slayers_desire | kidnapping Clark to a red-sun Earth

"I love you too," he tells April sincerely, knowing that it won't erase the hurt he caused, but hoping that it will help. That she can start trusting him again, because his faith in her was restored with the cure.

"It almost didn't," he says to Victor, very seriously. "Getting me to go along with it, that is. I think I was about this close to imagining you turning on me too, and it never would've worked if that had happened. Or you would've had to corner me with green kryptonite to catch me. Chloe tried but she didn't want to get close enough to incapacitate me, and I got away." He may not remember a lot of specific details, but being subjected to kryptonite for real tends to be more vivid. "It really was just luck. And... I'm sorry for saying I would kill you." He's very, very glad that they went someplace with a red sun, where he couldn't hurt her.

Leaning her head on Clark's shoulder, April is glad she released the pain of not being able to help him. Because she knows it was the way things happened. And that Clark does very much still trust her. And love her.

"Good thing for having back-up plans."

"Good thing for April having this place in her PIN, because... God, I gotta say, I was grasping at straws until then. And, don't even fret about the death threat. Honestly, I wouldn't even be grumpy with you if you did try to off me." She reaches up, ruffles his hair gently, and then smooths it back into something neater and closer to orderly. "It was totally luck, and I feel really, really lucky. Definitely hits the list of the scariest things to happen this week, but I'm so glad it's okay now."

Clark leans into April a little too, because he's still weak and shaky and needs a little support, and because he's enjoying physical contact that doesn't hurt. And that it's her, well, that helps a lot. And he imagines they're probably going to have a long, long talk when they get home.

"As much as I hate being Kal, I'd much rather deal with red kryptonite than do this ever again," he agrees, a hundred percent sincere. He looks down at April again, lightly stroking her upper arm with his thumb, trying not to expend too much energy but needing to give and receive a little reassurance after the horrible experience they all just shared. "Good thinking, finding a place like that. We probably won't be able to use the same one again but it was a great idea, not telling me about it."

April's own fingers gently stroke the side of his body. And she places a soft kiss at his forehead. She doesn't comment on Kal. That persona is difficult for her to deal with too.

"One of our Nexus associates shared the coordinates with me. Last time you had been LOL'd into Kal-El."

A glance to the couple, and the pang she feels in her stomach isn't jealousy, but it's jealousy's distant second cousin. She wonders if she ought to come up with an excuse to leave and give them time alone.

Victor doesn't actually mind Kal except for that he's using Clark's body and sometimes ends up upsetting Clark. Kal as a person, though... not so much of a problem with him, as long as he isn't hurting anyone. She figures saying as much would be a mistake right now. "Yeah," she says, trying to find a foothold in the conversation. Settling on just 'yeah' instead.

Though Clark is leaning on April, he still reaches out to put a hand on Victor's knee, because she played such a big role in saving him, he doesn't want her to feel forgotten or left out. "Thank you. Both of you."

He runs a hand over his face. "How bad do I look?" He's looking a hell of a lot better than he did by the time they got the silver kryptonite out of him, but he's still a wreck.

For her part, April is avoiding too much touchy-feely moments in respect of Victor. "Compared to how you looked before. Better."

"You could still probably get on the cover of a magazine," she tells him, after a serious appraising look, hand on the back of his hand. Relaxing. She's hyperaware of social cues, and she never wants to outwear her welcome or make other people feel uncomfortable.

"Only if it was a tabloid," he says, with a teensy snort of laughter. "And speculation on how bad the other guy looks." He knows there's no way he looks like he usually does, because he is almost uncomfortably sticky and his whole body still hurts with that low-level ache, slowly fading away. And he can feel the dark circles under his eyes when he rubs at them, trying to get back to some semblance of normal.

He still doesn't have the energy to get up unless he absolutely has to, but he feels kind of guilty for dragging them out here and wasting time lying around in a field. He's not used to needing recovery time, and it's throwing him off. "Sorry."

"You will feel better once you get home and have a shower." Of course facing the parents is included in that statement.

"Don't be sorry."

"Sorry for what?" she asks, leaning back on one elbow, feeling blessedly drowsy in the warmth from the sun, like a lizard. It finally occurs to her what little sleep she's been having, but she wants to stay here, in the sun, in the grass. Belatedly, she checks around her to make sure there are no organic creatures out to poison her or otherwise attempt to make her their meal.

"Making you come out here and babysit me like I'm some kind of... sick person," he clarifies, which is a stupid thing to say because he's effectively recovering from an intense and sudden illness and he shouldn't expect to snap back to normal instantly. Even though he's healing at an extraordinary rate, it's not quick enough for him.

"You would do the same for us." Try fighting that logic Clark.

"God, no, that's not how I see it at all. I'm spending time with my friends, time I'd usually be wasting."

Victor, sleeping is not a waste of time. It's actually vaguely necessary sometimes. But she doesn't want to sleep right now, she wants to stay up and play. She is every parent's worst nightmare.

"Thanks," he says, quietly, and he knows he shouldn't be surprised at people caring about him like this but he's still touched. And he just closes his eyes for a minute, soaking in the warmth of the yellow sun and the smaller body heat of his two companions, one on either side of him. He tilts his head back just a little. "Feels good," he sighs, and whether that's all the sun or just the part where he isn't hurting anymore is up for debate. He finally takes a look around, recognizing the field. "Is this...?"

"You recognized it." A small smile from April. "Yes. It is."

She smirked over to Victor. "Did Clark mention that he got LOL'd into a kangaroo recently?"

((bed))

"He didn't," she says, sounding fully traumatized. They even get a mock-gasp, and she clutches his shoulder. "Your first animal el oh el? Honey, you gotta tell me these things, that's so exciting!" Pause. "I'm so thrilled about it I'm not even gonna crack the obvious kangaroo jokes. I'm gonna spare you both my terrible puns."

Clark swats at April, very lightly, even by human standards. "Tattle-tale," he says with a grin.

"There are obvious kangaroo jokes?" he asks, because come on, do other people do nothing but research obscure things like this in case one day their day comes along? "I wasn't the only one," he points out. "April was a deer, too."

"Who me?" April chuckled softly. It was nice to see Clark in a playful mood.

She blushes at him revealing she had been a deer. "It was really different. Being an animal. Unusual."

"Oh, there are," she says, enigmatically. "Anything about pouches, punches, 'roo-puns or jumping."

Her favorite is: what do you call a lazy baby kangaroo? A pouch potato. She thinks it's the funniest thing.

"A deer! That's really interesting. I've... turned into a bird a couple times, but not in years, and I'm thankful for it. Did you two have fun?"

"For the most part," he admits. "It was a bit confusing at first, and I didn't have any of my powers." Which is probably a good thing, because a flying kangaroo would've been ridiculous. "Thank God April still had her telepathy."

April giggles. Because a flying kangaroo would have been funny. Totally Captain Kangaroo references there.

"Clark had to fight off a stag that had showed up. But other than that it was fun. We raced. Played hide and seek. And got to eat grass."

"Yeah, that's definite luck. And that sounds pretty painless," she says, nodding her head all relieved. "The idea of being an animal bothers me. Y' know, with altered states of mind, that... that instinct in the back of your head, being changed. Then I start thinking about conservation of mass, and whether when I've changed if there's something with a bird-brain hanging out in my body."

"It wasn't so bad, once I got used to it," he admits, shifting one leg to stretch it out a little more. He still feels a bit weird, a bit off, but the sunlight is making a difference now. "It was actually fun once I figured out what was going on. And I'm glad at least one of us had hands."

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