Dinner with the two Martians was an awkward affair, to say the least. As the three of us ate, I felt like Manhunter (who was quite the cook, it turned out) was judging me silently, and every little thing I did made me feel like a buffoon, whether or not I was actually messing something up. The room was completely silent, until Manhunter suddenly looked at his niece.
"M'Gann, it is impolite to hold a psychic discussion while in the presence of others here on Earth. Especially when said discussion concerns said others." He lightly chastised her, and I blinked. Was she telepathically complaining about me or something? Damn if that didn't make my anxieties a hundred times worse. M'Gann blushed and looked over at me nervously, but I just stared down at my plate.
"My niece was curious as to why you remain in this form, even after your mind has recovered." He informed me, and I blinked. It had never actually occurred to me to try and turn back, since the form felt so natural. But now that I thought about it, I… didn't actually have a way to turn back, aside from the transformation timing out.
"I am unable to turn back at will, only when the transformation times out." I explained, before hesitating, "My appearance doesn't disturb either of you, does it?"
"N-No! Of course not," M'Gann exclaimed quickly, sounding strangely defensive before focusing back on her own plate, "but wouldn't you prefer to fit in with everyone else?"
"If the people giving me food and a place to sleep aren't running and screaming at the sight of me, I don't think it's much of an issue." I replied casually, and we fell into another silence.
"I actually had a question of my own." Manhunter said, "When you were in a Thanagarian form, you told Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash that they could call you 'Aviator', but then later said that this form was called 'Trippilex'. If you give each form a unique name, then what would you prefer to be called while not transformed?" He asked, and I had to pause to think. The simplest answer would be to just call myself 'Ark', though I had to wonder if that was somewhat dehumanising, considering the name's origins.
Eh, I was only really one eleventh human anyway.
"You can call me Ark." I replied and Manhunter nodded. We fell back into a more comfortable silence, and after we all finished eating, he stood up and nodded to the both of us.
"I have monitor duty in fifteen minutes. I trust you both to behave appropriately while I am gone. Ark, the couch is a pull-out. Good evening to you both."
"Good luck, Uncle J'onn!" M'Gann chirped, waving at him as he departed for, presumably, the Hall of Justice. After he left, we both stood up and she turned to look at me curiously. "Do you have any other transformations?" She asked eagerly.
"Other than Aviator and Trippilex, I've got eight other forms I can use. No clue what any of them do, though." I shrugged.
"Can I see?"
"Once Trippilex times out-" Conveniently, the Omnitrix chose that moment to begin flashing red and I turned back into myself. I paused for a second and looked around, noticing that everything seemed very slightly shorter than before. Now that I wasn't fighting Genomorphs or healing a telepathic bruise, I was finally able to notice that apparently Trippilex took an inch or two off my height if you didn't count the horns. "Huh, convenient. Anyway, here they are." I pressed the buttons on the sides to bring up the selection menu before holding my wrist out.
M'Gann seemed fascinated with the watch and began fiddling with it, quickly figuring out how to switch between aliens. Oddly enough, she seemed to shrink back slightly at the sight of the Atasian form, but I guess it was pretty intimidating. Still, she continued fiddling with it for about another minute, as my arm began to get a little sore.
"It doesn't come off, if you were wondering." I remarked with a raised eyebrow, and she looked up sharply with an embarrassed expression.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just…" She paused, but I shrugged and waved it off before lowering my arm.
"It's weird and interesting, I get it." I nodded, "And I'm really not in a position to be calling other people rude."
"What do you mean?" M'Gann asked curiously.
"Well, uh… did Manhunter tell you about how exactly I got here?" I said.
"Uncle J'onn didn't elaborate that much, but I know he wasn't there for it either." M'Gann explained.
"Well I spent the first half of the escape turned into a Thanagarian, and suffice to say I wasn't exactly the mort… refined individual." I winced at the memories, "And it seems that with this newfound freedom of thought comes the ability to cringe at my past actions."
"I'm sure you couldn't have been that bad if they still want you to join their Team." M'Gann said with a smile, before blinking, "Oh, yeah, I guess we'll be teammates from now on!"
"Yeah, I guess we will." I nodded, "I wasn't actually aware that Manhunter had a protégé. Though I guess there's a lot of stuff I'm not aware of, either…"
"Well I'm kind of new, actually." M'Gann admitted, "And I haven't gone out with him on any missions yet, especially since he's usually busy with League business."
"Well, wanna go out on a mission right now, then?" I suggested, "Or I guess it wouldn't be a mission… a patrol? I've just taken a two day nap so I'm far from tired, and I'd like to actually go outside for the first time in my life."
"Are you sure? Uncle J'onn told us to behave appropriately." M'Gann said.
"He never said we had to behave appropriately inside his apartment." I retorted, making my way over to the apartment's balcony and immediately stopping in my tracks. The cool night air hit me like a slap in the face as I stared out at the city that surrounded us, with all its bright lights and mundane background noise. M'Gann walked out to stand beside me, and smiled as she also marvelled at the scenery that most people would have difficulty appreciating.
"I was amazed my first time seeing Earth as well," She mentioned, turning her head to face me.
"It's… something, alright." Because that was what it was. It was something, which was a change from a CADMUS pod surrounded with weird fleshy walls and scientific equipment. It was freedom. Raising my left arm, I popped the dial and rotated it to pull up Aviator, before slamming it down. In a flash of bright green light, which lit up the balcony around me, I changed into a Thanagarian once again. With a cocky grin, I stretched my arms and wings out, looking over at M'Gann to make sure I didn't accidentally smack her, only to notice a red hue on her face as she was pointedly turned away, "Something the matter?"
"Your, uh- your shirt." M'Gann mumbled, pointing back to my chest, which reminded me of the fact that, as Aviator, all I had on was a pair of pants.
Well, at least the Omnitrix had been nice enough to give me abs before leaving me shirtless.
"Ah… sorry, kind of forgot about that." I apologised sheepishly, "This is only my second day using the thing, and I wasn't exactly paying much attention to my state of undress while attacking CADMUS employees."
"It's fine!" M'Gann assured me quickly, "Let's just, uh, go."
The grin returned to my face as I gave her a nod, "Yeah. Let's go." I said as I climbed up onto the railing of the balcony, before pushing off and diving head-first into my first night of true freedom.