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LoS: Missing Pieces Chp 18

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The second morning Brainy awoke without Clark, his entire body ached. He tried to reason that maybe be slept funny or had spent too long hunched over files the previous day but the aching only got worse. By the end of the day he was hovering everywhere rather then walking to avoid as much muscle movement as possible.

Sleep, Brainy tried to tell himself, is a great healer. He went to bed early, skipping dinner in the lab with Lyle to get a jump start on that theory.

The following morning, Brainy had felt better but by the time he finished his breakfast sandwich with Lyle he felt as though he hadn't slept at all. But, stubbornness was a Coluan trait. He wouldn't let a little soreness get in the way of his experiments; he was Brainiac Five, a little things like genetics wouldn't get in his way.

When Lyle caught Brainy groaning at trying to shift his arm into tools he started to pester about going back to bed.

"I'm fine," Brainy was about to wave Lyle off but didn't want to expend the energy, instead he sent a half hearted glared at him.

"Brainy," Lyle crossed his arms, "You're hairless excuse for eyebrows are twitching with the effort of glaring at me."

"I'm just that annoyed," Brainy defended, honestly annoyed at Lyle bringing up his eyebrows yet again. He wondered if calling the things over Lyle's eyebrows caterpillars would be too overused from their previous conversations on the matter; then again it had been so long since hey had this conversation would it really matter?

"My eyebrows aren't caterpillars," Lyle answered the silent redundancy of it all. "They're of normal size for male humans. Don't try to change the subject."

"You're the one who brought up eyebrows," Brainy pointed out.

"My mistake; what will it take to get you into bed?"

"I think the last time you asked me something like this I punched you."

"Brainy, I'm serious."

"That's a first."

"Don't make me get Momma Saturn Girl."

"What's that term you used to use every time you pulled a prank the others wanted to know your location afterward?

"Tattle tale."

"Yes, that's the one; tattle tale."

"I'll gladly be the rat if it gets you into bed."

"Again, this sounds like some sort of innuendo."

"Trust me Brainy, I have yet to innuendo."

"Now it sounds like a dance."

"And this sounds like you avoiding the matter at hand."

Brainy sighed and rubbed his temples, something that only made him feel like he was developing arthritis in his fingers.

"Look, Lyle, there's nothing we can do about this. I need to get used to Clark being gone and the affects it has on me."

Imitating Brainy from earlier, Lyle sighed, sat next to him and added pressure to the bridge of his nose.

"I hate to say this Brainy but maybe Superman should come back or you go see him. There's got to be some way of arranging this so you don't act like some sort of wound down wind up toy every time you're apart. That is until I've won you back, then you wouldn't have to worry about ever being apart from your bond mate ever again."

Even rolling his eyes was somewhat a strain but Brainy did it anyway.

But Lyle didn't stop, turning his attention back to him before he spoke, "If you don't want to be codependent maybe you just need to make personally adjustments. Your mechanical half doesn't need but sleep but it's your organic half that's suffering. Sleep more, take more breaks, stay hydrated-"

"I'm not going on a camping trip Norg," Brainy winced when he rolled his eyes again. He avoided Lyle's pointed look.

"This isn't camping, it's learning to adapt," Lyle said. "Plus it doesn't hurt to try it; call it an experiment if you want but just do it, if only to make me stop bothering you."

"That last part should have been your opening argument."

"Oh hush, you know you love me."

In the end Brainy did go back to bed, treating the whole thing as an experiment. Both he and Lyle took notes on how long he slept verses how long it took for the pain to come back. When he had gone to sleep the night before he slept nine hours but the pain returned within an hour of waking up but when he napped for even a half an hour every two hours for the rest of that day, the rest of the waking hour and a half was relatively pain free.

The results were fine for days in the lab but it would seriously hinder his ability to go on missions or defend himself in the event of an attack. He had to find a way to counteract the pain.

The following day Lyle helped Brainy draw out some of the Coluan's blood for testing.

"Do you have any from before you bonded as a base?" Lyle asked as he stored some of the blood they wouldn't be working on right away.

"Yes," Brainy answered absent mindedly. "I keep some frozen incase I have a medical emergency that my healing capabilities can't handle on their own."

"Healing," Lyle mumbled in the same absent minded way before going to work with him. "Hopefully we have a solution before Superman comes back in three days; it would be annoying to have to halt the research for the two weeks he's going to be here. Plus if he hears about your "condition" he may never leave your side again."

"Don't make it sound like I'm pregnant."

"Heaven forbid; the only baby daddy you need if me."

"I'm going to have nightmares of that now, thank you so very much Norg."

"Hush, I'm imagining you in a maternity dress; it's a lot cuter then I originally thought it would be."

"Sometimes I wonder why I haven't killed you yet."

"It's because you love me."

"No, it must be something else."

"You can only swim in denial for so long, Querl."

It was the first time Lyle ever used his birth name and, as much as he never wanted to admit it, Brainy liked it. People, even those who knew his birth name, rarely ever used it. Even Clark called him Brainy more often then not. It was nice to hear it so casually, as if the nickname or title didn't even exist.

The Coluan turned to look at the human, who was smiling at Brainy in the way Lyle always had when he caught Brainy doing something Lyle always used to call a "moment of growth"; funny how he had never noticed how affectionate it looked before.

Brainy went back to work and didn't look at Lyle again until lunch time.

In the attempt to get as much testing done as possible, Brainy probably over exerted himself for the following morning he couldn't bring himself to get out of bed. He felt so sore, hot even though he was shivering and a little nauseous.

Eventually Lyle came in, looking for him and threatened to magnetize his bed if he even considered leaving it except for the bathroom. The human scientist realized how unnecessary the threat was when the coluan didn't make any protests.

After Brainy threw up breakfast, Lyle kept him on a liquid diet for the rest of the day, with some crackers if he felt up to them. He stayed with him the entire day, minus food runs, insisting that he bore Brainy with one sided conversation until Brainy got so annoyed he just had to heal to get away from him.

For the most part Brainy didn't mind. He could only recall being sick once before in his life and that was when he was still on Colu. He had woken in a room so clean and sterile he thought someone had sent him to an asylum. Even Lyle's random ramblings were a heavenly choir in comparison to that silence.

Then next day everything was a blur. He remembered someone, more then likely Lyle, trying to get him to drink something but he wasn't sure if he ever did. He could also recall Lyle carding his fingers through his hair and putting the blankets back on him when he kicked him off but other then that, nothing.

When everything was in focus again Brainy felt something lying on his stomach. Careful not to move too much he looked down to see the star Lyle made him cushioned on top of him by a half a dozen pillows.

"I had to break that out of your safe," Lyle told him, sitting up so he was level with Brainy, having been on the floor. "You calmed down almost the minute I walked into the room with it. We're going to have to find a way for you to carry that around the next time Superman leaves."

With a chuckle Lyle joked, "Maybe we could put it in your chest like Ironman?"

It still hurt to smile but Brainy managed it. He still felt so tired.

Seeming to understand, Lyle reached forward and petted Brainy's hair a little with a soft smile, "Just relax and I'll get you something solid to eat."

Lyle stood and adjusted Brainy's covers, careful of not jostling the star before leaving the room.

When he was gone, Brainy gently lifted the star and held it as he looked over the side of the bed. Where Lyle had been lying was a pillow and a couple of blankets.

Holding the star to his chest, Brainy couldn't understand why he started crying.
YAY for longer chapter!
YAY for 4th entry in daily challenge!
...
Excuse me, I need to hide now! :sprint:
© 2011 - 2024 PriestessOfNox
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Kikane's avatar
I love it. aaaaaaaaahhh I don't care if I AM the only one who is rooting for Invisible Kid. You go, Lyle! You be an asshole and say terrible things to Superman, I don't even care. People do crazy things when they're in love, so I forgive you 8________8 Shower Brainy with presents and call him "Querl" and be be his adorable science buddy. Win him over with mathy sciency foreplay that Superman could never manage. Wear your fanciest headband! Put stickers everywhere and make sure they GLITTER and have bright rainbow colors. Cook Coluan food.

Can Lyle speak Coluan now? Because I would totally bring that out if I were him. This is what you need to do, Norg! Start romancing Querl in his own language. Do equations OUT LOUD. IN COLUAN. This will be the sexiest thing ever and Querl will melt into heart-racing lovestruck goo. If he doesn't, call me for more advice, lololol

Drinking lemonade out of the beakers ;u; This is what I want always.