Disclaimer: I don't own Kid Cosmic!
Title: Who's Jo Mama?
Summary: Kid accidentally calls Jo mom. Jo has a bit of a meltdown over it.
...
Jo doesn't ask, and Kid doesn't tell. It's part of their little dynamic. He comes into her hotel room (which is always unlocked for him) holding a stuffed superhero and a blanket, that sad look on his face, and she inches over. They room together for the night. It's not a big deal. It helps him cope with losing the other survivors. (It helps her cope with losing the other survivors).
And one night, apropos of nothing, he curls closer into her arm, mutters, "G'night, ma," as he falls into a rattling snore.
And Jo, a very mature girl and leader to boot, spends a solid five minutes staring bug-eyed at the ceiling with a lot of internal screaming before quietly whispering, "Fuck."
Because everything has just changed! But also, absolutely nothing has changed. Jo doubted he'd even remember saying it in the morning. And his saying of it could come down to any number of reasons- slurred speech, half-asleep daydreams, a general maternal vibe he seems to think she gives off. She can't confront him on it without it getting awkward, and sad, and that's not fair to Kid.
Also, she's tired.
Because every day was another day closer to Erodius.
Which meant every day was another twelve hour nonstop shift of weathering her personal anxiety with the needs of the entire goddamn galaxy.
So she just sinks into her pillow, lets her brain scream an endless amount of curse words, and tries to get some sleep. Queen Xhan would know what to do. Queen Xhan always knew what to do. (Queen Xhan was a real leader).
Queen Xhan is also injured, grieving, and (while Jo would never tell her this, of course) a bit of a Karen when it comes to how her eggs are done. By the third time she's poking at her over-easy nebula eggs with distaste, Jo honestly considers just crying. She's tired, and stressed, and if she has to tell Hamburg to redo them again she's pretty sure he's going to make a bendy straw out of her spine.
And she thinks the jellyfish must notice this, as she heaves a long, heavy sigh and sets her fork down. "They are... edible. You may go, Jo."
Jo rocks on her heels and very much does not go. It was rare the diner was this quiet; and, even when it wasn't, her mother was never willing to come to this side of the restaurant when Xhan was around. It was as close to private as she could get right now. "Your Majesty, could I get your wisdom on something... not leader related?"
"I am not here to solve your problems, Jo," she reminded her, and Jo did know that. She knew damn well that this was a space jellyfish and royalty, and Jo was just some weird flesh-bag she was forced to pin her hopes on. But, still. This isn't some petty high school squabble.
"I'm worried about it affecting the team dynamic," she explained.
Queen Xhan sighs, again, and gestures a tentacle for her to sit down. Jo does so, setting her hands on her lap. She fiddled with the rope of her apron- it was wet, having brushed the water Chuck used to soak dishes as she bused tables. Truly, a leader for the ages.
"Kid and I convened last night," Jo says. It doesn't feel right to explain the whole story. It took Kid a lot of trust to come to her, and that would just break it. "And during our conversation he, uh, slipped up? He called me mom." She scratched her neck awkwardly. "Well, technically it was ma, but, like, the implication is still there, so."
"This is quite rude," Queen Xhan agrees, but the blank look on her face immediately told Jo she was absolutely lost. "That's Flo's title to bear, not yours."
"No, no. It's not like- it's not like a title. Or... it sort of is? It's not a title for just one person, like Queen is. It means... caretaker."
"As leader-"
"It's different from being leader," she stresses. "It's like- it means he sees me as someone who will love and watch over him, no matter what. I mean, I know it was probably just a slip of the tongue, but I've been the only older female figure in his life until recently. What if... what if it's true, on some level?"
Queen Xhan cocks her head to the side. "I don't see the problem with that. It's a great victory to have such loyalty, is it not?"
"It's not-"
She held a hand up for silence. "You have experienced great fortune, Jo. If what you say is true, Kid will follow you anywhere. Everywhere. He could grow into a fine second-in-command. And should you require his life to save others, he will-"
Jo slams her hands down on the table, using the force of the movement to stand up. The small, shriveled up part of her brain that counts as reason says ouch, ow, that was stupid. But the rest of her is a livewire, hot and unpredictable even to herself. "YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT!"
(Vaguely, she realizes the diner has fallen silent.)
For a moment, the Queen loses her voice. She stares at Jo, taken aback, jaw agape. Her eyes flicker across her features, searching for answers Jo doesn't know the questions to. She schools her face into a grave scowl. "Johanna, that is no way to speak to your mentor. I expect better behavior from the one I've chosen to be my heir." Xhan stood as well, pointing. "Leave me. Return when you can address me properly, with an apology."
Jo groans, long and loud, and storms out. She barely hears her mother calling after her. She barely feels the door close behind her. All she is is molten, and ashamed, and her eyes are wet from frustration.
(Queen Xhan's never called her Johanna before.)
Jo expects to be followed. Is that selfish? It's probably selfish. But there's not exactly a lot of space on this rock, and she's kind of the only waitress around. It was bad of her to cause a scene, and even worse of her to leave people with unfilled drink orders. Rip the idea of getting good tips out of the lunch rush.
She expects to be followed. She doesn't expect to be followed by Flo, arguably far busier than Jo was. And she certainly doesn't expect her to quietly sit on the edge of the crater with her, their feet dangling. She doesn't chide her. Doesn't even seem that upset, really. That just makes it worse.
"I'm sorry," Jo says quietly. "I'm being unprofessional."
"It's okay, honey."
"It's really not. I would've been fired by now if you weren't my mom."
Flo chuckles a little. "Eh, it's a small town. Couldn't exactly hire Carla- she can't reach the drink dispensers." A solid, warm hand on her shoulder has Jo relaxing without even realizing it. When had she gotten so tense? Had she ever been not tense? "What's up, kiddo?"
"It's stupid," Jo tells her, reflexively. Bitterly. "I'll apologize to Queen Xhan and get back to work."
"It's not stupid if it upset you this much."
Jo groans again, explosively. She's right. Of course she is. But it's not like this is something that can just be- fixed. If fixed was even the right word. It felt too harsh, as if she was trying to destroy the tenderness of the moment. "Kid and I hung out last night."
"You do that a lot."
"He fell asleep on me."
"Pretty common."
"...He called me mom."
There was a pregnant pause. Flo worked her jaw a little as the information sunk in. "Oh. Huh."
"I told you it's stupid." Jo threw her hands up. "He was, like, half-asleep! He definitely doesn't remember doing it. He ate the last of my cereal this morning and was completely normal. I'm making a big production out of nothing. It's just..." She sucked some air in through her teeth. "I don't want him to think that I'm feeling awkward about it. Then he might... stop being comfortable around me."
"But you are feeling awkward about it," Flo points out.
Jo crossed her arms and sulked. "...I don't wanna be."
The adult leans over to give her a slight shove. "Well, think of it like this. Kid's just a kid, yeah? He doesn't have a lot of words to describe these sorts of things yet."
"I always thought he saw me as, like, a sister."
"When he thinks sister, he probably thinks Rosa. Someone smaller than him, who needs to be reminded to look both ways when crossing the street, and steals cookies from the cookie jar. You're someone he can depend on. Lean on. The wording of it might be a little... different from what you expected, but the feeling is the same."
"I guess," Jo said. It did make her feel a bit better.
"Any reason in particular this is bothering you?" Flo asks, sensing something deeper. It's a mom thing, Jo thinks.
She clenched her fingers into fists. Jo tries very, very hard not to think about that night in the truck, bruised and woozy. Or the sneaky trip to the courthouse. But it happened. And even if Earth courts didn't really apply out here, Papa G's word did, and Jo could never let that old man down.
"Back in the- before I told you," she starts. "Papa G and I got to talking. We'd gotten beat up real bad, mom. From this... this stupid little green schmuck. And Papa G was worried that if things got worse- if he couldn't make it-"
"Oh, Jo," Flo says. "You didn't."
"What was I supposed to say? No, I won't become his godparent? No one else knew, mom. No one could keep him safe like I could." Jo tapped her thigh with a fist. It was hard to get it out in the open like this. "I know he didn't tell Kid. It just... reminded me of what I'm risking here. I'm supposed to lead these people into a battle for the universe. People could get hurt. People could die." She pulls her knees to her chest, suddenly dizzy at the drop. "What if I'm just not enough?"
Flo, bless her, doesn't try to appease her with things she can't promise. She pulls Jo to her side and hugs her tight, remembering less than a year ago when her daughter just wanted to travel the world. Now she had to fight a giant death ball just to keep her job as a waitress. "Look. I know Queen Xhan can be a bit... harsh," she says, haltingly, because Flo doesn't want to be rude, but she also really doesn't like Xhan.
"She's pushing me to be a good leader," Jo protests, but her heart isn't in it.
"But the one thing she and I both agree on is that you are an amazing, strong young woman. I can't begin to imagine the stress you're under, Jo, but I want you to know that I believe in you. And Kid does too. Remember that."
"Thanks, mom," Jo said, ignoring just how much extra stress that was. "I... really needed this."
"Anytime, sweetie." Flo hugged her tighter, a million worries of her own brewing. "Anytime."
Author's Note: Wooo, this was fun! Took me a bit to finally finish, but fun. It's more a mini-analysis of how Xhan and Flo treat Jo's emotional duress in season 2, but eh. It also kinda goes hand in hand with my other fic, "Big Favors".
Fun Fact! I had this titled "Kid Does A Whoopsie" but someone pointed out the pun and it was immediately my new god, so that's how that happened! =)
-Mandaree1