Who: Conner Kent and Laura Kinney. What: Bonding. Where: The roof of their house. When: Before Madison Valley moved to a different location because we're slackers. Warnings: Low. Status: Completed via gdoc.
Conner discovered he liked being outside. He spent quite a bit of time on the roof of the Kent house. That night was no different. He had a pair of headphones…well one headphone in, the other had been destroyed by an irritated dog. But at least one worked, and some kind of soft indie rock playing over it. The headphones were specially made for sensitive hearing so he didn’t replace them yet in spite of only having one left.
He just looked up at the sky. There were all kinds of stars out. He had no idea what he was doing there. He didn’t really fit in at the human school, he wasn’t entirely sure where he fit in the Kent house either. Though they’d been really kind to him, he wasn’t sure what he was doing. He had no real direction, and his only existence so far had been meant for fighting. Lois had tried to get him to tell her what he wanted to do, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Were people just built with that? He had a small sketchbook nearby that he’d gotten, but nothing was in it yet.
It took Laura a while to start opening up to people. A long while. The way she had been raised had made her this way. She hadn’t spent a lot of time around regular people or really how to be a regular person. Laura had been created to be a soldier. She was raised to be a soldier. She didn’t know how to be anything else.
Which could be why she hadn’t really spent that much time with Conner or anyone other than Logan. Logan understood her. It wasn’t just because he was biologicall her father. There were various reasons to it. Some things she didn’t fully understand herself.
Tonight, though, she decided to make an effort. She knew Conner was out on the roof, so she decided to join him. If he would allow it. She didn’t want to force herself onto him or anything. “Hi,” she said, softly, as she climbed out onto the roof beside him. She placed a chocolate milkshake and a bag containing a bacon cheeseburger and fries beside Conner before settling down on the roof.
“Hungry?”
Connor heard her coming before she approached. Even through the music. She wasn’t the only one to blame about not really making an effort, he wasn’t feeling that content about things yet either. It was getting a little less hard maybe, but still hard enough. “Hi.” When she pulled out all those things from her bag, he raised an eyebrow.
“Uh.sure…Did I take your spot or something?” He wasn’t sure if he’d taken something that was hers in his attempt to find something that could be his. He wasn’t aware she’d come up there to just chat or whatever it was. He did reach for a fry or two. He was having a hard time fitting in. At least no more libraries had been burnt down…yet.
“Yes. You took my spot on the roof and there’s only enough room for one of us.” She smiled a bit at Conner, trying her hand at humor. She wasn’t sure if it went over well, but she would see. “I was bored,” she explained. “I figured out you were up here, so I decided to bring sustenance and company.” It was easy to win Laura’s heart with food, she hoped the same could be said for the teenage boy beside her.
She leaned back a bit, resting her hands a bit behind her on the roof’s surface. She eyed Conner for a moment or two, her head tilting slightly.
“You okay?” She wasn’t usually a big talker, but she knew sometimes it was necessary. In order to get people to open up. Though she rarely opened up to anyone. Logan, perhaps, but not very much with him, either.
Conner was also quiet. Unless prompted to interact, he wasn’t likely to. He didn’t want to be in anyone’s way like he often felt he was. At her quip, he did give her a bit of a smile and shrugged. “I know people who are very…protective of their space.” Food seemed to also help. Though he was being a bit cautious at first, only picking at the fries so far.
Another glance at her question. “Sure.” Was it a lie? Yes. But was she a therapist? No. Conner missed home. That much was obvious. He was awkward and out of place there, but at least he still managed to find some place to be accepted. He looked up at the stars quietly for a moment before closing his eyes. “I don’t know.” He corrected, in attempt to be more open as well as he pulled out one of the earbuds. He put them both in his pocket. He’d fixed them at least after Krypto decided to chew on them. They were specialty, he couldn’t get other ones like that. “Is the wrong answer I hate it here?” He kind of did so far. The Kent house was the only place he really could fit in, and they all had lives. He just kind of existed.
Laura wasn’t usually likely to interact with people, either. She had been raised to be a soldier, and she had never needed many friends in the short time she’d been alive. So, therefore, she had never needed to really interact with people. Unless that included attacking people. But she very rarely had to attack people here. Except occasionally Logan, when he was helping her train.
But he didn’t count. He could easily defend himself against her.
“I hate it here, too,” she admitted. “Lois and Clark are really nice and my biological father is here, but I don’t have any friends. I don’t know how to make friends.” At least she was being honest. She was usually honest, she didn’t see any reason to lie.
“I’d share the roof with you, if it were my spot,” she told him. She liked Conner well enough to share the roof with him.
“ I don’t either…Dick assigned people to hang around me. That was probably the only reason I made any in the first place back home too.” And now those were precious memories, ones he wanted to no longer be memories. “I only met those friends because one of them fell off a building. I was there. Not many people falling off buildings here.” Conner reached for a few more of the fries. “ How long have you been here?” He asked as he decided to lay down on that roof. He often found some comfort in high places.
“We can share the spot. If you want.” He offered a ghost of a smile as he looked over at her. He didn’t mind her company, it was weirdly calming. She wasn’t loud like the rest of the teens there seemed to be. He could just be who he was-whoever that was around her. “That constellation over there? That one’s Ursa Minor.” He pointed at a shape that looked like a small bear. He’d been learning about stars and stuff while out there on the roof with his phone.
“I never had a chance to, back home. The only real friends I had were Professor Xavier and Logan – my biological father. They both died in the end. …but Logan is here, and alive and well. So that counts as something, I think.” She considered the next question from Conner. “Almost a year?”
Laura looked over at Conner, and offered him a small smile. “I wouldn’t mind sharing the spot with you,” she said. She did like Conner, from what she knew of him. She wouldn’t mind getting to know him better, and sharing a spot on the roof seemed to offer a chance for her to do just that. She stretched out on the roof beside the older teenager, and looked up where he was pointing.
“It looks like a bear,” she said, once she was able to make out the constellation he was pointing at. “That’s really neat.” She studied the sky momentarily. “What other constellations are there?” she asked, curiously. She was interested in learning what else he knew about the night sky and the stars.
“I’m sorry.” They both seemed to have a lot of tragic things happen. He just didn’t often share his own. “The man who created me also died.” Apparently it was a good thing. Conner still wasn’t so sure about that. Lex had been forthcoming to him. “Making friends is …hard. I didn’t realize.” He chewed on a fry as a distraction. “Blowing up the library seemed to make people interested, but I didn’t do that on purpose.” That day at school had actually been pretty awful. School in general was. Though he was doing a bit better at it now that it was just half days and he was mainly going for socialization. Though, somehow he still didn’t know how. He just observed.
“Mm. It is. There are two. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Both of them are visible.” He traced one with a finger. “The big dipper right off it leads to the north star. I’ve been studying a bit of stars up here. Clark can fly to them. I can’t. At least…not yet.” He wasn’t sure if he was capable of flying. He had most of Clark’s powers. “So for now, I just study. The North star is the one that guides the way.” People had used it for generations. Astrology was interesting to him. “Plus…up here it’s quiet. I can’t hear all the voices like I can on the ground.”
“I made one friend here,” she said, after a moment. “Her name was Lucky and she had a horse named Spirit but she was sent home.” That kind of deterred her from trying to make any other friends – she was afraid she was going to lose them, too. She had been a little detached from Logan in the beginning as well, afraid she was going to lose him like she had back home.
“You were created like I was, right?” she asked. “You have some of Clark’s DNA.” No one had specifically told her he had Clark’s DNA, but she knew Conner and Clark had similar powers. So she assumed. “I was created because Logan’s powers were useful – quick healing, longevity, claws. They thought those things would make a good soldier.”
Laura looked up at the sky as Conner pointed out different constellations. “The Big Dipper is easy to find,” she observed.
“It is loud ,isn’t it?” She reached into the food bag and munched on one of the fries she grabbed. “I can’t hear as well as you or Clark, but I hear better than most. ….too many voices.”
“Just one? Don’t you get kind of lonely?” He did, he didn’t say so. But he was used to being in a house full of other teens like them. “Well…you have one more, if you want to be friends I mean.” He was going to try not to go anywhere, but knew he couldn’t promise that. So, he didn’t. Conner had Krypto, but humans were also something he wanted to be around. He just didn’t know how really.
He considered her question and raised an eyebrow. “Did he tell you that?” He didn’t care, but it was a bit surprising. The only ones who knew about it were those in that house so far. Even the guy he’d kind of made friends with didn’t know who or what he was, and probably wouldn’t if it were up to Conner. “...Yeah. Though, I was. And I do. His and someone he doesn’t trust. I have his memories too..” That was something Conner didn’t tell many people. “Half the time I’m not sure which are mine and which are his.” It was a bit annoying really. “I think they’re mostly his.” Conner hadn’t had many experiences yet of his own. “I don’t know why I was created.” He gave her a small smile, though it was a bit strained. Instead he took one of the burgers as a distraction.
“Always. I can hear everything, down to their breathing if I’m not focused… Then things get bad.” Then he destroyed public property. “Can you fly?” Probably a random question, but if she could he would have someone to learn with.
“Well, I guess Malia is a friend, too?” she said, considering his question. “And maybe Kurt. But other than that, no one else.” Then he offered to be her friend, and she gave him a small smile. “I want to be friends,” she agreed. “You seem nice.”
Laura shook her head at Conner’s question. “He didn’t tell me,” she said. “I assumed because I have some of Logan’s DNA and that is why I have some of his abilities.” she explained. “Clark told me he and Lois have two sons and so I assumed that since you weren’t one of his sons – technically – that you were like me.” She stretched out on the roof, reaching into the Hinkles bag for more fries as she did so. “I was created to be a soldier. They thought that my father’s abilities would be beneficial for a soldier, so here I am.”
She eyed Conner for a moment. “No, I can’t fly. I heal quickly, I don’t age like normal people. I have claws.” When she mentioned her claws, she held up her hand and allowed the adamantium claws to extend for a moment or two so he could see. “I have them on my feet, too. I am fast, I have good reflexes and senses. Compared to humans.”
She knew her speed, reflexes, and senses were nothing compared to Clark’s, and she assumed Conner’s, but they were better than most people’s.
He nodded and gave her a small smile. “Yeah…me too. I mean about you.” He liked hanging out with her. It was comfortable. He didn’t feel forced to be anyone different or act in any different way.
“Oh. Yeah. I’m not exactly a son. Not really.” That part sort of bothered him. But he didn’t let it show. Maybe it seeped through the repetition of the words, but he didn’t elaborate to let on otherwise. “I was told I was to be a weapon, so I guess it’s similar. But I don’t know for what purpose. I think I blocked it out.” He shrugged. Conner had no interest in being a weapon or a tool for anyone.
“Do you sleep?...I don’t often.” He admitted with a little frown. “It gets boring.” He admitted, but looked over at the claws she showed him. “Huh. Do they hurt?” When the claws extended, he made a little motion with his hand to indicate his meaning as if they grew out of his own. “I can hear heartbeats, sometimes blood pulsing. It’s..a little creepy.” He could also make things levitate if he focused hard enough. Of which he did for a moment and the soda cup he had lifted off the rooftop without him touching it. But it was wobbly, he wasn’t great at that skill.
“I’m not technically Logan’s daughter,” she told the teenager. “He had no idea his DNA was used to create me – it wasn’t like they asked his permission or anything. But when he discovered whose blood ran through my veins, he accepted me as family. Both here and in our world.” Though it had taken him some time to adjust. Not that Laura blamed him, not in the slightest.
“I sleep, but I don’t need much. I can heal quickly, I have quick reflexes, I live longer than humans. ...longer than some mutants as well. At least, if Logan’s age is anything to go by.” She tilted her head slightly, “If you can’t sleep, come see if I’m asleep. If I’m not, I’ll keep you company,” she offered.
In response to his question, she nodded slightly. “It does hurt, but I’ve become accustomed to the pain. It’s quick since the claws only pierce the skin for a moment.” She was willing to deal with that pain. She had a high pain tolerance, though. Higher than most.
She watched the soda cup levitate, and grinned at Conner. “That’s cool.”
Conner just listened, he was good at that. Often silent until prompted, but that was mainly his lack of knowing how to deal with people. Still, sometimes it worked out in his favor. “It’s the same with me. I’m not..anyone’s son. Even the woman who created me, though she was the kindest. She’s likely dead now.” He shrugged a bit. “I hope I don’t get everyone here killed too.” He worried about those kinds of things often. What if he did something and nobody could stop him. He’d already lit the library on fire.
“Have you ever played video games? I tend to play those when I can’t. You could play with me.” Lois had let him pick a system out. It was pretty much the one thing he actually voiced that he wanted. He nodded to her statement about the claws hurting and frowned a little. “How old are you?” He was curious, she appeared to be around his age-whatever that was. They looked the same.
With that question the cup accidentally flew right into the skylight and into the kitchen below. He cringed. “That happens a lot.” He didn’t have the best control. He wondered where that soda landed and grimaced at the idea that it damaged anything inside.
“I had someone who I considered a mother, too. She died – it was my fault, they were looking for me and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then by the time I met my biological father, Logan, he was dying. I had to shoot him with a special bullet, he was dying and in so much pain. I didn’t want him to live like that any longer. It was a hard thing to do.” She hadn’t allowed herself to become close to anyone before Charles and Logan, and then they both had died on her.
Leaving her to fend for herself.
Logan was here in Madison Valley, though, so there was that.
“I haven’t ever played video games. I will play with you, though, if you’ll teach me. And be patient with me if I suck.” Because she likely would suck in the beginning. “I just turned twelve,” she told Conner. “I don’t know exactly when my birthday is, I wasn’t technically born. But I’ve been in town over a year, and I was eleven when I arrived, so now I’m twelve.” It made sense to her, at least.
She peered down through the skylight when the cup fell through it to the kitchen. She snickered softly, because Clark was staring up at her from the kitchen. “I have no idea what happened, Clark, that cup came out of nowhere.”
“Seems like we do have a lot in common.” Clark wasn’t wrong about that. He was just bad at meeting people and making the first move. But he liked her. “Yeah. People keep asking about mine too, but I have no idea about birthdays. Or why everyone asks.” He shrugged a bit. Twelve was young. People were fucked up if they wanted a weapon that was twelve.
Conner looked back with a bit of a wince but said nothing. He didn’t often use that power for that reason. He didn’t really want whoever was on the other end of it to suddenly end up in space or whatever. Or covered in soda in this case. Conner then laid back on the roof, occasionally reaching for fries up until they were gone. He was glad she was there, but he didn’t say so out loud. He just let a comfortable silence settle in.