Characters don't belong to me--they belong to their respective owners, primarily DC Comics and Kids! WB, whose cartoon Legion is my primary base for this fic. This work, however, is my own, and as such I'd ask you treat it, and me, with the same amount of respect you'd show the creators of Brainiac 5 and Superman. Reviews and comments are more than welcomed, constructive critique (especially on the characterization aspects) is appreciated, and flames will be read and then used to roast cheetos.
--
"So, Carl, where do you work?" Jonathan Kent asked as Brainiac 5 finished chewing his bite of chicken pot pie. He coughed, feigning a brief choking fit, and glanced over to his side at Clark hurriedly while covering his mouth with his hand. Clark nodded imperceptibly and, while the teen attempted to "clear his throat", answered the question for him.
"Carl works at the fair, right now," he answered, "as a performer. They do entertainment and side shows, keep the crowds interested while they're lined up for the rides."
"Hmm," Jonathan replied, pushing a piece of the flaky crust around on his plate absentmindedly, his eyes locked on Brainiac 5's face. Brainy gulped and "swallowed" the last of his bite.
"Sorry. Yes, I work as a performer there," he replied. "This is only my first year. My coworkers have found I am quite adept at robotics imitation." Martha smiled and nodded, but Jonathan just cleared his throat, not taking his eyes off of the awkward teen as he stabbed a chunk of chicken and the crust beneath it and lifted it to his mouth. Martha gave him a stern look, knocking his elbow with her own.
"Jonathan! Be polite--Carl is our guest. There's no need to grill him about his life." she smiled apologetically at Brainy, who found himself smiling back, thankful for her intervention. "I apologize for my husband, Carl. It's been a long day for him."
Clark and Querl both breathed a small sigh of relief as the moment passed and the Kents seemed content to eat the rest of their meal in peace. The food, Brainy decided, was delicious, and he would have to ask Mrs. Kent for the recipe in order to have COMPUTO synthesize it when he returned to New Metropolis. He gladly took more when Martha offered him seconds, but when she held out the pie plate to suggest he take a third helping, her smile was somewhat more strained and surprised. At Clark's kicking him under the table, Brainy declined the pie and downed the rest of his glass of milk.
"Well, if you're all that full," Martha huffed in mock disappointment, "then I guess I'll just have to feed the peach pie to the cows." All three of the men gasped aloud and expressed their disapproval with the idea, and Ma Kent laughed. "All right then. Take some time to digest--we can have dessert later. Jonathan, can you help me with the dishes?" She gestured pointedly towards the kitchen with her head, and he nodded, getting up from the table and gathering the plates and forks.
"Clark, why don't you and Carl go watch some TV?" he suggested. Clark stared at him a moment, then nodded, looking at Brainy.
"We'll be just in time to catch the Friday Frightmare," he said with a grin. Brainy groaned--he was well familiar with the scary movies of the time period, the "old classics" being favorites of Bouncing Boy's.
They headed to the living room, Clark throwing himself down on the couch and patting the cushion beside him for Brainy to sit. At first, nothing was heard but the screams coming from the stupid and, Briany thought privately, rather cliched and static characters on the TV screen, but soon Mrs. and Mr. Kent's raised voices could be heard from the kitchen.
"He has to be careful, Martha! The boy has secrets andif he starts getting too close to too many people they'll start to notice things!"
"You can't honestly expect me to keep my son cloistered away from the entire world for his whole life! Clark needs friends, he needs people he can be close to--he needs people he can trust. No one can keep secrets like these their entire life, Jonathan, you and I should know that better than anyone!"
Brainy glanced over at Clark, but the older teen had his jaw set in a firm line and was obviously trying very hard to ignore the voices from the kitchen. Querl supposed that his friend would have been used to hearing these sorts of conversations by now, so he followed Superman's lead and focused once more on the TV, even reaching over for the remote and turning up the volume a couple of increments.
Before he could sit back up, Clark's hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him in a little closer and kissing him gently. "Don't let it worry you," he said quietly, seeing through the nonchalant demeanour. Brainy found himself wondering how Clark kept doing that, but he didn't say anything, just pulled away and sat upright again. This time, however, he was a little closer to the other boy on the couch.
The sounds of the argument soon faded away, about the same time that the last of the credits rolled across the screen. As though it was a well practiced routine, Clark switched channels, this time to something that Brainy didn't recognize at all. He soon felt his power levels dropping, and yawned, slouching a little further into the couch. Clark grinned, moving closer so that Brainy could rest on his shoulder, and continued watching the program. Within fifteen minutes, the green-skinned teen had fallen asleep.
The door shut, and he realized that his dad had likely headed out in his truck for town and a light drink, as he always did after he and Martha had one of their arguments. Soon after, Mrs. Kent came into the living room, leaning on the door jamb for a minute and watching the TV quietly.
Her eyes drifted down to the two boys sitting on the couch, noting Brainy's slack-jaw and closed eyes, leaning on Clark's shoulder with his head turned inwards a little and one hand lying palm up on Clark's knee, and she smiled. She came over behind the couch and gently touched her son's hair, causing him to look up at her in surprise, almost dislodging his friend.
"You know we love you, right Clark?" she asked. "And that we're just trying to protect you?"
"I know," Clark replied quietly, putting his hand over his mother's, resting on his shoulder. He glanced down with a smile at the sleeping Brainiac 5.
"Why don't you boys head up for bed?" Martha suggested. "We can have pie for breakfast tomorrow." Clark nodded, and managed to maneuver one arm behind Brainy's back and the other under his legs, standing up and lifting the slight boy in his arms in one fluid movement. Brainy sighed, and shifted a little, but didn't wake up, just snuggled deeper into Clark's chest. The older smiled affectionately, then kissed his mother on the cheek and headed for the stairs.
Once there, he deposited Brainiac 5 on the bed, careful not to wake him, and smoothed the hair out of his face. He changed into a pair of sleep pants, leaving his shirt off as he always did, then kissed Brainy on the forehead before settling on the foam mattress that was kept under his bed. He rolled over to turn off the lamp and saw Brainiac 5 staring at him, hand held out.
"Will you sleep...beside me?" he asked quietly, throwing back the covers a little. "Please?"
Clark stared at him a moment, and then smiled widely and nodded. He crawled into the bed beside his friend and put his arm around the smaller one's middle, then reached back to turn off the light. He felt Brainy's lips on his cheek, shy and tentative, the first kiss the youth had actually initiated and followed through on, and the thought warmed his heart.
"Good night, Superman," Brainiac 5 whispered quietly as the lights clicked off and the two settled in to sleep.
"G'night, Brainy," Clark replied, and their lips found each other one more time before they snuggled together and both fell asleep.
