literature

TOSoP 11

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Brainy stood in the living room for a few minutes after Kal-El had left. He had no desire to go back to his room where this awkward situation had started and it would be uncomfortable, to say the least, to stay in the living room all night. It was strange being in there without one of the Els, almost sad.

Walking around, Brainy tried to be silent, not wanting to wake anyone up. As he walked past Martha's room he heard something and peeked his head in. He didn't see anything out of place, but walked in when the noise came again.

The room was slightly less dark then the rest of the house with Martha's nightlight that projected little stars and moons on the walls. Soft music came from it, playing the tune that Laura would often hum to herself when she and Brainy would sit together in silence. A few feet from it was Martha's crib and Laura's rocking chair.

Moving towards the crib, Brainy glanced down at the sleeping Martha when the noise happened again. It was Martha gargling while she kicked out her leg. Did this mean that she was dreaming?

I really need to learn more about infants, thought Brainy but then he reconsidered his thoughts. He acted as though he would be around long even to need to information.

Sighing, Brainy sat in the rocking chair. It felt like months ago that he had been called in by the council and had to face Brainiac instead of days. It vaguely reminded him that Martha would be two whole days old tomorrow afternoon.

Shaking his head, Brainy rubbed his eyes. Even without Kal-El's love confession he had grown so attached to this family. He enjoyed talking and working with Jor-El and admired him even more for the qualities that Brainiac had been unable to see. He had grown accustomed to Laura's maternal nature and wasn't sure how he would feel about never seeing her smile again. He already adored Martha, despite how short she had been around for and wanted to see her grow up. Then there was Kal-El…

Pushing back those thoughts, Brainy closed his eyes and leaned back. He thought then of his friends. Gentle, kind and understanding Saturn Girl who had been like a mother to him since he first joined the Legion. Rash and forceful Lightning Lad that had been there for him when he needed him on so many occasions. Cheerful and affectionate Triplicate Girl who, after getting used to her lack of respect for personal boundaries, had been like a big sister to him. Energetic and open Bouncing Boy who had never been afraid to disagree with him or stuck up for his ideas. Sarcastic and witty Phantom Girl who would never allow his ego to get too big. Honest and brave Timber Wolf who had risked his life for him after the Coluan alignment. Superman…

Forcing that train of thought to a close, Brainy probably would have screamed if Martha hadn't been there. No matter what he chose someone would get left behind.

Brainy was small, age wise. He was standing next to a bench and his head was just above its seat. The logical thing seemed to be to pull himself up onto it but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to gather the strength to accomplish it.

"Silly Querl," laughed a woman, calling Brainy by his real name. "Trying to get up and sit next to Mommy?"

Hands came from Brainy's side and lifted him up, placing him on the bench in a sitting position.

Looking up to the source of the hands, Brainy could see the outline of the woman, his mother, but he couldn't make out any of her details. Only that she had long blond hair, past her elbows, and that she was smiling at him. She tapped him on the nose and made a funny nose, causing her toddler to giggle and her to laugh in return.

Curious, Brainy stood on the bench and looked around him. In the distance there was someone distinctly not Coluan who was watching him and his mother with some sort of box in their hands. Their skin was white, hair black, eyes blue and wearing all black clothing with a silver 'S' on the chest.

Brainy hadn't been taught yet that non-Coluans weren't welcomed on Colu, and waved to them. He was surprised when the person didn't wave back and ducked behind something to hide themselves only to peek out of his hiding place at him. He giggled. Was this person playing some sort of game?

Suddenly, Brainy's mother stood, snatching Brainy from the seat as she did so. She glared, not at the person - having not noticed he was there, but at a group a male Coluan a few feet from the bench at their left.

"Go away," Brainy's mother shouted at them. "I can take care of my own son. I don't need you following me everywhere I go!"

Used to the men following them, Brainy ignored his mother lecturing them and turned back to where the person had been but he was gone.

The men continued to follow them everywhere, to the point Brainy's mother never left their house anymore. It made her restless and she walked around the house, nearly constantly, as Brainy sat in the main room with his mind puzzles. After a while, she started to mutter to herself.

"I hate it here. No privacy. They don't trust me with the next Brainiac. I can't go anywhere. Who needs four when they have five?"

One day, shortly after Brainy had turned three, the walking had changed. Now she was grabbing things as she went. Perhaps she was cleaning?

Suddenly she stopped and kneeled down in front of Brainy and stared at him. He looked up at her, offering her a piece of his puzzle, but when she didn't take it he continued working on it without her. The staring lasted a long time, but when she looked away she stood and headed for the door of the house.

This was something new. Not only was she leaving the house, but she was going somewhere without Brainy and she hadn't done that before.

"Mommy," called Brainy, but all he got in reply was the door closing behind her. He waited and waited for her to come back, but when the door opened it was the men who had always followed them around. When one of them picked him up he began to cry.

Brainy opened his eyes, but the sound of crying continued. He blinked and realized that he wasn't the one crying, but Martha. He stood and lifted Martha from her crib, surprised when she stopped. He began to put her back down but it only caused her to start crying again. When she was back in his arms, the crying stopped again.

"I've heard about this," commented Brainy. "You're just one of those babies that liked to be held, aren't you?"

If it wasn't impossible for babies so young to smile, Brainy would have sworn Martha did just that before taking to sucking her thumb.

Unless Brainy wanted to make Martha cry, which was the last thing he wanted, Brainy really had no choice in the matter. He sat back in the rocking chair, with Martha in his arms, and began to rock back and forth.

Unwilling to return back to sleep so easily Martha looked around herself in wonder, occasionally looking at Brainy as if to laugh at his efforts. After a few moments she rested her head on his chest, but continued to look around.

Not sure of what else to do, Brainy tried to remember what he had been dreaming about. He could recall thinking that Martha's crying had been his own but the only time he could recall crying in his entire life was when Saturn Girl came after him after he was sure he would be kicked out of the Legion for being in love with Superman. Looking at back on it, it was very illogical but that's what emotions did to people.

Thinking of that moment with Saturn Girl, Brainy wondered what she was doing at the moment. Did time move at the same rate between the dimensions? Did she even know he was gone, or had she spent the last three months worrying about him? What if something happened to Saturn Girl, or any other members of the Legion, while he was gone and he had missed his chance to say good bye or do something to save them?

It made Brainy think of Jor-El's words when Brainy had first woken up in this dimension. Jor-El had said "Among other things its hard to imagine the Legion succeeding without you." Without Brainy the Legion could not make more flight rings for new members and if Computo malfunctioned only Brainy knew how to fix it. What if there was another incident like the sun eater that they needed Brainy's inventions and strategies?

Martha made a little noise, almost like a hum, bringing Brainy's attention back to her. He wondered what would happen to Martha if he was ever able to return to his home dimension. He had made no great impact on her life particularly yet, but he had affected the family in general. What if the government tried to punish them for the things he had done, such as destroying Brainiac and refusing the engagement to Princess Wisdom, once he was gone?

"Martha, your second brother has no idea what to do. Any suggestions?" asked Brainy, but she had fallen back to sleep. He smiled and placed her back into her crib without incident. "Thanks for the suggestion."

Leaving the nursery, Brainy was surprised to find Laura in the living room, sitting on the couch with her body half turned so she was facing him.

"What are you doing up so late?"

"A mother knows when there's something wrong with her children," said Laura. She turned so she was facing forward and patted the seat next to her.

Sitting next to her, Brainy gave her a look of confusion.

"I got Martha to go back to sleep."

"I wasn't talking about Martha," said Laura, giving Brainy a meaningful look.

Though Brainy had heard Laura say such things before, it didn't stop him from blushing. His blush worsened when Laura pulled him closer so his head was on her shoulder and held it there.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" asked Laura gently. When Brainy didn't say anything, she began to play with his hair. "I can sit here all night if I have to."

"I-" began Brainy, but he didn't know where to start or if he should pretend there was nothing wrong at all. Then he remembered that Laura had seen the kiss. "I don't belong here."

"Oh?" asked Laura, in an almost amused tone. "What makes you say that? Just because you weren't born somewhere, it doesn't mean you don't belong."

"My friends, people who need me at back in my home dimension," said Brainy.

"You have friends and people you need you in this home," said Laura.

"I miss them," said Brainy.

"We'd miss you if you left," said Laura.

"I-I'm in love with Clark," said Brainy.

"And Kal-El is in love with you," said Laura.

"It's not the same," said Brainy.

"Perhaps not, but have you ever considered why you ended up here in the first place? Why it was Kal-El that found you?" asked Laura, leaning her cheek upon Brainy's head. "Have you ever considered that falling in love with Clark had just been practice for the person you're really meant to be with?"

"I don't even know how I feel about him," admitted Brainy.

"Give yourself time. Your heart will figure it out," said Laura.

There was lots more Brainy wanted to say. How he cared about them and would miss them if he did leave. How grateful he was for all that they had done. How, even though he desperately wanted to go back, he desperately wanted to stay. Yet his voice had hidden from him.

"No matter what you choose Brainy, I will always love you," said Laura, and kissed his forehead.

Still unable to find his voice and even less able to hold it back any longer, Brainy cried on Laura's shoulder as she held him close.

Brainy only vaguely remembered thanking Laura before she sent him off to bed. It didn't stop him from feeling like the moment he closed his eyes it was morning. He could hear Laura in the kitchen cooking breakfast, Jor-El running around the house looking for the papers he had forgotten to gather the night before as always and… he couldn't hear what Kal-El was doing. That wasn't good.

Opening his eyes, Brainy nearly fell off the bed when he saw Martha's face right in front of him.

"Attack of the killer baby," exclaimed Kal-El, holding Martha above Brainy's face before preceding to make growling noises.

Martha gurgled.

Bringing Martha back into his arms properly, Kal-El gave her a serious face.

"Martha, what did I say about acting cute?"

The way Martha gummed on her tongue made it look like she was sticking it out at him in defiance.

"Fine, you can act cute if you must, but don't think I'll always let you get away with it," said Kal-El, sighing dramatically.

"What are you doing?" asked Brainy, sitting up as he watched the siblings.

"Waking you up in a round about way," said Kal-El, sitting on the end of the bed and placing Martha in his lap. "And warning you that Zel-Kar will be coming over soon." He lifted Martha's arms and moved them in a menacing fashion. "Beware… Beware…"

"Why would I have to 'beware' anything?" asked Brainy, feeling safe around Kal-El since he doubted the other boy would do anything with his sister there.

"That's right," said Kal-El slowly, as if just realizing something. "You've never seen Zel-Kar around a baby before."

It was like a queue from a play where, upon hearing those words, Zel-Kar rushed into the room and snatched Martha from Kal-El without a second glance at either of the two boys. She then continued to coo, cuddle and speak to Martha in baby talk as if it was the only language she knew. It might have not been so bad to witness and listen to if it wasn't for how overly excited she was. The only understandable words were on the lines of 'cute', 'adorable' and more 'cute'.

Not sure what to make of it, Brainy turned to Kal-El.

"It's creepier when she gushes over babies she doesn't even know," said Kal-El.

Zel-Kar took a break from her 'gushing' to smack Kal-El's shoulder. She then turned back to Martha.

"You'd think your big brother would know better by now, wouldn't you?"

Martha, in response, sucked on her thumb.

If Brainy thought the gushing had been strange, he hadn't considered what her reaction would be when Laura and Jor-El asked her to be Martha's second sister at breakfast. She practically jumped from her chair, making a thank you speech that would have made a beauty pageant winner look ungrateful and leaped to hug and kiss every one at the table's cheek, including Brainy, before covering Martha's entire face with kisses.

"I'm scared to know what she'll be like when she has kids," Kal-El whispered to Brainy, unprepared for when Zel-Kar swung on him and hit his shoulder again.

"I'm going to be an excellent mother and you better be a good second father or I'll maim you beyond recognition," exclaimed Zel-Kar.

"I feel sorry for whoever the actual father will be," said Kal-El, running from the table as Zel-Kar gave chase to hit him again.

After Jor-El had left for work, Zel-Kar sat with Martha in the living room with her new second sister on her lap. She sat with Laura to her immediate left and Brainy, sitting between her and Kal-El for Kal-El's own protection, on her right.

"Are you ready for the naming of the seconds?" Zel-Kar asked Laura.

"Just a few things left to arrange," said Laura.

The naming of the seconds was a Kryptonian ceremony similar to that of a Christian baptism. It was held the second week of a new baby's life and it was where they get introduced to family and friends and the parents announce the second family. The second family then pair off and dance…

"Oh sprock," muttered Brainy, causing Kal-El to snort and fall over in laughter.

"I don't get it," said Laura. "What's so funny?"

"I can't dance," said Brainy

"It's easy enough to learn," said Laura.

"You don't understand. Coluans don't dance. It's improper," said Brainy.

"It's improper to dance with your sister?" asked Zel-Kar.

"It's improper to dance with anyone you're not in love with," said Brainy.

Kal-El stopped laughing immediately. He sprang up and wrapped his arms around Brainy from behind, resting his chin on Brainy's tensed up shoulder.

"Then Brainy will just have to dance with me."

Without warning, Kal-El kissed Brainy's cheek. With just as much warning, Brainy blushed at Laura and Zel-Kar's stares and elbowed Kal-El in the gut.
It wasn't until I was preparing to submit my entry for the day that I realized how grossly behind dA is to FF.Net w/ this story.

But since I'm not going to spam everyone with a million chapters in one day I'm just going to post this here and the real entry for my daily challenge at FF.Net to save us all a bit of sanity.
© 2011 - 2024 PriestessOfNox
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MacKenzieX's avatar
Feel free to spam me with chapters any time you like!