09/07/13

Spent the day cleaning and feeling like I got nothing done...

Chapter 10

Stolen

When Querl came out of the downstairs apartment the ground was covered in fog. Some of it drifted down the stairs past the protective railing above him and everything outside was silent.

Using the silence to his advantage thought over his neighbors; all of which were about the same age as Imra and Garth yet living on their own. From their conversation Querl could reason that Chuck left home after the accident that gave him his powers but the others were aliens from planets where their abilities would be natural. Reep mentioned his father so they could be on good terms and living together but that didn't explain Luornu or Salu but Salu seemed to be visiting like Reep thus possibly not on her own. They all knew each other from the circus though, it would be interesting to do some research and see what it had been like before the accident.

A barely detectable gust of wind could be heard from behind Querl, switch made the fog swirl about just slightly. With a smile, Querl pretended not to notice, changing direction to go slightly down hill to the driveway.

Once down the hill, Querl turned and grabbed Clark's arm, pulling him out from hovering within the fog.

"Good afternoon."

Though he looked surprised at first, Clark laughed, "No point in trying to sneak up on you."

"Indeed," Querl smiled and then realized her was still holding Clark's arm. He blushed and slowly let go, brushing off the wrinkles he had made in the sleeve. "What brings you here?"

"I carried down parts to fix your oven for Pa," Clark continued to smile. "He'll have it all fixed for you guys in time for dinner."

It was hard not to feel disappointed; Querl had wanted to be the one to fix the oven; to be of some use to Garth and Imra in their new lives.

There was a meow and Tinya come out from the back of Clark's jacket, having been hiding there, before coming up to stand on Clark's shoulders.

"Are you sure that cat is wild?" Querl asked, watching as Tinya licked back soe of Clark's hair. "She seems like she's your little princess of something."

Clark chuckled as Tinya seemed to narrow her eyes at Querl, "She just doesn't like to get her feet wet."

"Princess," Querl couldn't help but tease but Tinya no longer seemed to mind when he scratched under her chin. He noticed Clark looking at him and backed away, hoping his blush could be mistaken as from the chill outside. "So that doll," Querl wondered how to ask this, "Did you make it look like me?"

Again Clark looked surprised but he shook his head.

"No that doll is older than my parents; as old as this house probably."

At that Querl shook his head in return. "How can that be? It has my clothes," he suggested to his clothes from the Coluan government, then to his cheek, "my green skin and-" Querl almost suggested to his insignia but stopped himself in time.

After a moment, Clark reached out and lifted Querl's bangs with both hands, smiling at Querl's face darkening with blush.

"I've already told you I don't blame you for anything Brainiac did."

Not sure if he should move or give in to the temptation of letting Clark touch him for as long as he wanted, Querl remained as still as her could.

"You'd be one of the few who didn't."

Clark paused, thinking this over before bending down slightly to kiss Brainy's forehead right over the insignia.

Querl, elegant as ever in intimate situations, had been so surprised he fell over, landing roughly on his butt.

Instead of laughing like Querl expected, Clark just smiled warmly.

"I'm not like most people."

"I've noticed," Querl said slowly.

Still smiling, Clark offered his hand to help Querl up, Tinya jumping off his shoulders onto a nearby tree.

Though Querl instinctively watched her climb up and away from them, he turned back to Clark, lifting his hand to accept Clark's hand up. But as he lifted his hand he noticed it was covered with mud from falling and moved to pull his hand away again.

Not accepting that, Clark took Querl's hand and lifted him to his feet.

"I'm a farmer; a little mud doesn't bother me."

"I suppose," Querl said awkwardly.

The mud felt slimy but neither Clark nor Querl let go of the other's hand, holding on for longer than necessary.

When they did let go, Clark looked up at Querl's house.

"You know, I've never been I the Pink Palace."

"Really," Querl found that hard to believe. "But you dropped off those parts for the oven just now."

"Yeah, at the door," Clark sighed. "My Pa thinks it dangerous or something."

"Dangerous," Querl could barely keep from laughing, "For you?"

"Well when my Pa was a kid there was a family that lived here and their son disappeared," Clark tried to explain.

"That's unfortunate but it does happen," Querl tried to reason back. He noticed Tinya had climbed up to the Pink Palace roof and staring at something in Querl's bedroom window. Was there a real mouse in there?

When Querl looked back at him, Clark was rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground.

"Pa says he was stolen."

"Stolen?" Querl's mind immediately thought of kidnapped but the way Clark said it made it sound more like something out of a horror movie. "Well, what do you think?"

Slowly, Clark shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe he just ran away?"

While they had been talking Tinya had climbed down from the roof, using the railing of the porch to jump back onto Clark's shoulders.

Almost absently, Clark petted the top of Tinya's head.

"Even Pa admits that the kid's father hadn't been the greatest after his wife passed away."

There was a moment of silence and then they could hear Clark's own mother calling for him from the Kent farm. As Querl watched Clark fly off, Tinya still riding his shoulders, he reached up and touched his own forehead.

It was tempting to think of it as his first kiss.