slayers_desire | (no subject)

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When it came to dating, it was nice to have time alone with Clark. But really, they weren't able to socialize with other couples because in his world it would mean keeping too many secrets. So today April had an idea.

She arranged for a table for four at a nice diner that had a beautiful view of the Tiber River. And close by, there was an alleyway that would allow privacy for those with PINpoint to arrive for the lunch. After that was all arranged, April sent out two invitations.

To Kairos: Hey Kairos, I would like to invite you and Connor to a lunch with me and Clark. PINpoint coordinates are attached. It is a nice casual event. I hope you can attend.

Then to Clark: Hey sweetie. I thought it would be nice to spend some time with another couple who met in the Nexus. I have invited Kairos and Connor to lunch, and would love you at my side. PINpoint coordinates are attached. See you soon!

With that done, all that is left is to wait.

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One hand reaches up to knead at the back of Connor's neck.

She blinks and stops kneading momentarily. "That's.. horrible. Is it easily identifiable?" Surely not everyone was susceptible to the stuff.

In a rare display of her abilities, Kairos makes sure no one outside the table is watching (just in case!)before using the currents of air to bring plates and pizza. This way she could get their food and keep her hands on him.

She knows his tension spot already. Connor melts just a little under the touch, but finishes off his beer before he takes a slice of pizza. He's looking about as awkward as Clark is, and he recognizes and appreciates the show of trust, but he's not about to tell the other man that cutting off his head is the way to finish him off.

"It's not that unique a past. Just... long." He mutters, and nibbles at a slice of pizza, hoping the waitstaff will bring him another beer. Hopefully not while Kairos is blowing things around magically. That could be inconvenient.

Clark isn't expecting reciprocation, except in that maybe Connor will see him as less of a threat if he knows how to take him down. Not that he'd probably know where to find kryptonite, necessarily, although someone in the Nexus could probably hook him up. Including April, if he asked.

"Kryptonite's pretty easy to tell apart from normal rock," he nods at Kairos's question. "It looks like a rough green gemstone - well, usually - and it glows whenever I'm near it. Unfortunately most people don't think of it as dangerous, and virtually everyone has been exposed at some point because it's so common. I've seen people use chunks as doorstops, or made jewelry out of it. What's worse is the people who find out what it can do and experiment on purpose. We don't know why it affects some people and not others, but the more you handle it, the more at risk you seem to be of developing... side-effects."

Clark hesitates a moment. "How long are we talking? If you don't mind me asking."

Kai blushes when he mentions the bit about making jewelry from it, because that was totally what she was thinking. She can't help it, that's just how she was wired. "Oh. I see. And there's no way of deactivating it?"

And she'll go ahead and dig into a slice of pizza herself. It's a good thing April ordered the extra large, because she's ravenous.

Kairos can have some of Connor's slices, because he's just nibbling, distracted. He doesn't look up when he answers Clark, and he does mind, but he also can't really blame him for wondering. "Less than five hundred. I guess you couldn't just collect it all and stick it in a lead-lined warehouse..."

He takes Connor's answer in stride, chewing his pizza thoughtfully. "That's a lot." No wonder his comments about farming were... well, what they were.

"My ship used to be able to neutralize kryptonite and change it to a clear, harmless form, but it, ah, blew up." A little guilt on his face spells out who exactly was responsible for that. "It can also be destroyed at extremely high temperatures, but we're talking volcanic. It could be possible to round most of it up, although it'd take a very long time and be labor-intensive, but it's been sitting around embedded in a few thousand square miles for about fifteen years and a lot of it is just tiny fragments, and that's just as dangerous as the boulder-sized stuff." Not to mention he's the only one who can reliably detect its presence, and he has to be right next to it, and it cripples him with pain.

Kai grins a little. "I like 'em ancient."

"Sounds like a no win situation."

Kai's comment has Connor looking both embarrassed and flattered. "There's plenty of immortals older than me... I'm just... middle-aged." He shifts a little in his seat.

"Sounds like you'd better keep a volcano handy, for when you do find pieces."

He glances sideways at April with a small smile. She's actually done him the honor of disposing of kryptonite in a volcano before, and the offer still stands. "Not a lot of volcanoes in Kansas, but once I get the flying working right, that won't be a problem."

"Kryptonite also comes in a couple of other colors," he adds, figuring that as long as he's giving them all this information, he might as well go full disclosure. "And they all to different things to me. Black splits me into two people, red makes me a selfish evil asshole, and we're... not actually sure what the blue does. Or if there are more after that."

"If you need some help now, just point me in the direction. I don't have to come near it to pick it up."

"...Two equal people? Same thoughts, or is there a good twin bad twin vibe?"

This is Connor trying not to stare at Clark. "It doesn't do that to other people? What if there's more than one color around?"

"Good twin, evil twin," Clark replies immediately, a very serious look on his face. "One time I was brainwashed into... well, what I might've become if I hadn't been raised by some of the most caring humans in the world. I was alien, really alien, and the only way my humanity was able to surface was with black kryptonite. I had to... fight myself." He looks a little uncertain of how to describe it. He remembers being Kal-El, militant and cruel, but he also remembers being Clark at the same time. "It's also the only time I've ever flown on my own, for real."

He shakes his head at Connor's question. "I've never seen any other color affect humans, but they're not as common. They did rip us all off by putting red kryptonite in our class rings - which was a nasty surprise for me - but no one else did anything weird or got any powers. And as far as I can tell, the effects of green kryptonite overpower everything else, so long as it's close enough to effect me. So if I'm Kal, it's still possible to take me down that way."

"Clark has shown up as Kal before in the Nexus. Other friends of his are aware of the... change in personality. And if either of you see him in that condition, feel free to contact me. Clark gave me the tools necessary to return him to normal."

April has been a light eater. "It is something that he and I share. Having different personalities. Mine just... a vampire bitch. To put it lightly."

"I think all of us have our dark sides," Kai comments. She takes a sip of water. "I .. don't have violent tendencies anymore. I just go into a fugue state."

Putting down the pizza, Connor frowns slightly. His violent side is never far off and he knows it, but he's okay with that. "Do you remember these things, after? It might have been an alternate I met, or..."

He nods. "Yeah. I remember everything." It's pretty horrible, having a perfect memory and being cursed with total recall of all the nasty things he says and does when he's Kal. All the people he hurts.

"There was a future version of yourself in the Nexus too Clark. Maybe that is the one Connor talked to. As it had not happened yet... you would not know."

Kairos isn't sure what to input here, so she's just going to eat another slice of pizza, and maybe nod at what April said. She hadn't met any of the Clarks or Kals or whoevers before she'd met this Clark. Thank goodness for good first impressions!

Connor gives a grunt, still frowning a little, and nibbles at his pizza. He knows there's another of himself out there, somewhere, but he's been told they almost never come to the Nexus. "Could have been... another one."

"Maybe." Clark is still a bit weirded out that his future self was wandering around the Nexus in the first place. Alternates are one thing. But his real actual self, dating April and everything, is just weird.

At a loss for what to talk about next, he takes another slice of pizza and devotes a good deal of his attention to inhaling it as only teenage boys can manage.

The pizza inhaling by Clark is one of the reasons that April ordered a bigger size. She is fine with just one slice, as human food is not what sustains her, but is just glad that the others are enjoying their meal.

"I think we should leave poor Clark and his alternates alone for a moment. What do you guys think of Rome? I know Kairos had been here before."

"Just once! But it's totally gorgeous. Good company too. And this is probably the best pizza ever."

If Connor was his normal, healthy self, they'd need two pizzas. He's physically nineteen, after all. He's anxious and tense, though, and he's still nibbling at his first slice. He's on his second beer, though.
"I don't think I've ever been in Rome... I've been in Ravenna, where the good fencing schools are, and I was... around a little, in the second war." Not good times, those.

((Argh. So sorry. There was a boom, and our whole block lost power about a minute after my last re... and just now got it back, and we're about to go get dinner. One of those days? If you guys want to skip Connor a couple rounds you can, he's not a big talker anyway.))

"I've only been here once," Clark says, smiling a little at April. The memory is a little bittersweet, since it was their last date before she was abducted. "It's a beautiful place, though. Amazing architecture, nice climate, fantastic sunlight." He puts a little more emphasis on the last point than anything else. He's always been drawn to more sunny places, and with good reason.

((My turn for apologies, I had to go to work and didn't have time to message anybody. I'm back now though!))

"I gave Clark a tour of a Demon bar when he was last here." April added. "Fortunately we had not encountered any trouble."