[ text | un: jkent ]

[supersweet]

One of the things people don't do often is talk about the good things they've done or have right now. Sometimes being away from home is hard, so sharing helps!

So what's one good thing in your life right now? Yesterday, I got a cat out of a tree! It wasn't very happy but the owner thanked me a lot.

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[smokedout]

[Dodger glances down at his cigarette, and shrugs.]

Been smoking since I was your age - figure if I was gonna die from it I would have by now.

[No, Dodger.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon is quiet. ]

Have you died before?

[smokedout]

[...What a weird question. Especially from a kid.]

No, have you?

[supersweet]

Not in the normal way. But I know so many people who have.

[ His dad. Damian. Mr. Cobb. Krypton. His dad's other self, though he didn't get the miraculous return his father received. Jon didn't know all the details, but he knew enough. He was there when Doomsday returned. He watched as the time traveler's axe came close to killing his father. ]

Dying is easy, Mr. Dodger. Anyone can do it. Doesn't mean you should encourage it.

[smokedout]

[He's quiet at that. Jon's a pretty cheerful kid, so.. he hadn't even considered that he knew what death was like. It's mostly out of guilt at making him upset, that Dodger drops the cigarette and crushes it underfoot.]

Sometimes death feels like a better option than living.

[He knows that's way too heavy to be putting in a kid's head, but... honesty is always the best policy.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon is stronger than he looks, though he lacks the self-awareness to fully understand that completely. He is the House of El and has stared down the abyss. He cries easily and he gets scared, but Jon has never stopped fighting.

He beams as Dodger puts out the cigarette. ]

You just gotta find different things that are better. Like soda pop!

[smokedout]

[The melancholy doesn't leave his face, but he does smile as he reaches over to tip Jon's hat over his face.]

And tiny friends like you, huh?

[supersweet]

Yeah! Friends make everything better.

[ And Jon's never had any until coming to Riverview. Well, Kathy and Damian. But his relationship with Damian tends to fluctuate while . . . Kathy . . . Kathy was still a sore topic. He didn't resent her, but there's no real cure for realizing most of your home town and adults were lying to you. ]

[smokedout]

Can't argue with that...

[Dodger has had friends before... but none that he cared about as much as the ones he's gotten in Riverview. He's even killed a few of his "friends" from home without really mourning over it too much... so maybe he is improving.

They've been walking for a while now, and Dodger points out a convenience store.]

Pretty sure this is the place I found that had good stuff. I think they got snacks from other realities, too, if you wanna take a risk.

[supersweet]

[ Jon blinks, not following that train of logic. ]

Why would it be risky?

[smokedout]

Might taste bad. Or be made out of something humans can't eat.

[Neither of which seem like actual, big risks to him.]

[supersweet]

Maybe we should go to a more normal convenience store? Just saying.

[smokedout]

No such thing in a place between dimensions - trust me. It's all the 'catering to every home world' crap that makes it hard to find shit specifically for normal people like us.

[There's something very sarcastic about how he refers to them as 'normal people'.]

[supersweet]

Then how are we supposed to find the right stuff?

[ Jon may be smart for a ten year old, but there's no way he'd know the names of all the ingredients. ]

[smokedout]

Well that's the fun part - in someone else's world "high fructose corn syrup" might actually be their term for "radioactive metals".

[Okay, now he's just doing this to tease him.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon gives him a flat look. ]

I know what corn is. I live on a farm.

[smokedout]

[Okay, he can see his joke's running dry. He just gives him a vaguely apologetic look. Or rather... it almost looks like he's sorry.]

Well, I guess you do know better than me, then. I've never been outside of a big city.

[And while he's speaking he's just grabbing two bottles that look like they came straight out of the 50's, logo and all.]

Seriously, though, if you look around you can probably find something familiar. I can double-check them for wierd shit if you need me to.

[supersweet]

Uhm okay.

[ Putting his hands in his pockets, Jon wanders the aisles, looking over all the stuff curiously. ]

What else should I get?

[smokedout]

Whatever you want. I'm paying, so you can grab an armful of snacks for all I care.

[Generosity is costly but he's come to find it pays off in the long run.]

[supersweet]

[ Well, then. Jon grabs a few chocolates. ]

I've got enough!

[smokedout]

[Kid's really got a sweet tooth, huh. Dodger smirks at that, picking up a bag of chips on the way to pay for everything.]

Hey... is your dad a mutant like you? I mean, I figure he is... it's pretty tough for normies to know how to raise a mutant kid.

[supersweet]

[ It's one thing for Jon to talk about his powers. It's another to discuss his father in any way. Only people his father trusts are allowed to know about him. Jon has relaxed a bit more but not to the point that he's stupid about it. ]

My parents are normal. The only thing weird about my dad is his sense of taste.

[smokedout]

Your parents must be real understanding, then... [He hesitates.] I don't know about my dad, but my mom was normal. She had her hands full dealing with me burning her hands when I got upset... or turning invisible when I got scared, y'know?

[supersweet]

[ Jon nods slowly. ]

It's hard on them too. Which is why we keep this stuff a secret.

[ And he hesitates. ]

Promise you won't tell anyone? I don't like lying but . . . people have tried to get to me before.

[smokedout]

....I'm not surprised.

[He finds it endearing that Jon asks, since... he's kind of the king of secrets.]

My world's got a lot of crime, and a lot of it is run by mutants... we don't get treated like normal humans, so a lot of us can't find work unless it's under the table. Sooner or later humans who think they're helping try to kill off mutants... and everything just gets fucked to hell. Wouldn't surprise me at all if a kid like you got caught up in things like that.