TOSoP 47

"Sounds fun," Tweek commented as he took off his gloves and set them back down on a workbench with some other tools. "We should go back up now; I'm already a little too sweaty."

When Brainy didn't answer, he turned to look at him. "B?" He stepped closer. "Buddy? Krypton to Brainy. If you don't snap out of it, I'm gonna kiss you again. And this time I'll aim properly." He waved a hand in front of Brainy's face.

Brainy slowly looked up, not having been listening, "Huh?"

With a completely straight face Tweek said, "I was just confessing to you I'm actually a woman and that I've fallen madly in love with you."

Not buying it, Brainy raised a hairless eyebrow at him.

"That first part would make Laura happy and the second part might make Kal-El kill you, woman or not. Seriously though, what were you saying?"

Tweek pursed his lips in a pout.

"You're no fun, I was hoping for a much funnier reaction. But I was saying it will probably take about four days for the metal to melt properly in this vent. And now we should get out of here before we turn into a couple of steamed vegetables. Hot and cold I can still feel and I'm starting to sweat a lot. Can you say heatstroke?"

Smirking, Brainy replied, "Heatstroke," and climbed out of room.
Tweek faked a laugh and climbed out after him, closing the door after himself.

"Okay, so back to designing… where'd I put those ideas?"

"I'm not sure – on the counter?" Brainy suggested

Half turning to the counter, Tweek eyed it suspiciously until he spotted them. "Counter… ah, yes. Here, hold 'em a sec. I need to get something for my tongue. It still stings."

As Tweek left for the kitchen, Brainy looked over the designs and specs, talking loud enough so that Tweek could hear him from the other room. "Since the top two ports are best for the connections to the headband, we may not need to connect to the bottom port at all."

"Sounds good. You want to keep it simple, I assume. Nothing flashy," Tweek came back in with an ice cream pop in his mouth, one held out for Brainy. "Ice, ice cream, basically the same thing right? I think we deserve a break and a treat."

With shrug Brainy took the ice cream pop. "Basically. Thanks." He took a bite and sighed. "This is nice after being down in that sauna– er, smelting room."

With a nod, Tweek smiled as he continued to eat his ice cream. "No kidding. I'll definitely be taking a shower before we go back to Jor and Laura's. Nice thing though is that I can use the heat in the winter to heat this whole place."

"I can imagine," Brainy said before a thought came to him. "Tweek, I'm not sure what I think of Kal-El choosing a career based off of what I do. Shouldn't he choose something that makes him happy?"

"What brought that on?" asked Tweek.

"I've just been thinking about it since he said it. He's usually so free and confident about his decisions. I don't like feeling like I'm controlling his life, even unintentionally," Brainy explained.

Tweek thought for a moment before sitting down. "Brainy, did anyone tell you what Kal was like after 'Smarty' disappeared?"

Brainy shook his head. Sighing, Tweek discarded his ice cream for a moment.

"Well, to put it bluntly, the boy was a wreck. He cried a lot, then he would become angry and act out, then he would cry some more and it would all go in a sort of cycle. I understand it now, but at the time I found it strange he acted like that over what I thought was an imaginary friend. But, no matter how it happened, you weren't imaginary. You were there and the bond you two had was strong. Strong enough that it hurt him that much when it was separated. The best thing he could do was try and push that memory to the back of his mind so he could move on with his life. Understand me so far?"

"I think so," Brainy replied softly.

"But despite pushing it to the back of his mind, the bond has survived all these years. It was forgotten but not gone. You coming back here, in the flesh, has resurrected it and made it even stronger," Tweek smiled a moment but then it faltered. "But I think on some level Kal is frightened of losing you again. Of feeling that pain of you not being here again. So he wants to stay by you, to not let you out of his sight for too long so he'll be sure he can always find you again.
'In a way yes, you are a controlling factor in his life now. But that's because he loves you. You've become part of the center of his universe. He wants it that way. This is his decision; he's much too hardheaded to be pushed around that easily. If it worries you that doing this will ultimately leave him unfulfilled though, then I would recommend talking to him about it and not me."

Brainy was silent for long time, trying to absorb his words.

"Thank you. I, I will talk to him."

"Good," Tweek finished his ice cream in one bite. "Now if I'm done playing therapist, can we get back to… what we were doing before."

Without the band to work on for four days they started talking about the places Brainy had been, the ones Tweek had seen from the space station, and places they would like to go one day as hours went by and they worked on random projects and ideas. Later, they ate the lunch Laura packed and went back to work, and before long it was time to get ready to go back to the Els' for dinner.

"The day sure went by fast. We should probably go shower," Brainy commented, deactivating Tweek's holographic calendar.

Tweek peered at Brainy with a grin, "I'm assuming you mean separately…"

Though he blushed, Brainy also rolled his eyes. "Yes, separately." He looked at Tweek with mild annoyance. "I'm starting to think Kal-El got some of his forwardness from you."

Grinning, Tweek shrugged.

"He hung out at my old place a lot when he was a kid. The both of you actually, since he brought Smarty over almost every time." He sighed. "I wish I could've seen you. I'm betting you were an adorable child."

"I actually have no idea. I have absolutely no memory of what I looked like before the procedure or any memory of being anyone's imaginary friend," said Brainy but paused when he thought of something. "But people normally don't remember anything before the procedure… and I was out from the time I was three until I was six." His eyes widened. "That's the time Smarty was around! How is that possible? Could I really have been Smarty?" His expression became baffled and worried at same time.

Seemingly unaffected, Tweek shrugged again. "If you were, then that bond between you and Kal is even stronger than I first thought. Maybe you all are connected on a spiritual level or something. What's this procedure you keep talking about? I've been meaning to ask."

Brainy spoke almost absently. "The procedure is when they integrate the technology into a Coluan's organic systems. 'But how would my spirit come here? Why?" He began to pace. "There had to be something that connected us to begin with or it wouldn't have happened." He stopped and held onto his head. "Argh – this is making my head hurt."

"That sounds painful. The procedure I mean, not the thinking part," said Tweek.

Brainy began to pace again.

"I was asleep the entire time; I didn't feel anything even though my procedure was longer than most. I wish Wisdom was here. She had a look at my life – she could tell me whether or not it was true."

This confused Tweek. "I thought you hadn't met her before you came here? Or was she there too and I couldn't see her either?"

"I hadn't met here before I came here but during the Coluan alignment we had to hide my knowledge from the rest of Colu so she used her Martian powers to do a narrow alignment and we saw each others' lives. Which may be the reason it awoke some Martian powers in me and why I can fly now without my flight ring," Brainy explained.

Tweek's eye twitched. "Now my head hurts…"

Stopping his pacing, Brainy sighed. "Let's go shower – separately – and go to dinner before we make our heads explode."

"Okie dokie," Tweek sauntered off to the shower, dancing a little and humming a vaguely familiar Earth song.

Brainy rolled his eyes but smiled as he went, took his shower and got done before Tweek again. As he waited, he looked at the designs for the band.

"Damn, you shower fast," Tweek approached him in a towel again. "Is my other shower uncomfortable or something?"

Not looking at him, still examining the designs, Brainy shook his head. "No, I just don't need to shower for very long since my clothes are self cleaning."

Tweek's eyes widened. "You have got to show me how to do that! I could stop doing laundry!" He walked over and looked at the designs next to him.
"Well it's–" Brainy began but looked up, saw Tweek, blushed and fell promptly out of the chair.

Tweek arched his eyebrows. "You trying to steal my schtick, kid? Here," He held out one scarred hand to help him up.

"Tweek…" Brainy took his hand and allowed the help up even though he was still blushing lightly. "Are you just forgetful or are you trying to get me used to seeing you practically naked?"

"Huh?" Tweek looked down. "Ooh...Little bit of both then, I think." He pushed his wet hair back. "I only had one towel left though, so be thankful I chose to leave my hair wet."

Brainy tried not to laugh nervously. "Heh, it looks good down, either way."

This made Tweek smile. "Yeah. Used to be like this when I was younger. But after a particularly big jolt of electricity it refused to stay down when dry. The teasing was kind of annoying. 'Sea urchin scalp', 'broom head', 'hey, you're a couple inches taller with the hair now'."

"If you don't like your hair up like that I'm sure it would be easy enough to find a gel formula to make it stay down," commented Brainy.

Tweek made a considering noise. "Maybe… but I'm used to it this way too. Feels like a part of me, you know? I mean, it is a part of me, but the whole spikiness thing is like a part of my identity now. Although your hair looks cute down for sure." He quickly ruffled Brainy's hair.

"Thank you…" Brainy softly pushed the hand aside. "But would you please go get dressed now? You took the motor out of your board so I'll have to fly you and it will take longer to get there."

"Oh yeah." Tweek walked off to change, returning shortly after in a sort-of-suit. "Does this look alright?" He fidgeted with his green jacket a little.

Brainy was mildly surprised. "Yes, very nice in fact. Are you dressing up for some reason?"
"Councilwoman Pri-Nox is coming tonight right? I want to make a good impression. I'd really like to get to know her better, she was pretty cool this morning," Tweek said, a light pink on his cheeks.

In response Brainy smiled. "Yes, she is. Shall we go then?" He paused. "If we fly I'm going to have to carry you under the arms, is that alright?"

"Um, I think so. But I'm a little ticklish, so be careful about that," Tweek warned.

"Alright, but I am keeping that in mind for later use," Brainy smiled.

Tweek smirked. "I give as good as I get, dude. I dare you to try."

"I'm not ticklish: what could you possibly do to me?"

"I could force you to dance with me…?" Tweek said almost questioningly.

Brainy nearly rolled his eyes. "Really? And how would that work?"

Moving way too fast, Tweek caught Brainy around the waist and took hold of one of his hands.

"You asked. I lead."

The Kryptonian scientist picked Brainy off his feet and began leading him in a ballroom dance around his lab. It was so outrageous that Brainy forgot to be horrified and laughed.

"Tweek, you truly are one of a kind."

"Of course. I'm sure there would be more people in the asylums if there were more of me. And dip!" Tweek dipped Brainy with a grin.

"I don't really think this is a punishment since it's kinda funny," Brainy chuckled.

Tweek raised an eyebrow. "I'm being nice and keeping it a nice ballroom waltz. For punishment we do a polka. If I want to be really nice we do that Earth dance, the tango. I hear it's the dance of passion or something."

"I think polka died out in the early 26th century… and wouldn't the tango be better with someone you were passionate about? In any case, we have to stop dancing because Coluans only dance with those they are in love with and though I may like you, I love Kal-El," Brainy commented.

"Then it would be a punishment, wouldn't it? But I'm glad to hear you like me," Tweek smiled, righting Brainy into a proper standing position, let go of him and stepped back to a safe distance.

"I suppose so. And it was hard not to like you after the initial shock," Brainy chuckled.

Laura greeted them as they walked into the El house, "Hello Tweek, Brainy. Pri-Nox called to let us know she'll be running late so it may be another ten to twenty minutes." She looked at Tweek more closely and smiled. "My, don't you look handsome, Tweek?"

Tweek returned the smile and smoothed his shirt. "Wanted to make a good impression with the councilwoman. At least better than this morning when I hid behind Brainy."

"I'm sure she's used to people being nervous around her and, if she knows your history with the council, she'll understand," said Laura.

"How did Kal-El's Enforcer test go?" asked Brainy as they walked further into the house together.

Laura sighed. "Poor thing is exhausted. There was, of course, the written test, but then there was the weapons examination, shooting weapons at targets and moving targets, general fitness, the endurance test and the obstacle course."

Tweek whistled, "Crimony, I don't blame him. Does he know his score yet?"

"No, but he said the instructors tried to make him stay longer to talk to him, but he outran them," Laura replied.

At this Tweek laughed. "Maybe I did influence him as a kid if he runs from authority figures."

"That's not something to brag about," Brainy scolded.
"Hey, I had good reasons to run," Tweek turned to Laura. "I was telling him earlier about my record with the Enforcers."

Narrowing her eyes, Laura growled. "I still want to bash in the heads of the ones who yelled at you for stealing that car to get away from your kidnappers. But Jor-El wouldn't let me!"

"He probably didn't want you to go to jail," Brainy commented.

"I know, but it would have made me feel so much better," said Laura.

"They weren't all bad though. Mal and Fin used to play cards with me when I ended up down at the station for one reason or another," Tweek smiled.

"That's true," Laura sighed, "Kal-El would probably make a wonderful officer, but I think he's been poisoned against them now."

They got into the kitchen where dinner was filling the room with its delicious aroma, of which Tweek happily sniffed like a dog begging for table scraps.

"Yeah, having them constantly maliciously attacking you would probably do that."

That made Laura grimace. "In any case, he's taking a small nap if you would like to go wake him up, Brainy. Tweek, would you help me set the table?"

"If you trust these hands to handle fine china, then sure," Tweek wiggled his fingers at her.

"You can do the silverware and drinks," Laura clarified.

Brainy left them to wake up Kal-El. He crept into the room he shared with Kal-El and smiled at the sight of him sleeping on top of his blankets with his clothes still on. Walking over to the bed, he sat next to him and brushed back some of his hair before softly calling his name. Kal-El mumbled softly in return.

"Time to wake up."

"…ten more years." Kal-El groaned.

A chuckle was Brainy's first response. "You have two minutes if anything."

Kal-El peeked open an eye. "One minute with Brainy?"

Not ceasing the stroking of Kal-El's hair, Brainy seemed to consider it. "Maybe. What's in it for me?"

Kal-El fluttered his eyelashes. "My undying love and devotion?"

"I already have that," Brainy reminded him.

"Oh, right," Kal-El made a show of thinking of ways to bribe him. "I don't suppose I can bribe you with a kiss, can I?"

Brainy smiled. "Kal-El kisses are always good for bribes."

"Under alignment time must not count as always then," Kal-El commented, pulling Brainy down to him and kissing him.

After the kiss Brainy settled down next to him, smiling when Kal-El's arms came up to wrap around him.