Percy tapped an uneven rhythm on the steering wheel as he nibbled on the tip of the finger tip.

Kara calmly reached out and pulled his finger away, and wrapped her hand around his.

"What are you so anxious about?" Asked Kara in amusement, "You're acting like this is the first time meeting my family."

"It is my first time meeting your family," said Percy. "First time meeting them as your boyfriend."

Kara refrained from rolling her eyes, and instead opted for stroking the backside of Percy's hand with her thumb.

"Well it's not like you need to act any differently or anything. They've already met you, they already love you, everything is going to be fine," said Kara.

"Yeah but it's different," said Percy, and Kara had to fight not to smile at the rather whiny tone.

"It's different when I'm your friend versus when I'm your boyfriend. Different expectations and stuff, you know?"

"There's nothing different," laughed Kara.

"Kara, we're dating," snorted Percy, "You think they don't know that we're having sex? If nothing else, I think we both know how your cousin is going to react to that."

Kara bit her lip, that was an annoyingly fair point. She loved her cousin, but Kal-El was annoyingly over-protective. In spite of being a legal adult in this world, and in her twenties, Kal-El still suffered from the affliction of viewing her as the sixteen-year-old that arrived on the planet.

She'd stopped reminding him that she was technically his older cousin.

"Well if he's gonna be a dick, then we can give him something to really be a dick about," said Kara, a mischievous grin on her face,

"Who would have thought that the venerable girl of steel was little more than a vaunted sex-kitten," chuckled Percy.

"No one to blame but yourself babe," said Kara, then, growing a little more serious, she brought Percy's hand up to her mouth and she pressed a gentle kiss to his knuckles,

"Seriously though hon, you have nothing to worry about. Do you know what Martha told me the last time you came for Thanksgiving?"

"No, what?" he asked.

"That I needed to be patient with you, that eventually we'd figure it out."

Percy shot a glance over to her out of the corner of his eye, and then laughed somewhat deprecatingly.

"She had us pegged from the start, didn't she?" He laughed.

"Yeah, she did," Kara admitted. "So please, try and relax. They knew it was going to happen eventually, and they already love you. Just try to relax and have a good time."

"I'll try," Percy promised, but Kara could see that he was still stressed about this. She opted for some more silent encouragement, and simply tightened her grip on his hand.

The sun was just beginning to set when they finally pulled into the long dirt road that led up to the Kent Homestead. John and Martha were already waiting for them on the front porch by the time they pulled up. Kal-El was glaring from behind his parents, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Kara and Percy disembark from the car.

"Good to see you again son," said John, pulling Percy in for a tight hug as Martha did the same, "Grant will be happy to see you, poor old boy always sulks for days after you're gone."

"Dusty old grouch," laughed Percy, as he pulled Martha in for another embrace. Kal-El, noticeably, did not come down to greet them.

"Sweet Rao we're going to be starting this already, aren't we," grumbled Kara to herself, and Martha sighed.

"His protective nature is sweet up to a point, but I'm afraid he's been like this since he found out Percy was coming."

"Lois isn't here to keep him in line then?" Asked Kara, knowing full well that her cousin would be able to overhear them, "If he gives Percy any shit I'm punting him into orbit."

She ignored the sound of her cousin choking on his own spit, as she and Martha followed Percy and John back into the house. Kal-El didn't approach Percy, and Percy just ignored the other man's presence.

Kara sighed, it was going to be a long weekend.

BREAK

It had been a while since Percy had been to the Kent Homestead, and he'd forgotten just how good of a cook Martha really could be. Dinner had been a delightful affair, and with the exception of Clark, he'd managed to have a good time with everyone.

Scraping some of the last crumbs of Martha's homemade apple crisp into the garbage, Percy turned back to the sink and began working on scrubbing down the remnants of the dishes. He felt, more than saw, Clark enter the small kitchen, and glare at Percy's back.

"If you got something to say, then say it," said Percy, he wasn't in the mood for this. This was supposed to be a fun weekend and he didn't particularly feel like playing nice with Clark at the moment.

"I don't trust you," said Clark.

"Rich coming from you," said Percy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Clark.

"You don't trust me, why? Because I'm dating your cousin? Because I have powers? I'm sorry if that's just a bit rich coming from the guy living a double life and lying to everyone on the planet."

"That's not-"

Percy whirled around, "Do you not trust me, or do you not trust your cousin."

"What?" He asked.

"It sounds like you just don't trust your cousin's judgement. Don't like the fact that she's dating me because you don't approve of me. What, you think we're dating just to spite you? Get over yourself man," He turned back around and got back to washing.

"That's not what this is about at all!" Snapped Clark, "Kara is still new to Earth, she doesn't understand-"

"Who are you to say what she does and does not understand?" Percy snapped back over his shoulder, and then sighed. "Look, I can understand where you're coming from man, believe me I do. She's the only family you have left, one of the last people of your entire race. You want to look for her, and protect her. For the gods' sake man you can't keep this up." Putting down the sauce pan he'd been working on, Percy turned back around and leaned against the sink.

"She's her own person Clark, and you need to respect that. She can make her own decisions, make her own choices. You don't get to decide for her what is or is not good for her."

"Says the man that could stab her with a magical knife in her sleep," said Clark, his gaze narrowing,

"Oh pull your head out of your ass already Clark," said Percy in exasperation, "I've known the woman for three years, if I was going to kill her I would have tried a hell of a long time ago."

"If that's supposed to be reassuring, it isn't," said Clark.

"And I don't care," said Percy, "I've tried playing nice with you, but I am beyond the point of caring if you do or do not like me. At this point, there are only three people in this building whose opinions I give a single shit about, and they're all in the dining room right now."

Percy turned around and settled back into washing the dishes. He knew full well that Clark was still in the room, but Percy just ignored the man's presence and continued with his task. The room was silent for a few minutes, as the room was filled only with the dull noise of the conversation in the dining room, and the running water in the sink.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Like that's going to stop you," sighed Percy.

"Kara made you stop your little…hunting missions, for lack of a better word for it."

"Of course you know about that," grunted Percy, "And people say that the NSA is invasive."

Clark ignored him.

"She made you stop, but she continues to be a hero…doesn't that bother you?"

"Why should it?" Scoffed Percy,

"It doesn't strike you as hypocritical of her? That she demands you stop being a hero while she continues to go out every day, risking her life? You don't have a problem with that?"

Percy snorted, "You really don't get it, do you?"

Clark responded by raising an eyebrow,

Sighing, Percy shut off the water and toweled off his hands, "Fine, it's pretty simple though."

He ran a hand through his hair, and scratched behind his ear,

"It's all about why we do the things we do, right?" Percy said, rhetorically, "Kara…she wants to be a hero to protect people. To use the powers she has for the betterment of everyone. She does it for altruistic reasons."

"Are you saying you didn't?" Asked Clark, and Percy nodded,

"I am," he replied. "I won't lie, I did and do take pride in stopping the things that I did. At the end of the day there are probably people who are still alive that otherwise wouldn't be, and I take pride in that."

"But…" prompted Clark,

"But," nodded Percy, "The motivations were different. I didn't fight and kill those monsters out of some misguided sense of altruism."

"You were getting paid," said Clark and Percy snorted derisively.

"Of course you went through my bank account." He said, "But it wasn't about the money either."

Percy let out a heavy breath,

"Kara was a hero because she wanted to save lives, I fought because I wanted to die."

Whatever Clark had been expecting Percy to say, he certainly didn't seem to have been expecting that. He stared at Percy, his mouth agape. After a moment, he closed it.

"Yeah," said Percy, "That's why. You and I are a lot more alike than either of us would care to admit. Both strangers in a world that isn't ours. Both the last of our kind who have been forced to deal with unimaginable situations. The only difference is you had people who were there for you, who raised you as their own. Me? I lost everything in one moment. Lost my entire life, and when I got here, continued to have less than nothing. I wanted it to be over. Wanted to have some peace, and the only way I could imagine that for myself was to go out the way I'd been raised. By fighting. By dying."

He let out another soft breath, and turned back to the dishes,

"I'm tired of fighting Clark. Tired of the fighting, of the blood and the death. I just want a normal life. And with Kara, I have that. I don't crave a peaceful end, because I think I finally have a peaceful future. So if you have a problem with that, then you can deal with it, because you can bet your ass that I'm going to fight tooth and nail to never go back down that hole ever again."

Clark didn't say anything, and Percy went back to finishing the dishes.

BREAK

Kara had done her best to tune out the conversation in the kitchen. But had never been as good at tuning out her interest as her cousin.

It hurt her heart to hear Percy talk about that part of his life again, but warmed it even more to hear him speak so passionately. Not just about her, but about their relationship.

The door to the dining room opened, and Clark walked in, his expression troubled. He put a hand on her shoulder, and said so softly that only she could hear him,

"He's a good man."

She smiled.

"I know."

AN: So I have a couple of chapters written out for this, and they're all pretty short fluff-pieces. However there is a kind of sort of plot I have in mind for this moving forward. So expect some fluffy shit for some time before we get to anything more…real I guess? Anyhoo, enjoy the fun fluff. As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.

All My Love and see you next week,

LilDB