trans_9 | Some discoveries [closed]

Conner was rearranging his room. He felt...different now. Part of it was having had enough of a childhood to no longer feel the need to act childish, but part of it was was the extra time. Remembering dying and coming back, it was like having a weight off his shoulders, and he had a sense of perspective he didn't have before.

So his room was getting cleaned up a bit, and he was taking down the pinups he'd scored on the first shore leave to Zokez. When Tim knocked, he was floating in the air, taking down the Miss Universe (like, as in the actual entire universe) poster he had up, and he was racking his brain trying to think of something else he could put up.

"Door's unlocked."

Tasteful wall-hangings? Pictures of happy little kittens? He'd still been figuring out that whole 'being a normal teenager on the side' thing before coming to the ship--at least, he could remember doing that now. Normal hobbies. Getting into music again. Plowing entire fields before breakfast.

In any case, little immature things he'd done/liked had pretty much gone out the window now, and the new-found maturity chafed a little but he'd get used to it soon enough. He could deal with anything now.

It was like he told Superman, back home, he felt like he had when he first hatched outta that test tube at Cadmus. Excited for tomorrow. Even the war, even the end of the world couldn't put a dent in it. There was hope still, there was the chance they could fix it all. The never-ending battle went on.

Edited 2011-06-10 08:52 (UTC)

Tim entered their room when Conner gave him the signal that it was fine to come in, closing the room off behind him as he did so. He looked up at Conner, floating there, taking down his posters and rose an eyebrow imperceptibly behind the cowl. It made sense that he'd have changed tastes now-- he'd changed between their own points in the time-line, even without the influence of the ship and what had happened on it.

"Hey Conner," he said, looking up to him and giving a brief nod to go with the greeting. Then he hesitated for a moment before asking, "How're you feeling?" He didn't want to jump right into his findings, and-- well, he honestly was concerned about him still. He could imagine it was a lot to deal with, at least.

"Different, mostly," he said. "I feel...different. Than I was."

He stood back, hands on his hips, staring at the wall, thinking.

Band posters? Copies of art he liked?

"Some of it's good. I feel less...you know. Immature. Some of it's not so good, like the stuff with Cass."

"Understandable," Tim agreed, nodding. "A lot has changed now, hasn't it?" For lives like theirs, even a small amount of time could make a pretty big difference, after all.

He was about to say more, but then Conner mentioned Cassie. If he was from a further point than him again-- he tensed. "Conner. What happened with Cass?"

Silence for a moment.

"Guess I'm from farther along than you now," he said quietly.

He looked over at Tim with a rueful expression. "We broke up."

"Ah." Tim relaxed a hair at that, but then he frowned in genuine sympathy. Apparently there was a time difference again, then-- but hopefully less drastic this time.

He stepped forward, reaching a hand out for his arm, in a gesture of comfort. "I'm sorry, Conner."

Conner shrugged, but didn't shrug the hand off.

"I'm the one that called it off. It just...wasn't working anymore. She was all about being a soldier in the war on evil and she all but told me how she felt about me was getting in the way. I didn't how to fix that, and I didn't want her to look at me as a hurdle to her doing her job as leader or something."

He went on, "And I needed things to be...simple, after coming back. Simple and happy. Not complicated and confusing. I figure if it was meant to be, we'd both sort ourselves out and get back together again."

He went back to looking at the wall.

"It's okay. It really is. The hard part now though is I feel...different about her after the time apart, so if she wakes up again on the ship again, thinking we're gonna be together, how do I explain that? 'Sorry, a mystical timeclock deaged me and then gave me extra time from home and in the future, we break up'?"

Wait. He tapped his chin.

"Come to think of it, it's not like she wouldn't buy that. Sounds like something that'd happen back home."

Edited 2011-06-10 19:45 (UTC)

"Still," Tim said, quietly, as he listened. Perhaps he'd spent too much time away from them to realise there was a problem, or else that only really culminated between their current points in time.

Unfortunately this was also the kind of issue that Tim couldn't be a lot of help for, whether Conner needed it or not-- Tim's own history with this kind of thing was rocky, at best. So he mostly just let his friend explain it, talk about it.

"Understandable," he said. "I guess there's not a lot of choice though-- at least our lives are crazy enough for that kind of explanation to be believable." He managed a small smile at that and dropped his hand away.

Conner shrugged.

"I'll deal with it when we get there."

He rubbed his chin again.

"This is all so weird. With the deaging thing and all my time on the ship, and the new time from back home all crammed together, it's like I'm not even sure who exactly I am. Not that it's really bad. I just have to figure it out."

A pause.

"Oh yeah, did you need something?" Or did he just want to hang out? He'd had something of a purposeful look when he walked in, though.

"I can imagine," Tim said, quiet again. He'd known all about Conner's 'lists' from a while ago, and even if he was past that by now... well, all of that, with these new memories of the ship and more, it had to be muddled. "But you're still my friend," he said, managing a small smile that was actually pretty genuine. "And I'm here if you need any help sorting things out, okay?"

Of course, he did also have to get down to business, too. He did have a purpose, something that showed when his expression became serious all over. "I came to share what I found out about the power outage in medical."

Tim's offer made Conner smile, but then that smile faded slightly as he said the next bit.

"Yeah? What caused it?"

"A power overload," Tim explained, voice turning habitually to his darker tone. "During the routine diagnostics-- the power used strained an already damaged system." It appeared to be an accident-- but Tim was certainly more than suspicious, all things considered. And considering who was behind it, too.

Edited 2011-06-10 22:28 (UTC)

"Who ran the routine diagnostic?" Kon asked, suspicion already growing.

It was really the name that made it all the more suspicious. It wasn't something Tim felt comfortable attaching 'coincidental accident' to.

"Luthor."

Conner's eyes went wide for a second, then he crossed his arms, and looked thoughtful.

"Huh. I knew he was going to try something after I told him the truth, but outright attempted murder wasn't really what I thought his first move would be."

Slick, though.

"Very slick. I bet he's got all the angles covered, doesn't he."

Tim nodded. "Exactly. It was more drastic than anticipated. But we knew he wasn't going to sit idly and do nothing. Especially in a situation as volatile as that was." He hesitated, then added, "We should have kept a closer eye on him." He should have kept a closer eye on him.

"For all intents and purposes, it appears to have been an accident. There doesn't seem to be anything pointing directly to any intent."

Edited 2011-06-10 22:46 (UTC)

"Okay then," Conner said, taking to the air. "Guess it's time me and dear old alternate dimensional dad had a talk."

"Conner. Be careful," Tim said, voice flat. He trusts Conner to not do anything too brash, but this was an incredibly delicate situation. "He's going to be given benefit of the doubt, considering the circumstantial nature of the evidence. And you know he'll use whatever he can against you later."

"I know. I won't do anything stupid."

He went on, "I will let him know there's going to be lines in the sand. He could've killed anyone else in Medbay, including that girl Cassie, trying to get to me. I can't stop him from taking shots at me, not until he slips up and we can prove it, but this Luthor's...different. I might be able to convince him it's in his best interests to leave anyone else out of it."

"I know you won't," he promised, letting him explain his thoughts.

"Right," he agreed. "There are too many people at risk with a gambit like that." This was still risky, but... well, he trusted Conner to know what he was doing. He could handle this. "In the meantime, we'll just have to continue keeping a close eye on him. Watch for any mistakes."

Conner clapped him on back.

"He'll slip up eventually. I know you'll keep an eye out."

Tim managed a small grimace at that, and nodded. "Right. I won't let him get by me again."

"You couldn't have predicted this, Timbo. He went the extra-sneaky route. No guilt, okay?"

Dude, he knows you.

Tim frowned at that. Of course Conner knew, though. "Right," he said. "But I still should have known he'd try something. Kept a closer eye on him, at least."

"I needed you with me more."

A pause. Yeah, that didn't sound super mushy at all.

"You know, on account of that...nearly dying. Thing."

Edited 2011-06-11 00:27 (UTC)

Tim hesitated at that and then actually did manage a small smile. "Right," he said quietly. He still wasn't convinced, no, but it was still a comfort. And he shouldn't be wallowing, considering everything Conner just went through. And what Luthor had done. "On account of the 'nearly dying' thing."

He paused again, before he said, "And uh. Conner?"

"Yeah?"

"It's just-- good to have you back," Tim said, before giving in and giving Conner a quick hug.

"Hey," he said. "If experience has taught me anything, it's that getting rid of me is harder than it looks."

"Fair enough," Tim grimaced slightly as he pulled away, almost reluctant. "I guess I just got worried."

Tana stuck her head in the door, "Hey, Kid?"

Well, that was new; she had been used to his room looking like a five-alarm disaster for various reasons, but rearranging to be cleaned was a new one. Then again, Tana couldn't throw stones either. How many times had he come to her office and she'd had piles of research for a new scoop covering her desk?

"Spring cleaning? I can go if I'm throwing you off."

"Nah, it's cool. I'm just--uh. Stuff."

Eloquent.

"Aside from the fact that Tim gets all twitchy if I let my side get too messy, I was redecorating. Feng shui-ing the place up. I'm actually going for...tasteful now," he said, kicking a half-torn poster of a half-naked Miss Universe under the bed.

Wait a second. This was Kon. 'Tasteful'?

"Just so you know, that picture of dogs playing poker? Not tasteful." Tana didn't immediately step inside, and her eyebrow raised as she looked him over. It didn't look like he'd been bodyswitched. He didn't sound like he'd been brainwashed...

She spared a glance at the fallen Miss Universe. Well, if he was a podperson, she could always start screaming into her omnicomm. "I just came to see how you were feeling, now that everything's settled down. But, it looks like you're alright, Kid." Tana gave him a long, inquisitive once-over. "You are, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I am. I think."

He tore down another poster.

"I'm just...different."

He looked at the poster in his hands for a moment and then crumpled it up.

"The clock tossed some extra time in there. Time I didn't have before. Stuff...happened. Lots and lots of stuff. So it's like, one second I was who I was, the person that remembered everything before the Crisis, plus the time on the ship. And now, just like that, I'm the person from a while after the Crisis, plus all the time on the ship. But I remember not remembering."

He looked over at her.

"I feel like a different person now. Mainly because I am a different person. I'm a little bit older, and dying gave me so much perspective on--on life, and myself. I knew I was supposed to because of what people told me on the ship, but actually remembering it--"

"Clearly, death wasn't anything you couldn't get over," She smiled and took a few steps into his room instead of hovering at the door, then pushed her hair from her face. She was glad he wasn't dead for a number of reasons, but most importantly they needed people like Kon, he and other supers like him brought hope (when they weren't accidentally demolishing city blocks, of course).

Tana put her hand on his arm, "So what are you going to do with this new-found maturity and wisdom?"

"Figure out all the rest--who I really am, who I want to be. I want to be Conner Kent as much as Superboy. Fight this war. And be as happy as I can while doing all of it."

He sat down on his bed, then patted the spot next to him.

"That's why I need to talk to you about something. I was going to come find you soon as I was done here."

Tana took a seat beside Kon and wondered why her gut was knotting itself. It wasn't like he was going to tell her he was dying of some strange disease (again). "Lucky for you, I seem to show up just when you need me to. So, what's up?"

"I have to warn you ahead of time: there is no way for me to do this where I don't come off a jerk. So I need a chance to explain things. I'm going to get pretty long-winded here."

He tapped his temple.

"I remember breaking up with Cassie now. It got...complicated. And dramatic sometimes, and she was treating me like a burden in the way of her leading the Titans and she was hot and cold, and up and down, and this is sounding like that Katy Perry song--nnnooot that I listen to Katy Perry, because I totally don't, and you probably have no idea what I'm talking about because you're from the time of giant cellphones--but anyway, we broke up. And I feel differently about her now. And my time on the ship with her doesn't even put a dent in that because--because we were fighting stupid teenage fights, and I am tired of that kind of stuff. I love her, and I always will, but I died. I died, and the world ended, and I want things to be simple, and as happy as they can be, and calm. It's what I want, and what I need, so I called it off, and--"

He reached over to his bedside table and picked up a little media pad.

"And I wrote her a letter. That I'm going to stand there and let her read, if--when she ever wakes up someday. And she's going to be mad, and she's going to be hurt, and it's going to completely suck because I don't want her to feel that way, but it's what I need to do rather than pretend things are the same."

He licked his lips.

"The thing I need you to understand is that this isn't conditional on anything. It isn't because of you, it isn't because I got tired of waiting, because if I still felt the way I did before, I would've waited practically forever for her. This is happening because I wasn't happy, and I remember my feelings changing now, and I'd rather be single than with someone who...who can't just be happy with me. Who's even able to be that cold. Who I know loves me but still needs to grow up a lot and maybe find herself."

Deep breath.

"And I'm not even sure how I feel about you, either. I don't want complicated, but most of what we were was complicated--but that was the age thing, and the age thing isn't as much of a problem anymore. I'm older, and I'm even more mature now than I was last week. I like when you call me 'Kid,' because it's you, but I'm not one anymore. So I don't know where we stand or if we could be simple, and I'm not sure I could get into things right now, but--"

He deflated, breathing out.

"But basically, I want to break up with her, and even if I'm not sure I want to try again right right now, I still have feelings for you, and because of that, I feel like a jerk. Does that make me a jerk?"

Tana was quiet for a minute, whittling down what Kon had said to get to what he was really saying. It wasn't easy, because he had the ability to ramble like no one she'd ever met. She put it up to his super lung-capacity. A person could ramble all they liked if they didn't need to breathe as often. "No, you're not a jerk?" Tana crossed her legs.

"And I think it might be a good idea for you to... I don't know, take a step back, maybe? At least for a little while. Sort out your feelings, it's not like I'm going anywhere. And I'm your friend before I'm anything else," she reminded him. "It isn't like I'm going to throw a fit because you want to sort yourself out."

She already had her date with Häagen-Dazs, anyway, when they'd had that whole... well, it didn't really matter right now. Tana smiled and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"If it turns out I--you know. If I want to..."

Question of the hour here.

"Would you? Want to try? Again? If I do."

And he had a feeling he'd probably want to.

Well, he certainly wasn't pulling punches, was he? Tana brushed away at an invisible wrinkle on her skirt and was quiet.

Yes, she still had feelings for him. Feelings that hadn't decided to pack up and move on as much as she'd have liked them to. But did that make a continuation of their relationship a good idea, was the better question. She lifted her chin and gave him a long, considering look, searching his face for a better answer than what she had at the moment, and found it.

He was right; he wasn't a kid, anymore, even if he'd always be the Kid to her. Maybe this time, with the odds in their favor, they could make it all work out. "I would, yeah."

"Good to know," he said his face breaking into a smile.

"But I do need time. I'm still figuring myself out now. All my memories are jumbled after what happened."

He reached over and caressed the line of her chin with his thumb.

"As soon as I figure it all out, we'll have to talk."

Edited 2011-06-15 01:42 (UTC)

"You know where to find me," Tana grinned at him and started to stand. She could feel her bravado slipping under a mass of excited, jumbled feelings that needed to lessen.

"Anyway, I should probably get going. If you need any help on tasteful-not-tacky, let me know, okay? I'm sure there's got to be something you can put up that isn't terrible." She said as she leaned over and hugged him.

He was a little hesitant in letting her go, but he did.

"I will. I've gotta figure out what's me though, too."

"A hint? Dogs playing poker, not you. Or anyone, unless you're pushing fifty. Even if it feels that way some days." She patted his shoulder and started her way to the door.

Some discoveries [closed]

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