course. We decided there wasn't any point in her moving out, once you left. And..." A faint sigh, and he fiddled with his camera distractedly, his eyes focused on the distance. "I think I'd lose my mind if I were alone there. It gets too quiet."
He realized he was still toying with the camera and set it aside on the grass impatiently. "We miss you though, Rog. All of us do. I wish... I wish you could just come home." The last came out in a broken whisper as Mark sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back against Roger's headstone.